Century-old bottles found in trash pit to be displayed at SLO County lighthouse
Nearly 100 glass bottles discarded as trash about a century ago will now be displayed as treasured artifacts at a San Luis Obispo County lighthouse.
The bottles offer a window into life at Point San Luis Lighthouse in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, according to lighthouse docent Kathy Mastako.
“There was life going on here,” Mastako said. “People lived here, people worked here, people raised their children here.”
When the isolated Point San Luis lighthouse was built in 1889 near Avila Beach, it was the only signal between Piedras Blancas and Point Conception.
The French-made Fresnel lens shot light out about 20 miles to alert mariners at sea.
It was originally lit by whale oil and kerosene lanterns. Later, electricity came to facility.
The Five Cities Times-Press-Recorder reported on Nov. 12, 1970, that the original wood structure was being replaced by an automated beacon and the U.S. Coast Guard lightkeeping staff would be reassigned.
The Times-Press-Recorder article included a photo of the Coast Guard officer-in-charge, Chief Boatswain Mate Richard “Yogi” Guizio, digging in a scenic trash pit on a bluff edge above the crashing Pacific Ocean waves.
When the lighthouse was built, there was no road and all supplies came in by boat.
There wasn’t much incentive to take trash far, so bottles were tossed on site when they were empty.
Guizio recovered nearly 100 bottles from the garbage pit, and his family cared for his collection. One of his daughter’s chores was dusting the bottles, according to stories shared with Mastako.
Guizio’s wife, Mary, researched what the glass containers originally held, including ammonia, ink, snuff, facial cream, ant killer, Bromo Seltzer and patent medicines. There was a whiskey decanter and a tiny bottle of porpoise oil for watches.
Guizio, whose career with the Coast Guard would take him as far away as Alaska, passed away Nov. 17, 2012.
Now, five decades after Guizio discovered the bottles, his family has returned the artifacts, carefully taped in bubble wrap and accompanied by tags and a binder of research to the lighthouse for display.
The Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers are documenting the bottles and determining how to display them.
Public tour access of the lighthouse is limited to specific days.
For more information, call 805-540-5771 or visit pointsanluislighthouse.org
