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MILE ROCK
June 3, 1905: "The construction of the foundation for the lighthouse to be built on Mile Rock has been completed and yesterday Colonel Handbury of the United States Engineer Corps visited Mile Rock and inspected the work, which he found satisfactory. The building of the lighthouse will now proceed with all possible expedition." (San Francisco Call)
September 6, 1905: "Three employes of the contractor engaged in building the lighthouse on Mile Rock were detained on the artificial island all yesterday afternoon on account of heavy weather. The afternoon breeze kicked up such a sea that it was impossible for a boat to get alongside the rock, and the three men, who had expected to go ashore at noon, were restrained of their liberty until nearly dark." (San Francisco Call)
February 7, 1906: "Official notice was issued yesterday by the United States Lighthouse Board calling the attention of mariners to the fact that about March 1 the bell buoy would be taken away from Mile Rock. In its place the new lighthouse will act as a guide and warning to incoming and outgoing navigators." (San Francisco Call)
February 17, 1906: "The light in the new lighthouse at Mile Rock was started for the first time last night and the event drew a large crowd of sightseers to Point Lobos. The lighthouse itself has been finished for more than a month, but the light was not ready to use until last evening." (Los Angeles Herald)
December 13, 1933: (caption under photo of lighthouse) "One of the wettest places in the jurisdiction of the State of California remains strictly dry, notwithstanding repeal. This is the Mile Rock Lighthouse, south of the Golden Gate heads, where the 18,000 candlepower beacon is tended by men who must be ever on the alert in storm or fog to warn oceangoing craft. Liquor is absolutely prohibited by Government regulations to be taken into the lighthouse or for anyone to enter the wave-washed structure after consuming same."(Berkeley Daily Gazette)
March 26, 1955: "The Coast Guard plans to convert historic Mile Rock lighthouse in the Golden Gate to automatic operation this summer.
The lighthouse is an 80-foot beacon off Golden Gate Bridge on the south side of the channel.
The changeover will cost between $60,000 and $75, 000. The expenditure will be made up by in the saving of wages of the four-man crew that now operates the tiny station.
Insulated cables will be laid from a point east of Lands End to the lighthouse so that the 11,000 candlepower lamp and two-tone fog horn can be powered and controlled from shore. They are now powered by batteries charged by a diesel generator.
In addition to dispensing with the crew, the new operation will eliminate the necessity of supplying and changing personnel by boat in the hazardous waters of the channel." (The Times Standard)