Heceta House:
A History and Architectural Survey
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SECTION ONE: HISTORY
II: EARLY DAYS OF LIGHT TENDING

Very little is known about the early keepers of the new Heceta light. The first head keeper, Andrew P. C. Hald, had previously served at the Cape Mears Lighthouse. His first assistant was Eugene M. Walters and his second assistant John M. Cowan. Of the three men, only Cowan was a native American; he was born in California. Hald was born in Denmark and Walters in France.

None of the original crew stayed long at Heceta Head. Between 1894 and 1904, all three positions turned over many times.1

1See appendix for list of Heceta Head keepers.

The salaries of the light keepers were fixed by law in 1867, and the law was not changed for 50 years. The head keeper received $800 annually, the first assistant $600, and the second assistant $550. Salaries included housing and firewood.

It is quite likely that the first keepers brought families to the station, as arrangements for a school were made as early as 1896. That year, the Warrens sold an acre of land for $5 to the Directors of School District No. 149 of Lane County, Oregon.

The original schoolhouse, pictured on the following page, was of the shingled, one-room variety. Frank DeRoy, a later keeper, told his son that students left their books in kerosene cans to prevent them from being nibbled by rats. Whether this was fact, or a frightening bed-time story may never be known.

Heceta Head Schoolhouse

Olaf L. Hansen was appointed first assistant to Heceta Head in September, 1896. He was transferred a few years later, but returned as head keeper in 1904. Hansen remained at that post until 1920.

During his tenure, Hansen established himself as postmaster and a member of the local school board and, most importantly, he brought a sense of stability to the Heceta light. He is survived by two daughters, who provided information about their father and about life at the station.

Hansen spent his boyhood in Porsgurn, Norway. He began a career as sailor at the age of 14. In later years, he located in San Francisco and sailed out of that city. From there, he moved north to Astoria and landed a job on the lighthouse tender, Manzanita. According to his daughters, this stint on the tender inspired him to enter the Lighthouse Service as a keeper.

He was appointed fourth assistant at the Tillamook Rock Station on December 26, 1894, at the established rate of $550 per year. A promotion came just a year later, when Hansen was made third assistant at Tillamook.

In February of the following year, he was transferred to Cape Disappointment as second assistant, and in September of 1896 was made first assistant at Heceta Head. By that time, Hansen was bringing in $600 annually.

The raise in pay undoubtedly was needed, for the 37-year-old Hansen came to Heceta Head a newlywed. His wife, Annie Martin, 32, hailed from West Virginia. She arrived in Oregon accompanied by one son from a first marriage.

The Hansen daughters never asked their parents how they met, but they have their own theory about the match.

How could a sailor from Astoria meet a woman from Huntington, West Virginia, who had a dressmaking shop, except by correspondence? They must have corresponded for some time, because he sent her a watch as a gift and she had a emerald engagment ring. We've always surmised that they answered some newspaper ad.2

2Thelma Hansen Coma and Mildred Hansen Wells, private interview held at Heceta Head, Oregon, October, 1979.

During their first stay at the head, the Hansens began what proved to be a large family of one boy and five girls. Most of the children were born at the station, with the assistance of a midwife from Florence who went by the name of Grandma Morgan.

The couple filed a homestead claim at Mercer Lake during those first years. This presented a problem when Hansen was transferred to Puget Sound in 1902, where he remained until 1904.

During that time, Annie Hansen proved her resourcefulness by staying behind to prove up on the homestead. The family then included three small children, and the Hansen woman, described by neighbors as large and "raw boned," was aided only by her teenaged son from her first marriage.

On November 1, 1904, the family was reunited when Hansen returned to Heceta as head keeper. By 1904, the mustachioed Norwegian was making $800 per year, which no doubt brought a sense of security to the 45-year-old Hansen.

Keepers' houses as they appeared in early years of station.

Keepers and their families. From left, back row: Frank De Roy; Paul Goodwin, teacher: Lilly Smith; William Smith; daughter, Bessie Smith; Olaf Hansen; Annie Hansen. Front row, from left: Gertrude Hansen; Willy Smith; Thelma, Irene, Adele, Mildred, and Howard Hansen.

As head keeper, Hansen had the same duties and shifts as his assistants, but he was charged with overseeing the station as well. In return for shouldering the responsibility, he received his raise in pay and the designation of head keeper, or captain. His family was entitled to live in the single residence nearest the lighthouse.

There were other, subtle distinctions that marked the various ranks. The second assistant lived on the east side of the duplex, farthest from the light, while the first assistant lived on the west side, just one step away from the captain.

Even existing light fixtures at one time reflected status. The "chandeliers" on the second assistant's side have four bulbs each; the fixtures on the first assistant's side are of the same design, but have five bulbs each. According to Hansen's daughters, the head keeper's house was illuminated by chandeliers with six bulbs.

The duties of lighthouse keepers were specifically laid out in a Lighthouse Service publication entitled Instructions and Directions to Light Keepers. The instructions included the following:

Commence lighting the lamp at sunset, so that the light may have its full effect by the time twilight ends.

Extinguish the lights punctually at sunrise...Hang and spread the lantern curtains immediately after the lights are extinguished, which precaution is necessary to prevent the sun's rays from melting the burner of the lamp.3

3U.S. Lighthouse Service, Instructions and Directions to Light Keepers (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1871), pp. 27 and 30.

The clockworks which powered the revolving lense had to be wound manually every four hours. According to Hansen's daughters, the slow descent of the polished clockworks was an unforgettable sight.

They were beautiful, beautiful clockworks, all enclosed in glass. They dropped clear to the floor of the tower. Even the curtains around the lantern were beautiful; they were made of the finest linen I've ever seen.4

4Thelma Hansen Coma and Mildred Hansen Wells, private interview held at Heceta Head, Oregon, October, 1979.

Despite the beauty of the tower, lighthouse duty still meant work for the keepers. The first shift began at sunset and ended at midnight and the second lasted from midnight to sunrise. One man was always off duty at night. The shifts were taken in turn, which gave each keeper a full night's sleep every third night.

Apparently, many of the keepers did not own reliable alarm clocks. A club was kept handy for rapping on walls sheltering sleeping keepers expected on duty.

The men were directed to remain at the tower throughout their shifts. Instructions were clear on this point, but there is some disagreement as to how carefully they were carried out. Visitors to Heceta House report noticing a mirror rigged up in one of the bedrooms, which would have allowed a keeper reclining in bed to monitor the light by checking the looking glass.

According to the Hansen sisters, their father demanded strict adherence to regulations. If there ever was a mirror, they insist it must have been mounted by "lazy ones" who came after Hansen's time.

Regardless of whether they served the full watch, the men insisted on certain comforts. The watchroom adjacent to the tower was kept heated by a wood stove, and a leather arm chair was kept invitingly near the heater. A small library was maintained in the watchroom, and one keeper purchased a telescope to facilitate star gazing.

Although the Heceta light was kept illuminated only at night, the keepers had plenty of daily duties. The working day began at nine a.m., though the man who had come off duty at sunrise was not required to complete morning chores. The routine at the tower included cleaning the glass of the lantern, polishing brass fittings, trimming wicks, filling the lamp reservoir and removing any spots from the glass.

In addition to this daily ritual, there often were painting or whitewashing assignments to tackle. The Lighthouse Service was very specific about the painting:

The whole interior of lighthouse lanterns is to be painted WHITE and must be kept clean, free from soot and grease and the white paint renewed as often as necessary.

Flat brushes are used for sashes, for varnishing, and for painting in lines or narrow spaces.

When the bristles of a brush get loose, drive a few thin wedges of wood inside of the binding twine or thread, which will render the whole fast again.5

5U. S. Lighthouse Service, Instructions and Directions to Light Keepers (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1871), p. 119.

Despite the seeming arduousness of these tasks, assistants under Hansen stayed with the job longer than their predecessors. From 1912 to 1918, Leroy Avery served as assistant; Frank DeRoy was appointed assistant in 1913 and was promoted to head keeper in 1920. Bob Bay assisted from 1918 to 1930; and Charlie Walters served from 1919 until 1930.

These keepers were, without exception, career Lighthouse Service men. After serving at Heceta Head, all were transferred (or requested transfers) to other light stations. However, other assistants tried lightkeeping for a time, then drifted on to other work. For example, Overton (Ovie) Dowell Jr. worked under Hansen in 1911, but could not deny he was a homesteader at heart. In 1912, he returned to his family's spread at Mercer Lake and never reentered the lighthouse service.

LeRoy Avery, second assistant, and his wife, Jenny. Avery wears regulation jacket and cap bearing Lighthouse Service insignia.

An unidentified keeper prepares for journey to a new assignment. Moving was not easy in those days—many families were transported by lighthouse tender, in which case all their possessions had to be crated and loaded on surf boats.

Some assistants did come and go without leaving records of their destinations.

In many cases, even their names were forgotten by the "regulars." Robert DeRoy, son of keeper DeRoy, recalls the steady stream of assistant keepers:

There was an exchange of several second assistant keepers while we were at Heceta Head. The ones I remember were a man named Hayward and his wife, they had no children that I remember; a family by the name of Walters, had a baby and a small girl; a single man by the name of Miller, who we kids used to call Miller by the Dee, which he didn't like much.

There was also a family by the name of Williams, who had two girls named Charlotte and Marion. Mr. Williams, his first name was Clayborn, was a rather heavy man, and smoked cigarettes a lot. He sort of wheezed most of the time when he breathed. I thought that this was real cool, and started to imitate him. My mother got worried and thought that I was coming down with something bad, until she found out what it was all about. That was the end of my wheezing even until now.6

6Robert E. DeRoy, correspondence dated November, 1979.

Hansen's daughters vividly remember still another second assistant, Thomas E. Alexander, who was appointed in 1912.

There was one weirdo came in as an assistant here, Mr. Alexander. Mr. Alexander had a horse and one time he lassoed and threw that horse, tied his four legs together and sat on the hillside and threw rocks at that horse. We went and told our Dad, of course, what he had done. He reported it to headquarters, but he had to wait a week for the mail to go back and forth. Many times during that week, my dad and the other assistant would not go to the tower alone. They went up together because they were afraid of that man.7

7Mildred Hansen Wells, private interview held at Heceta Head, Oregon, October, 1979.

Once the fateful report was received, it is not likely that Alexander remained on the Lighthouse Service payroll for long.

Mail to headquarters may have been slow, but the keepers did have recourse to the telephone. Lines were installed from Florence approximately 1910. According to reports, there were about 16 parties on the line, and more than a few were reputed to eavesdrop on a conversation.

Technology brought another major change to the station in 1910. The original, kerosene burning lamp in the tower was replaced by a gas bunsen burner. But perhaps the most welcomed alteration occurred in 1916, when the installation of indoor plumbing eliminated the need for outside privies. The families had looked forward to the indoor rest rooms for some time. The bathroom fixtures sat in the barn collecting dust for more than a year before they were finally placed in the rear wings.

The local transportation network did not improve much during Hansen's captaincy. A trip to Florence, just 13 miles down the coast, entailed an all day journey by team and wagon. Some Heceta Head families made the arduous trek only a few times a year, though keeper DeRoy sometimes donned a knapsack and hiked the distance to Florence to secure some much needed item.

Despite the difficulty of travel, keepers were not totally isolated from Florence. Charles Stonefield who lived with his family at Cape Creek, regularly hauled supplies for lighthouse residents.

Stonefield had purchased Warren's homestead for $500 in 1902. (The fate of the Warrens is not known.) The hearty German immigrant purchased additional land from homesteaders who lived up the hill from Warren. In this way, he fell heir to a large and livable house, the Cobb place, which became the first Stonefield family home.

The Cobb house, located on the hill behind Cape Cove, provided housing for the Stonefield clan. It doubled as the Heceta Head schoolhouse for a time.

Three generations of Stonefields: from left, Rufus; George; Rosie; Frederick; Charles; Vernon; Annie; and Stilnah.

Charles rode into Florence about two or three times a month with his wagon and team of Clydesdales, Duchie and Princess.

He had the choice of following an inland or beach route. The inland road, which wound above the present highway, was close to impassable in wet weather. Then, Stonefield followed the beach from Berry Creek to Heceta Beach. At Heceta Beach, a ramp led to the road and from there on it was a straight shot to town. There were disadvantages to this route as well: Sutton Creek had to be forded and beach travelers needed to pay close heed to the tides. However, Stilnah Stonefield Smallwood, Charles' granddaughter, remembers that trips to Florence were something of an occassion.

It took pretty much all day to get to Florence. We'd leave in the morning and when we got down there in the sandhills, we'd have a picnic. There were oats for the horses and we all sat out on the ground. We stayed in Florence overnight. Granddad had a livery stable with a room off it here we slept. If there was a big fair, we stayed three or four days.8

8Stilnah Stonefield Smallwood, private interview held at Waldport, Oregon, September, 1979.

In addition to carrying supplies for the lighthouse personnel, Charles Stonefield had the government contract for supplying wood to the Heceta Head families. Each family was allotted eight cords per year which was "cut into stove wood lengths by a buck saw, at the keeper's pleasure or displeasure, whichever the case may have been."9

9Robert E. DeRoy, correspondence dated November, 1979.

The enterprising Stonefields engaged in other financial endeavours. They raised cattle, which were driven to Cushman for auction, and grazed sheep on the hill in back of the light station. (This practice gave the hill its name: Sheep Hill.) The sheared wool was stuffed into 10-foot bags and shipped to Portland. Charles sold cream by the five-gallon can and son Rufus went into the skunk raising business for a time.

When the Cobb place became too cramped for the growing family, Charles and Annie built a second house closer to the creek. Annie opened the new house to boarders and in this way, Heceta Head became established as a half-way point for travelers journeying from Florence to Yachats. The Stonefields did not have a monopoly on financial enterprises. At least two lighthouse residents set themselves up in business. Mrs. Hansen collected agates at what Heceta residents called Devil's Churn. (The churn was located below the station. The name passed out of existence when Devil's Churn near Cape Perpetua became popular.) The agates were sold at the A. L. Thomas shop in Newport.

LeRoy Bay, Bob Bay's son, peddled a different sort of ware; he trapped moles and sold the pelts to a furrier in Portland. Of course, young LeRoy could not devote all his energies to his business; he had school to attend and chores to perform.

The original, shingled schoolhouse apparently outlived its usefulness. The Cobb place served as classroom for a time but, by 1916, a new school was built close to the creek. Like its predecessor, the new school had only one class room, though two adjacent rooms served as library and wood shed. A wood-burning stove sat in the center of the classroom, and a "two-holer" behind the building completed the conveniences.

The schoolroom windows provided a good view of the creek, and, during salmon season, students kept at least one eye on the outdoors at all times. At the sight of a salmon run, the entire class jumped up, grabbed spears kept near the door, and raced for the creek.

This was whether school was in session or not. It probably did not go over too well with the teacher, but was not considered a serious offence, as our parents were glad to get any extra food they could. They generally smoked the salmon we did not consume at the time.10

10Ibid.

Unfortunately for the students, there was more to school than salmon fishing. Before they could be awarded an eighth grade diploma, a series of state exams had to be passed. The tests covered geography, hygiene, English, history, science, spelling and math. They were given to eighth-graders in May, but if any students failed, they were allowed to retake the exams in June. If they failed a second time, they had to remain in school the following year in order to graduate.

As most students did not go on to high school, it was not essential that they graduate. However, many parents insisted their children bring home an eighth-grade diploma.

"New" schoolhouse near the beach.

Class of 1916: front row, from left, Vernon Stonefield; Rachel Avery; Stilnah Stonefield; second row, Ted Avery; Fred Stonefield; Mildred Hansen; unindentified; Adelle Hansen; third row, Gertrude and Thelma Hansen; Raymond Bay; Howard and Irene Hansen; fourth row, unidentified; and teacher, Miss Ballard.

The majority of teachers were young women fresh from college. They boarded with the Stonefields in early years. Later, a small house was built near the school to accommodate them, but it was destroyed by fire. Once again, the Stonefields provided bed and board.

A school board, composed primarily of light keepers, administered the Heceta Head School District. In 1916, Olaf Hansen, Charles Stonefield and Roy Avery belonged to the board.

By 1926, teacher's salaries were up to $90 a month. The salaries were paid in warrants, which could be cashed in immediately or, if the employee was well-fixed for the month, could be held to draw interest.

In addition to attending school, children of the station helped with housekeeping duties. They polished the brass in the tower, dusted furniture and woodwork in the houses and tended animals.

However, the bulk of the housework fell to the women. The wives refereed the rows of the children; scrubbed laundry on wash boards; hung it on lines to dry; smoothed clothing with heavy, cast irons heated on the woodburning stoves; and cooked daily meals.

Keeper Hansen's son, Howard (left), relaxes in kitchen of Tillamook Rock Station. The kitchens at Heceta Head were of similar design and had the same type of stove, pump, and sink cabinet.

The Heceta Head women were fanatical window washers and cupboard cleaners, for the constant threat of a visit from lighthouse inspectors hung over their heads. These inspectors paid a surprise visit to the station once a year. They not only toured the tower and inspected lighthouse machinery, they also entered the houses and eyed cupboards, window sills and wood work. The more fastidious inspectors donned white gloves and ran their fingers atop sills and doors.

Despite such stringent checks, few women were reprimanded for their housekeeping, although one was "cited" for a dirty laundry room because she had been sorting clothes into piles when the inspector came in, unannounced.

Lighthouse Service publications do not offer any justification for such intrusion into keepers' private homes. However, light keeper and inspector Robert Stevenson, grandfather of author Robert Louis Stevenson, gave the following explanation, which was doubtless subscribed to by lighthouse officials the world over:

I hold it as a fixed maxim that, when a man or a family put on a slovenly appearance in their houses, stairs, and lanterns, I always find their reflectors, burners, windows, and light in general, ill attended to; and, therefore, I must insist on cleanliness throughout.11

11George R. Putnam, Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States (Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1933), pp. 246-247.

Mercifully, the keepers sometimes received "tips" that inspectors were on their way, probably from keepers at nearby stations.

Lighthouse tending and housekeeping were primary occupations, but the families spent their spare hours tending vegetable gardens, raising chickens, milking cows and caring for horses. They planted on the hillside above the beach, and often extended the gardens as far as the sand.

In the pre-highway days, these occupations were more than pastimes, they were vital to survival. In fact, the Heceta Head community endeavoured to be as self-sufficient as possible, for links with nearby towns were not strong.

The lighthouse residents survived their semi-isolation well. The women sewed most of the families' clothing, and Rufus Stonefield, who was skilled at cobbling, made shoes. What could not be produced by hand was ordered through the "Monkey Wards" and "Sears and Sawbuck" catalogs, as the keepers called them.

A medicine chest and doctor's manual were provided by the Lighthouse Service, and spiritual well-being was attended to by traveling preachers.

Keepers set off on frequent hunting and fishing forays in order to supplement the vegetables and dairy products from the station. However, according to the Stonefields, Forest Service rangers sometimes interfered with the ambitious designs of hunters.

In those days, the forest service men were the same as the police. If you had illegal deer meat or illegal fish they'd arrest you. Even back then, there was deer season and fishing season, though there was no elk season till '41.

But we had deer and fish all year 'round, because when a forest service man left Florence, folks would call to the first place down the road and warn that he was on his way. When he left the first place those folks would call the next house and say he'd just passed. Out there at Berry Creek to the lighthouse it's three miles. When he passed there, they'd call ahead and say he'd just passed.12

12George Stonefield, private interview held at Florence, Oregon, October, 1979.

On at least one occassion, the system did not work. George Stonefield recalls that a ranger from Mapleton stopped in when the family was feasting on undersized trout. Because the ranger was a family friend, he remarked that the trout must have shrunk, and let things go at that.

The mail carrier also could be considered an "intruder", but he was decidedly more welcome than the rangers. Although the Heceta Head post office was established in 1891, regular service was not instituted for some time. Turnover of mail carriers was high, for the Florence-Yachats run was one of the more treacherous of the coastal routes. Because the inland roads were often impassable, carriers traveled by horse and wagon on the hard packed sand a few feet out in the ocean.

Cape Perpetua presented a highly dangerous obstacle to the mailmen, as carrier Guy Hays describes: ". . .we [horse and man] practically crawled on our bellies to keep from being swept into the crashing surf below."13

13As quoted by Eve Muss, "The Beachfront Mailman," Oregon Journal (Portland), October, 1975, p. 13.

Rufus Stonefield, Charles' son, served a three-year stint as carrier. According to his children, high winds often forced Rufus to crawl around the Cape while holding onto his horse's tail.

Despite such hardships, there was a decided benefit to the job: every woman along the route had a treat for the carrier, be it coffee and cake, cookies, or a full meal. While visiting the families, the "mailman" took orders for everything from sewing thread to nails, which he purchased in Florence and dropped off on his return to Yachats.

Salary for the Florence-Yachats route is recorded at $180 per year, which seems astonishingly low. However, mail was delivered only once a week, which gave the carriers time to pursue other occupations. In later years, service was increased to three times a week and carriers' salaries rose accordingly.

Keeper Hansen was postmaster of the Heceta office, which was contained in the basement of the single dwelling. One farmer, Ben Bunch, met his future wife while coming after letters. Sixteen-year-old Thelma Hansen and Bunch were married at the head keeper's house. The Hansen girl's marriage was not the only one celebrated at the light station. In 1929, assistant Bay's daughter, who was also named Thelma, was married in the first assistant's house.

The occasional weddings were just one type of entertainment put on by the Heceta Head community. Beach parties, Fourth of July picnics, barn dances and card parties at the Stonefields all helped break the monotony of light tending.

The annual fair at Florence provided a distraction of major proportions. Heceta Head women baked pies and cakes and put up pickles for judging, while the keepers laid plans to visit the pool hall in Florence's hotel.

Heceta Head picnic, circa 1910. Hansen appears in uniform.

Lighthouse children spent every spare moment on beach. Keeper DeRoy's wife, Jenny, is seated on log.

Another annual event set off an even greater upheaval at the station. Everyone within hiking distance congregated at the headland to witness the landing of the lighthouse tender, Rose. The major supplies of the station, such as paint, kerosene and tools, were transported from the Tongue Point depot on the Rose. Once the tender arrived at the head, shipments for the lighthouse were rowed ashore on surf boats. Robert DeRoy's son remembers the occasions well:

The tender would stand off at a safe distance from shore and lower one of the whale boats. The tenders did not carry any power boats in those days. The crew would load the boat row it through the surf, which could be rather hairy with a heavily loaded boat, and off-load it with the keepers' help onto the beach. They always picked the best weather they could for this.14

14Robert E. DeRoy, correspondence dated November, 1979.

The crew of the Rose often invited Stilnah Stonefield, Charles Stonefield's granddaughter to come aboard. She enjoyed sunbathing on the immaculate deck, but invariably returned home with a painful sunburn.

The tender Rose.

Most days, the families had to make due with simpler entertainments, such as reading and walking the beach. Photography was a great hobby of DeRoy's, but this had disasterous consequences for Ovie Dowell.

On one occassion, a whale washed up on the beach near the station. DeRoy quickly set up his tripod and heavy view camera, posed atop the whale "muscle-man" style, and instructed his wife to take the picture. Some days later, Dowell's girlfriend was coming from Florence for a visit, and the assistant asked DeRoy if he could borrow the camera while she was there. DeRoy agreed, and Ovie's friend arrived on schedule in her crinolines and petticoats. Dowell took her to the beach and, not wanting to be outdone by DeRoy, requested she take his picture astride the whale.

Unfortunately, the whale had decomposed since DeRoy had used it. When Ovie climbed atop, the belly caved in and the keeper found himself mired in whale flesh. Once down, Dowell couldn't get up, and he called on his girlfriend for help. She slithered over the whale, soiling her finery in the process, and, with the scent of rotted whale still clinging to her clothing, she returned to Florence.

Heceta Head photography: keepers unload supplies for the station.

A favorite shot of Heceta Head photographers showed the station through the "needle's eye", which was destroyed by erosion years ago.

The more daring Heceta Head residents sometimes descended down to Sea Lion Caves by rope. However, they did not engage in a sport popular at the time: sea lion killing. The State of Oregon payed a bounty of approximately $5 to $10 dollars for every sea lion scalp brought in by a hunter. Numerous out-of-towners found their way to the caves near Heceta Head, where sea lion hunting was outstanding. The following article from the Florence weekly describes one hunting expedition that took place in 1919:

A party of sea lion hunters from Seattle who came down the coast with a small boat arrived here about a week ago. Last Saturday they went by land to the sea lion caves and slaughtered many of the animals.

The men climbed down over the rocks and entered the cave where the sea lions have made their home for ages, and found animals of all sizes, from those only a few weeks old to full grown monsters weighing a ton or more.

The hunters shot about 300 lions in all and secured their scalps, on which a bounty is paid by the State.15

15The West (Florence), July 4, 1919, p. 1.

Despite the variety of diversions at the head, time often passed slowly for the keepers and their families, and the residents sometimes took to quarreling among themselves. However, for the most part, relations among the families were good. They often shared meals and entertainments, as well as chores.

The Hansens were transferred to Washington's Willapa Bay Light Station in 1920. Moving was no easy matter for any family, and was a particularly difficult chore for the Hansens, who had accumulated 16 years worth of memorabilia. Charles Stonefield transported the family to Florence in his wagon. There, the Hansens boarded the tender Rose, which conveyed them to their new assignment.

Hansen served as head keeper at Willapa Bay for ten years. He then retired, after 36 years of continuous duty with the lighthouse service.

The same tender that transported the Hansens from Heceta Head brought in the new head keeper, Frank DeRoy. He had first come to the head as second assistant approximately 1913. He served there until 1917, when he was promoted to first assistant at the new Lime Kiln station on the Puget Sound. In 1920, he was transferred back to Heceta to take over for Hansen.

According to his son, DeRoy had been a seafaring man most of his life. His wife, Jenny Gustafson, immigrated from Sweden as a child and spent her teenage years in Oakland, California. As her son relates, it was something of a culture shock for Jenny when she first came to Heceta Head as a newlywed in 1914:

I remember my mother telling when she was on her way from Florence to Heceta Head for the first time. It was raining and they were bouncing along the road along the bluff in Charlie Stonefields farm wagon, and she was feeling very blue, when suddenly the sun came out, and shone on the lighthouse station, and her spirits lit up, and she welcomed her new home.16

16Robert E. DeRoy, correspondence dated November, 1979.

Keeper DeRoy and his wife both instituted changes at the light station. These are best described by their son:

After father returned to Heceta as keeper in charge, he and the assistants set to work in putting the station in top shape. This took several years, as all the old, built-up paint was burned off and scraped down to the bare wood and metal inside and out. In some places, the paint had been put on coat after coat without properly preparing the surfaces, until it had not dried properly and hung like plastic icicles from the iron handrails in the tower.

The lighthouse service had a policy of awarding the best-kept station a gold star as an incentive for keepers to maintain the stations in good condition. I don't know if the Heceta Head station had ever received the award, anyway, the station was a long way from top shape when my father took charge.

Soon after my father transferred to the Columbia River station, Heceta Head received the coveted gold star. This didn't do much for father's ego, but soon afterward, he received a letter from the district superintendent explaining that it was due to the efforts of my father and his assistants that the award was granted, and not because of the new incoming keeper in charge. This sort of set things right with him.17

17Ibid.

While the keeper concentrated on improving the tower, his wife turned her energies to the single dwelling she had inherited with her husband's promotion. Jenny could not abide the stark white walls of the house, which she painted over with pastel shades. She also prevailed on her husband to purchase some blue and white checked linoleum for the kitchen and bathroom.

Frank and Jenny DeRoy

Jenny DeRoy poses in one of the rooms she redecorated.

Surprisingly, the inspector did not object to the redecorating. In fact, he encouraged the couple to make other improvements. However, the family did not remain at the head long enough to continue the work. The head keeper requested a transfer to the Warrior Rock station on the Columbia in order to provide better schooling for his son. The request was granted, and in 1925, the DeRoys left Heceta Head.

Their departure marked the end of the "pioneer days" of the station. Electricity, highway construction and automobiles were to drastically change Heceta Head in the years to come.


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