There are a couple of theories as to why Point Pinos Lighthouse is situated almost a quarter-mile inland instead of directly on the beach. We do know that the builders chose this location from among three possibilities. It's possible that the rocks just offshore were too small and would have been difficult to build on, not to mention difficult to supply once the lighthouse was built. The rocky shoreline also tends to erode, which would have made an unstable base for a lighthouse intended to last hundreds of years. Or, the added height of the inland slope would have helped to make the light visible farther out to sea. Finally, the lighthouse's current location was (and still is) easily accessible by road from Monterey and Pacific Grove, making it easier to haul heavy building stones and supplies.
It's pronounced "PEE-nose" and spelled PINOS (without a tilde over the letter N). Sometimes you'll see it spelled incorrectly as piños (with a tilde) or hear people pronounce in peen-YOS. Both are incorrect. Pinos is the Spanish word for "pine tree," but there is no such word as piños.
Point Pinos is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the West Coast because it's not the oldest lighthouse ever built, but it is the oldest one that has never been torn down or decommissioned. In fact, it's rarely even been turned off; it has operated virtually non-stop since it was first lit in 1855 — a span of over 150 years!
For the record, the lighthouse on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay was built just 8 months before Point Pinos, and there was briefly a lighthouse in Sitka, Alaska built in 1837. Both of those were demolished (the Alcatraz lighthouse was later rebuilt in its current location). In contrast, Point Pinos is still in its original form and active to this day. That makes it the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast.
You betcha. Unlike many old lighthouses, Point Pinos is still an active "aid to navigation," meaning it's a real, working lighthouse that mariners and ship captains still use. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is maintained by the US Coast Guard, just like all active lighthouses and navigational aids.
Not all ships and boats have GPS (satellite positioning) receivers, and even the ones that do need a backup in case it fails. Sailboats, in particular, rely on the lighthouse for navigation.
A Fresnel lens is what makes a lighthouse work. Without it, a lighthouse — any lighthouse — is just a small light shining in the darkness. To make the light visible from 10–20 miles out to sea, it must be focused into a narrow beam, somewhat like a laser. The lens was invented by French physicist and mathematician Augustin-Jean Fresnel (say "fruh-NELL"), and it uses several curved glass lenses that focus the light from an open flame (and later, light bulbs) into a strong beam that cuts through thick fog. Before long, nearly all lighthouses around the world used Fresnel lenses.
Not anymore. The lighthouse used to be continuously occupied from when it was first lit in 1855, until the last keeper left in 1975. From that point on, the lighthouse was automated and no longer required a live-in lighthouse keeper.
Number of female keepers: Two (Charlotte Layton and Emily Fish)
Latitude / longitude: 36.633400° North, -121.933680° West
Brightness: 50,000 candlepower
Elevation: 49 feet above sea level
Elevation of the light: 89 feet
Characteristic: 3 secs on/1 sec off
Fog signal: None; discontinued in 1993
Decommissioned: never; light is still active aid to navigation
*Although the lighthouse wasn't completed until 1855, Charles Layton was employed by the US Lighthouse Service to oversee its construction beginning in 1853.
Your tax-deductible donation is applied 100% toward restoration materials.
Lighthouse Trivia
Point Pinos still has its original Fresnel lens, which was manufactured by Leturneau & Lapaute in Paris, France at a cost of $3810. The lens was then shipped "around the horn" (of South America) to San Francisco and brought overland to Point Pinos.
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