Lighthouse on the Move  

In the early 1970s, developers began creating an "historic" district by moving historic buildings to Embarcadero Cove on the shores of Brooklyn Basin. Victorian houses were brought to the site and converted into offices. And the Oakland Point lighthouse was lifted from its foundation by a crane and sailed down the Estuary on a barge to become Quinn's Lighthouse restaurant.

The lighthouse was built at the mouth of the Estuary in 1902. Two lighthouse keepers and their families lived there, tending the light and the fog bell, until the Coast Guard took over in 1939. An automated lighthouse was installed in 1966, and the old one sold for a dollar and moving costs.

Deborah Cooper
Oakland Museum of California

  "Walk Along the Water"
  © Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.

Explore this Topic:

Oakland Harbor Light page - National Park Service

Oakland Harbor Light history - Lighthouse Friends

Quinn's Lighthouse History - Quinn's Lighthouse

Image of Oakland Harbor Light at the mouth of the Estuary - U. S. Coast Guard

 

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