CARQUINEZ STRAIT LIGHTHOUSE, CALIFORNIA

In the mid 1800s, ship traffic from San Francisco Bay inland to the Napa, San Joaquin, and Sacramento Rivers increased greatly, due to two main factors: 1) the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, which led to a flood of prospectors who often sailed up the Sacramento River en route to the gold fields, and 2) the Navy constructing the first base for its Pacific Fleet at Mare Island, near the mouth of the Napa River.

To reach the rivers, vessels would first sail through the wide San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. At the eastern end of San Pablo Bay, traffic would approach the narrow confines of Carquinez Strait where ships could turn north into the Napa River to reach Mare Island, or continue east through Carquinez Strait and Susuin Bay to reach the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers

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