Point Arena
Pt Arena – photo copyright Danielle Brown
Point Arena is a small coastal town on the meandering Shoreline of Highway One in southern Mendocino County, California.
Interesting Facts:
- Small town charm! Point Arena is a small coastal town in Mendocino County and is one of the smallest incorporated cities in the state with a population of less than 500 people!
- Erected in 1870, destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, and rebuilt the following year, the Point Arena lighthouse was the first to be made of steel and concrete.
- Hard work! Prior to the introduction of electricity, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism. The lighthouse keepers had to hand crank a 160 pound weight up the center shaft of the lighthouse every 75 minutes to keep the lens turning.
- At 115 feet, the Point Arena Lighthouse shares the title of being the tallest lighthouse on the West coast of the United States with the Pigeon Point Lighthouse to the south!
- The lighthouse is also the closest location on the mainland (excluding Alaska) to Honolulu, Hawaii at a distance of 2,045 nautical miles.
- Pt. Arena was once scheduled to be the site of a PG&E nuclear power plant, but the discovery that it was so close to the San Andreas earthquake fault, and public opposition, fortunately put an end to that plan.
- For more information, please visit: http://www.pointarenalighthouse.com/