Continuing to share my love of exploring interesting places...
Driving from west to east over San Francisco Bay's Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, you can catch glimpses of a tiny island with a Victorian building, but unless you know what it is, the distance and driving speed turns it into a blur. Most people I have spoken to don't even know it is there.
This is East Brother Light Station, a complex consisting of a lighthouse, lighthouse keeper's residence and outbuildings taking up the entire surface of a small island some yards off the coast of a peninsula jutting out into the northern reaches of San Francisco Bay where it meets up with San Pablo Bay.
After years of promising myself to find a way closer to the island, I finally explored the area this week. Lots of "No Trespassing!" signs dotted the "hidden in plain sight" private, but now open-to-the-public, road that wends along the west side of the peninsula. This land has been used by various private industries over the years. Home to a whaling station (the last whaling station in the US; it closed in the early 1970's), a commercial fishing center, a naval depot, a winery, and an oil refinery, keeping the public out has made this area, and the lighthouse, relatively unknown to many who have spent their entire lives in the Bay Area.
The narrow road is paved, but rough. It skims the backside of the Chevron Refinery and the brick, faux castle of the now defunct Winehaven winery (designated an historic landmark in 1978, it was once part of the largest winery in the US).
The Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot occupied about 275 acres from 1942 to 1995. The land was sold to the City of Richmond, the transfer completed in 2010. Its boarded up buildings are kept behind cyclone fencing; however, as of 2013, and after extensive clean-up, the public has use of Point Molate Beach Park, a recreation area established in the 70's for Navy personnel and Richmond residents.
At last, rounding a bend, my goal, the lighthouse, came into view. I had to go a bit further to find a place to pull off the road. This is as close as you can get without a boat. If you continue up an intersecting road, you reach a small harbor where reserved transportation is available.
East Brother Light Station was built in 1874. Originally, whale oil was used to fuel its beam. In 1969, the electric lamp was automated, the last lighthouse keeper left the island and the buildings were allowed to fall into disrepair. The US Coast Guard would have preferred to have torn it down, leaving just a light on a pole, but Richmond residents protested and were able to save it from destruction.
In 1971, the lighthouse was put on the National Register of Historic Places and a not-for-profit, preservation group was formed in 1979.
It is now run as an inn, providing a champagne greeting, a gourmet dinner, and breakfast for its overnight guests. During the summer, day-trippers can, for a $25 fee, be ferried to the island in the morning, given a tour of the lighthouse, enjoy the views, picnic (bring your own lunch), wander about, and are returned to the mainland in the afternoon. All proceeds go to the continued restoration and upkeep of the property. Volunteers are depended upon to help in the maintenance, repairs and clerical duties.
Back on the mainland, there are various plans proposed for the development of the peninsula. After visiting it, I am hoping it will become open space and the historic sites made accessible; however, given the value of land, especially waterfront, I fear this will not be its fate.
