The Point King light which marked the harbour
entrance, was first lit on 1 January 1958 (the third lighthouse in WA after
Rottnest and Arthur Head in 1851)
The first light was a prefabricated wooden tower 4
ft square containing a second order dioptric light which was shipped from Wales.
The wooden tower was set into the Keeper's Cottage at the end of the passageway.
The tower was 17 ft high and the light was visible for about 18 miles.
This light was replaced with a fifth order light in
1901.
in 1912, this light was replaced with an AGA
occulting lantern on a 30ft skeleton steel tower positioned in front of the
keepers cottage.
In the 1980's this was replaced by a tubular column
The Point King Lighthouse and the Breaksea Point
Lighthouse were planned and built at the same time by convict labour under the
direction of Capt Wray of the Royal Engineers Regiment. He in turn selected Sgt
Joseph Nelson as the principal engineer. Nelson's main job was to supervise the
convicts building Beaksea light while local contractors led by Mr Moir
established the Point King Lighthouse.
the Breaksea Light construction was delayed a little
and did not shine until late February 1958.
The ruins of the Point King Lighthouse and keepers
cottage are still nestled on the rocks below the 8 km walk trail which now joins
Oyster Harbour and Princess Royal Harbour'
came into being as a result of the end of the
Crimean War with the likelihood
of the return of the lucrative mail boat service to the eastern States. The
British Government offered to erect two lighthouses if the local Government
would undertake the running cost. The offer was accepted and in May 1857 an
engineer and party of convicts arrived from Perth to erect the prefabricated
lights sent from England.
