There were lots of nervous sailors throughout the early years of the history of the area, but when a ship actually ran aground it led to the creation of the Point Hueneme lighthouse, and (when combined with other events) the Anacapa lighthouse. At 11 p.m. on December 2, 1853, the side-wheel steamer Winfield Scott ran aground on Middle Anacapa Island in dense fog, jolting its passengers awake.

En route to Panama from San Francisco, the vessel had a passenger list that included individuals who had struck it rich during the gold rush. Although everyone made it safely to shore in the ship’s lifeboats, the atmosphere immediately following the wreck was frenzied as “every one was for himself, with no thought of anything but saving his life and his (gold) dust.” The Winfield Scott was a total loss, and its remains still lie submerged just north of the island.

The notoriety of the grounding prompted President Franklin Pierce to issue an executive order reserving Anacapa for lighthouse purposes. The U.S. Coast Survey visited the island in 1854 and concluded that, although the island’s position at the eastern entrance to the Santa Barbara Channel was a natural choice for a lighthouse, “it is inconceivable for a lighthouse to be constructed on this mass of volcanic rock - perpendicular on every face, with an ascent inaccessible by any natural means.” James Whistler, who later became famous for his painting of his mother, was part of the survey team and produced an etching showing the profile of the eastern extremity of Anacapa Island.

In 1874, a lighthouse was established at Port Hueneme, the nearest point on the mainland to Anacapa Island. As shipping in the Santa Barbara Channel increased, the Lighthouse Board eventually did decide to place a light on Anacapa Island, but to limit the expense of building a station on the inaccessible island, an unmanned acetylene lens lantern on a fifty-foot, skeletal tower was erected. In addition to the low-maintenance light, which required servicing just twice a year, a whistling buoy was anchored 5/8ths of a mile off the east end of the island.

On February 28, 1921, the steamer Liebre grounded on the east end of Anacapa Island directly under the light and sustained estimated damages of $40,000. The grounding must have happened in foggy conditions as inspectors noted that the whistling buoy had capsized and was not operational. As approximately 90 percent of all vessels trading up and down the Pacific Coast passed inside the islands of the Santa Barbara Channel, the American Association of Masters, Mates and Pilots petitioned for a proper fog signal on Anacapa. Funds for what would be the last major light station to be built on the west coast were finally allocated in the late 1920s.

The construction of the station was carried out in two phases and commenced in the spring of 1930. A landing dock, a hoisting crane, and roads were added fi rst, and then work began on the various station buildings. A thirty-nine foot cylindrical tower and a fog signal were built near the highest point on the eastern end of the island. Four Spanish-style, white stucco houses with red tile roofs were provided for the keepers and their families. As the island had no source of fresh water, a large cement catchment basin was placed on the island to feed rainwater into two 50,000-gallon, redwood storage tanks located up the hill from the dwellings. Unfortunately, the eight inches of annual rainfall typical for this arid climate only amounted to 30,000 gallons of water each year, and additional water had to be pumped up to the tanks from a tender that periodically called at the station’s cove. The tanks proved to be inviting targets to armed boaters, and a two-story cement building, known as the “church,” was later built to protect the precious water supply.