On June 6, 1853 the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon, bound for San Francisco, ran aground near this point. The ship was lost, but the crew was saved and so they renamed the are at these cliffs Pigeon Point. After some more shipwrecks they decided to build the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Above the door you can see the year the construction began and when the fog signal was activated. The lighthouse itself was only completed and lit on November 5, 1872. In 1960 the coastguard wanted to build additional housing at Pigeon Point and ordered that the beautiful Victorian style keepers home that was still in good shape to be torn down to make room for the new housing. What a shame.
You can find some more photos of Pigeon Point on /T/BLOG/.