Point Pinos Lighthouse, began guiding ships through the jagged central coast of California way back in February of 1855. Visitors love its charm and history. Point Pinos is the the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the United States’ Pacific Coast. It boasts and original lens and remains active helping the U.S. Coast Guard to this day. The lighthouse is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, and has had a colorful history. From 1893 to 1914 is was operated by a Ms. Emily Fish, who was known for being a vivacious host of marvelous events at the lighthouse. Visitors visit the lighthouse to take pictures and take in the spectacular views. Some interesting facts about the lighthouse (compliments of Wikipedia) include:
| Year first constructed | 1855 |
|---|---|
| Automated | 1975 |
| Foundation | stone basement |
| Construction | concrete tower |
| Tower shape | cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern rising at the centre of keeper’s house (If you can’t live in a lighthouse, at least you can come stay in a welcoming Olympia Lodge down the street!) |
| Markings / pattern | white tower, black lantern |
| Tower height | 43 feet (13 m) |
| Focal height | 89 feet (27 m) |
| Original lens | (Only the best for Pacific Grove!) Third order Fresnel lens |
| Current lens | (We stick with the best. So do our long-term guests.). Third order Fresnel lens |
| Range | 17 nautical mile (Significantly more than we can swim.) |
| Characteristic | Oc. W 4s. (We don’t know what this means, but it sounds important.) |
| Admiralty number | G3992 (And we hope you Admirals out there will come stay with us!) |
| ARLHS number | USA-634 (To the next guest who can tell us what ARLHS means, we’ll give you a free cup of coffee in the morning. What? We already do that? Well, true. But we’ll be happy to talk with you about the lighthouse while you drink it.) |
| USCG number | 6-0290 (Again, we have listed a very important number.) |
