The Santa Barbara Lighthouse is located between the East Mesa and West Mesa neighborhoods, approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of the Santa Barbara Harbor in Santa Barbara, California. The light was established on December 1, 1856. The U.S. Lighthouse Service, a precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard, selected the site to serve as both a seacoast and harbor light. Recognizing the benefits of a navigational aid, Santa Barbara’s municipal authorities conveyed up to 30 acres (12 ha) of land at no cost.

George Nagle of San Francisco was contracted to build the lighthouse for $8,000. The design was similar to most early West Coast lighthouses, featuring a Cape Cod-style structure with a light tower projecting from the middle of a one-and-a-half-story keeper’s dwelling. On December 19, 1856, a fixed red light was displayed from a fourth-order Fresnel lens in the tower’s lantern room. The first keeper was Albert Williams, who was replaced after four years by a succession of short-term keepers. In 1865, the position was offered again to Williams, who declined, but his wife, Julia, accepted. She maintained the light by herself for the next 40 years, retiring in 1905 at the age of 81.

On June 29, 1925, at 6:45 a.m., a severe earthquake struck the area. Lightkeeper Raymond Weeks was thrown from his makeshift bed in an outbuilding, where he had been forced to spend the night due to a large number of relatives staying over after a gathering the previous evening. Concerned for his family’s safety, Weeks ran to the lighthouse and ushered everyone outside. Moments later, the tower and lantern collapsed, followed by the dwelling’s walls. The Fresnel lens shattered, and the structure was a total loss, though fortunately, everyone escaped injury. A temporary frame tower was erected until a new lighthouse could be built. The current light stands on a bluff within a fenced Coast Guard compound, which includes housing and a playground. Read more here and here. Explore more of Santa Barbara Light here: