Two Sisters Kept This California Lighthouse Shining for Eight Years
Mary and Ella Smith were the first keepers of this 1874 San Pedro lighthouse, and the tour walks through the building they ran.
🕯️ The Sisters Who Kept It
The Smith sisters arrived at a bare stretch of bluff at the end of Paseo Del Mar with a light to run. Mary had been head keeper at Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, and Ella came from the same lighthouse family. They stayed nearly eight years, until 1882, keeping the fourth order lens lit for ships feeling their way into San Pedro Bay.
Access to the interior is by guided tour only, and the free tours leave at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Each tour takes only eight people, first come first served, no reservations for individuals. Arrive early for the hour you want.
Children under 18 must come with an adult, and the tower has a minimum height the two official pages do not agree on, 40 inches on the lighthouse society page and 48 inches on the park page. Call (310) 241-0684 before bringing small children.
The light went dark for good in 1941, when the coast was blacked out after Pearl Harbor, and the lighthouse opened to the public only in 2002.
