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Area description and history
The Old Point Loma Lighthouse stood watch
over the entrance to San Diego Bay for 36
years. At dusk on November 15, 1855 the
light keeper climbed the winding stairs
and lit the light for the first time. What
seemed to be a good location 422 feet above
sea level, however, had a serious flaw.
Fog and low clouds often obscured the light.
On March 23, 1891 the light was extinguished
and the keeper moved to a new lighthouse
location closer to the water at the tip
of the Point. Today
the Old Point Loma Light House still stands
watch over San Diego, sentinel to a vanished
past. The National Park Service has refurbished
the interior to its historic 1880’s
appearance -- a reminder of a bygone era.
Ranger-led talks, displays and brochures
are available to explain the lighthouses
interesting past.
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The
Navy's land in Point Loma is broken up into
5 different commands: Space and Warfare
Systems Center, the Submarine Base,Fleet
Combat Training Center, Fleet Industrial
Supply Command, and NAVSTA.
The
peninsula has a unique combination of vegetation
communities, some rare, consisting of southern
coastal bluff scrub, maritime succulent
scrub, Diegan coastal sage scrub, southernmaritime
chaparral, and southern foredunes. In 1995
approximately 640 acres of Point Loma was
designated as a national reserve to be protected
and restored by the navy and other land
holders on Point Loma.
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