Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Named After an 1853 Wreck, Ready for Restoration

Good news for lighthouse fans: California State Parks has just announced the selection of a contractor to rehabilitate the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, located within Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park. The $16 million rehabilitation project will start construction in early 2024 and is expected to be completed within two years.

The 115-foot structure is the tallest operating lighthouse on the West Coast. It was open to the public until late 2001, when it was closed because of safety concerns after two large pieces of brick and iron fell from the top of the structure.

The Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero was first lit on November 15, 1872, after being built following the 1853 wreck of the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon. The Carrier Pigeon was on her maiden voyage after launch in Bath, ME, in 1852, sailing all the way around Cape Horn bound for San Francisco. On a foggy June 6 night they tacked east, thinking they were far offshore. After running aground only 500 feet from shore, all hands abandoned ship and scrambled to safety. Perhaps rushing for the gold fields in California contributed to the wreck? There were no brewpubs in Half Moon Bay at the time, so we suspect the shipwrecked sailors made their way to the Sierra pretty quickly.

With the advent of GPS and digital aviation tools, lighthouses up and down all US coasts have had their lights extinguished over the past 50 years. Some have been sold off, others demolished, some repurposed like the Southampton Shoal Lighthouse now resting on Tinsley Island in the Delta, or Quinn’s Lighthouse in Oakland, which was originally the Oakland Harbor Entrance Lighthouse built in 1903. Nonprofits have maintained others, and some are part of the national or state park system.

Despite lighthouses and GPS, bad luck and mistakes still happen. We remember when a catamaran, built in South Africa, was sailing all the way here from South Africa (through the Panama Canal) in the ’90s. The boat was to be on display at Pacific Sail Expo at Jack London Square. They almost made it, but ran aground even closer to the Gate, so the heavily damaged cat couldn’t be in the show. We believe it was later salvaged and able to sail again.

If all goes according to plan, California State Parks will be looking to reopen public access to the lighthouse in 2026, and sailors should continue to see the light as they sail south for years to come. You can learn more from the Coastside State Parks Association here, or get updates on the Pigeon Point restoration here.