Point Pinos Lighthouse, Historic lighthouse in Pacific Grove, California, US

Point Pinos Lighthouse is a white clapboard building on a concrete base with a grey shingled roof, from whose left side a cylindrical tower rises. The tower carries a glass lantern room with a black gallery deck and a green domed roof with a finial. Green trim frames the windows and the front door on the left facade, a red brick chimney stands on the roof ridge right of the tower, and wooden scaffolding rests on the roof beside it.

The light was built in 1855 as one of the first to be funded after California became a state. It remains the oldest continuously operating light on the West Coast and marks a key moment in early American coastal navigation history.

The light's most famous keeper was Emily Fish, head keeper from 1893 to 1914, nicknamed the "Socialite Keeper" for the guests she entertained at the lighthouse. Robert Louis Stevenson visited keeper Allen Luce in 1879 and later wrote about the light in From Scotland to Silverado.

Tours run on Saturdays and Sundays, so plan a weekend visit rather than a weekday one. The lighthouse stands within the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links; keep to paths and watch for golfers. The light sits 89 feet (27 m) above sea level, and coastal wind is common, so bring a layer.

The third-order Fresnel lens, with its prisms and mechanism, was made in France in 1853 and was originally intended for the Fort Point Lighthouse in San Francisco. A delay in its shipment led to its installation here instead, and it remains in the tower today.