Jim Shneer: November Lighthouse Lecture Recap By Writer and Contributor Emily McGinn
The lighthouses in Los Angeles County have a rich history, and author and historian Jim Shneer shared a piece of it in a lecture on Nov. 8 at Hesse Park.
Shneer, a retired aerospace engineer and longtime Palos Verdes resident, has written and lectured on topics ranging from naval history to railroads in Los Angeles to Komodo dragons.
The idea of the lighthouse dates back to about 3,000 years ago, when the Trojans first used the light from fire to help them navigate. Over time, lighthouses have evolved from fire-based light sources to oil to modern-day LEDs.
Lighthouses in the U.S. date back to when America was just a collection of colonies in the early 1700s. A century later, the local lighthouses in the Los Angeles area began to pop up, starting with Point Fermin Light in San Pedro in 1874. Los Angeles Harbor, Point Vicente and Long Beach Harbor followed.
Over the years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private groups have assisted in preserving the lighthouses. For example, a private group intervened when the Coast Guard planned to tear down Point Fermin Light in San Pedro, and it is now a museum.
Shneer recounted the story of how the Point Fermin Lighthouse lens, which disappeared for over 60 years, was recovered. It was finally discovered in a real estate office in Malibu.
Like the organization that raised funds to repair the Angels’ Gate light at the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor, private groups have a deep interest in maintaining historic lighthouses, and the lighthouse on the Peninsula is no different. A new group, Friends of the Point Vicente Lighthouse, is aiming to raise funds to make repairs to the 98-year old structure. The lighthouse is now 98 years old, and there are several needed repairs.
The Friends hope to repair the roofs of three small buildings on the property, one of which serves as a museum that is open to the public once a month. They also hope to repair the badly rusted roof of the cupola protecting the light fixture.
“There's a new fixture in there. It's only been there five years,” Shneer said. “If that gets water in there, it's unclear what the Coast Guard is going to do to keep the light going. One of the things they could do is, for example, actually tear down the lighthouse and basically put a pole with the light on top of it. It's already high enough [above] the ocean. So priority number one is to fix the roof, mitigate it, replace it.”
The final priority is to dedicate funds toward remediation of the toxic materials such as lead-based paint inside the lighthouse so that it is safe to reopen it to the public. The public used to be able to climb up to the top of the lighthouse, but it has been closed to the public for a number of years because of safety concerns. If this issue is solved, the public may be able to once again climb to the top to see the new LED light fixture. The French-built Fresnel lens, which was in use for 93 years, was removed in 2019.
As they have been for over 30 years, the lighthouse grounds and the museum are open to the public the second Saturday each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
You can occasionally see Shneer at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center as a docent (along with the original lens on display from the Point Vicente Lighthouse), and you can check out some of his books here.
Bio:
Emily McGinn is a journalist based in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys reporting on and writing about a variety of topics from lifestyle to news, especially in her areas of specialty, environmental science and political science.
