Point Arena Light

Point Arena Light stands on a narrow peninsula projecting into the Pacific north of Point Arena, where a hazardous sandbar-like headland made a lighthouse and fog signal necessary. The site’s European naming history begins in 1543 and later evolved through Spanish names to Point Arena. A first lighthouse built in 1870 was destroyed after the April 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Its replacement, completed in 1908, was engineered with steel-reinforced concrete to better withstand earthquakes and was the first lighthouse built that way. The 115-foot tower carried a powerful Fresnel lens before later automation, and since 1984 the station has been preserved through nonprofit stewardship, restoration, and public visits.

California · United States