St. George Reef Light, Historic lighthouse on North West Seal Rock, California.
St. George Reef Light stands on North West Seal Rock, a rock only 300 feet (100 m) across, about six miles (10 km) off Crescent City. Its medieval fortress-like tower, with living quarters and lantern in one structure, rises from a 50-foot (15 m) foundation blasted into a stepped pyramid. The tower is built of 1,339 dressed granite blocks from the Mad River quarry, and its focal plane is 144 feet (44 m) above the waterline.
Construction began in 1883 following multiple shipwrecks in the area, particularly the loss of the Brother Jonathan. The project was undertaken to prevent further maritime disasters in this treacherous region.
The first-order Fresnel lens, 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, was removed in 1983 and is displayed at the Del Norte County Historical Museum in Crescent City. The lighthouse appeared on a USPS postage stamp in 2007, and the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 9, 1993, reference number 93001373.
The lighthouse stands on North West Seal Rock, about 12 miles northwest of Crescent City Harbor, and is reached only by helicopter; the Preservation Society runs tours from October through June. Flights were suspended in 2012 for lack of a certified heliport and resumed in 2018 after one was built at the tower's base.
The 1,339 dressed granite blocks were cut at the Mad River quarry and carried by train, barge and sloop to the rock, each fitted to templates within tight tolerances. In 1952 storm waves broke the lantern-room windows 150 feet (46 m) above the sea, sending seawater down the tower staircase.
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