A Family Affair

A Family Affair (HM24JT)

Location: Newport, OR 97365 Lincoln County
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Country: United States of America
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N 44° 40.608', W 124° 4.774'

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Inscription
Even though Newport was only four miles (7 km) away, bad weather, poor roads, and the demands of their work combined to tie the keepers and their families to the Yaquina Head Light Station.


What did they do?

They caught, shot and grew their own food



"Keepers whitewashing the garden fence and weeding the garden also today."
-
June 8, 1887

"2nd Asst. went up north beach trout fishing."
-
June 9, 1887

"1st Asst. killed two calves today."
-
September 22, 1888


They coped with the weather

"...when there were big storms and the seas were rough, it would make a roar and shake the house... The spray from the ocean, when the seas were rough, would spray clear up to the house."
- Marguerite Canterbury (born at Yaquina Head light station on June 18, 1916; daughter of First Assistant Fred Joseph Booth).



They entertained themselves

"... on one occasion my father dressed in mother's clothes, my mother dressed in Herbert Higgins' uniform, and my sister dressed up. That was fun!"

- Kathleen (Booth) Labarre, who lived at the station (1914-18) when her father was First Assistant.

Some of the women became "keeps"

"Mrs.



M.J. Plummer went on duty as laborer today until a 2nd Asst. arrives at the station."

- August 17, 1888

In the long history of staffed U.S. lighthouses, a number of women, usually wives or daughters of keepers, served as keepers.


They sometimes died

"Moderate to fresh breezes S. to S.E. these hours last 12 hours some damp fog sea moderately smooth Keeper Capt. S.L. Wass died at 2 PM."

- February 9, 1886


Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from the Keeper's Log, Yaquina Head Light Station.
Details
HM NumberHM24JT
Tags
Placed ByU.S. Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, January 14th, 2018 at 10:01pm PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)10T E 414436 N 4947614
Decimal Degrees44.67680000, -124.07956667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 44° 40.608', W 124° 4.774'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds44° 40' 36.48" N, 124° 4' 46.44" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)541
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 750 NW Lighthouse Dr, Newport OR 97365, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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