View source for East Brother Island Light

{{short description|Lighthouse in California, United States}}

{{Infobox lighthouse
| image           = East Brother Light (front view).jpg
| image_width     = 300px
| caption         = Front view of lighthouse.
| location        = East Brother Island<br> [[San Pablo Bay]]<br>[[San Francisco Bay Area]]<br>[[California]]<br>[[United States]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|37.963233|N|122.433643|W|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| yearbuilt       = 1874
| yearlit         =
| automated       = 1969
| yeardeactivated = 
| foundation      = 
| construction    = wooden tower
| shape           = square tower with balcony and lantern attached to a 2-story keeper's house
| marking         = ochre tower with white trim, <br>red lantern
| height          = {{convert|48|ft}}
| focalheight     = {{convert|61|ft}}
| lens            = Fourth order Fresnel lens (original), FA 251{{clarify|reason=what make or type is this lens? Aerobeacon? VRB-25?|date=February 2018}} (current)
| intensity       = 
| range           = 
| characteristic  = Fl W 5s.
| fogsignal       = blast every 30s.
{{Listen
| filename = Original foghorn at East Brother Island Lighthouse.ogg
| title    = Foghorn at East Brother Island
| embed    = yes
}}
| managingagent   = East Brother Light Station<ref>{{Cite rowlett|ca|accessdate=2016-06-10}}</ref>
<ref>[http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHCA.asp California Historic Light Station Information & Photography] United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 10 June 2016</ref>
| module          = {{Infobox NRHP|embed = yes
  | name = East Brother Island Light Station
  | nrhp_type = 
  | designated_other1 = California Historical Landmark
  | designated_other1_number = 951
  | image = 
  | caption = 
  | built = {{Start date|1873}}
  | architect OR builder =
  | architecture =
  | added = February 12, 1971
  | area = {{convert|0.7|acre}}
  | refnum = 71000138<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref>
}} 
}}

'''East Brother Island Lighthouse''' is a [[lighthouse]] located on '''East Brother Island''' in [[San Rafael Bay]], near the tip of [[Point San Pablo]] in [[Richmond, California]]. It marks the entrance to [[San Pablo Bay]] from [[San Francisco Bay]].
[[File:East Brother Light Station map en.png|thumb|300px|Map of East Brother Island]]

Built in 1874 and automated in 1969, the lighthouse was designed in the American [[Stick style]] by [[Paul J. Pelz]], who also designed East Brother Island's sister stations,<ref>{{cite web|title=East Brother - History of an Island Light Station|url=https://www.ebls.org/about/history-of-the-light-station.html|access-date=19 June 2021|author=Frank Perry|archive-date=16 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616221214/https://www.ebls.org/about/history-of-the-light-station.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Point Fermin Light]] in San Pedro CA, [[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 former keeper's house began operating as a [[bed and breakfast]] in 1980.

==History==
Although the U.S. government recognized the need for a light to mark the area, mainland property was not available at a reasonable price. Instead the government turned its attention to the island, which it already owned. Large-scale blasting leveled the island off, and the two-story keeper's house was built with the attached tower and a fog signal building. The lamp was first lit on March 1, 1874.

The light tower is attached to the keeper's house, a two-story Victorian placed on a blasted away {{convert|1|acre|adj=on}} rock. There was an assistant keeper's house, equipment building, cistern, and water tank.  The water cistern was blasted to a depth of {{convert|30|ft}} and is capable of holding {{convert|50000|USgal|m3}} of rainwater.

Two of the most notable lighthouse keepers were John Stenmark and Willard Miller, each of whom logged twenty years of service, more than any other keeper. Originally from Sweden, Stenmark joined the lighthouse service at age twenty and distinguished himself for bravery during a boating accident. He was eventually appointed keeper at East Brother in 1894, and he lived at the station with his wife and four children. Miller began his tenure at East Brother in 1922. During his service the light was upgraded to a fixed, fifth-order [[Fresnel lens]], powered by a 500-watt bulb. The steam fog signal was also converted to a compressor-driven diaphone. A serious accident on March 4, 1940, resulted in a fire that destroyed the island's wharf and boathouse along with four boats.

The [[United States Lighthouse Service]] ran the lighthouse operation until 1939, when the Lighthouse Service merged with the [[United States Coast Guard]]. Large families occupied the lighthouse.  They had to light the original lens wick and keep it filled with [[whale oil]].  On many foggy nights, they would have to fire up the steam boilers to drive the [[foghorn]]s, hauling coal up the long ramp from the boat. After the lighthouse was automated, the government wanted to tear down the keeper's house and other buildings, but protests from local residents prevented the demolition. The lighthouse was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1971.{{r|nris}} After several years of neglect, a non-profit group, East Brother Light Station, Inc., was formed in 1979 to restore the landmark. Government grants, private donations, and volunteer labor restored the structures on the island, which are now used for the bed-and-breakfast.
{{gallery|mode=packed|height=165
|File:East Brother Light on a stormy evening in March.jpg|East Brother Light in 2013
|File:East Brother Island Lighthouse, San Pablo Bay, CA.jpg|The light as seen from the deck of the World War II [[Liberty Ship]] {{SS|Jeremiah O'Brien||6}}
|File:East Brother Light (panoramic view).jpg|Panoramic view of East Brother Island Light Station
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|California|Engineering}}
* [[List of lighthouses in the United States]]
* [[The Brothers (San Francisco Bay)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|East Brother Island Light}}
* [http://www.ebls.org/ East Brother Light Station]
* {{cite uscghist|CA}}
* [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=70 East Brother, CA at LighthouseFriends.com]
* [http://www.us-lighthouses.com/displaypage.php?LightID=25 East Brother Light Station at www.us-lighthouses.com]
* [http://cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/eastbro.htm/ East Brother Island Light at the National Register of Historic Places] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920043207/http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/eastbro.htm |date=2013-09-20 }}

{{Lighthouses of California}}
{{History of Richmond, California}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}
{{Richmond, California}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lighthouses in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Bed and breakfasts in California]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Richmond, California]]
[[Category:San Pablo Bay]]
[[Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, California]]
[[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1874]]
[[Category:1874 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Hotels established in 1980]]
[[Category:1980 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Richmond, California]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Contra Costa County, California]]