Author Description

In 1854 a contractor's crew from the eastern United States came to San Diego to build the port's first lighthouse. They worked hard and built well, for the brick and sandstone structure they erected survived the onslaught of storms, earthquakes, neglect, and vandalism, and today still stands, with most of its original material intact. for 36 years this 19th century lighthouse, resting near the end of a long high peninsula called Point Loma, guided ships along the coast of California and into San Diego Harbor. But the real story of this Cape Cod structure is not that of a lighthouse faithfully performing its task; all lighthouses do that. The real significance of the old structure is in its creation. The lighthouse was one of the first of eight built on the United States Pacific Coast. Since all eight were built by one firm under one contract, the old building stands today as a symbol of the nation's first successful effort to obtain navigational aids for the newly acquired west coast.