History
The light is a third-order Fresnel lens with lenses, prisms and mechanism manufactured in France in 1853. A larger, second-order light had been planned, but delay in shipment caused the present light, originally destined for the Fort Point Lighthouse in San Francisco, to be installed instead. The first light source was a whale oil lantern in which the oil was forced up from a tank by a gravity-operated piston. A falling weight mechanism rotated a metal shutter around the light causing the beam to be cut off to seaward for 10 out of every 30 seconds. Lard oil soon replaced whale oil, and in turn was replaced by kerosene in 1880. Around the start of the 20th century, an incandescent vapor lamp was used, followed by electric lights in 1915.
Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove was named for the Point Pinos Lighthouse and was used to ferry supplies and construction materials from the port at Monterey to the lighthouse.
The point was a part of the 2,667-acre (10.79 km2) Rancho Punta de Pinos Mexican land grant made to José María Armenta in 1833, and regranted to José Abrego in 1844. In 1850, after the Mexican-American War and the American acquisition of Alta California, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of lighthouses on the West Coast. In 1852, the Secretary of the Treasury ordered the building of seven beacons along the California coast, one of which was to be located at Point Pinos, the dangerous southern entrance to the Monterey Bay. The government purchased 25 acres (101,000 m²) of the Rancho Punta de los Pinos for this purpose, with an additional 67 acres (271,000 m²) being purchased later on. Construction began in 1853, but difficulties with the delivery of the lenses and prisms from France delayed the opening of the lighthouse until 1855.
The first lightkeeper was Charles Layton, appointed to the post at $1000 per year. He was killed in 1856 while serving as a member of the sheriff's posse chasing the notorious outlaw, Anastacio Garcia. He was succeeded by his widow, Charlotte, who remained head lightkeeper until 1860, when she married her assistant lightkeeper, George Harris. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote of visiting lightkeeper Allen Luce in 1879 after a long walk through the woods from Monterey, praising Luce's hospitality, piano playing, ship models and oil paintings. He wrote about the light in his book From Scotland to Silverado.
The most famous lightkeeper was Mrs. Emily Fish, who served from 1893 to 1914. She was called the "Socialite Keeper" due to her love of entertaining guests at the lighthouse.
Read more about this topic: Point Pinos Lighthouse
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This book or that, come to this hallowed place
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