Formerly a Mexican territory, California became part of the U.S. after the Mexican War of 1848. The famous Gold Rush began in 1849 and the first lighthouses were built a few years later. These early lights, like the Point Pinos Light at right and the Battery Point Light shown near the bottom of the page, were built in a what was then a typical New England style. Ironically there are no examples of this style surviving in New England, so the only place to see these traditional New England lighthouses is in California. This page includes the lighthouses of the northern California coasts from Monterey County north to the Oregon border. This area includes about two thirds of the state and includes the San Francisco Bay metropolitan area. Lighthouses of Southern California are on a separate page. Interest in lighthouses is certainly high in California and several new lighthouses have been built recently including one in Santa Cruz. Although there is no state lighthouse society there are local preservation groups for nearly all of the major lights. Navigational aids in the United States are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. Aids to navigation in California are maintained by the Eleventh Coast Guard District with Aids to Navigation Teams at San Francisco and Humboldt Bay. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. USCG numbers are from Vol. VI of the USCG Light List.
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![]() Point Sur Light, Big Sur, November 2007 ex-Flickr Creative Commons photo by Curtis Brown |
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![]() Fort Point Light under the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, December 2013 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Scott Johnson |
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![]() East Brother Island Light, Richmond, March 2013 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Frank Schulenburg |
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![]() Sunset at Point Cabrillo Light, Mendocino, November 2007 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Matthew High |
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![]() Table Bluff Light, Woodley Island, January 2018 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Frank Schulenburg. |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
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Adjoining pages: North: Oregon | East: Nevada | South: Southern California
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Checked and revised December 30, 2021. Lighthouses: 39. Lightships: 1. Site copyright 2021 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.