Point Cabrillo Light, Wooden lighthouse in Caspar, United States
Point Cabrillo Light is a wooden lighthouse on a sandstone headland about 1.5 miles north of Mendocino, California. The squat tower rises 32 feet to its lantern, placing the light 81 feet above the sea. Twelve of the station's original fifteen buildings remain, including three keeper's houses, and the third-order Fresnel lens with 90 prisms still turns in the lantern.
The lighthouse was built in 1909 to guide lumber ships along the Mendocino coast and fill a gap in navigation aids between two nearby lighthouses. It became part of the rapid expansion of coastal navigation systems along northern California in the early 20th century.
The lighthouse is named after Portuguese navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who explored the California coast. The station reflects the maritime heritage of the 20th century and shows how keepers lived in this remote coastal location.
The grounds are accessible with paths leading around the lighthouse and surrounding buildings, making a self-guided tour possible. A visit works best in clear weather when the coastal views are sharp and the paths are dry.
The third-order Fresnel lens holds 90 lead glass prisms in four panels and weighs 6,800 pounds. Chance Brothers of Birmingham, England, built it and shipped it to Point Cabrillo around Cape Horn. Removed from service in 1972, it was restored and put back into operation in August 1999, on the station's 90th anniversary.
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