This iconic structure stands on a tiny islet that connects to Battery Point by an isthmus at low tide. First lit with oil lamps in 1856, Battery Point Lighthouse remained in service until 1965, when it was replaced by a flashing light at the end of the nearby breakwater. In 1982 it was reactivated as a private aid to navigation by the Del Norte County Historical Society, and remains active today as a working lighthouse, museum, and lighthouse keeper's residence. The lighthouse and its museum are open to the public for tours, and provide opportunities to look into the personal quarters of keepers and their families as well as the furniture and artifacts they've left behind since the 1850s. Tours include a climb into the light tower. There are displays of many maritime artifacts, photographs and documents that chronicle its history.
Visits to the Battery Point Lighthouse and island are only possible at low tides, and visitors should be on the lookout for sneaker waves when crossing the two hundred feet between the mainland and island. The lighthouse is open, tides permitting, between the hours of 10am and 4pm every day from April through September, and on weekends from October through March. WHERE: From Hwy 101 in Crescent City, go west on Front Street until it ends at A Street, turn left onto A Street and follow it to the parking lot at its end. Battery Point Lighthouse, photo by Steve Hammons MORE INFO: 707-464-3089 or Main Museum 707-464-3922, www.DelNorteHistory.org/lighthouse