The Palos Verdes Peninsula is located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. With increasing maritime traffic into the harbor of Los Angeles, a lighthouse was built on a high bluff in Rancho Palos Verdes in 1926. The light station buildings were built in the Spanish revival style that’s prevalent in the area. The 67-foot concrete tower originally held a third-order Fresnel lens, which is now on display at an interpretive center a short distance away. The light was automated and destaffed in the early 1970s. The lighthouse tower and other light station buildings are on an active Coast Guard station.
A new nonprofit organization, the Friends of Point Vicente Lighthouse, is working to restore and preserve the historic site. We have three guests in this episode. Catherine Sinich and Amy Forte are co-founders and board members for the Friends of Point Vicente Lighthouse. Captain Kip Louttit is retired from Coast Guard active duty but remains active in the Coast Guard Auxilary, and he has the title of Staff Officer for Navigation Systems, Point Vicente Lighthouse.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of 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’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org