Known as Point Vicente Light, this California lighthouse is located to the north of Los Angeles Harbor, in the coastal city of Palos Verdes. Standing with Point Loma Lighthouse to the south, and Point Concepcion to the north, Point Vicente is one of the last lighthouses that was constructed on the west coast. It shares that distinctive feature with Point Diablo Light, constructed in 1923, and the Long Beach Light, which was built in 1949.
Point Vicente Lighthouse was built and maintained by the United States Lighthouse Service, commonly known as the Bureau of Lighthouses. Numerous complaints by the shipping industry led the United States Federal Government to establish the U. S. Lighthouse Service, which replaced the previous administration that was created in 1852. The sole purpose of the Lighthouse Bureau was the care and maintenance of every lighthouse in the United States.
Completed in 1926, Point Vicente Lighthouse is built on a concrete foundation, and constructed with reinforced concrete. It sits on the edge of a one hundred and thirty foot cliff that offers a spectacular view to tourists. The cylindrical shaped tower is more than sixty five feet tall, placing the center lantern at one hundred and eighty five feet above sea level.
The high elevation of the light tower with its one point one million candlepower-beam covers a twenty mile radius. The beacon light of Point Vicente has guided thousands of ocean vessels safely in and out of Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors since it was first lit in March of 1926. During World War II, the lights of Point Vicente were dimmed in an effort to avoid enemy detection.
Point Vicente Light is equipped with a rotating, third-order Fresnel lens that was produced by the oldest lens manufacturers in the world. Barbier, Bernard, and Turenne, a company in Paris, France, developed the classic lens in 1910.
The United States Coast Guard automated Point Vicente Light in 1971, the original third-order Fresnel lens now revolves in the tower's lantern room. The fog horn of Point Vicente Light emits an audible warning to ships that may be approaching the harbors when visibility is low.
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