Eshoo notes the restoration as one of her 36 funding priorities in 2009.
The State Parks Foundation is leading the fundraising effort to restore ironwork and other infrastructure in the tower, which has been closed to the public since 2001. The complete restoration project is estimated to cost between $6 million and $8 million. Most recently, in fall 2008, the foundation received a $54,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express to repair wooden windows in the tower. There is still more to be done.
 A sign at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse solicits donations for repair and maintenance of the decaying landmark. The lighthouse has been deemed unsuitable for visitors since 2001. |
Aside from bringing in a small stream of tourist revenue to the South Coast and serving as a beacon for Coastside student field trips and docent tours, Peery wrote that the lighthouse is invaluable to everyone on the Coastside, especially people in Pescadero.
“It’s a matter of pride, in a sense, in our community to make sure it’s in working order,” Peery said. “We’re partly identified with it.”
A coastal catastrophe in 1896 involving the lighthouse is a story that has been passed down to generations of Coastsiders.
One foggy July morning, the Colombia, a passenger steamer laden with various consumer goods pushing north through the sloughs along the South Coast, ran ashore. It was a spectacular wreck.
“After the wreck, lots of scavengers descended upon the ship and took away tons of white lead paint, which supported local homes with a fresh coat of paint, and copper wire for new clothes lines in Pescadero,” said Half Moon Bay resident JoAnn Semones, who wrote “Shipwrecks, Scalawags and Scavengers: The Storied Waters Of Pigeon Point,” published in 2007.
“Pigeon Point is really iconic to Pescadero,” she added. “It’s the tallest, most visited, most photographed lighthouse in California and has a very rich cultural and maritime history and I think the restoration means a great deal to people on the coast and in the local community. It’s good news.”
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