Trinidad Head Lighthouse Station, Trinidad California
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- Lighthouse
The Trinidad Light Station serves as a monument to the federal government's efforts to make the Trinidad Headlands safe for maritime transportation. The 400' island-like headlands is the most prominent and visible landform on the California coast north of Cape Mendocino. The light station also serves as an entrance beacon to Trinidad Harbor, at one time a bustling harbor home to numerous steam schooners and sailing vessels. Although the lighthouse tower dates from 1871, the federal government had purchased the land five years before in 1866. As early as 1851 federal and local officials had been agitating Congress for a lighthouse at this location. The harbor traffic in mining equipment, lumber, and agricultural products served to make Trinidad one of the busiest ports in California in the decades following statehood. The area was especially dependent on maritime transportation prior to the development of railroads or a connecting roadway network. Today, the harbor and lighthouse serve mostly the needs of the commercial fishing fleet that frequents the area.
The lighthouse tower is the principal element of the light station complex. It is a substantial structure built to contain a Fresnel lens (in this case 4th order) and its architectural integrity is complete (or nearly so). The lighthouse is similar to other California lighthouses of the time, but it is unique in some ways as well. Its short, squat shape is representative of the many California lighthouses built on the sides of high bluffs. Built at the 175' level on the side of the headlands, it is one of the highest lighthouses in the state. Its specific design is completely unique, however. It remains the only one-story, brick, pyramidal lighthouse ever built in California. The architectural integrity of the structure is nearly complete. The original window has been replaced with a single large glass panel, and the Fresnel lens has been removed. Other than that, however, the structure is intact and is in very good condition.
The town of Trinidad has erected a replica of the lighthouse in a park overlooking the harbor. The original Fresnel lens was installed in the replica in 1948 after it was superseded by a modern refracting lens.
The fog-signal building is the only remaining bell house in California. It was built in 1900 replacing a less substantial structure built two years previously. The 4,000 pound bronze bell was hung from a concrete frame at the end of the bell house. The timing of the bell hammer was controlled by a clockwork mechanism powered by weights. A "weight tower" was erected next to the bell house in 1900 after the original weights had broken loose and fallen irretrievably down the cliff. Although the weight tower is no longer extant, a hole can be seen in the present fog-signal building where the clockwork mechanism connected with the bell hammer. The concrete brace beams used to support the bell are found to the west of the building and in the interior of the building. Those located in the interior are intact though on the outside they are deteriorating. The bell was replaced in 1947 with modern compressed-air horns. It then became known as the "fog-signal building." Today the building contains the electrical operation equipment for the modern fog signal installed outside. The original bell has been hung outside next to the lighthouse replica in Trinidad Park.
Original structures and buildings no longer extant include the landing, barn, original Keeper's quarters, and the weight tower. The keeper's house was razed in the 1960s and the barn years before that.
The lighthouse was automated in 1974.
Site Description
The Trinidad Head Light Station is a small, compact station consisting of a small tower, a fog-signal building, and a 4-plex Keeper's residence. It is located on the southwestern slope of Trinidad Head, a 400' tall headland that forms the northern slope of Trinidad Harbor. It is located on a precipitous ledge carved out of the side of the rock at the 175' elevation. Sheer wall cliffs plunge almost straight down to the sea from the light station vantage. The fog-signal building (bell house) and lighthouse tower are original. The Keeper's residence is a modern structure built in 1969. Original buildings and structures no longer extant include the barn, Keeper's residence, landing (at Trinidad Harbor), and weight tower. The condition of the remaining buildings and structures is very good.
A four-sided pyramidal lighthouse tower built in 1871 on a ledge 214' above the ocean. The structure is 25' high. Its one-story brick and cement base is surmounted by a glass and iron lantern room capped with a segmented conical iron roof. An external railed gallery encircles the lantern room on top of the tower's base. Brackets are found immediately under the top platform on four sides of the structure. Decorative masonry bands encompass the tower immediately under the brackets and, again, at the level of the door sill. A doorway is located on the east facade of the first level. It has no door frame but a segmented masonry arch is located above the doorway. A single-pane window on the west facade looks out over the ocean below. The structure's architectural integrity is mostly intact with the exception of the removal of the original 4th-order Fresnel lens.
The Fog Signal Building/Bell House was built in 1900 and is a small one-story frame building with horizontal wide planked wood siding (probably not original) and a peaked wood shingle roof. Two 6/6 double-hung windows are located on the north and south sides. The original 5-panel cross door is located on the front (east) facade. The building is built atop a concrete pad on a narrow ledge on the side of the cliff, one flight down from the Keeper's residence. The interior of the building is of open-frame construction with exposed roof beams and trusses. The building was originally constructed as a "bell house" and contains the diagonal concrete supporting members used to position the bell at the outside of the building. Today, these support structures remain intact on the interior of the building, but deteriorating on the exterior. There is also a hole in the north side of the building that once connected the bell to the "weight tower" built on the concrete pad next to the north side of the building. The weight tower was a wooden skeleton derrick that contained the weights needed to power the clockwork mechanism of the bell's hammer. It is no longer extant.
In 1947 the bell was replaced with more conventional compressed-air horns. It is possible to discern the former location of the horns on the building by observing the different types of wood used to patch up the hole when they were removed. A modern fog signal is located outside the building today. The electrical equipment for this system is operated from inside the building. The architectural integrity of this building is nearly intact and the condition is very good. The original 4,000-pound bronze bell is on display in the town of Trinidad.
The Keeper's Residence, built in 1969, is a modern rectangular wood-frame 4-plex building containing side-by-side two-story townhouses.
(1991)
(1991)
