slgwv

slgwv club

Posted: 06 Mar 2020


Taken: 04 Nov 2019

8 favorites     3 comments    425 visits

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Tolerance Tolerance


Geotagged Geotagged


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lighthouse
California
USA
Golden Gate
Point Bonita
0098


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Point Bonita lighthouse

Point Bonita lighthouse
On the north side of the entrance to the Golden Gate. It's been operating since 1855; first with whale oil (to 1870), then kerosene (to 1913), then oil vapor, and finally (since 1927) an electric incandescent lamp. It's still in operation, but is now fully automated, the last lighthouse keeper leaving in 1982. It was the last lighthouse on the US west coast to be automated.
One weekend day it's partly open for tours, with docents available, and I lucked out when I happened to be there! The light is perched on some tall offshore rocks, and is accessed by a rather spectacular footbridge (left insets). At night in a storm it must have been exciting, to put it mildly! The right inset shows some gargoyle drains over the windows, which were supposed to help wash the salt off the windows, but according to the docents didn't work very well. The building below (inset below left), which is not open to the public, used to house a steam engine which (among other things) ran the foghorns. The keeper's cottage, however, was torn down. There are still foghorns operating, but they're electrically powered and on the pylons of the Golden Gate Bridge. The conditions today show why they're still necessary!
Presumably the name is a partial translation of an original Spanish "Punta Bonita," "bonita" meaning "pretty" in Spanish. It was originally a diminutive of "good" and is thus equivalent to the Scottish "bonny."

Frans Schols, Berny, Smiley Derleth, Blue rubber octopus and 4 other people have particularly liked this photo


Comments
 Pam J
Pam J club
I LOVE THIS LIGHT !
4 years ago.
 William Sutherland
William Sutherland club
Excellent shots and info! HFF!

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4 years ago.
 slgwv
slgwv club
Thanks, everyone! It's an interesting contrast to metropolitan San Francisco--worth visiting if you're in the area!
4 years ago.

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