Page 34 - Historical Study of Yerba Buena Island, Treasure Island and Their Buildings

In 1872, while the artillery detachment was still on the island, the Secretary of War issued a
permit authorizing the Department of the Treasury to install a lighthouse on Y erba Buena Island.
A lighthouse, a lighthouse keeper's residence, and appropriate_ support buildings were built on
the south point of the island in 187 5. The lighthouse, relatively small in size but twenty feet tall
in stature, was erected at a point sixty feet above the shoreline, giving it an overall rise of eighty
feet above the water. Brought to the island from Yaquina Bay in Oregon, it was accompanied by
a steam powered fog whistle and a chain-driven fog bell from Point Conception. Visible for
twelve miles, it is a light of the fifth order and the weakest lighthouse in use by the US
government. Since there was no school on the island, the three daughters of the lighthouse
keeper attended school in San Francisco. Daily, they made the trip across the San Francisco Bay
in their sloop, as shown in Figure 8. Presently, the lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers
residence remain in place and are still in use. Transportation to and from the island has greatly
improved over the years. The residence is currently occupied by a Vice Admiral, US Coast
Guard.

FIGURE 8. Evening Rush Hour, Circa 1880.
(Pen sketch by W A. Coulter)

Simultaneous to the installation of the lighthouse in 1875, a wharf and warehouses were built
around the island point to the northeast. This soon became the Lighthouse Supply and Buoy
Depot for the West Coast. See Figure 9. The entire facility included one large storehouse, two
small storehouses, a paint shop, a machine shop, a wharf, a dock, and two residences for the men
who worked there. Supplies needed for all twenty-eight lighthouses within Lighthouse
Department District 12 passed through the depot for storage, issue, and sometimes just
accountability/checkoff. Buoys were brought to the island for refurbishment and storage on the
wharf until they were needed.

September 1, 1995 Historical Study ofYerba Buena Island, 1-11
Treasure Island, and their Buildings