Long Beach Light

This article is about the lighthouse in California. For the lighthouse in Orient Bay, Long Island, NY, see Orient Long Beach Bar Light.

Long Beach Light

File:USCGlongbeachRobot.JPG Robot Light, taken 1949 – U.S. Coast Guard Archive
Location	Long Beach Harbor, California, USA
Coordinates
Tower shape	SG on white rectangular tower on building on columnar base.
Height	42 feet (13 m), 50 feet (15 m) above sea level
Original lens	36 inches (910 mm)
Range	20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing White 5s. Emergency light of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished. HORN: 1 blast ev 30s (3s bl). Operates continuously.
ARLHS number	USA-447
USCG number	6-0125

Long Beach Light also known as the Long Beach Harbor Light, is a lighthouse on Long Beach Harbor in California.

History

Long Beach Harbor Light looks different from a traditional lighthouse. Labeled the "robot light" when established in 1949, it is completely automated and was the forerunner of the new version of 20th-century lighthouses on America's West Coast. The 42-foot (13 m) high white, rectangular tower with a columnar base, features a airway-type beacon and is controlled by the ANRAC system from the Los Angeles Harbor Light. The three-story facility, of monolithic design, is built of concrete supported on six cement columns cast into six pockets of a crib. It had dual tone fog signals and a radio beacon.

File:USCGlongbeachOriginal.JPG

Original Light Tower – U.S. Coast Guard Archive

In its commanding position in San Pedro's middle breakwater, the lighthouse was considered an uncanny mechanical wonder when first established. Later, another navigation light in the Long Beach area was erected atop the pilot station at the Port of Long Beach in 1968. Marking the harbor entrance channel, the light is accompanied by one of the United States Coast Guard's radar scanners.

This lighthouse is inaccessible to the public but can be viewed from East Ocean Boulevard at Long Beach Harbor.