0~11 '~ .\ S10R~G! j Historic Furnishings Report POINT LOMA LIGHTHOUSE £EABRILLO National Monument I California PLEASE REruRN 'R't TECHNICAl....,_ cana ON MICROFILM DENVER SERVICE C8ftEI NATIONAl PARK mMCE HISTORIC FURNISHINGS REPORT POINT LOMA LIGHTHOUSE Cabrillo National Monument San Diego, California by Katherine B. Menz Harpers Ferry Center National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior December 1978 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS /v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS /vii LIST OF PLANS AND ELEVATIONS /xi CHAPTER A: INTERPRETIVE OBJECTIVES /1 CHAPTER B: OPERATING PLAN /3 CHAPTER C: HISTORIC OCCUPANCY /5 CHAPTER D: EVIDENCE OF ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS /27 CHAPTER E: RECOMMENDED FURNISHINGS /47 PARLOR - ROOM A /49 KITCHEN- ROOM B /61 LEAN-TO- ROOM C /69 SOUTH BEDROOM - ROOM D 175 NORTH BEDROOM - ROOM E /83 SUPPLY CLOSET - ROOM F /89 CHAPTER F: SPECIAL INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE AND PROTECTION RECOMMENDATIONS /97 ILLUSTRATIONS /103 APPENDIXES /135 APPENDIX 1: Keepers, Point Lorna Light Station, 1854-94 /137 APPENDIX II: Correspondence Regarding Conduct of Keeper Israel and Assistant Keeper Savage /139 APPENDIX III: Instructions to Light-Keepers, July 1881 /167 APPENDIX IV: List of Allowances to Light-Station. 1881 /209 APPENDIX V: List of Books in Office of Light-House Engineer, 12th District, 1884 /227 APPENDIX VI: Report on Catch-Water Structure at Point Lorna, 1891 /231 SELECTED BmLIOGRAPHY /239 111 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the staff at Cabrillo National Monument, particularly their Historian, Terry DiMattio, whose research on the Israel family was incorporated into this study. I also wish to acknowledge the work of Paige Lawrence Cruz who wrote the interim furnishing plan (1975) and Ross Holland, Jr. who wrote the Historic Structures Report on Point Lorna and who also guided me to the sources at the National Archives. I owe special thanks to James Harwood and Terry Machete of the National Archives for finding and making available to me the Lighthouse Establishment Records and the County Recorder's Office in San Diego for assisting me with the Israel land transactions. I also wish to specially thank Sue Lauritzen, of Reference Services, Harpers Ferry Center, who prepared all the preliminary drawings and typed numerous drafts of this furnishing plan, and to Karen Matson and David Wallace, Division of Historic Furnishings, Harpers Ferry Center, for final editing and manuscript preparation. v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Lightkeepers' implements, ca. 1865. From U. S. Lighthouse Establishment Light Keepers Implements. Vol. 4, Plate 97, National Archives, RG 26. 2. U. S. Lighthouse Establishment Light Keepers Implements, Vol. 4, Plate 98, National Archives, RG 26. 3.' Drip pan, measure, and oil feeder. From Price List of Standard Articles [for Light- house Purposes] Furnished from General Depot, Tompkinsville. New York. 1901, plate 57. 4. Service box and contents. From Price List of Standard Articles [for Lighthouse Purposes] Furnished from General Depot. Tompkinsville. New York. 1901, plate 59. 5. Keeper's office in new dwelling, Fort Point Light Station, 1909. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U. S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 64. 6. U. S. Life Saving Service traveling library Cabinet. Courtesy U. S. Coast Guard Academy Museum, New London, Connecticut. vn 7. Cane-seated side chairs. From Abernathy Brothers lllustrated Catalogue and Wholesale Price List. Leavenworth, Kansas, 1872, p. 19. 8. Dining Room, new keeper's dwelling, Fort Point Light Station, 1909. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U. S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 64. 9. Dining Room, new keeper's dwelling, Fort Point Light Station, 1909. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U. S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 64. 10. Parlor, new keeper's dwelling, Fort Point Light Station, 1909. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U. S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 64. 11. Table lamp. From Price List of Standard Articles [for Lighthouse Purposes] Furnished from General Depot. Tompkinsville. New York. 1901, plate 95. 12. Lamp shades in Supply Room, east side. Buffalo Depot, N.Y., 1901. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U.S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 45. Vlll 13. Ironstone in Supply Room, Buffalo Depot, N.Y., 1901. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U. S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 45. 14. U. S. Light House Establishment clock. Courtesy, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Navy Point, St. Michael's, Maryland. 15. Lighthouse clocks, 18th District, 1909. National Archives, Prints and Photographs Division, RG 26, U. S. Coast Guard Prints, Box No. 64. ix LIST OF PLANS AND ELEVATIONS Figure 1. Parlor Furnishings Layout and Elevations Figure 2. Kitchen Furnishings Layout and Elevations Figure 3. Lean-to Furnishings Layout and Elevations Figure 4. South Bedroom Furnishings Layout and Elevations Figure 5. North Bedroom Furnishings Layout and Elevations Xl CHAPTER A: INTERPRETIVE OBJECTIVES The overall interpretive theme of Cabrillo National Monument as stated in the master plan is that of men and their relationship with the. sea. A major aspect of this theme is the old Point Lorna Light, an example of an early navigational aid and one of the first lighthouses on the California coast. One of the management objectives of the park is that the lighthouse and its furnishings should re~ect the lifestyle and living conditions of the 19th-century light keeper who was responsible for the care and maintenance of the Light. The visitor should leave the Point Lorna Light with the feeling of having glimpsed what life was like for the light keeper, Robert Israel, and his family. The furnishing plan should focus on the period 1875-91 when Robert Israel was light keeper. Israel was a light keeper at Point Lorna for nineteen years and much evidence exists as to the lighthouse's appearance during his tenure. 1 CHAPTER B: OPERATING PLAN Four rooms in the lighthouse will be completely refurnished to appear as they did during the Israel occupancy. A partial refurnishing is recommended for that portion of the lean-to which is visible to the visitor. The closet on the second floor should be furnished as a storeroom for the lightkeeper's tools and implements. Visitor access to the house will be by self-guided tour during regular park hours. The visitor will enter by the front door and then turn either to the left or right to view the parlor and kitchen. From the kitchen barrier, he can look into the lean-to. He then proceeds upstairs to view the two bedrooms and storage closet. He can look up the tower but cannot walk up any further. The visitor must return down the center stairway. Barriers will be constructed so visitors can step part of the way into each room. Occasionally living history demonstrations will take place in the kitchen. Some food preparation may take place using reproduction items. 3 CHAPTER C: HISTORIC OCCUPANCY The Point Lorna Lighthouse had 11 keepers and 22 assistants during its 36 years of operation (see Appendix I for list). This report will focus on the last keeper, Robert D. Israel, because of his long t~nure in the house and the availability of material about the family. Israel remained at Point Lorna for 19 years. Prior to Israel, no keeper had stayed for more than six years. The rapid turnover was not unusual for a job which was low paying and required long hours in an isolated area. A light keeper's salary was $1,000 a year until 1880 when it was reduced to $800 a year. Assistant keepers earned between $500 and $625 a year (see Appendix I). Keepers often took additional jobs to supplement their income. For example, the first assistant keeper at Point Lorna operated a shipyard (January 29, 1855 to January 29, 1856) during his assignment in San Diego. However, if an outside job interfered with lighthouse duties, it could result in a dismissal. George Shaw, keeper at nearby Point Fermin in 1887 was reported to the Lighthouse Board for being absent from his station. He was found living in a tent in San Pedro, charging admission to an exhibition of war photos.1 Robert D. Israel was no exception to the general practice of keeping an outside job. During the years he was light keeper, he and his wife Maria made several thousand dollars profit as successful land speculators, buying and selling San Diego property. Most often they 1. Letters Received by the Lighthouse Board from the 12th District Inspector, December 23, 1887, RG 26, National Archives [cited hereafter as Letters Received, Insp~ctor, 12th District]. 5 would purchase land for the price of back taxes, and later resell it at a considerable profit. For example, in 1869 Maria Israel bought 88 acres for $1.00.2 In the same year, they sold seven lots of land for a total of $500.3 Robert Israel was appointed assistant keeper in 1871 and was promoted to keeper in 1873. He remained at Point Lorna until 1892. His last year was spent tending the new Point Lorna Light built below the 1855 light station on the point. Like many men who joined the Lighthouse Service, Israel had had an active and varied career before becoming a light keeper. He was born March 23, 1823, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.4 As a young man he was probably trained as a chairmaker which was the occupation noted on his enlistment papers when he joined the U. S. Army, December 4, 1846, to serve in the Mexican War. Israel enlisted in the Army in New Orleans, indicating he had probably traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh looking for a new place to settle. He was twenty-three when he enlisted.