Piedras Blancas Light Station Association

Your donation will be used by the Piedras Blancas Light Station Association to repair and maintain the enclosure that protects the historic first-order Fresnel lens originally from the lighthouse at the Piedras Blancas Light Station in San Simeon, California.

The first-order Fresnel lens in the enclosure on Main Street in Cambria, California, was previously installed at the Piedras Blancas Light Station and helped sailors navigate safely past the dangerous rocks along the San Simeon coast from 1875 to 1949. When the lighthouse was damaged by an earthquake, the lens was relocated to Cambria. At nearly 150 years old, it is one of the few Fresnel lenses still in existence today.

The enclosure built to house the lens over 30 years ago has degraded over time, and the roof has been damaged by storms. A community forum in 2022 concluded that the best way to preserve the lens was to repair the current enclosure, giving this historic artifact another five to ten years of protection while a final plan for the lens' home is decided by the community. The enclosure allows the public to safely view the lens up close and learn more about its significance in the history of California's Central Coast.

Generous donations from the Cambria Tourism Board, the San Simeon Tourism Alliance, the Cambria Community Council, the Pinedorado Lions Foundation, and the Piedras Blancas Light Station Association, as well as many private donors, have provided seed money to begin the project, and we need your help to finish the renovations to the enclosure. Donations will also help ensure the continued structural integrity and safety of the enclosure through yearly inspections and future improvements.

The mission of Piedras Blancas Light Station Association is to provide resources to restore and preserve Piedras Blancas Light Station to its period of greatest historical significance, provide educational opportunities to the public, and facilitate scientific research. Find out more on the Piedras Blancas Light Station website.