2022
I had the wonderful fortune of traveling with #TeamSequoia to the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, California. When we stopped to visit, I did not think it would be as fascinating as it turned out to be.
My favorite part of the visit was learning about how technologically complex the light in the lighthouse was. A Fresnel lens, which looks like an elaborate fractal globe of glass, was manufactured in 1853. It was originally run on whale oil which in today's dollars, cost $250 a gallon. The light source was later converted to lard, and eventually electricity. There was a large weighted mechanism that stretched from the bottom floor to the top of the lighthouse 89 feet up, which made the light blink in its specific pattern. When climbing a cramped, uneven spiral staircase to reach the top of the lighthouse, the heavy cable hung down through center, all the way to the bottom.
This post is part of the #StateChallenge organized by @Kwiksatik and @Denise_Barlock. If you want to find out more, check out this post. You can also find other submissions by searching the #StateChallenge hashtag. There is also a virtual meet-up on California coming up which you can sign up to here!
