Page 18 - AHATA

Thursday 10 July 2025 locAl
A10

A brief history of the California Light House

(Oranjestad)—At the furthest at Westpunt. The donkeys years, I heard that it is in a
western point of the island, had to walk along the beach train museum in San Nicolas,
there lies the tallest structure all the way to Westpunt car- where we found this very spe-
on the island: The California rying the cargo, poles, ce- cial lens that, when the light
Light House. Standing on top ment, and all these things. shines through it, it reaches
of a limestone cliff, this light- At that time, it was a diffi- 30 kilometers out to sea." Mr.
house oversees the entire is- cult task until Aruba got its Fingal told our reporter.
land, offering one of few best first truck. These things reflect
views of the island and the how people could have ac- The lighthouse has a long
surrounding sea. It is also one complished this tremendous and very interesting history.
of the few monuments that job with so little." Mr. Fingal The reason why the light-
hold a rich history. said, "At that time, it wasn't house was built, according
a place for people to work. to Mr. Fingal, dates back to
The lighthouse was con- It was very challenging be- the day when the cargo ship
structed in between 1914- cause it was full of goats and S.S. California sank because
1916, and its first keeper was donkeys, and it was very iso- of the lack of light. In 1913,
a young trained lighthouse lated. There were no hotels Aruba made a request to Cu-
keeper from Curacao names or roads to get there. There racao to build a Lighthouse
Jacob Jacobs. Mr. Frederico was only a donkey trail. Those at Westpunt, and the gover-
Fingal was the last man to were the only means of trans- nor of Curacao responded light is, and under the light, house rotates 4,320 times
have occupied this position portation." to Aruba to come back in at the highest point, there and consumes one gallon
until 1962. Though his son, Mr. 1915 with a well-detailed is a hanging weight, a sort of kerosene for the whole
Romulo Fingal did not con- Mr. Fingal continues, "In 1939, plan. "During the First World of pendulum that swings operation. "At that time, the
tinue in his father’s footsteps, I was born in the lighthouse, War from 1914 to 1918, they like that, with a weight that kerosene was supplied from
he does have a special con- and my father was the last had to wait for the light to measures about 1 meter by the Lago refinery. Every day
nection to the lighthouse. He lighthouse keeper until he be transported to Aruba be- 30 centimeters wide, which is it was brought down, and to
sat down with our reporter retired in 1962. After that, cause it was manufactured a block of solid iron attached start the light again, they had
and shared a bit of its history. they removed the power in France. At that time, there to a cable. When you release to lift the weight up, so our
cables all the way to the was no electricity, and the it upwards, it comes down, job as children was to crank
As Mr. Fingal explains, "In top. According to the story, light was very interesting and the weight that comes it and raise the weight back
1915, cargo donkeys were we couldn't have the light because it rotated with a down pulls it up, gradually. up in the evening when the
hired from Figaroa di Noord ourselves because they dis- kerosene lamp that planes And while it comes down, light stuck, they would take
to help build the Lighthouse mantled it, and after many used; clean kerosene," Mr. the same weight that is de- it down again, and the light
Fingal said. scending causes many small stayed down. That's how it
wheels to turn in the oppo- worked for a very long time,"
Mr. Fingal discovered some- site direction. The Lighthouse Mr. Fingal explains.
thing very interesting about rotates from 6 pm in the
the lighthouse after much evening, when the sun sets, Thanks to the Monument
research was documented until 6 am in the morning. Fund Aruba, which worked
in his book 'History of the During the entire night, the hard and is currently in
Lighthouse at Westpunt.' light shines on the lantern, it charge of the Lighthouse, Mr.
He found many details: "I goes down 24 meters, and Fingal is very happy with its
found out that the height the Lighthouse is 30 meters preservation, along with all
of the lighthouse was due high. It is designed not to col- the renovations that have
to the absence of electric- lapse," Mr. Fingal explains. taken place. He hopes that
ity. There was also the pres- the story of the lighthouse will
ence of coral. There is a long Mr. Fingal further explains continue to live on for future
steel cable from where the that in one night, the light- generations.q