Ballast Point Lighthouse

The Ballast Point Lighthouse was built in 1890 at the tip of a short, narrow piece of land called Ballast Point, which juts out from the Point Loma peninsula. The lighthouse helped ships navigate in and out of San Diego Bay. It took over this task from the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, which, due to its high position (462 feet focal height), was often ineffective during the summer when fog covered the coast. The Ballast Point Lighthouse was deactivated and demolished in 1960. However, the lantern room was preserved and eventually placed here in 1998 next to the West Sea Company antiques store. An automated light was built in 1961 off of Ballast Point and continues to operate today.

Built in 1854, the Point Loma Lighthouse was one of the first eight lighthouses erected on the west coast. Its unreliability prompted the federal government in 1890 to build two new lighthouses at sea level: the Ballast Point Lighthouse and the new Point Loma lighthouse at the southern tip of Point Loma (it is still in operation; the Old Point Loma Lighthouse is now part of the Cabrillo National Monument). Until then, Ballast Point, which was named after the fact that ships used rocks from the site as ballast, was used as a whaling station. Here, blubber was boiled in large 150-gallon cast-iron pots.

The Ballast Point Lighthouse was built in the Victorian stick style and the site included a second keeper's quarters, a bell tower, and a boathouse. The lantern room housed a fifth-order Fresnel lens that was made in Paris, France and lit for the first time on August 5, 1890. Two keepers were needed to fulfill their responsibilities, which included maintaining the light, nine beacons, two fog signals, four gas buoys, the wharf, the property buildings, the boat launch, and the road. They took turns in six-hour shifts. The buoys were particularly difficult as they were out at sea and often used by seals as resting spots. Jumping from the boat to them was challenging as well. Eventually, by 1914 it appears only one keeper lived at the lighthouse.

Keeper Hermann Engel, who served from 1914 to 1931, was credited with notable rescues. He saved a little girl who fell into the water from the wharf, rescued two women who sailed out to sea on a small boat, and rescued a pilot and crewman from an Army DeHaviland plane that crashed in the water near the lighthouse.

By 1960, advancements in lighthouse technology rendered the need for keepers obsolete. As a result, the houses were demolished, leaving the lighthouse tower. However, it was discovered that its base was unstable and the tower could not be used. A third story was added to the old bell tower (the bell was replaced by a fog horn in 1928) and a light was installed inside. However, it only operated until 1961 when the offshore light was built. As for the old light tower, it was purchased by a local named Monroe A. Platt, who moved it to his home and converted it into a ham radio station. In preparation for the move, the lantern room was removed and placed on the ground. Platt later made the the first floor into a guest house. The old bell was sent to a scrap yard where a local teacher, Alva Oliphant, purchased it and brought it to his house. It remained there until 2002 when his granddaughter moved it to Vermont.

Another local, Home Hudson, bought the the lantern room of the old lighthouse and transported it to his house where he used it as a gazebo. In 1998, Hudson put it up for sale. The owner of the West Sea Company, Rod Cardoza, bought and installed it next to the store. The original Fresnel lens is located at the Cabrillo National Monument.

"Ballast Point Lighthouse." Lighthouse Friends. Accessed August 16, 2023. https://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1585.

Engel, Norma. "Ballast Point Lighthouse." The Journal of San Diego History, Vol. 6, No. 4. October 1960. Retrieved from the San Diego History Center on August 16, 2023. https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1960/october/ballast/.

"The Ballast Point Lighthouse." United States Lighthouse Society. Accessed August 16, 2023. https://uslhs.org/fun/passport-club/collector-stamp-series/lost-lights/ballast-point-lighthouse.