S.B. Historical Society

The lighthouse complex at Point Conception.

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Point Conception is known as the “Cape Horn of the Pacific.” More ominously, it has also been christened the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” The headland marks the western entrance of the Santa Barbara Channel as the coastline changes from a north-south to an east-west orientation. It seems as if the northwest gales never stop and the seas are often storm-lashed and fog-enshrouded. It can be a treacherous place and so the federal government decided, in 1852, to construct a lighthouse there.

This proved to be easier said than done. Construction supplies were freighted by ship down from San Francisco and off-loaded through the surf at Cojo Landing, just to the west of Point Conception. The supplies were then put in wagons for the difficult journey to the point through deep sand that often reached the hubs of the wagons’ wheels. High winds also posed problems, but work proceeded and, in 1854, a 1 1/2-story wooden structure surmounted by a brick tower was completed.

But there were two serious problems. The federal inspector refused to sign off on the job. The tower as built was not large enough to hold the light, which was already on order. The tower was also unstable; the mortar between the bricks, damaged by seawater in transit, was already eroding badly. A new tower had to be built.

Early in 1855, the first lighthouse keeper, George Parkinson, arrived, but the light had not. Parkinson ended up spending months at the point, without duties or pay. Finally, in September, the Fresnel light from France arrived at Cojo. The light had 16 lens panels designed to focus the beam. The light was to shine for two seconds at 28-second intervals. A 150-pound pendulum served as the revolving mechanism. On a clear day, the light, fueled by sperm whale oil, could be seen more than 40 miles out to sea. Parkinson fired up the light for the first time in February 1856. In addition to the light, mariners would be warned away from danger by a 5,000-pound fog bell.

It was a life of lonely isolation for the lighthouse keeper. Parkinson lasted only six months before moving on. Supply ships called at most only twice a year. One family did not receive their furniture for six months and slept on straw mats. Rations consisted of beans, pickled beef, green coffee, and brown sugar. Maintenance of the facility was time-consuming. Sea spray whipped by the winds encrusted everything with salt, which had to be removed. If the revolving mechanism failed, the light had to be turned by hand.

Later, keepers’ children attended school in Lompoc, a day’s horseback ride away, where they remained for the academic year. Santa Barbara, almost 70 miles distant, might as well have been 700 miles away.

In 1882, a new lighthouse was built farther down the bluffs. The original lighthouse often was above the low-lying fog bank; the position of the new lighthouse would solve this problem. Throughout the decades, whale oil was replaced by kerosene, which was later replaced by an oil vapor system.

In 1930, a foghorn was installed and in 1948, the first electric light was placed in the tower, 1,000 watts strong. The lighthouse came under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard in 1939, although the last of its civilian keepers did not depart until the mid 1950s. In February 1973, the light was fully automated.

Access to the lighthouse today is difficult. Permission from the Coast Guard must be obtained and the site is surrounded by land in private hands. Still, day and night the lighthouse at Point Conception continues to operate so that the “Cape Horn of the Pacific” will not again become the “Graveyard of the Pacific.”

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