The first light house in California was built on Alcatraz island, completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison but the light was later replaced in 1909 when the original one was damaged by an earthquake in 1906.

The next California light to be built, just eight months later, was the Point Pinos Lighthouse which was lit in 1855.

Fifty-three different lights have lit the shorelines of the state of California with some forty-six still standing. Of the forty-six, two are private, twelve require a boat trip, nineteen have the interior open of which eleven allow climbing to the top, seven have an active lens with two of the forty-six having been destroyed.

Alcatraz Light, Active

Battery Point Light, Active

Piedras Blancas Light, Active

Pigeon Point Light, Active

Point Arena Light, Active

Point Bonita Light, Active

Point Cabrillo Light, Active

Point Fermin Light, Active

Point Loma Light

Point Montara Light, Active

Point Pinos Light, Active

Point Reyes Light, Active

Point San Luis Light, Active

Point Sur Light, Active

Point Vicente Light, Active

Point Reyes Light, Active

Old Point Loma Light