• James Mann
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  • Added 14 Jun 2019
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Piedras Blancas Light Station

... the ornate, 100-foot-tall, tapered cylindrical, Piedras Blancas Lighthouse near San Simeon, California, was lit by a first-order Fresnel lens, in 1875. It was one of only three... tall, "East Coast" style, light towers built along the entire Pacific Coast. The following year, in 1876, a 12 room Victorian keeper's house was built adjacent, preceding additional structures, constructed as the number of personnel increased, with the erection of a fog horn building and further expansion of ancillary services. In 1948, an offshore earthquake, magnitude 4.6, terminally damaged the upper third of the tower and the elegant lantern room was dismantled and removed. The tower was capped at 70 feet and a simple aircraft beacon installed as a substitute to reconstruction. The elaborate Victorian structures were demolished in 1960 by the Coast Guard and replaced by 4, non-descript, one-story buildings. The Coast Guard automated the light in 1975 and then departed. The Piedras Blancas Light Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and ownership transferred to the Bureau of Land Management in 2001, with a 476 acre perimeter desginated as a wildlife sanctuary. ... illustrated... the Piedras Blancas Light Station as it appeared, circa 1910. The orginal Fresnel lamp assembly was salvaged and is currently on display in the nearby village of Cambria. The site itself (Piedras Blancas = White Rock) is named after the appearance of a massive, guano coated, rock formation... frequently harvested, back in the day, for it's highly desirable qualities as an organic fertilizer... sitting directly offshore of the point.

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Anonymous Guest

Mike Bennett 14 May 2023

This a beautiful lighthouse scene in watercolors.

Ginger Olansen 29 Apr 2020

My fav and pic of the day! Fantastic, amazing work!

Marie josé LAURIER 15 Jun 2019

VERY NICE PAINTING .. CHOSEN AS MY PIC

cervantes wu 14 Jun 2019

beautiful color water and like it !

Linda Hammar-Del Favero 14 Jun 2019

Beautiful light house painting with perfect balance between sky and water. Enjoyable to look at.