One night in November 1855, and for every night for 36 years the keeper, Captain Robert Decatur Israel, climbed the stairs to light the 5 foot tall oil fired fresnel lens that could be seen from 25 miles at sea. Being 462 feet above sea level was a good thing, unless it was foggy. When it was, and because there was no fog-horn, the Captain would fire a shotgun to warn ships away from the rocks. The light was extinguished in 1891 and re-lit in the new lighthouse near the water's edge in 1894.

Not only was it the tallest and first lighthouse on the west coast, it was a home. One of the Captain's grandsons was born there.