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The Old Point Loma Lighthouse stood watch over the entrance to San Diego Bay for 36 years. At dusk on November 15, 1855 the light keeper climbed the winding stairs and lit the light for the first time. What seemed to be a good location 422 feet above sea level, however, had a serious flaw. Fog and low clouds often obscured the light. On March 23, 1891 the light was extinguished and the keeper moved to a new lighthouse location closer to the water at the tip of the Point.
Today the Old Point Loma Light House still stands watch over San Diego, sentinel to a vanished past. The National Park Service has refurbished the interior to its historic 1880’s appearance -- a reminder of a bygone era. Ranger-led talks, displays and brochures are available to explain the lighthouses interesting past.
The Old Point Loma Lighthouse is a reminder of simpler times: of sailing ships and oil lamps and the men and women whom day after day faithfully tended the coastal lights that guided mariners. In 1851, a year after California entered the Union, and the U.S. Coastal Survey selected the heights of Point Loma for the location of a navigational aid. The crest seemed like the right location: it stood 422 feet above sea level, overlooking the bay and the ocean, and a lighthouse there could serve as both a harbor light and a coastal beacon.
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Known as "Americas Finest City", elegant and sunny San Diego is truly a city with something for everyone. In town, a whole day or more could be spent in Balboa Park, playing golf, touring the world-famous San Diego Zoo or visiting a museum. Just outside of town, Torrey Pines State Reserve offers a somewhat wilder terrain where visitors can view rare birds and the stately trees the park is named for. Children, and in turn parents, will be delighted with the city's wide range of family-oriented activities. From SeaWorld to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, there are events and exhibits to keep even the most hard-to-please happy. San Diego boasts an array of fine and trendy restaurants covering a melting pot of cuisines, world-class shopping and hotels from lavish to budget. San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United Sates and the second largest city in California. Relatively free from smog and byzantine freeways, San Diego, set around a gracefully curving bay, represents the acceptable face of southern California. Although it was the site of the first mission in California, the city only really took off with the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in the 1880s, and in terms of trade and significance it has long been in the shadow of Los Angeles. However, during World War II the US Navy made San Diego its Pacific Command Center, and the military continues to dominate the local economy, along with tourism and the Biotech Industry. San Diego is also home to one of the 2009 top ten beaches in the US. Coronado beach has just moved up from the number 8 position to number 4. You can enjoy the 100 year old Hotel Del Coronado visited by Kings, Presidents and movie stars behind you while taking in the ships and sail boats in front of scenic Point Loma.
