Table Bluff Lighthouse

Table Bluff Lighthouse, Table Bluff, south of Humboldt Bay, Eureka, California

Built in 1892.

TABLE BLUFF LIGHT

RELOCATED FROM HUMBOLDT HARBOR
Station Established: 1892
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1892
Operational? NO
Automated? YES 1953
Deactivated: 1961
Foundation Materials:
Construction Materials: WOOD
Tower Shape: SQUARE
Markings/Pattern: WHITE
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL

Historical Information:

The Humboldt Bay North Spit Lighthouse had for many years been criticized as being too low. In 1892 the Lighthouse Service constructed a light station on Table Bluff, a promontory south of Humboldt Bay, but within-view of the bay. The original station consisted of a duplex Victorian quarters, fog-signal building, and a keepers quarters with light tower attached. The quarters were redwood Italianette-stick Victorian, and the keepers quarters/ light tower were almost exactly the same as San Luis Obispo Light Station - the one at San Luis Obispo. There were also two wash houses, an oil house and a carpenter shop. In 1906 the Navy established a radio station on the property and during World War II the station was expanded to include lodging for mounted beach patrols, a coastal lookout post, and a radio compass station. During the war and immediately afterwards most of the original buildings were razed along with some of the newer structures. The quarters portion of the lighthouse was razed leaving only the tower. This and the fog signal building were all that remained of the original buildings. In 1953 the rotating 4th order lens was removed and a fixed 3 1/2 order lens installed. The 4th order optic was shipped to the Point Loma Light in San Diego which is operated as a museum by the National Park Service. The fog signal was discontinued the same year and the station automated. In 1975 the light was discontinued and the property transferred to GSA and sold. The 2 1/2 order lens was shipped to the Smithsonian.