Southampton Shoal Light
Encyclopedia
Southampton Shoal is a former lighthouse
site in California
, United States
. A platform sits at the southwest edge of Southampton Shoals, northeast of Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay
. The platform is all that remains of the original structure and supports an automated bell which chimes every ten seconds and red light mounted on a pole, which flashes on for three seconds and is then dark for 3 seconds in each six second cycle (Iso R 6s).
Southampton Shoal Lighthouse was a square building built on a platform supported by wooden piers. It was built and first lit in 1905 with a fifth order Fresnel lens
. The original lens is on display at the Angel Island Interpretive Center.
In 1960, the structure was moved to Tinsley Island which is a private island in the San Joaquin River
delta close to Stockton
. The island is owned by the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco. The building is now in used for lodging.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
site in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. A platform sits at the southwest edge of Southampton Shoals, northeast of Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. The platform is all that remains of the original structure and supports an automated bell which chimes every ten seconds and red light mounted on a pole, which flashes on for three seconds and is then dark for 3 seconds in each six second cycle (Iso R 6s).
History
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
. The original lens is on display at the Angel Island Interpretive Center.
In 1960, the structure was moved to Tinsley Island which is a private island in the San Joaquin River
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...
delta close to Stockton
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
. The island is owned by the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco. The building is now in used for lodging.