St. George Reef Lighthouse
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The St. George Reef Light is an inactive
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 ...
built on North West Seal Rock, six miles (10 km) off the coast of northern
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
near Crescent City.


Location

The St. George Reef Light is a wave-washed lighthouse, one where the ocean hits from all sides. The location of the light on North West Seal Rock, part of the line of "Dragon Rocks" thus named by
Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...
, was selected after numerous accidents and the wreck of the overloaded ''
Brother Jonathan Brother Jonathan is the personification of New England. He was also used as an emblem of the U.S. in general, and can be an allegory of capitalism. His too-short pants, too-tight waistcoat and old-fashioned style reflect his taste for inexpensi ...
'' on July 30, 1865. The loss of prominent people on the steamer was an impetus to the light's approval; nonetheless, it took until 1892 to complete due to the changing availability of federal construction funds. Unlike the typical lighthouse design by federal architect
Ammi B. Young Ammi Burnham Young (June 19, 1798 – March 14, 1874) was a 19th-century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His design of the second Vermont State House brought him fame and su ...
, which consisted of a separate keeper's cottage and light tower, the living quarters and light tower at St. George Reef Light were housed in the same medieval fortress-like structure on top of a high foundation.


Construction

The light was first illuminated on October 20, 1892. It stands above the waterline. The first complete survey of the rock was done in 1882, and construction began in 1883, with the blasting of the reef rock into a stepped pyramid to form the core that anchored the caisson to the rock. The granite was rough quarried at the Mad River quarry and moved by train across the Arcata bottoms. The fully loaded train cars were loaded on barges pulled down the Mad River Slough (not same as the river) and across
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 ...
to the construction yard near the
Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station The Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station was originally built in November 1878 on the north side of the entrance to Humboldt Bay in northern California, United States near Eureka, adjacent to the site of the first Humboldt Harbor Light (1856–1892 ...
at Paysonville. Trained quarrymen smoothed and shaped the blocks to fit the outlines of templates cut by the designers. Each stone had to fit within tight tolerances to provide a seamless wall against the ocean. Construction was erratic for several years due to lack of funds allotted by Congress. Work was finally completed in 1891, but the lighthouse awaited arrival of its lens from France until the following year. When the light finally became operational in 1892, the total construction expense came to $752,000 (equivalent to $ today) making it the most expensive lighthouse ever built in the US and more than double the initial estimate.


Operations

Duty at St. George Reef was among the most difficult of any station, due to its remote location and being surrounded by unpredictable, treacherous seas. Several people died during its construction and operation, dozens resigned or sought transfer, and a few even suffered mental breakdowns. Supplies came by launch, and the entire boat was hooked on the large boom and lifted to a boat deck at the base of the caisson. Storms routinely crested over the top deck of the caisson, and in 1952, storm waves even broke the windows in the lantern room above sea level with seawater streaming down the tower's staircase.


Termination and preservation efforts

The light station was replaced by a "floating lighthouse" buoy and decommissioned in 1975, and its -high first-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1983 for display at the Del Norte County Historical Museum in Crescent City. In 1996, the lighthouse was transferred to the St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society, which conducts ongoing restoration work as well as tours of the site by helicopter from October through June. The lighthouse was relighted on March 10, 2012. The light can be seen from Brookings, Oregon, to Crescent City, California. After 16 years of safe operation and less than a month after the relighting ceremony, the St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society received a cease-and-desist order from the California State Department of Transportation suspending all helicopter flights, both for maintenance and tourism, to the lighthouse. This was due to a lack of a permit-certified heliport. Tours resumed in 2018 after the construction of a heliport at the base of the tower. The lighthouse was listed in 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 ...
, reference number 93001373, on December 9, 1993, and was commemorated on a USPS postage stamp in 2007.


Historical information from USCG web site


See also

* List of lighthouses in the United States * National Register of Historic Places listings in Del Norte County, California


References


External links


St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society

Del Norte County Historical Society


National Archives and Records Administration
St. George Reef Lighthouse
Lighthouse Friends * {{authority control Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Crescent City, California Buildings and structures in Del Norte County, California History of Del Norte County, California Lighthouses completed in 1891 1891 establishments in California National Register of Historic Places in Del Norte County, California