San Francisco Bay Area Series

There are many great lights in the San Francisco Bay area that Harbour Lights has yet to do that would make a great series.
Point Bonita with it's suspension bridge,
East Brothers Island, beautifully restored.
Fort Point under the Golden Gate
Mile rock as it used to be
Yerba Buena Island
Farallon Islands
Oakland Harbour
Of course we already have Alcatraz.

What a great series this would be!
Point Montara and Point Reyes are close enough to be considered Bay Area as well.

Dale

Hi Dale, ...Most of those aren't to far from the Younger Family Compound. Maybe you wish will come true!

Bob

Dale,
I saw your column in the Collecors Forum Wish List and it immediately caught my eye!
I was born in Berkeley and grew up in El Cerrito and Pinole areas!
During my many years in California, I never noticed and/or thought of lighthouses. But, in 1997, while browsing in the Tucson Mall and Foothills Malls; I got my glance at a Harbour Lights Lighthouse Display and was immediately hooked!
This obsession, of course, has continued and I daily enjoy my 250+ Harbour Lights Lighthouses and Anchor Bay! I can honestly say, I don't think anything has been so addictive, as Harbour Lights Lighthouses and Anchor Bay Vessels! I told my Harbour Lights Dealer to put me autoship, so I wouldn't miss out on anything!
I missed out on a trip to California in May 1999, but, I am still waiting to make a trip to the Bay Area! I noticed, that you might also reside in Arizona!
Well, if you have any clout, I will put my order in for more lighthouses from the Bay Area and then, San Franciso Lightship!
Karen
GolfHarbor@aol.com

Karen, glad to see another Zonie in the Forum. I don't think I have any clout with Younger and Assoc. but a fellow Zonie St. John probably does.
I'm from Show Low. Johns in Scottsdale. I think there are a few others from AZ but not sure where there from.
Dale

Yes please, BY, are you listening? Stay home and make more California lights...you've been neglecting your home state!

Amen to more California Lighthouses. Waiting for Anacapa, Pt. Sur, Pt. Conception, Pt. Hueneme just to name a few. By the way, Pt. Hueneme is pronounced "Y"neme, and it is located at the harbor entrance to Port Hueneme in Oxnard. It has just been recently renovated by the USCG and is awaiting access to the public throught the Harbor District. It is the only Art Deco Lighthouse in California. I am trying to get the Youngers up to visit both Hueneme and Anacapa to photograph.

------------------
Foggy



[This message has been edited by LamarB (edited 11-29-99).]

[This message has been edited by 1 Foghorn (edited 01-03-100).]

Kim, Bill, Nancy, Hey all you HL folks,

Some more CA lights would be just great !!!
Especially Pt. Conception, Pt. Reyes, and Pt. Bonita. Yerba Buena is a good one too..
how about Vincente?

Derith

Foggy,

Glad to hear about the access to Pt. Hueneme. Was there last year and had to hike about 1/2 mile or so along the fence of the customs yard. Could get close enough for pictures of the top 3/4 of the tower. Have they cleaned up the junk around the base of the tower yet?

Interesting design. Would indeed make a nice HL.

Dale

Dale,
I see there are more Harbour Lights Collectors hoping for more California Lighthouses.
Just maybe, now that Bill Younger is not going to be on the road as much next year?
Just maybe, Bill Younger will concentrate on California Lighthouses; which are close to home!
Good suggestion, but time will tell!
But, just maybe, if we could get enough Harbour Lights Collectors interested! We just might be able to see our wish come true!
Karen
GolfHarbor@aol.com

Point Reyes is one my wife and I would love to see. It was the first we saw together. OF course, the 300 steps down and up will be a test for HL.

Dale, they have cleaned up around the base of the tower at Pt. Hueneme. The only thing that is in the way now is the de-salinization water plant on the ocean side of the tower. I belive, according the the local USCG, that the plant will be moved sometime in the future. I do have some pictures of the finished tower, but no where to post them. I can get access to the lighthouse at any time because of my work. If you want pictures, let me know and I'll send them to you.


FOGGY





[This message has been edited by 1 Foghorn (edited 01-03-100).]

Thanks for the e-mail Foggy and the pictures. Looks much better than when I was there last.
Dale

Another vote here for Cal lighthouses! My favorite is that little ole ginger bread house East Brother in the Bay.

My number one favorite is East Brothers. My grandfather met my grandmother there in 1918 while he was in the USMC, stationed at Mare Island and his dad, my greatgrandfather, was Assistant Keeper at East Brothers. My grand father went on to be a Keeper at Point Sur where my mom went to her first school in a storeroom on the station. There were enough kids there to warant having a teacher come out form town and teach. My grand father was also stationed at Pt. Arena, Pt. conception, Anacapa Island, Umpqua River, Tree Point and Guard Island in Alaska and the Lighthouse Depot in Seattle. He also was on several othe west coast lights while growing up with his Keeper father.

Great story! With a blood line like that I hope to see a lot of interesting posts.

Hi djlink,

Are we excited or what! Surely you have let Bill Younger know you are of lighthouse blood. We all are interested in personal lighthouse history, but especially Bill. We look forward to many interesting posts.

Derith

What a great family backround. I ditto Derith, we love to hear about the history and the families that made these great sentinals work. I too am looking forward to some great posts from you djlink. I hope to see East Brothers soon. Will be seeing Point bonita agian, Pidgeon Point, Point Montara, and the Abbott memorial light in Santa Cruz in two weeks. Can't wait.

Do you have any family pictures at the lights tht you wuld be willing to share with the forum wackos and newbiew?

Dale

Thank you djlink for sharing such a wonderful family "snapshot" with all of us. I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future. I hope that you have some old photos of your lightkeeper relatives which you can share with us.

Ron
(CT Keeper)

[This message has been edited by RFoster (edited 01-28-2000).]

Rumor has it that those of us who have posted here will not be disappointed at the next batch of releases later this year. I could not get any details from reliable source but a California piece may be in the works. Anyone hear anything else on this?

Dale

Dale,
I would like to see Pt. Reyes added to the Harbour Lights collection. I was there in Sept. of 1998 and have great pictures of that one. We(my husbnad and I) hiked all 350 steps to see it up close. it would make a beautiful piece I think. I have been to San Francisco twice and it is my favorite city. I am currently in Indiana and we don't have lighthouses here.

Welcome to the Forums, Beth...

...you'll get an argument from some of the other collectors here about 'no lighthouses in Indiana'.

I believe there are four located on Lake Michigan. For a list check out "The Internet Index of Lighthouse Links"
www.harbourlights.com/links/new_links.shtml#Indiana

(This page may take 2-4 minutes to load up.)

Welcome Beth,

I, like you and Dale, really do like the CA lights. I feel a tug every year to return. I have just started making my plans for this coming July. Having friends in the area really helps with lodging cost and I am once again planning on revisiting them all.

Derith

Welcome to another Hoosier, Beth. As John noted we actually do have lighthouses here in Indiana. (Or, to quote Indiana Beach, there's more than corn in Indiana.) In fact, the Michigan City East Pier is HL # 123.

Dave

Beth welcome to the forums...I'm from Indiana also..Auburn here. Hope to see you here often! Thankyou djlink for your wonderful and interesting geneology regarding your relationship to lighthouses. I'm sure your very proud of your heritage!!

Kat

Here's a picture of one of those lighthouses that we don't have here in Indiana.

There is a really nice museum located in the original Michigan City Lighthouse where Harriet Colfax was the keeper and resident from 1861 to 1904. She lived in this house, after they built the pier lights and decommissioned the light at the house itself. http://michigancity.com/MCHistorical/index.html

SaintWackoPaul '
Keep the Flame

WELCOME, WELCOME to 1Foghorn, djlink and bethVDB. Great to see more joining the Fora. Looking forward to reading more from you. Don't be shy, see, some new info has already been presented to you.
Even though I live on the east coast part of the time, I would like to see more CA lights made as there certainly are many very interesting and varied types of structures. Hl's most recent LE offerings have been showing quite a wide variety of styles of structures and additional CA lights would carry on the current trend.

HJH aka foghornkeeper

I just purchased the Alcatraz California
Lighthouse. It is really neat. We went there Feb. 1997
Sorry about the comment on Indiana Lighthouses. I did not no there was more than one in Indiana. I saw one on the Harbour Lights list and that was it
Beth

I too want to welcome 1foghorn, beth and djlink to the forums. Glad to see your posts here.
I just got back from San Francisco and saw a few of the lights there again. Pigeon Point was great. They are looking for volunteers to help with the maintenance and to act as Docents. They were cleaning the lens while I was there and I got a great picture of the process. I also saw Ano Nuevo Island for the first time. That would be a great Then and Now piece. Old Victorian house and steel tower. Now overrun by sea lions, seals and gulls. Also went to Fort Baker to see Lime Point from the fishing pier. Earthquake retrofitting of the Golden Gate Bridge is blocking the trail to the fog signal building. It was extremely foggy and the fog sinal was going full blast. It was great!
Could see the Alcatraz light cutting through the fog and Yerba Buena Island was shining bright too.
Unfortunately Point Bonita was closed again due to the bad weather.

A lot of great lights there!
Dale L

[This message has been edited by DALE LAWRENCE (edited 02-28-2000).]

I agree totally with a San Francisco series. That would be a wonderful collection. I am fortunate to be able to visit San Francisco this coming April. My tour guide has promised a visit to as many lights as possible, as well as arranging a visit to the top of the North tower on the Golden Gate Bridge. Best wishes to all.

Ned;

Welcome to the forums. Have fun on your trip to the Bay. Top of the North tower of the Golden Gate? Who is your tour guide?

Be sure to get to Point Bonita lighthouse. Since you'll be on the north end of the bridge you'll almost be there anyway. First exit north of the bridge will take you to this wonderful light with its tunnel and suspension bridge. One of California's best!

Let us know how the trip goes!

Dale :=p

[This message has been edited by DALE LAWRENCE (edited 03-11-2000).]

Dale,

Thanks for the welcome and the Point Bonita info.

My friend in San Francisco is a supervisor for the public transportation system directly involved with the Golden Gate. She has been an awesome pal, and in talking last night, has assured me that we would see at least half a dozen lights.


As far as pictures go, I hope fare well in that regard. I will certainly forward the best to John for a "2000 gallery" of my photographs.

Thanks again,

Ned

[This message has been edited by Ned Fenimore (edited 03-11-2000).]

I agree that a San Francisco Bay area series would be great. Then I may be biased since they're all close to home.

By the way Foghorn, we went to Pt. Hueneme just a few weeks ago & thought it might be open to the public since the gate was unlocked. We were lucky enough to get some photographs sans fence. Love the etched window above the door!

I found this forum and noticed nothing had been posted for a little bit. I originally was from SF bay area but did not know there were so many lights there. I am going there for vacation and will try to see as many as possible. I also agrre with many others that a San Francisco series would be great. I would begin with Point (I forgot the name) the one with the bridge. Oh well, I guess mistakes happen on the first time out.

Silverfox51

Point Bonita is the one with the suspension bridge. Just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. First exit. Take the Alchatraz tour if you have the time.

Your right it is a beautiful light and should be on HL's list of future lights.

By the way welcome to the Forums! Enjoy your trip to San Francisco.