National Register #83001177
Crescent City Lighthouse
AKA Battery Point Lighthouse
Battery Point Island Off A Street
Crescent City
Built 1856

The Crescent City Lighthouse was the eleventh lighthouse built on the West Coast. It is one of the oldest lighthouses on the West Coast and the oldest on the north coast of California.

Crescent City began in the 1850s as an isolated town on the north coast of California. The rugged mountains and unbridged rivers surrounding the community hindered development of an adequate land transportation system. The town's future depended on its harbor, a crescent shaped port, for a reliable access to the sea.

In 1856 construction of the lighthouse was begun on Battery Point islet, a rocky point of land accessible by foot from the mainland during periods of low tide. The Light House Service constructed a Cape Cod dwelling with a tower rising through the center. The light, visible for fourteen miles at sea, was a significant navigational aid to ships traveling up and down the Pacific Coast. In addition, the lighthouse marked the entrance to the small Crescent City harbor, an important point of entry to the gold fields of Southern Oregon during the 1850's.

The lighthouse was in service for more than a century before being converted into a museum.

Excerpted from the NRHP Nomination.

Historic lighthouses on the west coast:

• Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City
• East Brother Light Station in Contra Costa County
• Fort Point Lighthouse in San Francisco
• Point Arena Light Station in Mendocino County
• Point Bonita Light Station in Marin County
• Point Cabrillo Light Station in Mendocino County
• Point Montara Light Station in San Mateo County
• Point Reyes Light Station in Marin County
• Pigeon Point Lighthouse in San Mateo County
• St. George Reef Light Station in Crescent City
• Yerba Buena Island Lighthouse in San Francisco

Battery Point Lighthouse is also California Historical Landmark 951.