East Brother Island Lighthouse is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located on East Brother Island in

San Rafael Bay San Rafael Bay is an embayment of San Pablo Bay, located in Marin County and the northern San Francisco Bay Area, California.

, near the tip of

Point San Pablo Point San Pablo Harbor is a marina and small community at the far end of Point San Pablo in San Pablo Bay, within Richmond, in Contra Costa County, California. It is located at 1900 Stenmark Drive, Richmond CA 94801. Overview The community is ...

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

. It marks the entrance to

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water ch ...

from

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

Built in 1874 and automated in 1969, the lighthouse was designed in the American Stick style by

Paul J. Pelz Paul Johannes Pelz (18 November 1841 – 30 March 1918) was a German-American architect, best known as the main architect of the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Life and career Paul J. Pelz was born November 18, 1841, in Seitendorf (now ...

, who also designed East Brother Island's sister stations,

Point Fermin Light Point Fermin Light is a lighthouse on Point Fermin in San Pedro, California. History The lighthouse was built in 1874 with lumber from California redwoods. It was designed by Paul J. Pelz who also designed Point Fermin's sister stations, East ...

in San Pedro CA,

Mare Island Light Mare Island Lighthouse was a lighthouse in California, United States, on the north shore of San Pablo Bay at the entrance to Carquinez Strait, California. History Mare Island Light was built in 1873, deactivated in 1917, and demolished in the ...

, in Carquinez Strait, California (demolished in the 1930s),

Point Hueneme Light Point Hueneme Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the southeast entrance to the Santa Barbara Channel, in Ventura County, CaliforniaUSCG.html" ;"title="Paul J. Pelz, USCG">Paul J. Pelz, USCG photo Point Hueneme Light is a , buff-colored 1940 Art Deco ...

in California (replaced in 1940),

Hereford Inlet Light The Hereford Inlet Light is a historic lighthouse located in North Wildwood in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, situated on the southwestern shore of Hereford Inlet at the north end of Five Mile Beach. Its construction was completed ...

in North Wildwood, New Jersey, and

Point Adams Light Point Adams Light was a lighthouse near the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon Coast of the United States. The lighthouse was designed by Paul J. Pelz, who also designed Point Adams's sister stations, Point Fermin Light in San Pedro, Calif ...

in Washington State (burned down by the Lighthouse Service in 1912), all in essentially the same style. The former keeper's house began operating as a bed and breakfast in 1980.

History

Although the U.S. government recognized the need for a light to mark the area, mainland property was not available at a reasonable price. Instead the government turned its attention to the island, which it already owned. Large-scale blasting leveled the island off, and the two-story keeper's house was built with the attached tower and a fog signal building. The lamp was first lit on March 1, 1874. The light tower is attached to keeper's house, a two-story Victorian placed on a blasted away rock. There was an assistant keeper's house, equipment building, cistern, and water tank. The water cistern was blasted to a depth of and is capable of holding of rain water. Two of the most notable lighthouse keepers were John Stenmark and Willard Miller, each of whom logged twenty years of service, more than any other keepers. Originally from Sweden, Stenmark joined the lighthouse service at age twenty and distinguished himself for bravery during a boating accident. He was eventually appointed keeper at East Brother in 1894, and he lived at the station with his wife and four children. Miller began his tenure at East Brother in 1922. During his service the light was upgraded to a fixed, fifth-order Fresnel lens, powered by a 500-watt bulb. The steam fog signal was also converted to a compressor-driven diaphone. A serious accident on March 4, 1940, resulted in a fire that destroyed the island's wharf and boathouse along with four boats. The United States Lighthouse Service ran the lighthouse operation until 1939, when the Lighthouse Service merged with the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. Large families occupied the lighthouse. They had to light the original lens wick and keep it filled with

whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tears, tear" or "drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the ...

. On many foggy nights, they would have to fire up the steam boilers to drive the

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

s, hauling coal up the long ramp from the boat. After the lighthouse was automated, the government wanted to tear down the keeper's house and other buildings, but protests from local residents prevented the demolition. The lighthouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1971. After several years of neglect, a non-profit group, East Brother Light Station, Inc., was formed in 1979 to restore the landmark. Government grants, private donations, and volunteer labor restored the structures on the island, which are now used for the bed-and-breakfast.

References

External links

East Brother Light Station
*
East Brother, CA at LighthouseFriends.com

East Brother Light Station at www.us-lighthouses.com

{{Authority control Lighthouses in the San Francisco Bay Area Bed and breakfasts in California Buildings and structures in Richmond, California San Pablo Bay Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, California Lighthouses completed in 1874 1874 establishments in California Hotels established in 1980 1980 establishments in California Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California Tourist attractions in Richmond, California Transportation buildings and structures in Contra Costa County, California

History

See also

References

External links