Lighthouses of California -  Alcatraz Island Lighthouse
Alcatraz Island
San Francisco, CA 94133
The Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is the first lighthouse built on the U.S. West Coast (originally lit in 1854), standing above San Francisco Bay as both a navigational aid and a historic symbol of the island’s layered past.

Prints & Downloads

Map

Alcatraz Lighthouse Keepers (Partial list)
  • Michael Cassin – First keeper (1854)
  • William H. Miller
  • Edward Schneider
  • Civilian keepers served until automation in the early 1960s

Location


Located on the highest point of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, approximately 1.25 miles offshore from Fisherman’s Wharf.​
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History

  • It was the first operational lighthouse on the U.S. Pacific Coast.
  • The original Fresnel lens was removed after electrification.
  • The lighthouse remained operational even during the prison years.
  • The fog signal building below the tower once housed powerful steam-driven foghorns.
  • It is still an active aid to navigation today.
  • It sits within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Photography

There are tours to the lighthouse that you can take each day.   If you stand on the shoreline at Fishermans Wharf, you can get good photos with a 300mm lens.