By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/YachatsNews
Perhaps the most spectacular pullout on U.S. Highway 101 is just north of Sea Lion Caves, between Yachats and Florence. In addition to the stunning coastline, the star of the show is the Heceta Head Lighthouse Station, which features not only the lighthouse, but also the lighthouse keeper’s home.
Mary Nulty is one of 12 volunteer historians/curators/docents at the Heceta Lightstation Interpretive Center at the Keeper’s House. She first volunteered at the lighthouse in 1994, giving tours the very first year it was open to the public. It was in 2017 when she started working as a volunteer at Keeper’s House, and she realized that she could help to pull together information about the history of the house and the people who lived there, much of which had been lost.
Nulty and her husband, Frank, grew up in Oklahoma and spent most of their career years in Oklahoma and Texas. When they moved to Florence full time in 1998 she quickly engaged in activities that got her close to the water. There are six kayaks in her extended family — a sport she prefers because she gets to be right at the water’s surface and can explore the shoreline.
Similarly, she became a tidepool interpreter during the summer months, delighting in showing hidden marine creatures to tourists, locals and, best of all, her own grandchildren.
Nulty likes big projects. Helping to piece together the history of the Keeper’s House has been a monumental project, requiring help from dozens of people and a lot of perseverance. It’s not work, but puzzle solving, and she relishes each new piece that she finds. She has gone as far away as Washington D.C. to find information.
March is the 130th birthday month of the Heceta Head Lighthouse Station, with a big celebration to be held Saturday, March 30.
Question: What made you so committed to the Keeper’s House?
Answer: The Heceta Head Lighthouse Station is the most magnificent of the 11 on the Oregon coast, and it is the only one with a Keeper’s House. Ours is actually the assistant keeper’s house. The head keeper’s house came down in the 1930s, and parts of it were used to build the Alphabit Café in Mapleton. I would like our community to realize how incredibly special and unique this building is, and I want to do anything I can to help to present the history to the community and our guests as completely as possible, and in a logical, organized manner.
Q: How did your trip to Washington D.C. come about?
A: We knew that all keepers had to keep a daily log, but there were none to be found when the interpretive center started. It occurred to me that they might be in the National Archives. I found an email address and was amazed when I received a reply saying that they did indeed have the daily logs. Michelle Korgan helped me organize a trip. Michelle’s company is the concessionaire for the Keeper’s House Bed and Breakfast for the U.S. Forest Service, which owns the Keeper’s House. The research rooms at the National Archives are open to the public. It was quite an experience to spend five days going through the logs and correspondence. I photographed most of the logs and other volunteers have deciphered and transcribed the often unbelievably bad handwriting.
Q: What are some surprising facts about the Lighthouse and the Keeper’s House?
A: There are so many. Here are a few that I like:
- The early lighthouse keepers had to time their visits to Florence carefully since once they had gotten over the hill at Cape Creek the only route was along the beach at low tide;
- Some of the lighthouse keeper’s children flew down the lighthouse path on their roller skates, using brooms to slow themselves;
- During World War II there were 75 Coast Guardsmen stationed here. They patrolled the beach from Florence to Yachats using trained guard dogs;
- Unbelievable but true, no record was kept of the names of the women and children who lived in the three Keeper’s houses over the years; and
- We have a charming picture of a gaggle of children all with musical instruments made from bull kelp.
Q: Many old buildings have ghosts. Does the Keeper’s House have ghosts?
A: Well, ghosts can’t be verified, of course, but there have been hundreds of reports of unexplained happenings over the years. We have six history notebooks for guests to read and one of them documents those unusual experiences. Odd things do happen from time to time –sometimes things on counters are moved, sometimes shoes are straightened up, sometimes seat cushions are warmed up, sometimes people catch the scent of old lavender perfume.
Q: What are the details about the upcoming birthday celebration?
A: The celebration will be at the Keeper’s House from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 30. We’ll have food and music and, of course, tours. We especially hope that central coast residents who have never been here will decide to come by. And I’m sure some people will choose to book a bed and breakfast stay after they’ve been on a tour.
YachatsNews: Tell us a secret.
Nulty: I don’t have a secret. I do have questions — questions which really no one can answer. Why am I so drawn to the Lighthouse Station? It is my favorite place in the entire world. But it’s not just my favorite place, dozens of people have told me the same thing during tours. What draws so many other people to say that? What draws people to the water in general? Lighthouse keepers, ship captains, fishermen, tourists, other immigrants from places like Oklahoma and Texas, people who have lived here all their lives and say they would never, ever leave? I like to ponder these kinds of questions, knowing there is really no answer.
- Keeper’s House Bed and Breakfast/Interpretive Center/Gift Shop: 92072 Hwy 101 South, Yachats, OR 97498; Phone: 866-547-3696; Website here; Facebook: keepersofthehecetaheadlightstation
- Kathleen O’Connor is a Waldport freelance writer who can be reached via email at kmoc8916@gmail.com
- “5 Questions and a Secret” appears every other week on YachatsNews. Have a suggestion for a subject? Send your ideas to YachatsNews@gmail.com