Trinidad Head Light
Trinidad Memorial Light (replica) in 2004
LocationTrinidad
California
United States
Coordinates41°3′7.0″N 124°9′5.2″W / 41.051944°N 124.151444°W / 41.051944; -124.151444
Tower
Constructed1866 (first)
Foundationstone basement
Constructionbrick
Automated1974
Height25 feet (7.6 m)
Shapesquare pyramidal tower
OperatorU.S. Bureau of Land Management[1][2]
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Fog signaloriginal: bell
current: horn, 1 blast every 30s.
Light
First lit1871 (current)
Focal height196 feet (60 m)
LensFourth order Fresnel lens (1898), 14.8 inches (375 mm) optic (current)
Range14 nautical miles (26 km; 16 mi)
CharacteristicOc W 4s.
Trinidad Head Light Station
Nearest cityTrinidad, California
Area20 acres (8.1 ha)
Architectural styleLighthouse
MPSLight Stations of California MPS
NRHP reference No.91001098[3]
Added to NRHPSeptember 3, 1991

Trinidad Head Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse in Trinidad, California. It is 20 miles (32 km) north of Eureka, California, built in 1871.[4][5]

History

The low, square, brick tower, painted white, was built in 1871.[5] The light is only 20 feet (6.1 m) above ground, but the headland on which it stands gives it an elevation of 196 feet (60 m) above the sea.[4] Despite the great height above the sea, heavy seas have been known to reach it. A huge wave hit the lighthouse at about 4:40pm local time on the afternoon of 31 December 1913.[6] In 1914,[7] the keeper made the following report:

"At 4:40 p. m. I observed a sea of unusual height. When it struck the bluff the jar was very heavy. The lens immediately stopped revolving. The sea shot up the face of the bluff and over it, until the solid sea seemed to me to be on a level with where I stood in the lantern. The sea itself fell over onto the top of the bluff and struck the tower about on a level with the balcony. The whole point between the tower and the bluff was buried in water."[8]

The wave he described was the highest recorded wave on the coast.[9] After the sea struck the lighthouse and extinguished the light, service was restored in four hours by Lightkeeper F.L. Harrington, the keeper from 1888 to 1916.[9]

Buildings and structures

The historic Bell House, the current location of the fog signal

The station originally consisted of the small two-story light tower, a single Victorian residence, and a small barn. In 1898, a bell house was constructed, and a 4,000-pound (1,800 kg) bell was added that was operated by weights. A second keeper was assigned at that time, and the quarters were expanded to accommodate two families. In 1947, the fog signal changed to an air horn. In 1949, the Trinidad Civic Club constructed a facsimile of the tower in a park overlooking the harbor and installed the original lens in its structure as a memorial to those lost or buried at sea. The 4,000-pound bell is displayed alongside the tower. In the late 1960s, the Coast Guard razed the original dwelling and barn and constructed the present triplex. The fog signal was discontinued when the station was automated in 1974. Complaints from the citizens of Trinidad Head were so vocal that the Coast Guard installed the present ELG 300, operated by a fog detector. The new fog signal is operated in the original bell house. The original tower remains essentially unchanged.[5]

The replica building along with the original lens was moved to tribal land at the bottom of the unstable bluff to prevent possible loss due to erosion.[10]

Head keepers

  • Jeremiah Kiler (1871 – 1888)
  • William A. Henderson (1888)
  • Frederick L. Harrington (1888 – 1916)
  • Josephine I. Harrington (1916)
  • Edward Wiborg (1916 – at least 1930)
  • Malcolm Cady (at least 1932 – 1940)
  • Perry S. Hunter (1940 - at least 1946)[11]

National Register listing

The lighthouse was listed as Trinidad Head Light Station on the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 1991, reference number 91001098. The 1900 fog-signal building is a contributing building, and the 1871 lighthouse tower is listed as a contributing structure. The 1969 keeper's building, which replaced the original keeper's residence, is non-contributing to the listing.

See also

Other historic lighthouses in Humboldt County:

References

  1. ↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern California". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ California Historic Light Station Information & Photography United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 18 June 2016
  3. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Light List, Volume VI, Pacific Coast and Pacific Islands (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: California". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Marine Exchange Shipping News". The San Francisco Examiner. No. Coast News Notes, Eureka, page 17, column 5. The San Francisco Examiner newspaper. January 9, 1914. p. 17.
  7. ↑ "Trinidad Head Lighthouse Trinidad California Landmark". www.trinidadcalif.com. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ Fradkin, Philip L. (May 12, 1997). The seven states of California: a natural and human history. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 474. ISBN 978-0520209428.
  9. 1 2 "Trinidad Head Light". Lighthouses of Humboldt County. Humboldt County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  10. ↑ https://m.northcoastjournal.com/NewsBlog/archives/2018/01/10/trinidad-memorial-lighthouse-moved
  11. ↑ Trinidad Head, CA Lighrhouse Friends. Retrieved 18 June 2016
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