Refer to page 30 of Lighthouses Short and Tall for Point Sur Lighthouse
What order of lantern does Point Sur have? The tower is not very tall. What does that tell you about the location of the
lighthouse?
The primary source material here tells you much about the hardships of living at an isolated lighthouse during the 19th
century. No automobiles or trucks. No radio. No telephone. No TV. The children walked 4 ½ miles to attend public school. Have
you ever walked 4 ½ miles? How long did it take?
When the keeper convinced the Light-House Board that a teacher should live at the station to teach the keepers’ children,
the school district paid her salary, but the lighthouse service had to provide her room and board. (Point Sur had two or three
assistant keepers, who would probably have had children as well the keeper.)
Why couldn’t the children have been home-schooled?
