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 Old Point Loma Light shown below, were built in 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 on the Pacific coast. This page includes the lighthouses of the Southern California coast from the Mexican border north through San Luis Obispo County. Lighthouses of Northern California are on a separate page. Interest in lighthouses is certainly high in California and new lighthouses have been built recently in Santa Cruz and Long Beach. Local governments and preservation groups have worked to save nearly all the major lighthouses. 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 Southern California are maintained by the Eleventh Coast Guard District, which has Aids to Navigation Teams based at San Diego and Long Beach. 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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![]() Long Beach Lions Light, Long Beach, September 2007 ex-Flickr Creative Commons photo by Dana Robinson |
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![]() Angel's Gate Light, Los Angeles, January 2015 Flickr public domain photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
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![]() Anacapa Island Light, Channel Islands National Park, August 2012 Flickr Creative Commons photo by J. Stephen Conn |
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Inland Southern California Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Northern California | East: Arizona | South: Northwestern Baja California
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted May 2005. Checked and revised October 25, 2019. Lighthouses: 34. Site copyright 2019 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.