Point Cabrillo Light Station

Point Cabrillo Light Station occupies a grassy mesa about 60 feet above the Pacific near Caspar, in Mendocino County. Its first light shone on June 10, 1909, filling a 115-mile gap in coastal lighting between Point Arena and Cape Mendocino. Small lumber schooners hugging the shore to reach the narrow doghole ports relied on it. The station is laid out in a line running inland from the cliffs, led by a wood tower attached to a fog-signal building that resembles a church with a steeple. Behind it stand three two-story Craftsman keepers' houses, an oil house, a carpenter's shop, storage buildings, a pump house and a water tank. The tower still holds its original 3rd order Fresnel lens. Only the barn from the original station is gone, and no modern buildings intrude. The station was recognized for its link to the timber economy and maritime transportation, and for its remarkably complete early 20th century architecture, including massive timber brackets and wood shingle siding.