When was Point Bonita's Light First Lit?

A man stands in front of the Point Bonita Lighthouse.

From here, you can observe the intricate glass lenses inside the lighthouse. Here is the Fresnel lens inside the lantern room. It is of the second order, first being the largest and brightest. Fresnel lenses are a precision cut system of glass prisms that capture and bend the light into a straight powerful beam. On February 2, 1877 this light was lit, 22 years after the construction of the original Point Bonita lighthouse.

Look to your right and observe the top of the radar tower.

That is approximately where the original lighthouse was built.

The Keeper's job was to light the lamp at sunset and make sure the lamps burned brightly throughout the night. They were called "wickies" because it was critical to keep the lamp wick trimmed "just right" to create the brightest flame possible without producing smoke or soot. But even under the best of conditions the lenses and lamp room windows were continuously fouled by sea spray and soot-and had to be cleaned continuously. This delicate task required the keepers to wear cleaning coats made of fine patterned linen, without metal buttons to avoid scratching the glass. Indeed, even wiping the dust improperly could scratch the lens. It was painstaking, repetitive work and the pay was low. During the Gold Rush, west coast "Wickies" were paid more in hopes of enticing them not to run off to the gold fields.

It wasn't until 1930 that most lighthouses changed from lamps to electricity. Point Bonita was the last lighthouse along the California coast to have an on-duty light keeper; it was finally automated in April 1981. And then, the long dark nights of keeping the light on were over.

Now, please walk to the next sign at the railing facing the ocean.