The Port Pinos Lighthouse was lit on February 1, 1855. The light is a third-order
Fresnel lens, with
lenses, prisms and mechanism manufactured in
France in 1853. A larger, second-order light had been planned, but delay in shipment caused the present light, originally destined for the
Fort Point Lighthouse in
San Francisco, to be installed instead.
Alcatraz Island Lighthouse in
San Francisco Bay preceded Point Pinos by eight months, but was replaced in 1909 by the expanding military prison. The first Point Pinos light source was a
whale oil lantern set inside the lens, whose tank the keeper had to climb the tower to fill several times a night. Whale oil was very expensive and was soon replaced by liquified
lard oil, which gave way to
kerosene in 1880. At the turn of the century, an incandescent
vapor lamp was used, followed by electric lights in 1919. From 1912 to 1940 a falling weight mechanism rotated a metal shutter around the light, causing the beam to be cut off to seaward for 10 out of every 30 seconds. It was replaced by a timed "on/off" switch. In 1874 Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove, named for the Point Pinos Lighthouse, was laid out to ferry supplies and construction materials from the port at Monterey to the lighthouse. The point was a part of the
Rancho Punta de Pinos Mexican land grant made to José María Armenta in 1833, and regranted to José Abrego in 1844. In 1850, after the
Mexican–American War and the American acquisition of
Alta California, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of lighthouses on the West Coast. In 1852, the
Secretary of the Treasury ordered the building of seven beacons along the California coast, one of which was to be located at Point Pinos, the dangerous southern entrance to
Monterey Bay. The government purchased of the Rancho Punta de los Pinos for this purpose, with an additional being purchased later on. Construction began in 1853, but difficulties with the delivery of the lenses and prisms from France delayed the opening of the lighthouse until 1855. The first lightkeeper was Charles Layton, appointed to the post at $1,000 per year. He was killed in 1855 while serving as a member of the sheriff's posse chasing the notorious outlaw,
Anastacio Garcia. He was succeeded by his widow, Charlotte, who remained head lightkeeper until 1860, when she married her assistant, George Harris.
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote of visiting lightkeeper Allen Luce in 1879 after a long walk through the woods from
Monterey, praising Luce's hospitality, piano playing, ship models and oil paintings. He wrote about the light in his book
From Scotland to Silverado. The most famous lightkeeper was Mrs.
Emily Fish, who served from 1893 to 1914. She was called the "Socialite Keeper" due to her love of entertaining guests at the lighthouse. Point Pinos Lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. == Image gallery ==