Fish & Wildlife Service
California/Nevada Operations Office
Disclaimer
History, cont.
radio transmitter was deployed in late 1903. The Navy built its own weather station on the island in 1905 as it took over control of the island. The Weather Bureau abandoned the island in 1913 allowing Navy personnel to tear down the Weather Bureau building to improve the Navy facility. Four radio compass facilities were built on the island between 1920 and 1930. The first was claimed by the heavy seas, the second burned to the ground, and the third also burned, claiming the life of Henry Gustafson.
Living quarters had also been added to the island. In 1939 the US Coast Guard absorbed the Lighthouse Service. The Navy ran a secret radar station from the Farallons in World War II requiring more personnel. In 1942, up to 78 people were living on Southeast Farallon Island. The Navy withdrew from the island and the Coast Guard began automating equipment further reducing the number of sland residents. The last family moved from the island in 1965 and only six men remained to operate the station.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service began active management of the refuge in 1969 and the light was automated the following year. The automated light was judged reliable in 1972 and the last Coast Guard personnel stationed on the island departed. Biologists from PRBO Conservation Science (formerly Point Reyes Bird Observatory) had visited the island intermittently in 1967 and were permanent islanders by the end of 1968. The US Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a cooperative agreement to manage the refuge at that time.
