The station was originally known as the Humboldt Bay Light Station, but this name was considered too similar to the former Humboldt Harbor Light Station leading to the eventual adoption of the name Table Bluff Light Station. In 1953, the Table Bluff Station was one of the first to be automated. A modern optic was installed in the tower, and the Fresnel lens was shipped to San Diego to be displayed in the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. Under the guidance of Ray Glavich, the two-story tower was cut in two and relocated to Eureka’s Woodley Island Marina in 1987. The Fresnel lens has been retrieved from the Old Point Loma Lighthouse and is now on display at the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum in Samoa (just outside Eureka).