Page 15 - AHATA

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local Saturday 8 November 2025

A brief history of the

California Light House

(Oranjestad)—At the furthest west- tured in France. At that time, there start the light again, they had to lift
ern point of the island, there lies the was no electricity, and the light was the weight up, so our job as children
tallest structure on the island: The very interesting because it rotated was to crank it and raise the weight
California Light House. Standing on with a kerosene lamp that planes back up in the evening when the
top of a limestone cliff, this light- used; clean kerosene,” Mr. Fingal light stuck, they would take it down
house oversees the entire island, said. again, and the light stayed down.
offering one of few best views of the That’s how it worked for a very long
island and the surrounding sea. It is Mr. Fingal discovered something time,” Mr. Fingal explains.
also one of the few monuments that very interesting about the light-
hold a rich history. house after much research was Thanks to the Monument Fund
documented in his book ‘History Aruba, which worked hard and
The lighthouse was constructed of the Lighthouse at Westpunt.’ He is currently in charge of the Light-
in between 1914-1916, and its first found many details: “I found out house, Mr. Fingal is very happy with
keeper was a young trained light- that the height of the lighthouse its preservation, along with all the
house keeper from Curacao names was due to the absence of elec- renovations that have taken place.
Jacob Jacobs. Mr. Frederico Fingal Mr. Fingal continues, “In 1939, I was tricity. There was also the presence He hopes that the story of the light-
was the last man to have occu- born in the lighthouse, and my fa- of coral. There is a long steel cable house will continue to live on for fu-
pied this position until 1962. Though ther was the last lighthouse keeper from where the light is, and under ture generations.
his son, Mr. Romulo Fingal did not until he retired in 1962. After that, the light, at the highest point, there
continue in his father’s footsteps, he they removed the power cables is a hanging weight, a sort of pen- Special announcement form the
does have a special connection to all the way to the top. According dulum that swings like that, with a Monument Fund Aruba for 2025
the lighthouse. He sat down with to the story, we couldn’t have the weight that measures about 1 me- Starting Monday, October 13th, until
our reporter and shared a bit of its light ourselves because they dis- ter by 30 centimeters wide, which is the end of 2025, the California Light-
history. mantled it, and after many years, a block of solid iron attached to a house will be closed to the public.
I heard that it is in a train museum cable. When you release it upwards, The reasoning behind this is that the
As Mr. Fingal explains, “In 1915, in San Nicolas, where we found this it comes down, and the weight that lighthouse is due for a major main-
cargo donkeys were hired from very special lens that, when the light comes down pulls it up, gradually. tenance.
Figaroa di Noord to help build the shines through it, it reaches 30 kilo- And while it comes down, the same
Lighthouse at Westpunt. The don- meters out to sea.” Mr. Fingal told weight that is descending causes Stichting Monumentenfonds Aruba
keys had to walk along the beach our reporter. many small wheels to turn in the (SMFA) is the owner of the light-
all the way to Westpunt carrying the opposite direction. The Lighthouse house and operates under a main-
cargo, poles, cement, and all these The lighthouse has a long and very rotates from 6 pm in the evening, tenance plan in which each year,
things. At that time, it was a difficult interesting history. The reason why when the sun sets, until 6 am in the different monuments belonging to
task until Aruba got its first truck. the lighthouse was built, according morning. During the entire night, the the foundation receive upkeep.
to Mr. Fingal, dates back to the day light shines on the lantern, it goes Recently, work was completed on
These things reflect how people when the cargo ship S.S. California down 24 meters, and the Lighthouse the Casita Geel on Weststraat, and
could have accomplished this sank because of the lack of light. is 30 meters high. It is designed not now it will continue with the Califor-
tremendous job with so little.” Mr. In 1913, Aruba made a request to collapse,” Mr. Fingal explains. nia Lighthouse.
Fingal said, “At that time, it wasn’t to Curacao to build a Lighthouse
a place for people to work. It was at Westpunt, and the governor of Mr. Fingal further explains that in one Due to the lighthouse’s location and
very challenging because it was full Curacao responded to Aruba to night, the lighthouse rotates 4,320 its daily use, it is one of the monu-
of goats and donkeys, and it was come back in 1915 with a well-de- times and consumes one gallon of ments that requires a lot of main-
very isolated. There were no hotels tailed plan. “During the First World kerosene for the whole operation. tenance. The work is expected to
or roads to get there. There was only War from 1914 to 1918, they had to “At that time, the kerosene was sup- last approximately two and a half
a donkey trail. Those were the only wait for the light to be transported plied from the Lago refinery. Every months.q
means of transportation.” to Aruba because it was manufac- day it was brought down, and to