At the southern tip of Point Loma in San Diego, the New Point Loma Lighthouse was first lighted on March 23, 1891, replacing the older light high on the cliffs whose beam was often obscured by fog. Built only 88 feet above the water, it better guided ships entering the harbor. Robert Decatur Israel, after 18 years at the old lighthouse, became its first keeper. The station included a powerful light, a diaphone fog horn, and family quarters, underscoring its role as a working navigation aid. It is also the West Coast’s only surviving pyramidal skeletal lighthouse and was automated in 1973.