California's lighthouses once guided gold rush ships and saved lives. Now they're mostly guiding tourists to gift shops while slowly collapsing into the Pacific. The Coast Guard has moved on to "virtual buoys," which is bureaucratese for "we give up."
The elimination of on-site supervision led many of these structures to fall into a state of disrepair or become subject to vandalism. Moreover, there are increasing environmental threats, including coastal erosion due to sea level rise and the corrosion of infrastructure, along with extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change.
Though under threat, lighthouses in California have a small and potentially temporary advantage over their cousins on the Atlantic coast. In addition to being relatively newer structures, it is generally accepted in the scientific community that environmental threats from sea level rise are greater on the East Coast. Then, there is the height at which California lighthouses were built, due in part to the geography of the West Coast.
"Lighthouses in California tend to be on higher ground on average, which makes them less vulnerable," said Jeremy D'Entremont, a historian at the U.S. Lighthouse Society. "But the massive wave that hit Point Cabrillo a couple of years ago could be a sign of things to come."
SF Gate
At Point Cabrillo, a single rogue wave slammed through the back doors last year, leaving mud, rocks, and seaweed seven feet high inside a century-old structure. Repairs cost forty thousand dollars, which is less than the cost of a seat at the buffet at Trump's forthcoming Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom, but more than local nonprofits can scrape together. California's lighthouses are surviving on sentimentality, volunteer fundraising, and a prayer that the next king tide doesn't turn them into beachfront rubble.
Previously:
• The lighthouse at Devil's Island
• 'I bought an abandoned lighthouse for $71k and spent $300k making it a home' (video)
• Portable lighthouse keeper libraries of yesteryear
