Anacapa Island Light, Lighthouse in Ventura County, United States
Anacapa Island Light is a concrete lighthouse on the eastern side of Anacapa Island within Channel Islands National Park. The structure stands about 14 meters tall and marks a key navigation point in the Santa Barbara Channel for passing vessels.
The facility began operating in 1912 to warn ships about dangerous waters and reefs in the region. Its construction followed a series of shipwrecks and accidents that demonstrated the need for navigation aid at this location.
The name Anacapa comes from a Chumash word recorded as Enecapah, rendered by Captain George Vancouver and often translated as "ever changing". The light's signature is three one-tenth-second white flashes followed by long dark intervals, and its diaphragm foghorn sounds two two-second blasts in low visibility. Coast Guard crews and their families once lived in four white stucco houses with red tile roofs beside the tower.
The lighthouse stands on East Anacapa, the easternmost of three islets, about 14 km across the Santa Barbara Channel from the mainland and southwest of Ventura. The tower and foghorn building sit on the island's high point, reached on foot from the landing; the other station buildings are used by the National Park Service.
The structure was built entirely from concrete and is one of the few lighthouses on the California coast constructed this way. It remains operational today and is maintained by the United States Coast Guard.
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