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90-503: Yerba Buena Island has had several other names over the decades: Sea Bird Island , Wood Island , and Goat Island . The island may have been named after the pueblo of Yerba Buena , which was named for the plant of the same name that was abundant in the area. The plant's English and Spanish common name, Yerba buena , is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (literally meaning 'good herb'), generally used to describe local species of

180-589: A league below the Presidio in a place they called Yerba Buena". Following the Vancouver Expedition, the Presidio anchorage continued to be the more commonly-used landing point. However, during the particularly harsh winter of 1824, ships began to favor the anchorage at Yerba Buena and so Yerba Buena Cove became the main disembarkation point for ships visiting San Francisco. In 1797, the Spanish presidio constructed

270-567: A military cemetery until the high visibility traffic approach to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition necessitated its removal and transfer of graves to the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco . Also located on the island are Blue Park and Tower Park. Two water reservoirs are located on the island and provide water storage for use on the island and for fire hydrant service. As of 2007, after

360-402: A rescue service , if necessary. Improvements in maritime navigation and safety, such Global Positioning System (GPS), led to the phasing out of non-automated lighthouses across the world. Although several closed due to safety concerns, Canada still maintains 49 staffed lighthouses, split roughly evenly across east and west coasts. The remaining modern lighthouses are usually illuminated by

450-640: A Diesel generator for backup. Many Fresnel lens installations have been replaced by rotating aerobeacons , which require less maintenance. In modern automated lighthouses, the system of rotating lenses is often replaced by a high intensity light that emits brief omnidirectional flashes, concentrating the light in time rather than direction. These lights are similar to obstruction lights used to warn aircraft of tall structures. Later innovations were "Vega Lights", and experiments with light-emitting diode (LED) panels. LED lights, which use less energy and are easier to maintain, had come into widespread use by 2020. In

540-436: A filament source. Experimental installations of laser lights, either at high power to provide a "line of light" in the sky or, utilising low power, aimed towards mariners have identified problems of increased complexity in installation and maintenance, and high power requirements. The first practical installation, in 1971 at Point Danger lighthouse , Queensland , was replaced by a conventional light after four years, because

630-453: A form of concrete that will set under water used by the Romans, and developed a technique of securing the granite blocks together using dovetail joints and marble dowels . The dovetailing feature served to improve the structural stability , although Smeaton also had to taper the thickness of the tower towards the top, for which he curved the tower inwards on a gentle gradient. This profile had

720-636: A gravel beach in a little bight or cove of the same name". Yerba Buena, California Yerba Buena was the name of an anchorage spot and later a town that grew into the city of San Francisco, California . The settlement was founded in 1834 and was located near the northeastern end of the San Francisco Peninsula , on the shores of Yerba Buena Cove . Yerba Buena was the first civilian pueblo in San Francisco, which had previously only had indigenous, missionary, and military settlements, and

810-414: A horizontal plane, and horizontally the light is focused into one or a few directions at a time, with the light beam swept around. As a result, in addition to seeing the side of the light beam, the light is directly visible from greater distances, and with an identifying light characteristic . This concentration of light is accomplished with a rotating lens assembly. In early lighthouses, the light source

900-535: A military post on Yerba Buena Island originated during the American Civil War , when it was feared a raiding Confederate warship could slip past Fort Point and Alcatraz Island during a foggy night. However, it was not until the 1870s that Army Post Camp Yerba Buena Island (a.k.a. Army Post Camp Decature a.k.a. Army Post at Goat island a.k.a. US Engineer Depot, Yerba Buena Island and a.k.a. US Quartermaster Depot, Yerba Buena Island) by Navy Road and North Gate Road

990-427: A more powerful hyperradiant Fresnel lens manufactured by the firm of Chance Brothers . While lighthouse buildings differ depending on the location and purpose, they tend to have common components. A light station comprises the lighthouse tower and all outbuildings, such as the keeper's living quarters, fuel house, boathouse, and fog-signaling building. The Lighthouse itself consists of a tower structure supporting

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1080-583: A navigator with a line of position called a range in North America and a transit in Britain. Ranges can be used to precisely align a vessel within a narrow channel such as a river. With landmarks of a range illuminated with a set of fixed lighthouses, nighttime navigation is possible. Such paired lighthouses are called range lights in North America and leading lights in the United Kingdom. The closer light

1170-512: A number of screw-pile lighthouses. Englishman James Douglass was knighted for his work on the fourth Eddystone Lighthouse. United States Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant George Meade built numerous lighthouses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts before gaining wider fame as the winning general at the Battle of Gettysburg . Colonel Orlando M. Poe , engineer to General William Tecumseh Sherman in

1260-402: A particular color (usually formed by colored panes in the lantern) to distinguish safe water areas from dangerous shoals. Modern lighthouses often have unique reflectors or racon transponders so the radar signature of the light is also unique. Before modern strobe lights , lenses were used to concentrate the light from a continuous source. Vertical light rays of the lamp are redirected into

1350-411: A reservoir mounted above the burner. The lamp was first produced by Matthew Boulton , in partnership with Argand, in 1784, and became the standard for lighthouses for over a century. South Foreland Lighthouse was the first tower to successfully use an electric light in 1875. The lighthouse's carbon arc lamps were powered by a steam-driven magneto . John Richardson Wigham was the first to develop

1440-415: A single stationary flashing light powered by solar-charged batteries and mounted on a steel skeleton tower. Where the power requirement is too great for solar power alone, cycle charging of the battery by a Diesel generator is provided. The generator only comes into use when the battery needs charging, saving fuel and increasing periods between maintenance. John Smeaton is noteworthy for having designed

1530-469: A system for gas illumination of lighthouses. His improved gas 'crocus' burner at the Baily Lighthouse near Dublin was 13 times more powerful than the most brilliant light then known. The vaporized oil burner was invented in 1901 by Arthur Kitson , and improved by David Hood at Trinity House . The fuel was vaporized at high pressure and burned to heat the mantle, giving an output of over six times

1620-501: A warning signal for reefs and promontories , unlike many modern lighthouses. The most famous lighthouse structure from antiquity was the Pharos of Alexandria , Egypt , which collapsed following a series of earthquakes between 956 and 1323. The intact Tower of Hercules at A Coruña , Spain gives insight into ancient lighthouse construction; other evidence about lighthouses exists in depictions on coins and mosaics, of which many represent

1710-442: 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 mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals , reefs , rocks, and safe entries to harbors; they also assist in aerial navigation . Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to

1800-419: Is one example. Race Rocks Light in western Canada is painted in horizontal black and white bands to stand out against the horizon. For effectiveness, the lamp must be high enough to be seen before the danger is reached by a mariner. The minimum height is calculated by trigonometry (see Distance to the horizon ) as D = 1.22 H {\displaystyle D=1.22{\sqrt {H}}} , where H

1890-510: Is the height above water in feet, and D is the distance from the lighthouse to the horizon in nautical miles, the lighthouse range . Where dangerous shoals are located far off a flat sandy beach, the prototypical tall masonry coastal lighthouse is constructed to assist the navigator making a landfall after an ocean crossing. Often these are cylindrical to reduce the effect of wind on a tall structure, such as Cape May Light . Smaller versions of this design are often used as harbor lights to mark

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1980-496: Is used for a number of place names in modern San Francisco. Yerba Buena Island has retained its name from the Spanish era up to modern times, although from 1895 to 1931, it was officially designated Goat Island. Yerba Buena Gardens , which includes Yerba Buena Center for the Arts , is a complex of parks, museums, theaters, and malls in the South of Market (SoMa) district of San Francisco that

2070-480: The misiónes (missions), religious settlements run by Franciscan priests to evangelize the indigenous peoples of California . Presidios were military fortifications, responsible for protecting the missions, controlling the native population, and defending Spanish and later Mexican territory against foreign incursions. Ranchos were land grants to Spanish and later Mexican settlers in California, mainly for

2160-597: The Bateria de Yerba Buena at Punta Medanos ( Black Point ) as an artillery battery to provide additional protection to the Yerba Buena anchorage. The site was only briefly occupied and was abandoned by 1806. With the enactment of the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 , the missions were made to divest themselves of their extensive landholdings and emancipate the indigenous people under their control. As part of

2250-811: The California Gold Rush transformed Yerba Buena into the major city on the North American west coast. On July 7, 1846, US Navy Commodore John D. Sloat , in the Battle of Yerba Buena , claimed Alta California for the United States during the Mexican–American War , and US Navy Captain John Berrien Montgomery and US Marine Second Lieutenant Henry Bulls Watson of the USS ; Portsmouth arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later by raising

2340-601: The Florida Reef along the Florida Keys, beginning with the Carysfort Reef Light in 1852. In waters too deep for a conventional structure, a lightship might be used instead of a lighthouse, such as the former lightship Columbia . Most of these have now been replaced by fixed light platforms (such as Ambrose Light ) similar to those used for offshore oil exploration . Aligning two fixed points on land provides

2430-624: The Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 . The uninhabited northeastern area of San Francisco was called El Paraje de Yerba Buena (The Place of the Good Herb), derived from the Spanish geographical term paraje , meaning "place", "camp", or "stopping point" and yerba buena , the Spanish name for plants in the mint family, used in Alta California for Clinopodium douglasii , which grew abundantly in this area. There were several anchorage spots for ships visiting San Francisco. The earliest one

2520-558: The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge . Located west of the island was " Blossom Rock ", a treacherous submerged rock that lay only 5 feet (1.5 m) below the surface of the water at low tide. Blossom Rock was discovered and named in 1826 by Captain Beechey of HMS  Blossom . Beechey noted that the rock could be avoided by aligning the northern tip of Yerba Buena Island with two especially large redwood trees growing in

2610-510: The United States Navy deemed Treasure Island an ideal location for transporting people and machines to the Pacific theater , and on April 17, 1942, established Treasure Island Naval Station (for surface ships and submarines) and as an Auxiliary Air Facility airfield (for airships, blimps, dirigibles, planes, and seaplanes) which also included a portion of Yerba Buena Island. Quarters One became

2700-648: The de Anza Expedition . The Presidio of San Francisco was founded on September 18th of that year near the southern side of the Golden Gate . Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded on October 9 a little further inland near the Laguna de los Dolores , for the purpose of concentrating the Ohlone and Miwok peoples of the northern San Francisco Bay area and converting them to Christianity. There were no rancho , pueblo , or other civilian settlements in San Francisco until after

2790-595: The mint family . Today, the military reservation southeast of the Yerba Buena Tunnel belongs to the United States Coast Guard (USCG) District Eleven. The US Coast Guard Sector San Francisco – Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) tower is located on Signal Road Building 278 atop the peak of the island. The US Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Headquarters is co-located with US Coast Guard Station San Francisco on Healy Avenue and Fresnel Way at water-level on

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2880-510: The 20th century. These often have a narrow cylindrical core surrounded by an open lattice work bracing, such as Finns Point Range Light . Sometimes a lighthouse needs to be constructed in the water itself. Wave-washed lighthouses are masonry structures constructed to withstand water impact, such as Eddystone Lighthouse in Britain and the St. George Reef Light of California. In shallower bays, Screw-pile lighthouse ironwork structures are screwed into

2970-560: The American flag over the town plaza, which is now Portsmouth Square in honor of the ship. Henry Bulls Watson was placed in command of the garrison there. On July 31, 1846, Yerba Buena doubled in population when about 240 Mormon migrants from the East coast arrived on the ship Brooklyn , led by Sam Brannan . In August 1846, Lt. Washington Allon Bartlett was named alcalde of Yerba Buena. On January 30, 1847, Lt. Bartlett's proclamation changing

3060-570: The British HBC and the Mexican government of California, making the HBC's fur trapping expeditions into California's Central Valley politically acceptable. Despite the mercantile potential of the HBC store in Yerba Buena, in 1842 it was ordered to be closed by George Simpson as part of Simpson's general reorganization of the HBC's Columbia District . The HBC store in Yerba Buena was sold in 1846, two years before

3150-536: The City of San Francisco evicted the majority of residents to make room for the development. Yerba Buena Island residents were offered either to be paid roughly $ 5,000 and move off the island or move into an apartment on Treasure Island. Roughly two-thirds of the residents chose to be relocated to Treasure Island. As of 2023 a 124-condo complex called the Bristol has opened, as has an affordable apartment complex for veterans. Most of

3240-516: The City of San Francisco received authority over the island from the US Navy, a small community of 40 households, comprising about 100 people, had developed on the island. In 2011, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a 20-year development of the island that aims to build two neighborhoods with up to 8,000 residences, of which 25 percent are designated for affordable housing. In 2015,

3330-462: The Swiss scientist Aimé Argand revolutionized lighthouse illumination with its steady smokeless flame. Early models used ground glass which was sometimes tinted around the wick. Later models used a mantle of thorium dioxide suspended over the flame, creating a bright, steady light. The Argand lamp used whale oil , colza , olive oil or other vegetable oil as fuel, supplied by a gravity feed from

3420-675: The US Coast Guard Sector / Station San Francisco base. The IOC houses the VTS , WatchKeeper and the US Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Command Center together in one building. Yerba Buena Island was the site of an Ohlone fishing village, Tuchayune. The island's name dates to the Portola Expedition , appearing on Ayala 's 1775 chart of the bay as "Isla de Alcatraces", or "island of the pelicans ", for

3510-405: The United Kingdom and Ireland about a third of lighthouses had been converted from filament light sources to use LEDs, and conversion continued with about three per year. The light sources are designed to replicate the colour and character of the traditional light as closely as possible. The change is often not noticed by people in the region, but sometimes a proposed change leads to calls to preserve

3600-486: The added advantage of allowing some of the energy of the waves to dissipate on impact with the walls. His lighthouse was the prototype for the modern lighthouse and influenced all subsequent engineers. One such influence was Robert Stevenson , himself a seminal figure in the development of lighthouse design and construction. His greatest achievement was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse in 1810, one of

3690-481: The beam was too narrow to be seen easily. In any of these designs an observer, rather than seeing a continuous weak light, sees a brighter light during short time intervals. These instants of bright light are arranged to create a light characteristic or pattern specific to a lighthouse. For example, the Scheveningen Lighthouse flashes are alternately 2.5 and 7.5 seconds. Some lights have sectors of

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3780-407: The birds who were abundant there. Later Frederick William Beechey , an English naval officer and explorer, transferred the name "Alcatraz Island" to the rock which bears the name of the federal penitentiary . The name "la Ysla de la Yerba Buena" was given by early Spanish colonists as early as 1795. Yerba buena can refer to any of a number of fragrant herbal plants. In this instance, it referred to

3870-406: The choice of light sources, mountings, reflector design, the use of Fresnel lenses , and in rotation and shuttering systems providing lighthouses with individual signatures allowing them to be identified by seafarers. He also invented the movable jib and the balance-crane as a necessary part for lighthouse construction. Alexander Mitchell designed the first screw-pile lighthouse – his lighthouse

3960-525: The collapse of the Soviet government in 1990s, most of the official records on the locations, and condition, of these lighthouses were reportedly lost. Over time, the condition of RTGs in Russia degraded; many of them fell victim to vandalism and scrap metal thieves, who may not have been aware of the dangerous radioactive contents. Energy-efficient LED lights can be powered by solar panels , with batteries instead of

4050-488: The construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length , without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design. A Fresnel lens can be made much thinner than a comparable conventional lens, in some cases taking the form of a flat sheet. A Fresnel lens can also capture more oblique light from a light source, thus allowing the light from a lighthouse equipped with one to be visible over greater distances. The first Fresnel lens

4140-535: The earlier spot being close to North Point , but was later located a little further to the south, at Yerba Buena Cove . The name was eventually extended to the island facing Yerba Buena Cove, the Isla de Yerba Buena ( Yerba Buena Island ), originally known as Isla de Alcatraces . The earliest report of the use of Yerba Buena as a place name comes from the log of George Vancouver , who in 1792 sailed his ship HMS  Discovery into San Francisco Bay and anchored "about

4230-473: The emitted light into a concentrated beam, thereby greatly increasing the light's visibility. The ability to focus the light led to the first revolving lighthouse beams, where the light would appear to the mariners as a series of intermittent flashes. It also became possible to transmit complex signals using the light flashes. French physicist and engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel developed the multi-part Fresnel lens for use in lighthouses. His design allowed for

4320-412: The entrance into a harbor, such as New London Harbor Light . Where a tall cliff exists, a smaller structure may be placed on top such as at Horton Point Light . Sometimes, such a location can be too high, for example along the west coast of the United States, where frequent low clouds can obscure the light. In these cases, lighthouses are placed below the clifftop to ensure that they can still be seen at

4410-628: The expanded settlement, which retained the name Yerba Buena. In early 1841 James Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), operating on the Pacific coast from Fort Vancouver , went to Yerba Buena to establish an HBC trading post. A large building on the water's edge was purchased. The HBC post had several purposes. It operated as a wholesale store, selling goods exported from Fort Vancouver such as salmon, lumber, and British manufactures in exchange for hides and tallow. The post improved diplomatic relations between

4500-464: The expense of maintenance and the advent of much cheaper, more sophisticated, and more effective electronic navigational systems. Before the development of clearly defined ports , mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since elevating the fire would improve visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as an entrance marker to ports than as

4590-423: The harbor through World War II . During World War II , Yerba Buena Island fell under the jurisdiction of Treasure Island Naval Station, the main headquarters of the 12th Naval District inside Building One. Built on the shoals of Yerba Buena Island, the 403-acre (163-hectare) Treasure Island was a Works Progress Administration project in the 1930s. After hosting the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition ,

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4680-515: The hills above Oakland as one entered the bay. These redwoods were located in what is now Roberts Regional Recreation Area, near the "Madrone" picnic area; the area is marked with a historical marker. The "Navigation Trees" were cut down in about 1851, exacerbating the danger of Blossom Rock. The top of the rock was blown up in 1870, and another section removed by blasting in the early 1930s. There are three parks located on Yerba Buena Island. Hill Park near Treasure Island Road and Macalla Road used to be

4770-592: The intersection of Whiting Way and Garden Way, was built about 1900 as the Naval Training Station commandant's residence and is among the eight surviving officers' residences in the historic district. Its Classic Revival style , fashionable for private residences in the Bay Area at the time, was unusual for naval base housing. In 1963, Nimitz and his wife moved to the Nimitz House, where he died in 1966. His funeral

4860-455: The lantern room where the light operates. The lantern room is the glassed-in housing at the top of a lighthouse tower containing the lamp and lens. Its glass storm panes are supported by metal muntins (glazing bars) running vertically or diagonally. At the top of the lantern room is a stormproof ventilator designed to remove the smoke of the lamps and the heat that builds in the glass enclosure. A lightning rod and grounding system connected to

4950-531: The light is concentrated, if needed, by the "lens" or "optic". Power sources for lighthouses in the 20th–21st centuries vary. Originally lit by open fires and later candles, the Argand hollow wick lamp and parabolic reflector were introduced in the late 18th century. Whale oil was also used with wicks as the source of light. Kerosene became popular in the 1870s and electricity and acetylene gas derived on-site from calcium carbide began replacing kerosene around

5040-505: The lighthouse at Ostia . Coins from Alexandria, Ostia, and Laodicea in Syria also exist. The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, as the number of lighthouses being constructed increased significantly due to much higher levels of transatlantic commerce. Advances in structural engineering and new and efficient lighting equipment allowed for the creation of larger and more powerful lighthouses, including ones exposed to

5130-469: The lighthouse keepers. Efficiently concentrating the light from a large omnidirectional light source requires a very large diameter lens. This would require a very thick and heavy lens if a conventional lens were used. The Fresnel lens (pronounced / f r eɪ ˈ n ɛ l / ) focused 85% of a lamp's light versus the 20% focused with the parabolic reflectors of the time. Its design enabled construction of lenses of large size and short focal length without

5220-466: The luminosity of traditional oil lights. The use of gas as illuminant became widely available with the invention of the Dalén light by Swedish engineer Gustaf Dalén . He used Agamassan (Aga), a substrate , to absorb the gas, allowing the gas to be stored, and hence used, safely. Dalén also invented the ' sun valve ', which automatically regulated the light and turned it off during the daytime. The technology

5310-421: The metal cupola roof provides a safe conduit for any lightning strikes. Immediately beneath the lantern room is usually a Watch Room or Service Room where fuel and other supplies were kept and where the keeper prepared the lanterns for the night and often stood watch. The clockworks (for rotating the lenses) were also located there. On a lighthouse tower, an open platform called the gallery is often located outside

5400-485: The most impressive feats of engineering of the age. This structure was based upon Smeaton's design, but with several improved features, such as the incorporation of rotating lights, alternating between red and white. Stevenson worked for the Northern Lighthouse Board for nearly fifty years during which time he designed and oversaw the construction and later improvement of numerous lighthouses. He innovated in

5490-457: The name Yerba Buena to San Francisco took effect. The city and the rest of Alta California officially became a United States military territory in 1848 by the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which ended the Mexican–American War . California was admitted for statehood to the United States on September 9, 1850. The State soon chartered San Francisco as both a City and a County . Yerba Buena

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5580-407: The native plant Clinopodium douglasii which was found growing in abundance around the Bay Area. The plant has a fragrance like spearmint , also commonly referred to as yerba buena , so the name was applied to Clinopodium douglasii as well. It is not clear from any record if the island was named for the herb directly, or for the nearby cove and settlement of Yerba Buena. The Isla de Yerba Buena

5670-503: The other Senior Officers' Quarter by Garden Way are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) took over law enforcement jurisdiction of non- USCG parcels of Yerba Buena Island. San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) Fire Station 48 on Treasure Island took over medical rescue & fire protection of Yerba Buena Island (including USCG Sector / Station San Francisco ) and portions of

5760-520: The other planned developments have been hung up in lawsuits. A 69-foot-tall sundial/sculpture by Hiroshi Sugimoto opened on a Yerba Buena hilltop in June 2023. In his book Two Years Before the Mast , published in 1840, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. mentions in the last chapter, actually a postscript chapter added 20 years later, that his ship of the 1830s voyage anchored "between a small island, called Yerba Buena, and

5850-415: The process of secularization, Governor José Figueroa opened up San Francisco to civilian settlement. In 1834, the pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded on the shores of Yerba Buena Cove. In 1835, William A. Richardson , a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth, erected a homestead near the boat anchorage of Yerba Buena Cove. Together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro , he laid out a street plan for

5940-468: The purpose of raising cattle and sheep. Finally, pueblos were civilian villages, started mainly for the purpose of agriculture, supplementing existing food production on the other settlement types. Missions were the core institution of the Spanish era of California, but declined during the Mexican era, while ranchos and pueblos expanded during the latter era. The two earliest Spanish colonial settlements in San Francisco were both made in 1776 following

6030-797: The residence of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT). Furthermore, several other buildings used by the Naval Station during World War II remain on the island, including the Senior Officers' Quarters in Quarters A, B, C, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Buildings 83, 205, and 230 were support facilities for the senior officers' quarters. In 1996, the naval base and the Presidio of San Francisco were decommissioned and opened to public control under these types of stipulations. Quarters One by Whiting Way and

6120-458: The sea. The function of lighthouses was gradually changed from indicating ports to the providing of a visible warning against shipping hazards, such as rocks or reefs. The Eddystone Rocks were a major shipwreck hazard for mariners sailing through the English Channel . The first lighthouse built there was an octagonal wooden structure, anchored by 12 iron stanchions secured in the rock, and

6210-451: The seabed and a low wooden structure is placed above the open framework, such as Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse . As screw piles can be disrupted by ice, steel caisson lighthouses such as Orient Point Light are used in cold climates. Orient Long Beach Bar Light (Bug Light) is a blend of a screw pile light that was converted to a caisson light because of the threat of ice damage. Skeletal iron towers with screw-pile foundations were built on

6300-541: The siege of Atlanta, designed and built some of the most exotic lighthouses in the most difficult locations on the U.S. Great Lakes . French merchant navy officer Marius Michel Pasha built almost a hundred lighthouses along the coasts of the Ottoman Empire in a period of twenty years after the Crimean War (1853–1856). In a lighthouse, the source of light is called the "lamp" (whether electric or fuelled by oil) and

6390-575: The southeast coast of the island. The Coast Guard Aids to Navigation San Francisco has a navigational buoy repair facility on Fresnel Way. The USCG Senior Officers' residences are in Quarters A, B, C, 8 and 9 off of Hillcrest Road on the hill atop the USCG base. During the summer of 2011, the Department of Homeland Security / United States Coast Guard opened the new SAFE Port Act (2006) Interagency Operations Center (IOC at Building 100 site on Spindrift Circle) on

6480-516: The surface during periods of fog or low clouds, as at Point Reyes Lighthouse . Another example is in San Diego , California : the Old Point Loma lighthouse was too high up and often obscured by fog, so it was replaced in 1891 with a lower lighthouse, New Point Loma lighthouse . As technology advanced, prefabricated skeletal iron or steel structures tended to be used for lighthouses constructed in

6570-587: The third and most famous Eddystone Lighthouse , but some builders are well known for their work in building multiple lighthouses. The Stevenson family ( Robert , Alan , David , Thomas , David Alan , and Charles ) made lighthouse building a three-generation profession in Scotland. Richard Henry Brunton designed and built 26 Japanese lighthouses in Meiji Era Japan, which became known as Brunton's "children". Blind Irishman Alexander Mitchell invented and built

6660-483: The traditional light, including in some cases a rotating beam. A typical LED system designed to fit into the traditional 19th century Fresnel lens enclosure was developed by Trinity House and two other lighthouse authorities and costs about € 20,000, depending on configuration, according to a supplier; it has large fins to dissipate heat. Lifetime of the LED light source is 50,000 to 100,000 hours, compared to about 1,000 hours for

6750-476: The turn of the 20th century. Carbide was promoted by the Dalén light , which automatically lit the lamp at nightfall and extinguished it at dawn. In the second half of the 20th century, many remote lighthouses in Russia (then Soviet Union ) were powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). These had the advantage of providing power day or night and did not need refuelling or maintenance. However, after

6840-523: The watch room (called the Main Gallery) or Lantern Room (Lantern Gallery). This was mainly used for cleaning the outside of the windows of the Lantern Room. Lighthouses near to each other that are similar in shape are often painted in a unique pattern so they can easily be recognized during daylight, a marking known as a daymark . The black and white barber pole spiral pattern of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

6930-643: The weight and volume of material in conventional lens designs. Fresnel lighthouse lenses are ranked by order , a measure of refracting power, with a first order lens being the largest, most powerful and expensive; and a sixth order lens being the smallest. The order is based on the focal length of the lens. A first order lens has the longest focal length, with the sixth being the shortest. Coastal lighthouses generally use first, second, or third order lenses, while harbor lights and beacons use fourth, fifth, or sixth order lenses. Some lighthouses, such as those at Cape Race , Newfoundland, and Makapuu Point , Hawaii, used

7020-437: Was a kerosene lamp or, earlier, an animal or vegetable oil Argand lamp, and the lenses rotated by a weight driven clockwork assembly wound by lighthouse keepers, sometimes as often as every two hours. The lens assembly sometimes floated in liquid mercury to reduce friction. In more modern lighthouses, electric lights and motor drives were used, generally powered by diesel electric generators. These also supplied electricity for

7110-605: Was abandoned in the 1930s but still stands today (hidden underneath the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge ) listed in the National Register of Historic Places . Just before the turn of the 20th century, the first U.S. Naval Training Station on the Pacific Coast was established on the north east side of the island by 1st Street and North Gate Road. Quarters One, also known as the Admiral Nimitz House near

7200-569: Was at the base chapel on Treasure Island and he was buried with full military honors at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno . The training station closed after World War I . It was replaced as a West Coast training station in 1923 by Naval Training Center San Diego . Although the training station closed, the Navy maintained a presence with the stationary receiving ship USS Boston (1884) , later renamed USS Despatch (IX-2) (1940), anchored in

7290-459: Was built by Henry Winstanley from 1696 to 1698. His lighthouse was the first tower in the world to have been fully exposed to the open sea. The civil engineer John Smeaton rebuilt the lighthouse from 1756 to 1759; his tower marked a major step forward in the design of lighthouses and remained in use until 1877. He modeled the shape of his lighthouse on that of an oak tree , using granite blocks. He rediscovered and used " hydraulic lime ",

7380-662: Was built on piles that were screwed into the sandy or muddy seabed. Construction of his design began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sands lighthouse, and first lit in 1841. Although its construction began later, the Wyre Light in Fleetwood, Lancashire, was the first to be lit (in 1840). Until 1782 the source of illumination had generally been wood pyres or burning coal. The Argand lamp , invented in 1782 by

7470-523: Was changed back to Yerba Buena Island on June 3, 1931. On March 3, 1871, Representative Stephen L. Mayham of the Subcommittee on Private Land Claims reported an unsuccessful claim by Thomas H. Dowling that he had purchased Yerba Buena Island on September 10, 1849, from Gorham Hyronemo Nye , who had received the island in 1835 "as a compensation for transporting the body of the deceased Governor José Figueroa from Monterey to Santa Barbara". The idea of

7560-538: Was completed, including a fog signal and octagonal lighthouse called Yerba Buena Light (1875) that remain today at the end of Hillcrest Road. In 1891, the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a Torpedo Station / Shed / Storehouse / Assembly building (Building 262) at the end of Army Road by North Gate Road. The torpedoes were actually floating mines that could be placed in the bay via cable for defense against intruding enemy vessels. The Torpedo Station

7650-651: Was founded in 1993. The Yerba Buena Community Benefits District has designated an area centered on Yerba Buena Gardens and bounded by Market , Howard, Second, and Fifth streets as the Yerba Buena District, a subdistrict of the SoMa neighborhood. A Yerba Buena Avenue runs through the St. Francis Wood and Westwood Highlands neighborhoods on the southwestern side of San Francisco. 37°47′35″N 122°23′47″W  /  37.79306°N 122.39639°W  / 37.79306; -122.39639 Lighthouse A lighthouse

7740-548: Was granted to one of the sons or grandsons of Joaquin Isidro de Castro (b.1732, Sinaloa), progenitor of one of the largest Californio families. Officially, the island was Yerba Buena Island until 1895, when on a decision by the United States Board on Geographic Names , it was changed to Goat Island. During the gold rush , a large number of goats were pastured on the island. The name "Goat Island", came into widespread use. It

7830-559: Was originally intended as a trading post for ships visiting San Francisco Bay . The settlement was arranged in the Spanish style around a plaza that remains as the present day Portsmouth Square . The area that was the Yerba Buena settlement is now in the Financial District and Chinatown neighborhoods of San Francisco. Spanish colonial and Mexican settlements in Alta California were of four types. The earliest settlements were

7920-473: Was the Presidio anchorage, located just inside the Golden Gate, within a mile to the east of Punta del Cantil Blanco (what was later called Fort Point ). The Yerba Buena anchorage eventually came to be more favored, as it was more sheltered and less precarious than the Presidio anchorage, even though it was farther from the Presidio headquarters. The Yerba Buena anchorage actually referred to two locations, with

8010-502: Was the predominant light source in lighthouses from the 1900s to the 1960s, when electric lighting had become dominant. With the development of the steady illumination of the Argand lamp, the application of optical lenses to increase and focus the light intensity became a practical possibility. William Hutchinson developed the first practical optical system in 1777, known as a catoptric system. This rudimentary system effectively collimated

8100-588: Was used in 1823 in the Cordouan lighthouse at the mouth of the Gironde estuary ; its light could be seen from more than 20 miles (32 km) out. Fresnel's invention increased the luminosity of the lighthouse lamp by a factor of four and his system is still in common use. The introduction of electrification and automatic lamp changers began to make lighthouse keepers obsolete. For many years, lighthouses still had keepers, partly because lighthouse keepers could serve as

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