Battery Point Lighthouse along the Redwood Coast

Battery Point Lighthouse

Crescent City, roughly 3 miles from Jedediah Smith Redwoods S. P.

Continued from Coast Redwoods

2014 - Mario Vaden

Select an image below to enlarge ...

Several photos of Battery Point Lighthouse are provided, including a long exposure from about 2am in the morning, plus a couple substantially adjusted for effect. The lighthouse is near beaches, a sea wall, pier, harbor, and close to restaurants. It's entertaining and photographic.

Apparently, in 1855, a ship called America burned in the Crescent City harbor, then 3 cannons were salvaged and mounted near the point at the north side of the harbor entrance. The cannons were fired during July 4th Independence days celebrations, and the location was named Battery Point. The name remains, even though the cannons are gone now. It's first light was December 10, 1856, with a fourth-order Fresnel lens. And 15 days later, the first official Lighthouse keeper arrived; his name was Theophilis Magruder.

Among the history, one story from the 1964 Tsunami seemed especially interesting ... told by Peggy Coons (she and her husband Clarence were curators at the time). Her story describes what happened following the 3rd wave, near midnight, and leading up to the large 20 ft. 4th wave. Can you imagine seeing the bottom of the edge of the ocean, even briefly?

"The water withdrew as if someone had pulled the plug. It receded a distance of three-quarters of a mile from the shore. We were looking down, as though from a high mountain, into a black abyss. It was a mystical labyrinth of caves, canyons, basins, and pits, undreamed of in the wildest of fantasies. The basin was sucked dry.. .In the distance, a black wall of water was rapidly building up, evidenced by a flash of white as the edge of the boiling and seething seawater reflected the moonlight. Then the mammoth wall of water came barreling towards us. It was a terrifying mass, stretching up from the ocean floor and looking much higher than the island. Roxey shouted, "Let's head for the tower!"

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