The sea wanted to take this California lighthouse. Now, it's part of a conflict between a town and 2 tribes
TRINIDAD, Calif. - It stood like a pretty sea siren atop the coastal bluff overlooking the rocky outcrops of Trinidad Bay.
The cheery little lighthouse, with its cherry-red roof and bright white walls, beckoned countless painters and photographers. It was such a mainstay in Trinidad that its image is included in the city's logo.
Then the ground began to crumble. Rain moved the earth. The bluff cracked, a sidewalk warped, and thus ended the charmed life of the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, which suddenly threatened to slide into the Pacific.
What followed was a drama in this Humboldt County hamlet, population 360, involving two Native American tribes, a women's civic club and existential questions about California's storied coastline and the forces of climate change.
In its own humble way, the lighthouse - which was moved, at least temporarily, to a harbor parking lot - stands as a harbinger of conflicts to come in the Golden State, where coastal land is being lost to a rising and warming ocean and eroding coastal cliffs are increasingly likely to fail. Seaside communities hoping to save their infrastructure have been left
