Piedras Blancas Light Station is located at Point Piedras Blancas, about west by northwest of

San Simeon, California San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...

. It was added to the California Coastal National Monument in 2017.

History and management

The first-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

at Piedras Blancas was first illuminated on February 15, 1875. The Piedras Blancas lighthouse was originally high to the top of the ventilator ball, but earthquakes damaged the structure over the years. On December 31, 1948, final damage from an earthquake centered off the point led to the decision to remove the upper three floors: the fourth landing, watch room, and lantern. Missing the ornate upper floors, the truncated lighthouse now stands about tall. The lens was moved and is on display in the nearby community of

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity). It emerged later, in the medieval period, a ...

. A sound signal was added in 1906. In 1939, management was transferred from the

United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of the ...

to 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 ...

. In 1975, the light was automated, the sound signal removed, and the light station was unmanned. A group of biologists with the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

received permission to establish a biological research station in 1977. In 2001, the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(BLM) assumed management of the site and was tasked to offer structured public access, allow site-specific research to continue, and restore the light station to its period of greatest historical significance (1875 to 1940). The Piedras Blancas Light Station Association is a non-profit partner of the BLM, helping to raise funds for restoration and maintenance. The lighthouse continues to serve as an aid to navigation. A Vega

VRB-25 The VRB-25 is a lighthouse optical system designed and built by Vega Industries Ltd. in Porirua, New Zealand. It was originally designed in 1993-95 with the assistance of the United States Coast Guard to meet USCG requirements for a robust m ...

produces a flash every 10 seconds. The light station is managed as a historic park and

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. The Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station was designated as an

Outstanding Natural Area An Outstanding Natural Area is a protected area designation in the United States. The designations are managed by the Bureau of Land Management within the National Landscape Conservation System. Three ONAs have been designated by Congress, Jupite ...

in 2008.

Access

Piedras_Blancas_Light_Station_Water_Tower

Access to the site is by guided tours, available every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (except federal holidays) year round. From June 15 through August 31, tours are offered Mondays through Saturdays (except federal holidays). The fee is $10 for adults; $5 for ages 6 to 17; and free for ages 5 and under. Special tours for parties of 10 or more may be arranged. The tour lasts two hours and includes the historic lighthouse and support buildings, wildlife viewing, and spectacular scenery along an easy half-mile interpretive trail.

Elephant seal rookery and marine protected areas

The largest

elephant seal Elephant seals are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus ''Mirounga''. Both species, the northern elephant seal (''M. angustirostris'') and the southern elephant seal (''M. leonina''), were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil ...

rookery on the West Coast is located about a mile south of the lighthouse along California Highway One. A few animals began using the rookery in 1990. A large parking area and boardwalk offer easy access to view the elephant seals. Docents from Friends of the Elephant Seal provide insight as to what the visitor is viewing. Open year-round. Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area are marine protected areas offshore from Piedras Blancas Light Station. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and

marine ecosystem Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surf ...

In popular culture

The 1959 movie ''

The Monster of Piedras Blancas ''The Monster of Piedras Blancas'' is a 1959 independently made American black-and-white science fiction- monster film. It was produced by Jack Kevan, written and directed by Irvin Berwick, and stars Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Do ...

'' was not shot at Point Piedras Blancas. The lighthouse locations in the movie were filmed at the

Point Conception Light Point Conception Light is a lighthouse in Santa Barbara County, California, on Point Conception at the west entrance of the Santa Barbara Channel, California. One of the earliest California lighthouses, it is listed on the National Register of His ...

lighthouse near

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...

, and the town is the seaside town of

Cayucos Cayucos (Spanish for "Canoe") is an unincorporated coastal town in San Luis Obispo County, California, along California State Route 1 between Cambria to the north and Morro Bay to the south. The population was 2,505 at the 2020 census, down f ...

, about 30 miles south of Piedras Blancas.

Gallery

File:Piedras_Blancas_Light_Station,_2014.jpg, Piedras Blancas, 2014. File:Piedras Blancas Public Tours.jpeg, Tours of the Piedras Blancas Light Station are offered regularly. File:Native Plants at Piedras Blancas.jpeg, Native plants ablaze with color in early summer. File:PB Light Station from the beach.JPG, Piedras Blancas Light Station viewed from the beach below, May 2020 File:Sea Otter at Piedras Blancas.jpeg, Sea otters rest and feed in the waters surrounding Piedras Blancas.

References

External links

Piedras Blancas Light Station Outstanding Natural Area
Bureau of Land Management
Piedras Blancas Light Station Association
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1875 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Luis Obispo County, California Buildings and structures in San Luis Obispo County, California Protected areas of San Luis Obispo County, California Bureau of Land Management areas in California Gothic Revival architecture in California Neoclassical architecture in California Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California