This image from an August 1960 slide shows the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in San Diego, with the Cabrillo monument on the background. I am happy to report that both are still around, visited by tourists seeking that soul satisfying selfie.
Part of the National Register of Historic Places, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse was built in 1854 and one of the first eight lighthouses on the Pacific Coast. The new Pelican Point Lighthouse replaced it in 1891. During World War II the Navy used it as a signal tower. Below is the Cabrillo Monument, which commemorates the 1542 landing of Juan RodrÃguez Cabrillo, the first European to step foot on the West Coast.
The Portuguese government commissioned sculptor Alvaro DeBree to carve the 14' high statue in 1939 as a gift for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. It was later moved to its permanent home at the southern tip of the Point Loma peninsula, which was established as a monument by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. The statue suffered through years of erosion and was eventually moved to Ensenada, Mexico, to be replaced in 1988 by a replica carved by Portuguese sculptor Joas Chartes Almeida.
The views from this area are off the charts. You can see downtown San Diego as well as Coronado Island:
Back to the lighthouse…
The lighthouse lens once sent its light out more than 20 miles to identify locations and warn of hazards. That’s a lot of mileage! Made in France, it weighs 1,985 pounds and stands 5'2" tall. It was the lighthouse keeper’s job to maintain the lens and lamps in good working condition.
Visitors can tour inside the lighthouse. LOVE this spiral staircase!
The view from inside:
The rooms where the lighthouse keeper and family lived are very modest:
Outside is a garden; garlic anyone?
See more Point Loma photos at my main website.
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