Point Pinos Grill

An emblem of Pacific Grove, Point Pinos Lighthouse is the oldest continually operating lighthouse on the West Coast and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Point Pinos Lighthouse is one of the six lighthouses along the coast for which Congress appropriated funds shortly after California statehood was ratified. Built in 1855, Pacific Grove's lighthouse is on the northernmost tip of the Peninsula. Before its construction, this point had proved dangerous to sailors who mistakenly believed they had reached Monterey Bay. Initially, whale oil was used to fuel the light at Point Pinos Lighthouse. In 1880, the lighthouse shifted to kerosene for fuel. In 1919, it was finally electrified.Point Pinos Lighthouse was not just an aid to navigation; it was a social hub in early Pacific Grove. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote positively of lightkeeper Allan Luce's hospitality in The Old Pacific Capital, and Emily Fish was nicknamed "The Socialite Lightkeeper" for the many parties and dinners she held at the building.