• California Lighthouses on the Internet

 Expected to ship
in August 2001

Photo © Paul L. Brady

Los Angeles Harbor, California

Harbour Lights Limited Edition #263

Long before the City of Angels became the birthplace of the movie industry and years before starlets arrived seeking their very own Hollywood screen test, a bright shining star stood in the Los Angeles Harbor.

In 1913, Los Angeles was on its way to becoming a major metropolitan center, drawing numerous vessels to its port. In order to calm the incoming ocean swells and create a safe haven for ships, workers built a 9,250 foot-long breakwater using 3 million tons of rock. Their next step was to build a lighthouse at the tip to warn vessels of the outcropping.

Originally known as San Pedro Harbor Light, the rotating green light cast its light from a focal plane of 73 feet. But it wasn’t long after the beacon was commissioned that a five-day storm swept over the breakwater. The crashing waves tore at the tower, threatening to topple the structure.

The lightkeepers stationed at the tower during the storm endured the isolation, choosing to ration their supplies and cook with a blowtorch rather than venturing the short distance to the supply shed. After the storm abated, they breathed a collective sigh of relief as the lighthouse appeared undamaged, but one keeper complained that it took more effort to walk one direction inside the structure than the other. He was sure that the tower was leaning!

The other keepers, thinking him daft, quickly set to prove him wrong. But after they dropped a weighted line from the top, they were stunned to discover that the entire tower had a decided tilt toward the shore. Fortunately, engineers planned for such a contingency and had erected a steel framework that would allow for realignment, if necessary.

Despite the warning light, more than one vessel has bumped into the breakwater and even the lighthouse itself. One keeper, roused by the screeching sound of metal against rock, nearly lost his mind when he looked out the window. A giant battleship careened off the jetty, passing uncomfortably close to the keeper. Fortunately, the battleship survived with little damage. Undoubtedly, the same could not be said about the keeper’s nerves.

Whenever a deep-sea vessel arrives on her maiden voyage in Los Angeles Harbor, the City of Los Angeles presents the captain with a plaque etched with the likeness of the Los Angeles Harbor Light, welcoming her to the City of Angels.

Photography by Paul L. Brady © Harbour Lights 
December 13, 2001