Posted today are photographs from Point Arena Lighthouse. Work on the original station started in
September of 1869. The light was
exhibited for the first time in May of 1870.
Inside the lens room atop the tower was a first order Fresnel lens
shipped to the California coastline from Paris.
The Fresnel lens is over six feet in diameter and weighs 4,700
pounds. The lens is comprised of 258
hand-ground glass prisms fashioned into three sets of double bulls eyes. Before being supplied with electricity and an
electric light, an oil lamp was used to provide light for the lens.
In June of 1977 an automated aircraft beacon was set on the tower
balcony and the first order Fresnel lens fell out of use. The lens was later dismantled, dropped down
to ground level by crane, and reassembled in the museum below the tower.
First Order Fresnel
Lens
Point Arena Lighthouse
Point Arena Coastline
Coastal Mountains
from atop the Lighthouse
Looking Downcoast
from the Lighthouse Balcony
—Mitchell Hegman
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