Point Sur Light Station

The bronze stands at the foot of a rock 361 feet high, tied to the shore by a sandbar, and like the station above it is reached only on a docent-led tour. The site was reserved in 1866, and Congress paid for the light twenty years later, eleven years after the steamer Ventura went aground just north of the point. The summit was then ten to twelve feet wide. Crews leveled it, built in sandstone, and ran a tramway up from the base for supplies. The lamp was lit in 1889. A National Register plaque shares the boulder.

What the plaque says

Point Sur Light Station Spanish explorers and later New England hide and tallow traders found the Big Sur coastline a great hazard. Heavy fogs and extreme winds caused the wreck of many vessels on this coast. The Gold Rush of 1849 dramatically increased coastal shipping. A lighthouse was clearly needed. President Andrew Johnson signed the executive order which reserved the site for lighthouse purposes in 1866. Construction began in 1887 and the lamp was lit on August 1, 1889. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 951 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Central Coast Lighthouse Keepers. September 28, 1994 This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo — 16 mi
• Royal Presidio Chapel of San Carlos Borroméo — 20 mi
• Gutiérrez Adobe — 20 mi
• House of Four Winds — 20 mi