As you know, we are always looking for something interesting to see or do in California so we can report back to you on the chance this might be something you would also like to explore. So in that spirit, I heard about a hidden tower in Laguna Beach that sits directly against an ocean cliff and that you can only access during low tide.
With a free Sunday and a few friends wanting to take a drive, it was time to finally check out this mystery structure.
Not really knowing much about it, I asked my friends if they wanted to go see a lighthouse in Laguna, their reply, “you had us at lighthouse.”
The History of the Tower
As it turned out, I was wrong, it was not a lighthouse at all. It wasn’t until I researched it later that I found out exactly what it was and why it was there! When we saw it, we were speculating that maybe it was a lookout turret constructed after Pearl Harbor, or something really old from the swashbuckling days.
It was nothing like that; it was actually constructed in 1926 as an enclosed staircase that allowed its owner who at the time was Senator William E. Brown, to reach the secluded beach below. The 60 ft. structure does in fact sit right up against a cliff and as mentioned can only be accessed at low tides and a rugged journey over rocky terrain.
The home was sold sometime in the 1940’s to a retired Naval officer who, as the story is told, would dress up as a pirate and hide coins around the tower for neighborhood kids to find. Eventually it got the name that the locals call it today, Pirates Tower.
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