Legendary Lighthouses: Great Lighthouses-Oregon

Great Lighthouses Oregon: Lighthouses of the Pacific Northwest Heceta Head Lighthouse, Florence, Oregon - 1894 Pronounced He-see-ta, which people think is correct Spanish, but its not -- Hey-they-ta is correct. Sometimes mispronounced Hecketa; Accessible, managed by U.S. Forest Service.

Great LighthousesOregon: Lighthouses of the Pacific Northwest

HecetaHead Lighthouse, Florence, Oregon - 1894

Pronounced He-see-ta, which people think is correct Spanish, but it’s not --Hey-they-ta is correct. Sometimes mispronounced Hecketa; Accessible, managed by U.S.Forest Service.

This is the most powerful marine light on the Oregon Coast -- 1.2 million candlepower.Turned on in 1894. One of the most beautiful lighthouses and settings. The view throughthe Needle’s Eye in early pictures was especially picturesque. The top of this formationis now eroded.

Named for Portuguese explorer Don Burnos Heceta who set sail from Mexico in 1775to explore the Northwest Coast. He identified the headland in his writings.

The light station -- tower and other buildings --was built using the same architecturalplans as Umpqua River light in order to save money. The first-order lens was fromEngland -- not from France.

Many keepers and families lived at the light station, which had its own post officeand one-room school house. Last keeper at the lighthouse was Ossie Allik, who hadthe distinction of being the last keeper at Tillamook and Heceta Head. He turnedthe lights off July 20, 1963, when it became automated. (Ossie Allik died a yearafter retiring in 1963. He suffered a heart attack while aiding a motorist whosecar went off the road.)

After that the U.S. Forest Service gained jurisdiction over the keepers dwellingand then leased it to Lane Community Center as a study center and retreat. Placedon the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the exterior was well maintained,but the interior had suffered.

Recently it has been restored and in 1996 it was opened for tours as well as aB&B with three guest rooms. Also can be rented for private events. Caretakersare Mike and Carol Korgan. Mike and his wife have been living in the lighthouse oneyear. They came as volunteers and have now committed to running the B&B for fiveyears. They are both certified chefs and cater events as well as the daily breakfastsfor guests. The B&B is open all year. There is usually a 3-month backup for rooms.It was voted best B&B in Sunset Magazine, July ’97.

Ghost story always associated with Heceta House was that in the 1890’s was thatof a woman, wife of an assistant keeper, whose young child died while at the lighthouse.A Ouija Board revealed the name Rue, but there’s dispute whether that was the nameof the woman or the child. There are tales of a headstone in the vegetation on theproperty that has never been found. Caretakers, college students and constructionworkers have claimed that strange unexplained occurrences have taken place insidethe house, though the Alliks had never encountered the ghost, according to Nelsonand Gibbs. Mike Korgan says that his guests have had some friendly encounters withRue. Elinore DeWire expands upon the story (see bibliography:Guardians of theLights, p. 237-238) with reports that nearly all the residents of the stationsince the ’50s have reported unexplainable things. One family heard screams and severaltimes found things moved or missing. An 1890’s silk stocking replaced a box of ratpoison. A worker in the ’70s cleaning attic windows noticed a reflection on the glassand turned to face the eternal visage of a silver-haired woman in a long, dark dress.He ran out of the attic, and would only come back to work if he didn’t have to climbinto the attic. Working outside, he broke an attic window, but didn’t go in to cleanup the glass. That night the couple living there heard sounds in the attic and thenext day discovered the glass neatly swept into a pile.

Heceta House has been the subject of local films and used in a TV movie.

The lighthouse is located in Devil’s Elbow State Park Sea Lion Caves, locatedone mile south of the lighthouse, are the only mainland site for viewing wild sealions year-round. A stairway and elevator take you 206 feet down to 1500 feet longvaulted cave where you can observe sea lions and their pups up close. Open daily.(91560 Highway 101, Florence, OR 97439, 503/547-3111)

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TillamookRock, Oregon "Terrible Tilly" (Built 1879-1880)

Tillamook is a great story -- a tremendous engineering feat, the quintessentialisolated location and stormy seas, and takes the prize for the most unusual presentday use of a lighthouse. It is located 1.1 miles off the coast in seas that can oftenbe turbulent. No longer open to the public. Lighthouse is privately owned but landis maintained by U.S. Forest Service.

The Story of the Construction of Tillamook Rock:

This was one of the great engineering feats of the late 19th century -- took 575days to build with only one life lost.

There was some initial skepticism about constructing on a rock. What was consideredwasteful and foolish turned to outrage when surveyor John Trewavas was put ashorein 1879 and slipped and drowned.

Construction was done in secret with crew sequestered, partially on the U.S. RevenueCutter Thomas Corwin, because of public opposition.

Construction superintendent Charles A. Ballantyne (spelled Ballentyne in severalsources) and four laborers were put on shore from the Corwin on October 21, 1879despite very heavy seas. They brought hammers, drills, iron rings bolts, small stoveand provisions, and a supply of canvas for temporary shelter. Five days later therest of the quarrymen joined them as well as a small derrick. First to arrive hadto fight off families of sea lions on the rock.

Rigged a line from the Corwin to the rock to get personnel and supplies back andforth. Created a "breeches buoy" that the men sat in. This was essentiallya life ring fitted with old pants cut off at the knees. Since it was near impossibleto keep the Corwin still, the line would often fall slack, and the men would getdrenched. -- This contraption carried men on and off the rock until it was unmannedin 1957.

Story of Mr. Gruber, the corpulent quarryman -- he was frightened of the breechesbuoy, and refused to leave the steamer. However it was discovered that he was toolarge to fit in the breeches buoy, so Ballantyne suggested he be lashed to it. Herefused and sat in the steamer again. They had to get a jumbo-sized cork life preserverand lash it to a boatswain’s chair -- gave him more flexibility and he was the firstto arrive on the rock dry!

Jim Gibbs (see bibliography: Oregon Seacoast Lighthouses p. 179-184) offerscolorful description of their living and working conditions on the rock. During theirfirst few weeks on the rock, they were setting up shelters, and landing tools andsupplies, while in total exposure to the weather. In January of 1880, storms nearlyswept them off the rock; pieces of boulder were flying about; and their storehouse,provisions the water tank and their "traveler" line to the Corwin wereall swept away. The boat couldn’t approach them for several weeks with provisionsand badly missed mail.

Crewmen had to blast away tons of rock over the course of seven months, workingthrough fog, rain and wind. All in all, they blasted away nearly 4600 cubic yardsof basalt to create a pad for the lighthouse.

Several times while the crew was working on the light, Ballantyne had to tosscartridges of exploding powder over the water to warn ships to stay away.

Wreck of Lupatia -- On New Year’s Day, 12 days prior to official opening, duringa tremendous gale, workers heard strange noises over the roar of the storm -- men’svoices and the distinct sound of a dog barking. The next day when the storm abatedthey found the wreck of the Lupatia, which was headed from Japan to the ColumbiaRiver. The entire 16-member crew died; only the ship’s dog survived. (Some registerscarry her name Lupatia; others Lupata.)

The first-order Fresnel lens was lit on January 11 (or 21), 1881 for the firsttime. The lens stood 134 feet over the water. The lighthouse consisted of a squaretower protruding from a one-story dwelling with rooms for each keeper, a kitchenand a storeroom which housed six months worth of supplies. An adjacent annex housedthe fog signal and siren. A cistern, carved deep into the rock, collected rain forthe station’s water supply. The light remained lit until 1957. Although the costof repairs and maintenance were a headache for the U.S. Lighthouse Service and laterthe Coast Guard, the lighthouse is like a fortress and has stood the test of time.

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No women or children were ever permitted on Tillamook.

The lighthouse was often barraged by storms and the iron roof and lantern panes(134’ above water) were often cracked or shattered from flying rock and debris. Duringstorm of 1934 -- smashed the lantern house and the Fresnel lens. The waves actuallycrashed over the house. The water flowed like a waterfall into the rotunda. The menworked overnight in water up to their necks to install a makeshift light to replacethe Fresnel lens. The lighthouse was in shambles. Keeper Jenkins ingeniously contriveda makeshift short-wave radio out of spare parts to alert authorities. But it wasfour days before a ship could even approach the rock to aid the keepers and inspectthe damage.

Story of Thanksgiving duck: On Thanksgiving of 1913, the weather was so bad thatthe tender couldn’t land any provisions. Just that day two ducks crashed into thelantern and fell dead on the metal gallery -- and keeper Dahlgren and his assistantswere able to feast on roasted duck, considering it a true gift from heaven.

Oswald Allik, career lighthouse keeper, was last keeper of Tillamook Rock, from1937-1957. Jim Gibbs worked for him as assistant keeper in 1945-46. Jim tells ofhis gentle disposition: when a young Coast Guard assistant took offense to an orderand doubled his fist as if to strike the keeper, Allik said "If it will makeyou feel better you have my permission to strike me."

Allik’s final entry in the station log, preserved at the Columbia River MaritimeMuseum in Astoria, read:

"Farewell, Tillamook Rock Light Station. An era has ended. With this finalentry, and not without sentiment return thee to the elements. You, one of the mostnotorious and yet fascinating of the sea-swept sentinels in the world; long the friendof the tempest tossed mariner. Through howling gale, thick fog and driving rain yourbeacon has been a star of hope and your foghorn a voice of encouragement. May theelements of nature be kind to you. For 77 years you have beamed your light acrossdesolate acres of ocean. Keepers have come and gone; men lived and died; but youwere faithful to the end. May your sunset years be good years. Your purpose is nowonly a symbol, but the lives you have saved and the service you have rendered areworthy of the highest respect. A protector of life and property to all, may old-timers,newcomers and travelers along the way pause from the shore in memory of your humanitarianrole.

O. Allik

September 1, 1957

According to Jim Gibbs (see bibliography: Twilight on the Lighthouses ,he helped his keeper write that letter.

Presently a Columbarium-- story of owners 1957.

-- Academic Economic Coordinators of Las Vegas first bought it at public auctionfor $5,500.

-- they sold it to General Electric executive George Hupman of New York, who hadgrandiose plans of turning it into a summer resort with helicopter access. The lighthouseinterior was in a total mess. He sent in a crew to clean it up but eventually gaveup.

-- Sold it to Max Shillock Jr. of Portland for $27,000 in 1978. Shillock masqueradedas a wealthy investor but in actuality borrowed the money from a Mrs. Joy Goolsby.He nearly drowned trying to reach the rock, but was saved by the Coast Guard. Hedid get a lot of publicity, however he was soon sued by Mrs. Goolsby for lack ofpayment -- including businesswoman Mimi Morrisette, and associates -- under the nameof Eternity at Sea, who stripped down the lighthouse interior to convert it intothe world’s first lighthouse Columbarium! They created 100,000 niches for urns andpromised purchasers of the services a helicopter ride (weather permitting) for aloved one to see an ash filled urn placed in solitude inside the structure.

-- As of 1996, only 17 urns had been placed in the Columbarium, and of those twohad been stolen, presumably by thieves who landed at night in helicopters. (see bibliography: Twilight on the Lighthouses).

Tillamook Rock has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, whichallows exterior painting so that from the sea it looks good. -- The U.S Fish &Wildlife Service is the overseer of the lighthouse. Once again home to sea lions,seals and sea birds.

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YaquinaBay Lighthouse - 1871, and Yaquina Head Lighthouse - 1873, Newport, Oregon(Accessible)

Yaquina Bay Lighthouses, built in 1871, has the distinction of being the Oregonlighthouse that has served the shortest period -- a mere three years. When a first-classlighthouse was built just three miles north of Yaquina Bay, this one was no longerneeded.

In much lighthouse literature, there was the incorrect assumption that the lighthousebuilt in error at Yaquina Head was supposed to be built at Cape Foulweather, ninemiles further north on the Oregon Coast. Supposedly, the shippers dropped the materialsoff at the wrong location. However, Professor Stephen Dow Beckman researched thisand has verified that it was supposed to be there. He says they intentionally droppedthe materials at Yaquina Head because the weather was bad. The error was that earlyreports mistakenly referred to the cape at Yaquina Head as Cape Foulweather. (seebibliography: Nelson, Oregon Lighthouses p. 47) But the engineers who builtthe lighthouse did in fact build it in the correct location. Nevertheless, the buildingof this superior lighthouse just 3 1/2 miles north of Yaquina Bay caused its demise.

Only one keeper and his family lived in Yaquina Bay. Lightkeeper Charles H. Peirce,and his wife Sarah lived there with seven of their nine children.

Yaquina Bay, now restored by Friends of Lincoln County, serves as lighthouse museum.Lit up at Christmas time.

Ghost story of Muriel connected with Yaquina Bay, (see bibliography: Guardiansof the Lights, p. 245-247) and Oregon Seacoast Lighthouses p. 131. Muriel wasdaughter of sea captain, born end of 19th century, who explored the abandoned lighthousewith some school friends. As they were about to leave, she ran back into the lighthouseto find her scarf, and she never came out. After searching, they found a pool ofblood on the floor at the foot of the stairs leading to the tower. A trail of dropsled upstairs to the edge of an iron door. This door to a compartment with a deephole, which they had left open, was now shut. Her friends couldn’t open the doorand went to seek help. A complete search was made -- but no one could open the door.Muriel was never found. There was a rumor that someone lived in the hole and hadmurdered Muriel. Some people insist they’ve seen her ghost. According to Jim Gibbs,a fictitious story written by Lischen Miller, in an 1899 issue of Pacific Monthly,entitled "The Haunted Lighthouse" was the source of this ghost story. Jimhas a reproduction of the article (see bibliography: Oregon Seacoast Lighthouse,sp. 133. According to Gibbs, this continues to be a modern day ghost story -- membersof the coast Guard ANT team testify to the fact that mysterious things have happenedon their watch.

Yaquina Head is a first class light station; still standing today. First-orderFresnel lens, still in place; now operated by electricity. Light was automated in1966.

Several ghost stories associated with Yaquina Head. 1) an unauthenticated storyabout a construction worker who fell to his death while working on the tower. Hefell between the double walls and his body could not be retrieved, so he was sealedbetween the walls like a crypt. 2) story about Keeper Smith in the 1920s; one nightwent into Newport with his family and put assistant keeper Higgins in charge. Higginsfell sick and asked another keeper, Story, to take charge. Smith noticed from Newportthat the beacon hadn’t been lit and rushed back to the lighthouse. Found Higginsdead and Story drunk. After that Smith, fearing Higgins’ "ghost", usedto take his bulldog up into the tower with him. Keeper Zenor, who served for 22 years,said he used to hear the ghost, but not after the activity at Yaquina Head duringWorld War II. Yaquina Head was used as the "haunted house" for a NancyDrew movie.

Yaquina Head was always a popular tourist attraction. When it was built in 1873the 92-foot tower was a skyscraper and so many tourists came to see it, the keepershad to request the officials to declare visiting hours, so they could get their workdone and get adequate sleep.

Managed by Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, the YaquinaHead Outstanding Natural Area is a Mecca for seabird and sea life. Harbor seals liveon the low rock island; mass migration of whales can be observed in early winterand spring for headland vantage points; low tide reveals seaweeds, seastars, hermitcrabs purple urchins and anemones in the "marine gardens".

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CapeArago Lighthouse, Coos Bay, OR - 1866

Owned and operated by Coast Guard; not open to the public.

Located on one of the most dangerous stretches of Oregon Coast. Built to guidethe lumber freighters through entrance of Coos Bay on coast of Oregon. Oregon’s forestsprovide much of the commerce for the region. For the past one and one-half centuries,lumber ships have traveled in and out of the Bay .

Known as "Lighthouse Island." Built on narrow island 100 yards frommainland. Island composed mostly of sandstone, which made the lighthouse susceptibleto erosion. Due to erosion, three lighthouse were built on the site

(1857, 1908, 1933. Subject to treacherous winds, there was concern that the erosionfrom high seas would cut the island in half.

Site of many shipwrecks. Most famous was that of the 220-foot Czarina in 1910.While the lighthouse itself was not involved, the Coos Bay Life Saving Station atits feet, was. Over the course of several days, the ship foundered in rough seasuntil it went down. The entire crew and one passenger were desperately clinging tothe rigging. Ultimately there was only one survivor, first engineer Kintzel, whomanage to lash himself to a plank that eventually swept him towards the beach. LifeSaving Station Captain Boice was labeled a coward in a lengthy hearing that followedthe tragedy and resigned. (see Bibliography: Oregon’s Seacoast LighthousesP. 75-77)

Accessibility to land -- until 1876, only by boat. In 1876 a footbridge was built,always a problem, called the "Bridge of Sighs." Washed away twice and oftenin need of repairs. In 1891, a 400’ foot tramway was built with a hand-pulled cablecar. Worked well for seven years. In 1896, work was begun on a high bridge. Rightbefore it was completed, a tragedy took place. Keeper Thomas Wyman, a daughter, andtwo others, were being winched across when a cable broke. They plunged to the waterbelow and Wyman’s legs were crushed. One leg had to be amputated. Eight weeks later,the bridge was completed, which still stands today. (see Bibliography: Nelson, OregonLighthouses)

Long recognized that site mainland and old village on island -- Many Native Americansburied. Each year in August, tribal members of Confederated Tribes of Coos, LowerUmpqua and Siuslaw Native Americans hold annual meeting and salmon bake at Baldiyar.Some still cast ashes of the dead from this site. Right now they are building aninterpretive center on the mainland opposite the island.

CapeBlanco Lighthouse, Sixes, Oregon - 1870

Accessible; Coast Guard operate the light, owns the land; Bureau of Land Managementinterprets site and maintains lighthouse and grounds.

Oregon’s oldest, Oregon’s most westerly, Oregon’s tallest -- its 59’ foot towerstands 245’ over sea level. Its light shines 21 miles. The cape was named Cape Blancode Aguilar by Captain Aguilar for the chalky white cliffs.

Interesting keepers. Charles Peirce came here after Yaquina Bay closed. JamesLanglois served 42 years (1875 until he retired in 1918) -- longest tenure on WestCoast. During his tenure he had two female assistant keepers, Bretherton and Alexander.It was a very popular site and visitors flocked here and were shown around by Langloisand his wife.

During World War II, served as a defense area with coastal lookout. A Japanesesubmarine launched a small float plane which used the lighthouse to navigate by asit dropped incendiary bombs in nearby forest. (see Bibliography: Nelson, OregonLighthouses p. 6)

When the second-order Fresnel lens was damaged by vandals several years ago, anational search to find someone to repair it led lighthouse officials to Larry Hardinof Hardin Optical in nearby Bandon, Oregon. He and his colleagues spent more thana year creating several new prisms and a central bull’s-eye for the light. Specialtools had to be built for the project as existing ones could not be used. An FBIsearch revealed that two local high school students had caused the damage. They weretried and sentenced for the vandalism.

In the summer of 1997, the University of Oregon Historic Preservation Field Schoolused the lighthouse for preservation education during its summer field school. Theyprovided a professional condition assessment report with the help of Lisa Sasser,then Assistant Chief Historical Architect with the National Park Service, Washington,DC.

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