Humboldt Harbor Light
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The Humboldt Harbor Light was an early
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 ...
marking the entrance to
Humboldt Bay Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between Sa ...
. Plagued by fog, earthquakes, and flooding, it was eventually abandoned and left to deteriorate in favor of a new light at Table Bluff.


History

Humboldt Bay is reached through a narrow gap between two long sand spits, and the founding of
Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...
in 1850 on the shores of the bay led to the provision of a lighthouse for the bay in the first set of eight west coast lights. The design was essentially that of the original Point Loma Light: a central tower with a 1½ story house erected around it. A fourth 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 ...
was provided and the light was first exhibited in December 1856. The protracted construction made this the last of the original eight lights to be completed, and in fact some lights in the next set were lit first. The light was situated in a sandy area towards the tip of the northern spit; the intent was for the light to serve both as a marker for the entrance and as a warning for the spit. It was immediately discovered that the low-lying site was vulnerable to the waves, and by 1867 the Lighthouse Board was already making plans to relocate the light to a new site on the south side of the entrance. In the meantime a log breakwater was placed around the light. Fog was a major problem, and a steam fog whistle was installed in 1874. The move was delayed for some decades, and in interim the light experienced numerous injuries from the elements. It was damaged by earthquakes in 1877 and 1882, subsequently leading to substantial bracing and reinforcement. High water in 1885 caused such severe damage that the house was deemed unfit for occupancy, and a temporary shelter was built to house the keeper until a replacement light could be built. The appropriation for the Table Bluff Light finally came through in 1891, and in October of the following year the lens of the Humboldt Harbor Light was moved to the new lighthouse. The lighthouse was officially closed on 31 October 1892 and the buildings were used by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
as a field office during improvements to the harbor mouth, then was left to decay, with the central tower eventually collapsing around 1933. All that is left at the site today are foundation walls (which can be viewed in Samoa Dunes Recreation Area at the end of the north spit), though the
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
of the lantern was eventually recovered from the sand and is displayed at the
Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum The Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum is located in Samoa, California, a small town across Humboldt Bay from Eureka. The focus of the museum is the preservation and interpretation of its collection of artifacts, photographs, library archives and materi ...
.


See also

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List of lighthouses in the United States This is a list of lighthouses in the United States. The United States has had approximately a thousand lights as well as light towers, range lights, and pier head lights. Michigan has the most lights of any state with over 150 past and present l ...


References

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External links


United States Coast Guard
* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1856 Lighthouses in California Transportation buildings and structures in Humboldt County, California 1892 disestablishments in California 1856 establishments in California