Point Hueneme Lighthouse is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on the southeast entrance to the Santa Barbara Channel, in Ventura County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Map showing "light house reservation" October 1, 1888.
3 MR 13. ''Ventura County Recorder'' Retrieved September 8, 2014 fro
CountyView GIS
.

History

left, Original 1874 Lighthouse by Paul J. Pelz, USCG photo">USCG.html" ;"title="Paul J. Pelz, USCG">Paul J. Pelz, USCG photo Point Hueneme Light is a , buff-colored 1940 Art Deco style tower on a fog-signal building on the Santa Barbara Channel at the Port of Hueneme. The original lighthouse was completed in 1874 at Point Hueneme after the construction of a in 1872.Later lengthened to When a storm destroyed the wharf in 1938, Oxnard Harbor District was formed and finished construction of the Port of Hueneme in 1940. The extant lighthouse structure was completed in 1941. The fourth-order Fresnel lens was used in both the original and the current lighthouse towers until 2013. In November 2012, the Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board voted to preserve the 1899 lens by retiring it from active service, so it can be displayed on a lower floor of the lighthouse and more easily viewed by the public. The original 1874 lighthouse was designed by

Paul J. Pelz Paul Johannes Pelz (18 November 1841 – 30 March 1918) was a German-American architect, best known as the main architect of the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Life and career Paul J. Pelz was born November 18, 1841, in Seitendorf (now ...

, who also designed Point Hueneme's sister stations,

Point Fermin Light Point Fermin Light is a lighthouse on Point Fermin in San Pedro, California. History The lighthouse was built in 1874 with lumber from California redwoods. It was designed by Paul J. Pelz who also designed Point Fermin's sister stations, East ...

in San Pedro CA,

East Brother Island Light East Brother Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on East Brother Island in San Rafael Bay, near the tip of Point San Pablo in Richmond, California. It marks the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay. Built in 1874 and aut ...

in Richmond, California,

Mare Island Light Mare Island Lighthouse was a lighthouse in California, United States, on the north shore of San Pablo Bay at the entrance to Carquinez Strait, California. History Mare Island Light was built in 1873, deactivated in 1917, and demolished in the ...

, in Carquinez Strait, California (demolished in the 1930s),

Hereford Inlet Light The Hereford Inlet Light is a historic lighthouse located in North Wildwood in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, situated on the southwestern shore of Hereford Inlet at the north end of Five Mile Beach. Its construction was completed ...

in North Wildwood, New Jersey, and

Point Adams Light Point Adams Light was a lighthouse near the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon Coast of the United States. The lighthouse was designed by Paul J. Pelz, who also designed Point Adams's sister stations, Point Fermin Light in San Pedro, Calif ...

in Washington State (burned down by the Lighthouse Service in 1912), all in essentially the same style.

Shipwreck

Point Hueneme Light was the site of an unrelated shipwreck. The veteran passenger liner '' La Jenelle'', once removed from her role as a cruise liner, lay at anchor off Port Hueneme on April 14, 1970 awaiting plans for conversion to a

floating restaurant A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The ''Jumbo Kingdom'', formerly located at Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest floating restaurant, until it sank at s ...

. The owners were attempting to cut down on moorage costs by leaving the vessel at anchor in the open ocean, directly offshore. With only one watchman aboard, the vessel fell victim to storm-tossed seas, causing the ship to slip her anchor cables. The

California State Lands Commission The California State Lands Commission is a unit of state government that is responsible for management and protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as public access rights, on some of California's publicly owned lands. The members of ...

became much concerned about the problem both from the standpoint of leaking oil and a menace to navigation. They voted unanimously to have the ship scrapped, "as is, where is," and accordingly put out bids. The big steel ship still remains but is being torn apart bit by bit by human and natural elements.

Lighthouse tours

The lighthouse is federal property operated by the United States Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guards Aids to Navigation Team Los Angeles/Long Beach(CG ANT LA/LB) is in charge of operation and maintenance of the lighthouse and Fresnel Lens. Members from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, who are also members of the CG ANT LA/LB, are in charge of the tour and openhouse at the lighthouse. These members are recognized as Lighthouse Keepers by the USCG Auxiliary and Technicians by the CG. In March 2008, the City of Port Hueneme and Oxnard Harbor District dedicated a new "Lighthouse Promenade", beginning at the Hueneme Sunset Beach alongside the perimeter fence of the port to the lighthouse. The 1/2 mile stroll is on a flat, even surface and allows visitors to stroll along the beach. There are no public restrooms on property, the nearest public restrooms are at the promenade's entrance at Sunset Beach.Klampe, Michelle L. (March 21, 2008
"Waterfront Promenade officially opens today"
'' Ventura County Star''

Notes

References

External links

* * *Lighthousefriends.com
Point Hueneme Lighthouse
*Maritime Heritage Program

Inventory of Historic Light Stations: California Lighthouses. National Park Service {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1874 Lighthouses completed in 1941 Lighthouses in California Transportation buildings and structures in Ventura County, California Art Deco architecture in California