Point Reyes Lighthouse: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Point Reyes National Seashore, National Park Service

Germano, Vida

The lighthouse tower is located on a rocky exposed promontory 240 feet above the ocean. The equipment building and the transformer building are also located at the level of the lighthouse tower, in close proximity. The remainder of the light station’s buildings are located at the top of the point 300’ above the lighthouse tower. A flight of concrete stairs and series of ramps drop 300 feet from the top of the point to the lower level where the lighthouse tower and adjacent buildings are located. This concentration of historic buildings is clustered at the lower level. When viewed from the top of the site, this cluster of buildings presents a cohesive picture of the historic light station and retains a high level of architectural integrity. Point Reyes Light Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. The boundary of the Point Reyes Light Station includes the buildings and immediate setting historically associated with the complex. Point Reyes Light Station is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A (association with historic events) and Criterion C (significant design). Under Criterion A, the light station is significant for its association with maritime transportation in California and the navigational aids that facilitated shipping, trade, and commerce. Under Criterion C, Point Reyes Light Station is significant as the only remaining operable lighthouse of its type on the West Coast. A classic West Coast lighthouse, it is of iron plate construction and retains the original fresnel lens and counterweight works. The Period of Significance is defined as 1870 to 1957. The date 1870 marks the initiation of site work, blasting, grading, and leveling. The date 1870 is also the construction date of the major elements of the Point Reyes Light Station, i.e., lighthouse, dwellings, wooden stairs, ramps, retaining walls, and fences. The end date of 1957 was chosen as it marks the initiation of planning for the modernization campaign of the 1960s, which was the last major building effort at the light station. Today, the light station reflects many of the qualities that characterized it during the period of significance. The extant historic structures, including the Lighthouse Tower, the Equipment Building, the Transformer Building, the Multi‑Purpose Building, and a number of smaller utility buildings, help convey the design, character, and functional relationships of the light station. The water catchment and storage system needed to power the steam fog signal in the light station’s early decades is visible in two large concrete catchments and two cisterns, as well as a number of remnant fixtures of the water conveyance system. The extensive blasting and shaping of the point’s rock surface is a testament to the challenges of building at such an inhospitable location. Furthermore, historic patterns of spatial organization, circulation, and vegetation remain discernable, providing a physical context for the site’s buildings and structures and helping to convey the site’s design, feeling, and historic associations. These qualities are further enhanced by the natural setting of the light station, which has changed little since the historic period.

Point Reyes Lighthouse: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Point Reyes National Seashore, National Park Service

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