POINT PINOS LIGHTHOUSE, PACIFIC GROVE, CA: Emily Fish, Socialite Keeper

Point Pinos Lighthouse, Pacific Grove, CA

The Point Pinos lighthouse in Pacific Grove, California, (near Monterey) opened for business on February 1, 1855 and has been a guiding light for ships along the Central Pacific coast ever since. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the Western United States. On a sunny Saturday in late August, Art and I made a day trip from Oakland to visit the lighthouse. (It had been closed to visitors during the pandemic and recently opened to the public.) Walking on the grounds is free. Tickets for inside tours of the lighthouse led by volunteer docents are available in the gift shop. .

Sometime after 1899, Light Keeper Emily Fish stands near the front entrance, and her servant is to the right in the kitchen garden. Photo courtesy of Pat Hathaway Collection.

I was particularly interested in visiting the Point Pinos Lighthouse because its most famous light keeper (from 1893 to 1914) was Emily Fish, the mother of Juliet Fish Nichols, the subject of my recent picture book biography for children, KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog. Juliet was the light keeper at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay from 1902 to 1914. Emily and Juliet were an unusual mother/daughter light keeper duo, but with different personalities. Juliet led a quiet life at her lighthouse isolated at the bottom of a cliff on an island, whereas Emily was known as the “Socialite Keeper” due to her love of entertaining at her lighthouse.

Emily's bedroom on the second floor of the Point Pinos lighthouse.

Unlike the lighthouse at Point Knox on Angel Island, which was torn down, the Point Pinos lighthouse has been maintained both as a functioning lighthouse (now with a state-of-the-art beacon at the top) and as a historical monument. It is maintained by local volunteers. Most of the building is furnished in the style of the early 20^th century, as it would have been when Emily Fish lived there. (Emily’s belongings were lost after she retired.)

An information panel in the parlor gives a brief description of Emily: "In 1893, Mrs. Malancthon W. Fish (Emily), recently widowed, arrived to take over the job of keeper at Point Pinos. She brought her Chinese servant and a taste for the finer things in life.…Lawns, flowers, hedges, trees and fountains appeared. Fashionable furniture filled the rooms and visitors from near and far would join her for tea. She was a tough boss, going through over thirty assistants in twenty years. Retiring at 71, she and her faithful servant moved to a house in Pacific Grove, where they lived until Emily’s death in 1931."

View across Monterey Bay toward Santa Cruz from the second floor of the lighthouse.

Like keepers at other light houses, Emily recorded the weather and activities at her lighthouse in her log. Sample pages from her log are on display by the second floor window of the lighthouse, which looks out toward the sea. The lighthouse sits on a knoll that provides a good view of the water but is safely away from dangerous waves during a storm.

Sample log entry: Five ladies and a boy were cut off by high tide on the Point. Two of the party called for aid. I sent a stout plank, a rope and the laborer to get them off safely at sunset. Otherwise they would have had to remain until midnight for the low tide. July 31, 1899, Emily Fish, Keeper

Rooms at the back of the lighthouse include the kitchen and bathroom, furnished in an early 20th century style. The only room in the house not in keeping with Emily's time is upstairs over the parlor. It is devoted to WW II mementos, including a newspaper report of the sighting of Japanese submarines off the coast.

Foghorn on display in the parlor.

We were lucky to have a sunny day and clear skies on the day of our visit to the lighthouse. On foggy nights an automated horn blew to warn ships away from the rocky coast. In addition, buoys anchored in the ocean had bells that also served as warnings. 

Ocean buoy.

The buoy on display outside the lighthouse is similar to the red one located in the ocean to the north of Point Pinos. It marks the southern entrance to Monterey Bay. Normally it would have a bell and a light. Buoys warn of danger and serve as navigational tools.

Stairway to light tower. View into room with WW II mementos.

The light on top of the Point Pinos lighthouse still sends its bright beams across the bay--now from a LED lamp. It is completely automated and there is no need for a lightkeeper. The light is maintained by the Coast Guard. Visitors can peek up the narrow stairway of the light tower, but the top is closed to visitors.

Blog post on TIT about Angel Island:

ANGEL ISLAND IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY: A Trip Through Time, Sept 2017

My book KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog is available on Amazon.

For more about Emily Fish's daughter, Juliet Nichols, her log, Angel Island, the Point Knox Lighthouse, 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and more go to https://carolinearnoldart.blogspot.com/p/extra-material-for-keeper-of-light.html .