ANAHEIM, Calif.—Lighthouses can capture people’s imaginations like few other buildings do, perhaps because they bring to mind images of lonely lightkeepers, rocky cliffs, crashing waves, and lamps piercing the darkness during a storm.
And that may be why it’s surprising that so few people know about the Point Fermin Lighthouse, on an especially picturesque point in San Pedro, near Los Angeles Harbor.
This Victorian landmark has been visible from the sea below for 150 years, although its lamp hasn’t been lit since the end of World War II.
And the city of Los Angeles, which owns the lighthouse and surrounding scenic park, offers tours to visitors, showing how the lighthouse worked and generations of families lived there while they took care of the light.
Even better, the tours are free. You can make an advance reservation, or show up and hope they have room for you. The building is small and the stairs are tight, so they only accept a limited number of guests at a time.
The lighthouse is furnished to show visitors what it would have looked like during its heyday, although none of the furniture is original to the site. Lighthouse keepers were expected to bring their own furniture, and took it with them when they left.
Construction began after prominent businessman Phineas Banning persuaded the government to build a navigational aid to help sailors find the growing Los Angeles harbor. On Dec. 15, 1874, its oil lantern with a Fresnel lens was lit for the first time.
The building, with two floors of living space and the lantern tower, was designed by Paul J. Pelz, who between 1873 and 1874 built six lighthouses of the same design, including one in San Francisco. The Victorian structure had porches and trim, called the Stick style, less ornate than the more familiar Queen Anne. It was built mostly of redwood, with some fir and mahogany.
The people who ran the lighthouse were federal employees called lighthouse keepers. They even had spiffy blue uniforms with brass buttons that the men were required to wear, but the women were not. There is an example of the uniforms on-site that today’s visitors can try on.
Lighthouse keepers lived in the building with their families, and it required two keepers to run it, over two shifts per day. The first lighthouse keepers were women.
Mary and Ella Smith were sisters and came from a lighthouse family. They lived on the then-isolated point overlooking the Pacific Ocean for eight years.There were differing accounts of why they left. One version says they grew tired of living so far from town. It was 14 miles round-trip to Wilmington in a horse and buggy—an all-day excursion. The other version is that one sister got married and the other was driven out by the man who replaced her, who hectored officials about having a female there until she finally left.
Altogether, three families lived in the house and kept the light going, including the Austin family of eight children. The house had no running water until 1910, and it used a cistern system to collect rare rainwater.
After 1925, the city of Los Angeles ran the lighthouse until 1941. On Dec. 7, 1941, the lighthouse went dark along with the rest of the coast, to avoid drawing Japanese aircraft fire. The light was never lit again.
The military took over the building for military operations, as a signal and lookout tower for ships coming into the harbor. The lens and lantern room atop the tower were removed. It was turned back over to the city of Los Angeles after the war, and was occupied by city staff.
Happily, the building was restored to its former glory for its 100th anniversary in 1974, and it’s been open to the public since 2003. The interior is open only during public tours, conducted by docents.
At this writing, tours were conducted six days per week, at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Reservations are not required. The building is closed on Mondays, holidays and for special events. It’s located in Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. The park has picnic tables and beautiful ocean views.
If You Go
Point Fermin Lighthouse Historic Site and Museum807 Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro, California
