Pigeon Point Lighthouse is tied for the tallest lighthouse tower in California at 115 feet, and it’s a favorite of sightseers and photographers. In September of this year, California State Parks officials announced that more than $9 million in state funding will go to the lighthouse for a major renovation that will take place over the next two years.

Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont recently spoke with Linda Hitchcock and Joe Rogers of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Linda is managing the restoration project at the district level. Joe is the lead person for the Pigeon Point Interpretive Program, and he is responsible for coordinating the volunteer program at the park. The conversations with Linda and Joe detail the upcoming restoration work as well as what visitors to this spectacular site can expect now and during the planned work projects.

Also featured is a segment with Jeremy and co-host Michelle Jewell Shaw chronicling the history of the first lighthouse on the West Coast, on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. In recent years the U.S. Lighthouse Society has been working with the National Park Service and the U.S. Coast Guard for the restoration of Alcatraz Lighthouse.

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Wickie from NH

Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org