Report for St. George Reef Light Station (California) - 1907
| General |
| District: | 12th |
| Inspector: | John Olsen, Keeper |
| Location: | On NW Seal Rock 6 3/8 miles off Point St. George, Del Norte County, on N boundary of coast of California |
| Date of Report: | 07/02/1907 |
| Latitude: | N 41° 50' 10" |
| Longitude: | W 124° 22' 30" |
| Premises |
| Site: | Public Land |
| Date of Reservation: | 06/10/1866 |
| Date of Deed: | |
| Date of Permission: | |
| Date of Lease: | |
| Area of the Entire Site: | 40,000 sq.ft. |
| Area Inclosed: | 6000 sq. ft. |
| Character of Soil: | Rocky |
| Distance of tower from Nearest High-Water Mark: | 66' |
| Inclosures to Premises / Type of Fence: | |
| Wharf or Landing on Premises: | A small space near base of main structure on pier, 29' above low water mark |
| Road to Land or Wharf Chararacter of and Distance: | |
| Means to Reach Light Station: | By sailboat or gasoline launch |
| Distance to Nearest Road: | 10 nautical miles to Crescent City |
| Distance to Post Office: | 10 nautical miles to Crescent City |
| Distance to Village: | 10 nautical miles to Crescent City |
| Facilities for Public Conveyance: | None |
| Facilities for Private Conveyance: | By launch or sail boat |
| Means Used for Support of Lantern: | Tower |
| Number of Separate Lights: | 1 |
| First Built or Established: | Est. Dec. 1, 1891 |
| Last Rebuilt, Repaired, or Renovated: | |
| Condition at This Date: | Good |
| Shape of Tower in Plan: | Square |
| Form of Tower: | Pyramidal |
| Height from Base to Ventilator Ball: | 90' |
| Height of Focal Plane Above Mean High Water: | 146' |
| Background of Lighthouse as Seen from Sea: | Surrounded by ocean |
| Color of Tower: | Gray stone |
| Color of Tower/ How Produced: | Natural color of stone |
| Tower Connection: | Keepers rooms are in tower |
| Object of Navigation: | Seacoast of California, for general navigating purposes. |
| Building Materials: | Granite |
| General Description: | |
| Wall Thickness at Base: | 7' |
| Wall Thickness at Parapet: | 4' |
| Diameter at Base: | 28' |
| Diameter at Parapet: | 25' |
| Kind of Stairway and Steps: | Granite |
| Number of Landings: | 5 |
| Size of Glass: | (all frames 1 3/4" thick); 12 - 19 3/4x9 3/4"; 8 panes: 15x30"; 24 - 19 3/4x24.5"; 12 - 28.5"x9 3/4" |
| Number of Windows and Size of Sash: | 6 - 31 1/4" x 13 3/4"; 6 - 33.5" x 13 3/4"; 12 - 29.5" x 13 3/4"; 12 - 28.5" x 13 3/4"; 2 - 34" x 29 3/4"; 2 - 32" x 29 3/4"; 6 - 26.5" x 13.5"; 6 - 24.5" x 13 1/12" |
| Number of Doors: | 6 |
| Kind of Foundation and Depth Below Surface: | Rock |
| Character of Soil Surrounding the Lighthouse: | Rock |
| Soil Susceptibility: | No |
| Miscellaneous Remarks: |
| Lantern and Fixtures |
| Order of Lantern: | 1st |
| Shape of Lantern: | Polygonal |
| Diameter to Glass: | 12' |
| Diameter in the Clear: | |
| Number of Sides: | 16 |
| Type of Bars: | Vertical |
| Thickness of Bars: | |
| Height Glazed: | 9' 7" |
| Number of Plates in Height: | 3 |
| Number of Plates Each Side: | 3 |
| Thickness of Plates: | 5/16" |
| Size of Plates: | 44.5" x 27 3/4"; 39.5" x 27 3/4"; 30 7/8" x 27 3/4" |
| Number of Storm Panes: | 6 |
| Unglazed Side of Lantern: | None |
| What Bearings: | |
| Construction Material Lantern: | Cast iron |
| Construction Material Roof / Cowl: | Cast iron |
| Ventilator / Cowl: | Cast iron |
| Lightning Spindle: | Yes |
| Description of Lightning Rod: | No |
| Balustrade: | Iron platform with iron railing |
| Lantern Doors: | None, enter from watchroom below lantern by steps leading up to lantern floor. |
| Floor of Lantern: | Iron |
| Watchroom Doors: | 2 wooden doors fitted to iron frames. |
| Parapet Diameter: | Circular, 12' |
| Ventilators |
| Location / Number: | In parapet |
| Ladders / Cleaning Arrangement: | 1, iron |
| Curtain Hooks / Hanger: | Roller curtains fitted to inside lining of lantern roof by brackets. |
| Watchroom |
| How is Watchroom Fitted: | Lined with wood inside brick lining of iron structure. Pedestal in center of iron floor supports lens & rev. apparatus. Fitted with wooden locker to keep spare lamp, burners, wicks, chimneys, etc. Also a bookcase & table. Iron stairway leads to lantern |
| How is Relief Called: | |
| Where is Call System Led: |
| Illuminating Apparatus |
| Kind of Apparatus: | 6 hours |
| Intensity in Candles: | |
| Name of Maker: | Henry LePaute, Paris |
| Year Made: | 1892 |
| Marks and Number: | No. 19C |
| Order of Apparatus: | 1st |
| Inside Diameter: | 6' 4" |
| Light Characteristic: | Flashing alternately red & white. |
| Time of Revolution: | 3 minutes |
| Flash Interval: | 10 sec |
| Duration of Flash: | 5 sec |
| Arc of Each Fixed Part: | Illuminates the entire horizon |
| Number of Panels: | 24, 12 below, or in low section & 12 in top section. |
| Number of Flash Panels: | 12 |
| Arc of Each: | |
| Number of Elements in Central Drum: | 27 |
| Number of Prisms Above Center Drum: | 15 |
| Number of Prisms Below Center Drum: | 6 |
| Does Apparatus Revolve?: | True |
| Is There a Revolving Belt?: | False |
| Revolving Panels: | |
| How Flash is Produced: | |
| Number of Vertical Elements Panel: | |
| Fixed Lens Covered: | |
| Pedestal: | Base of pedestal resting on iron floor in watchroom is similar to clockwork for revolving apparatus. |
| Service Table: | Circular structure surrounding pedestal |
| Draft Tube Description: | Cast steel 7" dia., leads thru upper metal ring of lens, fastened to spider band w/ 3 lugs & set screws movable for adj. Conn'd to this is a tube prov. w/ damper attach. On top of spider band & abv 7" tube is sheet iron tube 6" dia. to carry gases to vent |
| Revolving Machinery: | Revolving |
| Standby and Description: | |
| Chariot Float or Balls: | Chariot |
| Chariot Description: | 8 steel wheels size 3 1/8" tapering to 3.5" x 1 1/8" revolves on beveled tracks; 8 small wheels 2" x 1/2" bearing on center drum to keep larger wheels in place on track. |
| Length of Drop Tube: | 28' |
| Clock Weight: | |
| Length of Winding Time: | 6 hours |
| Drive During Rewind: | |
| Machinery Protection: | Enclosed by glass doors |
| Regulated: | By governor, adjusted by weight by screwing the ball up or down; on end of arms is a piece of cork rubbing on metal basin. Inside balls is a loose weight on small piston to hold cork & move up & down to check speed of clockwork. |
| Lens Protection: | |
| How Color is Produced: | By red shades outside the lens fitted in frames with hinges. |
| Red Sectors Description: | |
| Where Color Attached: | |
| Form of Colored Glass: | |
| Lamp Description: | 1st order US mineral oil lamp, 5 wicks |
| Type of Illuminant: | |
| Number of Spare Lamps: | 1 |
| Number of Spare Burners: | 3 |
| Candle Power: |
| Clock Cord Description |
| Revolving Cord: | Wire cord |
| Size of Clock Cord: | |
| Length of Clock Cord: | |
| How Led: | Thru watchroom floor & ceiling of a dwelling room to 1 corner into shaft or tube built in wall for this purpose. |
| Diameter and Length of Clock Drum: |
| Closets and Store Rooms |
| Tower Closet Use: | Storeroom in base of tower, fitted with 3 closets for storing provisions. |
| Oil House Description: | Oil room is within pier of main structure & contains large locker for storing ropes & miscellaneous articles. |
| Oil House Inside Dimension: | |
| Oil House Construction Material: | |
| Oil House Capacity: | |
| Other (Describe): | Storeroom & 3 closets in base of tower |
| Suitability: | Damp at times in winter or rainy season. |
| Fog Signal General |
| Fog Signal Kind: | 12" steam whistle |
| Time to Start: | Abt 50 minutes when boiler is cold. |
| How Long Will Pressure Last: | |
| Manufacturer: | 1st complete fog signal furnished by Moynihan-Aitken, San Francisco. |
| Year of Manufacture: | 1891 (new boilers & steam drums installed 1897) |
| Characteristic: | 5 sec blast every 75 sec. |
| Duplication: | 12" steam whistle, boilers, engines, steam pumps & plunger pump. |
| Timing Device: | |
| If whistle, siren, or trumpet, Pressure at Which Blown: | 70 & 75 lbs |
| Height Above Water: | 74' |
| Compass Direction: | (whistles) |
| Location: | Dangerous reef of submerged & exposed rock. |
| Distance and Direction: | Within pier of main structure |
| Water Supply: | Cistern below floor in pier |
| Reached from Lighthouse: | Whole signal apparatus within pier |
| Description of Fog Signal Building: | |
| Pressure And Recording Gauge: |
| Steam Signal |
| Steam Boiler: | |
| Kind: | Horizontal return tube - shell of boiler 5/16" steel - heads 3/8" thick |
| Tube: | Flue tube |
| Dimensions: | |
| Length: | 12' |
| Diameter: | 42" |
| Tube Description: | 41 - 12' 1/4" |
| Steam Tube Diameter: | 3" |
| Steam Furnace Kind: | Fire box |
| Furnace Length: | 4' |
| Furnace Width: | 4' |
| Furnace Height: | 20" |
| Steam Heat Surface: | About 433 sq. ft. |
| Steam Grate Surface: | 16 sq. ft. |
| Number of Grate Bars: | 18 double bars in each furnace, or boiler |
| Kind of Grate Bars: | Cast iron, double, 4' l x 2 5/8" w; 4" deep at ctr |
| Steam Fuel: | Bituminous |
| Steam Safety Valve: | 2.5" with composition valve - seat & stone. |
| Steam Maximum Pressure: | 175 lbs, cold water pressure |
| Steam Working Pressure: | 70 lbs |
| Steam Diameter of Smokestack: | 1 sec. of each smokestack 9' long, 20" dia. joins into 24" x 31" horizontal near ceiling of engine room, extend in an elbow thru pier. |
| Smokestack Height: | Stack 30' high |
| Drum Dimension: | 4' |
| Steam Drum Diameter: | 30" shell 1/4" heads 3/8" |
| Steam Covering: | Felting & asbestos |
| Steam Boiler Condition: | Shell of boilers, good; tubes burst - retubed soon |
| Steam Boiler Built: | 1897 (new boiler) |
| Where Built: | Not known |
| Manufacturer: | Not known |
| Steam Heater: | False |
| Kind: | |
| Size: | |
| Heater Time Affect: | 90 pound |
| Steam Engine Kind: | Upright |
| Steam Engine Revolutions: | 100 rpm |
| Steam Engine Cyl. Diameter: | 4" |
| Steam Engine Piston Stroke: | 10.5" |
| Steam Engine Pipe Size: | 3/4" |
| Steam Engine When Built: | 1885 |
| Steam Engine Where Built: | Not known |
| Manufacturer: | Not known |
| Whistle Signal |
| Whistle Diameter: | 12" |
| Whistle Height: | 18" |
| Whistle Orifice: | 3 1/4" |
| Whistle Tone: | Single |
| Whistle Chime: |
| Dwelling |
| Location: | Lower part of tower |
| Coloring: | Gray stone |
| Construction Materials: | Granite, iron railing |
| Number of Rooms: | 4. Living rooms & kitchen within tower. |
| Number of Dwellings: | |
| Heating Plant: | |
| Number of Keepers: | Keeper, 1 room; 1st & 2nd asst. 1 room; 3rd asst & cook, 1 room |
| Furnished Quarters: | |
| NOT Furnished Quarters: | |
| Outhouses: | Hoisting engine house 11' x 13' on top or pier for engine & boiler only; small wooden house 10' x 16' located on E side of main pier built on concrete foundation & used as blacksmith shop. |
| Outhouse Coloring: | White with brown roofs |
| Paths and Walks: | |
| Area Inclosed: | Area of pier 6000' area of rock, 40,000' |
| Area of Garden: | None |
| Area Timber or Shrubbery: | None |
| Cultivation Area Available: | None |
| Area Cultivated: | None |
| Character of Surroundings: | Ocean |
| Stove, Maker: | |
| Stove, Size: | |
| Sink, Maker: | |
| Sink, Size: | |
| Pump, Maker: | |
| Pump, Size: | |
| Lamps: |
| Water |
| How Procured: | By rain from pier into 2 cisterns |
| Quality: | Good for domestic purposes, rather hard for signal |
| Quantity: | Ample |
| Injury Possible: | Can be injured in stormy weather. By closing valves leading to cisterns & opening waste pipe valves so water may be run into ocean does away with danger. |
| Purity Precaution: | None |
| Tank Capacity: | About 60,000 gal beneath the floors in the solid base of bldg. |
| Tank Material: | Cut stone & cement |
| Distilling Apparatus: | False |
| Distilling Manufacturer: | |
| Well Description: | |
| Well Diameter: | |
| Well Lining: | |
| Pump or Bucket: | |
| What Power Used: | |
| Distance from Dwelling: |
| Miscellaneous |
| Access to Lighthouse: | Landing by means of large wooden derrick with 90' boom hoisted by double steam engine. |
| Distance and Direction: | |
| Miscellaneous Remarks: |
| Hoisting Engines |
| Hoisting Engine Kind: | 2 horizontal (single) sight & left hand engines |
| Engine RPMs: | 300 |
| Engine Diameter: | 8" |
| Engine Stroke: | 16" |
| Engine Boiler: | Upright 7' x 40" dia. 23 tubes 4' 6" x 2" |
| Engine Maker and Date: | |
| Serial Number: | |
| Cylinders and Size: | |
| Horsepower: | |
| Fuel: | |
| Hoist Starter: | |
| Hoist Miscellaneous: |