Lighthouse on Pacific coast. Point Montara Lighthouse, Pacific Ocean, California
Many have heard of the following remark, attributed incorrectly to Mark Twain: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” While the coast near San Francisco is not really subject to the arctic temperatures Twain complained of, the climate is conducive to heavy fog, and heavy fog, as every mariner knows, is conducive to shipwrecks. For years, vessels caught in the pea-soup fog along the final approach to San Francisco Bay were forced to hug the coast, putting them in danger of the rocky outcroppings that provide beautiful vistas to sightseers, but prove deadly to boats. Although by the mid-1800s almost ninety vessels had met the business end of the jagged rocks off Montara, it wasn’t until two high profile incidents in 1868 and 1872 that Congress was finally propelled into action. Work at Point Montara began in October 1874. The station’s two-story keeper’s dwelling, built in the Victorian Gothic style common to the day and reminiscent of many New England keeper’s dwellings, was completed the following February, and the fog signal was placed in operation on March 1, 1875. Point Montara’s twelve-inch steam whistle emitted a five-second blast that could be heard up to fifteen miles away.
Size: 5000px × 3337px
Location: Located approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco off Highway 1.
Photo credit: © lucky-photographer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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