After over 200 years, one by one, the U.S. Coast Guard is letting go of lighthouses and replacing them with stationary, automatic light signals. Lighthouses have always evoked a sense of awe and reverence, because of the safety they provide mariners and the tenacity of the towers that for centuries manage to cling to rocky cliffs or stay dug in at the end of sand spits. Their remote, waterfront locations with sweeping vistas offer a mind-expanding and calming perspective like none other.
Aesthetics aside, lightstations are also important chapters in the history of nearby communities.
But with manned stations already phased out, keeping them standing with life in them depends on non-profit preservation organizations like the U.S. Lighthouse Society, who raise public awareness and funds to promote and restore these quintessential symbols of maritime heritage.
Founded in the Bay Area of California as a non-profit organization in 1983 by retired Coast Guard officer Wayne Wheeler, who is still president of the board of directors though no longer involved in day-to-day management, the USLHS, now led by executive director Jeff Gales, will celebrate its 25th year in 2009 at the new headquarters station in the historic duplex at Point No Point. A big celebration is in order.
It’s the first time the organization, so focused on preserving lighthouses, can actually call one home.
Keepers’ duplex reincarnated
The half of the duplex where the USLHS office is now settled is lined with its archives, the second largest collection of lighthouse books and lenses, surpassed only by the National Archives. In addition to staff offices, there is a reception and display area in the front room where lanterns, lenses and other artifacts are exhibited. The office is open to the public on Saturdays, coinciding with hours docents give tours of the lighthouse. The society will create interpretive displays and help the Friends of Point No Point with historical displays in the lighthouse.
The duplex is in good shape, thanks to the special care given it by the county parks department (the lighthouse, duplex and other buildings are all a part of Point No Point County Park), though the society has made replacing the fogged-up, double-pane windows a priority so they can enjoy the magnificent views. Gales thinks the windows are still under warranty and is contacting the manufacturer to get new ones.
He and his staff are looking forward to the opportunity to do some hands-on lightstation restoration of their own. In their San Francisco headquarters, located in an office building in the heart of the financial district, they were bookworms.
“This gives us bookworms time to practice what you preach and be actively involved in the preservation of the lighthouse,” Gales said. “We wouldn’t have been able to consider moving here if the county hadn’t taken such good care of it and made improvements. We’ll tread lightly on the premises and maintain the historical integrity of the property.”
Along with the historic duplex, the society also gets the use of the keepers’ workshop, a building that Gales thinks is as old or older than the duplex, probably built in the late 1800s to store supplies. Upon closer inspection and whacking their way through blackberry brambles behind the building, they found an old hoist that was used to load supplies up through the back window. Gales said there probably used to be a boathouse nearby on the beach where keepers would store their boats. At one time, lighthouses also served as U.S. Lifesaving Stations so if a boat or seafarer offshore got in trouble, the keepers could go out and save them. The lore of Point No Point keepers includes many such rescues.
Though dilapidated and neglected for years, Gales hopes to renovate the workshop to create an interpretive center and gift shop for the Friends of Point No Point as a way for the group to generate income. He’s hoping the county will clear out the old furniture and signs in there so they can begin a project that will no doubt take the elbow grease of a village to complete.
A room with a view
The other half of the duplex has been transformed into a relaxing vacation rental, fully furnished with antique sideboards, a dining table and chairs, comfortable recliners and a couch, dishes, beds, linens, and of course, shelves with lighthouse books and nautical art on the walls.
“Kitsap County now has one of the most exciting vacation rentals with unprecedented public access to a building which hasn’t existed before,” Gales said at the lease-signing ceremony in April.
After putting out word they were looking for furnishings, Gales said almost everything was donated. “This place is going to be absolutely fantastic,” with a mix of antiques to invoke the history of the place and comfort, since those staying there will be on vacation after all.
Upstairs, with views of Mount Baker, Whidbey Island, Admiralty Inlet, Mount Rainier and the skyscrapers of Seattle, there is a master bedroom with a queen bed, and another bedroom with two long twin beds. A third, smaller room is set up to be a reading nook with a comfortable chair by the window, stocked bookshelf, and eventually a small writing desk.
“I compliment the people of north Kitsap County,” Gales said. “They’ve been very generous. They drop by to inquire about us and tell us how wonderful the project is. They support it – even if they can’t donate, they wish us the best of luck.”
As part of its lease agreement with the county, the USLHS will manage the vacation rental, taking reservations, creating a brochure and marketing it on its Web site. Gales expects to be ready to take reservations May 1. Rates for the rental will be competitively priced, Gales said. “We don’t want to make staying here prohibitive. We want to give people the opportunity to experience history.”
Rates will vary, depending on the season and a two-night minimum may be required during summer months. All income from the rental goes back to a county coffer earmarked for Point No Point.
Keeping afloat
With its mission to preserve and restore lighthouses, and help local groups return lightstations to public domain, Gales said he feels incredibly lucky to be a part of the society, because the longer it’s around, “the better off lighthouses all over the country will be. If we don’t preserve them now, it will be difficult to try to find a way to bring history alive.”
Subscription circulation of the USLHS quarterly Keeper’s Log, mailed to all members, varies from 8,000 to 12,000 per year. Building membership is “the key to staying in business.” Memberships and wholesale and retail sales of lighthouse passports, shirts, pins and other merchandise helps cover administrative costs.
The society serves as a means of communication between lighthouse preservation groups and maintains and updates its research library and photographic archive relating to lightstations, lightships and navigational aids. It also takes care of its Relief lightship, a floating museum berthed at Jack London Square in Oakland, Calif.
The Keeper’s Log is Gales’ pet project and an opportunity for him to combine his background in journalism with a fascination with history and architecture. The Log features historical photos and stories about domestic and international lighthouses, human interest stories about the life of lightkeepers, news on the preservation efforts of lighthouse organizations, as well as technical articles on fresnel lenses and other workings.
The USLHS has invited the Friends of Point No Point to become a chapter, one of only a handful of others that includes the New Dungeness Lighthouse in Sequim, to cement their relationship and work in tandem on preserving Point No Point.
Those who join the Friends of Point No Point will automatically gain membership into the USLHS and get a subscription to the Keeper’s Log and a quarterly bulletin. Gales hopes it will create an incentive for local people to become members. As a chapter, the Friends will, under the non-profit umbrella of the society, be able to accept tax-deductible donations immediately. The society has also offered the Friends some space in its office to store its own archive of local history.
Going on tour and online
Another anchor of the society’s activities is leading tours of lighthouses all over the world, coordinated through the USLHS office. The tours drop in to as many lighthouses as can be squeezed into itineraries, trekking even to the remotest of locations, sometimes with access to those rarely visited. Along the way, they also take in regional museums and other cultural sites “in order to appreciate and understand the lighthouses they visit, understanding the history of the area and why it was important to the lighthouse,” Gales noted.
“The great thing about our tours is the group dynamic,” he said, “everybody shares a common interest.”
The globetrotting list of tours taking place in 2008 is astonishing: Argentina/Uruguay, the South Atlantic, New Jersey, British Columbia, Wales, Norway, Lake Superior, Wisconsin, Maine and Northern California.
Gales, one of his staff, board members or other qualified guest guides lead the tour groups of 25 to 40 people. After 20 years, they’ve gained knowledge and connections along the way that make for smooth itineraries.
Proceeds from the tours go towards lighthouse restoration projects and donations the society makes to other preservation organizations.
Gales’ brother, Richard, who also relocated to Point No Point, puts a lot of energy into the society’s Web site to “broadcast as much information to the public as possible.” There, researchers and aficionados will find a link to the database of the National Archives as well as the USLHS interactive database. The site is a broad beam of resources including lists of lighthouses and fresnel lenses, the activities of lighthouse organizations, lighthouse accommodations, books and USLHS merchandise. There is also a lighthouse curriculum for kindergarten through fourth-graders that area schools could use and tie into fieldtrips to Point No Point.
Chad Kaiser, who’s leasing the little blue cottage south of the duplex, known as the Maggs’ House because it was once the keepers’ residence, is director of collections and educational services and will play an instrumental part in connecting with the community and interacting with the public.
The foundation of the society’s new footing at Point No Point will not only support its renewed mission, but also serves as a beacon for North Kitsap to shed light on its own centuries-old story.
Point No Point docents sought for lighthouse
Kitsap County’s favorite lighthouse needs those with an interest in local history to serve as volunteer docents.
Docents are needed at the Point No Point Lighthouse, located in Point No Point County Park, Hansville.
The lighthouse is open to the public on weekends, noon to 4 p.m. April thru September. Volunteer docents share its history with people from around the world who visit this historic landmark.
To get more information about the docent program and to participate, contact Paulette Cziske at (360) 638-2535.
Get enLightened
U.S. Lighthouse Society
9005 Point No Point Road NE
Hansville, WA 98340
www.uslhs.org
info@uslhs.org
(415) 362-7255 (Though this is the phone number from the San Francisco office, it rings through to Point No Point.)
Washington Lightkeepers Association
www.walightkeepers.com
info@walightkeepers.com
Point No Point Lighthouse
http://pointnopointlighthouse.com
Information is available there on the Friends of Point No Point.
Membership, which includes membership in the USLHS, is $35 annually.
