SANTA CRUZ LIGHTHOUSE
Santa Cruz, California
Git yer surf board, dude! This pretty little brick lighthouse is actually a memorial to a young surfer, Mark Abbott who died nearby while surfing. His parents had this place built in his memory. It sits out on a small point, just west of the Santa Cruz Wharf, on West Cliff Drive. An extremely popular place for surfing. Oh, I've said that already. Plenty of parking at the lighthouse and across the street. Watch out for the skaters and bikers and hikers along the road there.
The original lighthouse was constructed in 1869 and first lit on December 31st of that same year. It was a fixed white light shining through a 5th order Fresnel lens. It was kept in service until 1941, when a small automated light was attached to a framework scaffold nearby. The lighthouse tower served a brief military career during WWII as a lookout tower. The place was razed in 1948. The current brick structure was completed in 1967 and houses a surfing museum. There is an active light maintained there by the Coast Guard.
Light is on the front in the early morning, which is your best chance to get a shot with no one in the photo, as I like to do. Otherwise, forget it. The sun will set behind the lighthouse in the photo above. From the opposite side, both morning and afternoon are optimal, the morning only so, if there is a sunrise. Parking is all along the road, so you can park and get in a little walking as well as photos from many perspectives.
Here's how I saw it:
OF THE MOUNTAINS
John B Caddell
Copyright 2001