June 10, 2011

Post date: Jun 11, 2011 3:43:30 AM

The Point Arena Lighthouse (south of Fort Bragg) is the only tall lighthouse on the west coast in which you can walk up to the top. The view from up there is spectacular!

The original Point Arena Lighthouse was built in 1870 and was a sister to Pigeon Point Lighthouse. It had to be rebuilt after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.After the lighthouse was automated in 1977, the First-Order Fresnel lens was relocated to the Visitor Center. The lens is 6 feet wide and has 666 hand-ground prisms. Its three sets of twin bulls-eyes originally emitted a double flash every 6 seconds. The current value of this lens is over $3.5 million!