Page 15 - AHATA

Thursday 26 June 2025 locAl
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A brief history of the California Light House

(Oranjestad)—At the fur- As Mr. Fingal explains, "In ter that, they removed the wait for the light to be trans- of solid iron attached to a
thest western point of the 1915, cargo donkeys were power cables all the way ported to Aruba because cable. When you release it
island, there lies the tall- hired from Figaroa di Noord to the top. According to it was manufactured in upwards, it comes down,
est structure on the island: to help build the Light- the story, we couldn't have France. At that time, there and the weight that comes
The California Light House. house at Westpunt. The the light ourselves because was no electricity, and the down pulls it up, gradually.
Standing on top of a lime- donkeys had to walk along they dismantled it, and light was very interesting And while it comes down,
stone cliff, this lighthouse the beach all the way to after many years, I heard because it rotated with a the same weight that is
oversees the entire island, Westpunt carrying the car- that it is in a train museum kerosene lamp that planes descending causes many
offering one of few best go, poles, cement, and all in San Nicolas, where we used; clean kerosene," Mr. small wheels to turn in the
views of the island and the these things. At that time, it found this very special lens Fingal said. opposite direction. The
surrounding sea. It is also was a difficult task until Aru- that, when the light shines Lighthouse rotates from 6
one of the few monuments ba got its first truck. These through it, it reaches 30 ki- Mr. Fingal discovered pm in the evening, when
that hold a rich history. things reflect how people lometers out to sea." Mr. Fin- something very interesting the sun sets, until 6 am in
could have accomplished gal told our reporter. about the lighthouse after the morning. During the en-
The lighthouse was con- this tremendous job with much research was docu- tire night, the light shines on
structed in between 1914- so little." Mr. Fingal said, "At The lighthouse has a long mented in his book 'History the lantern, it goes down 24
1916, and its first keeper that time, it wasn't a place and very interesting history. of the Lighthouse at West- meters, and the Lighthouse
was a young trained light- for people to work. It was The reason why the light- punt.' He found many de- is 30 meters high. It is de-
house keeper from Cura- very challenging because house was built, according tails: "I found out that the signed not to collapse," Mr.
cao names Jacob Jacobs. it was full of goats and don- to Mr. Fingal, dates back height of the lighthouse Fingal explains.
Mr. Frederico Fingal was keys, and it was very iso- to the day when the cargo was due to the absence
the last man to have occu- lated. There were no hotels ship S.S. California sank be- of electricity. There was Mr. Fingal further explains
pied this position until 1962. or roads to get there. There cause of the lack of light. also the presence of coral. that in one night, the light-
Though his son, Mr. Romulo was only a donkey trail. In 1913, Aruba made a re- There is a long steel cable house rotates 4,320 times
Fingal did not continue in Those were the only means quest to Curacao to build from where the light is, and and consumes one gallon
his father’s footsteps, he of transportation." a Lighthouse at Westpunt, under the light, at the high- of kerosene for the whole
does have a special con- and the governor of Cura- est point, there is a hanging operation. "At that time, the
nection to the lighthouse. Mr. Fingal continues, "In cao responded to Aruba weight, a sort of pendulum kerosene was supplied from
He sat down with our re- 1939, I was born in the light- to come back in 1915 with that swings like that, with a the Lago refinery. Every day
porter and shared a bit of house, and my father was a well-detailed plan. "Dur- weight that measures about it was brought down, and
its history. the last lighthouse keeper ing the First World War from 1 meter by 30 centime- to start the light again, they
until he retired in 1962. Af- 1914 to 1918, they had to ters wide, which is a block had to lift the weight up,
so our job as children was
to crank it and raise the
weight back up in the eve-
ning when the light stuck,
they would take it down
again, and the light stayed
down. That's how it worked
for a very long time," Mr. Fin-
gal explains.

Thanks to the Monument
Fund Aruba, which worked
hard and is currently in
charge of the Lighthouse,
Mr. Fingal is very happy
with its preservation, along
with all the renovations
that have taken place.
He hopes that the story
of the lighthouse will con-
tinue to live on for future
generations.q