California lighthouses dot a coastline that is rugged, forbidding, beautiful, often fog bound and frequently deadly. Lighthouses on the western coast were built later in the nation’s development, driven partly by the discovery of gold. The lighthouses of San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as more remote regions of the state, such as beautiful Big Sur, are interwoven with the history of this region. The stories of keepers and their families who lived in the lighthouses show how life at a lighthouse was both rich and harsh.