MENDOCINO >> On a beautiful Saturday in October the volunteers from the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers and their partners with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, were at their stations in the lighthouse tower to greet visitors. The occasion was a special day of lantern room tours giving visitors the opportunity to get up close to the heart of the light, the Fresnel lens in the lantern room at the top of the light tower. As visitors moved up the four levels in the tower they learned the fascinating story of the lighthouse operations from 1909 to the present day, through the years of the US Lighthouse Service, the Coast Guard years to the present day and the steward ship of the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association and the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The 118 visitors who took this unique opportunity generated $590 in donations for the day. On this occasion these dollars are being donated to the Lake County Fire Victims Fund jointly by the Lightkeepers Association and Flotilla 87 U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse sits on a wind-swept bluff two miles north of the village of Mendocino on the rugged coast of Northern California, a friendly sentinel for coastal mariners. This historic light station was established in 1909 and first lit on June 10, 1909. For more than 107 years the light has served the maritime community, its signature 10-second flash has provided a much needed aid to navigation from the early days of the intrepid lumber schooners carrying Redwood lumber for the rebuilding of earthquake ravaged San Francisco, to today’s commercial and sport fishermen, to the huge container ships heading north to Portland and Puget Sound on the distant horizon.
If you missed this last opportunity of a lantern room tour for 2016, the Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park will offer eight special days in 2017 where the tours will again be available to the Lantern Room atop the lighthouse with its beautiful Fresnel Lens. For more details visit the Point Cabrillo web site at www.pointcabrillo.org. or Facebook Page.
The Lighthouse exhibits, gift shop, Smithy, with its beautiful aquarium, and the East House Assistant Keepers Museum are open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Families may visit the Light Station grounds and surrounding nature preserve from sunrise to sunset.
