Point Fermin Light

Point Fermin Light

Point Fermin Light
Location	Point Fermin San Pedro, Los Angeles California United States
Coordinates	33°42′19″N 118°17′38″W
Tower
Constructed	1874 (first)
Foundation	brick basement
Construction	wooden tower (first) metal pole (current)
Height	30 feet (9.1 m) (first)
Shape	square parallelepiped tower with balcony and lantern (first) pole with light (current)
Markings	white tower, grey trim (first)
Operator	Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks
Point Fermin Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NRHP reference No.	72000234
Added to NRHP	June 13, 1972
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	n/a (current)
Deactivated	1942
Focal height	120 feet (37 m) (current)
Lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	Fl W 10s. (current)

Point Fermin is a lighthouse on Point Fermin in San Pedro, California.

History

The lighthouse was built in 1874 and designed by Paul J. Pelz, who also designed Point Fermin's sister stations, East Brother Island Light in Richmond, California, Mare Island Light, in Carquinez Strait, California (demolished in the 1930s), Point Hueneme Light in California (replaced in 1940), Hereford Inlet Light in North Wildwood, New Jersey, and Point Adams Light in Washington State (burned down by the Lighthouse Service in 1912), all in essentially the same style. The original fourth order Fresnel lens was removed in 1942 and a wood replica lantern was installed in 1974. The lighthouse was saved from demolition in 1972 and refurbished in 1974, and a new lantern room and gallery were built by local preservationists. In 1972, the light was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Information from Coast Guard web site:

• Point Fermin Light was built in 1874 with lumber from California redwoods.
• In 1941 the light was extinguished due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was fear that the light would serve as a beacon for enemy planes and ships. Later, the lantern room and gallery were removed. They were replaced by a lookout shack that remained for the next 30 years, and was referred to as "the chicken coop" by locals.
• In 1972 the light was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
• The light fell into disuse and disrepair. A new lantern room and gallery were built in 1974.
• The building has now been restored to its original state and is open to the public as the Point Fermin Lighthouse Historic Site and Museum.

U.S. Coast Guard Archive

The original Fresnel lens from the lighthouse, removed in the 1940s, had been missing for decades. After being found and positively identified, on November 13, 2006 the lens was relocated to a display in the restored lighthouse museum from the real estate office of Louis Busch in Malibu, California where it had been on display.

The lighthouse is open daily except Monday and holidays.

In 1986, the lighthouse appeared in a second season episode of Amazing Stories, "Magic Saturday".

In June 2011, the General Services Administration made the Point Fermin Light (along with 11 others) available at no cost to public organizations willing to preserve them.

See also

• List of lighthouses in the United States
• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the Harbor area

External links

• Point Fermin Lighthouse official site
• Point Fermin Lighthouse Historic Site and Museum - San Pedro tourism
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: California". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.