Maybe it was because I wrote about it that Keith and I took four days at the end of October to go camping at Duncan Mills. I remember as a child visiting this picturesque village and also remember my mother talking about the area in the 1920’s. If you look at old photos, you can see the hundreds of people waiting for the train to take them to the ferries that took them back to the big city. Like I wrote last month, it was a very popular vacationland. 

Duncan Mills was named for two brothers, Samuel and Alexander Duncan and was an established lumber mill town in the early 1870’s. The brothers logged the redwood trees, which were sent by lumber schooners down the coast to San Francisco to build the beautiful Victorians there. By the turn of the century, there were several large hotels and the town was thriving. 

The North Pacific Coast Railroad (later the Northwestern Pacific) came to Duncan Mills in the 1870’s until the last train left in 1935. People came from San Francisco on the ferry, received their tickets in Sausalito and headed to the end of the line, Duncan Mills. 

If you visit Duncan Mills today you can see the restored depot that won the California Historical Award for the best restoration in 1971. There is the original railroad coach that has been restored and placed on the tracks by the depot. In 1994 the original caboose No. 2 was brought home to be on display. After hundreds of visitors in the early days, the population is now 85.  

Any summer day in the early 1900’s you would see long lines of people at the Northwestern Pacific Railroad ticket window in the north end of the San Francisco’s famous Ferry Building. The lines would start before 7am as vacationers or same day excursionists bought tickets for the very popular vacationland along the Russian River. At exactly 7:45 the big sliding doors would open and everyone would rush to board the ferry boat to Sausalito where you boarded the Steam Trains. The gate keeper would call out, “All aboard for Point Reyes, Tomales, Occidental, Camp Meeker, Monte Rio, Duncan Mills and Cazadero, narrow gauge railroad number 8.” In a time of less than 3 minutes, the ferry’s huge paddle wheels would start to turn and they were on their way. 

The first railroad cars built for the narrow gauge were constructed in 1874 and the last were purchased from the South Pacific Coast Railroad in 1908. All of the trains were of the open-end type and were lighted by oil or kerosene lamps; they never had electric lighting.  Time has moved on and not many people remember the narrow gauge railroad cars that were carried by our loved ferry Sausalito. 

On Saturday, October 1st, Sportsmen YC hosted a tour of 50 people from the Antioch Riverview Garden Club. It was arranged by Bill Worrell. When the group arrived in a huge bus, Bill gave an interesting talk and then I took a group through our museum and Keith showed our cabin. Another group went up stairs where Carl and Elaine Rasmussen showed them around.   

The people were very interested in the Ferry’s history and many had traveled by the ferries years ago. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.  

Being we are still reliving our wonderful adventure of being Lighthouse Keepers for the month of July, I thought you might be interested in some historical lighthouse facts.

The first known lighthouse was in Alexandra, Egypt. It was completed in 280 B.C. It stood more than 350 feet tall until an earthquake destroyed it in the 1300’s.

The world’s oldest working lighthouse, La Coruna, stands at the northwest tip of Spain.  The Romans built it early in the second century A.D. It is also called the Tower of Hercules.

The earliest “lighthouses” around the world were bonfires on beaches on cliffs. Later they just used lanterns on poles.

The first lighthouse on the West Coast was the Alcatraz  Island Light in San Francisco Bay, completed in 1854. The original tower has been replaced by a 1909 vintage structure.

Being California has a geologically active plate which causes faults and volcanoes, it has also caused a rugged coastline with giant rocks, sandbars and jagged rocks just under the water’s surface,  waiting to catch a careless or lost navigator. Our lighthouses guard against these accidents, keeping our oceans safe.

The first U.S. lighthouse to use electricity is also the world’s most famous lighthouse, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. From its opening in 1886 until its deactivation as a lighthouse in 1902, its torch carried an electric light that was visible for 24 miles.

Did you know that every lighthouse light has a different time sequence? Battery Point’s light when on every 26½ seconds and stayed on for 3½ seconds. By this pattern the ships know where they are.

As mentioned in last month’s article, Keith and I are back from our adventure of being the Lighthouse Keepers for July 2011, at the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City. It was a wonderful adventure. The lighthouse schedule varies from day to day because of tides. The hours of the lighthouse are from 10:00am to 4:00pm.  However, because of tides, some days we were open for one hour and other days up to five hours. We were surprised on how many people came through for a tour.  One day we had 165 visitors. We had visitors from all over the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Taiwan, and even Turkey. It was fun to share the history of the lighthouse with so many interested and interesting people. There was a wedding on the island while we were there and we hosted the winner of a raffle for a night’s stay at the lighthouse. When you visit at low tide, you actually walk across the bottom of the ocean and then climb a hill. When the tide is in, we were isolated for at least six hours, which was actually nice because the island felt like it was all ours.  

Yes, we found it was haunted with happy ghosts. In the book, “Lighthouse Ghosts, 13 Bona Fide Apparitions Standing Watch Over America’s Shores,” by Norma Elizabeth and Bruce Roberts, it has a whole chapter on Battery Point Lighthouse and yes, we had some ghost experiences; just ask us and we will tell you about them.

While we were there we had two pet seagulls; we understand they have been there for a while. We fed them morning and night and they ate out of our hands. If we were late they would come to the window and let us know they were waiting. On the last morning, they left a feather by the back door. We made sure the August Lighthouse Keepers would carry on feeding them.

I could go on and on about the sunrises and sunsets, the sounds of the ocean and the birds, and the lovely cool sunny weather. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. They have invited us back and I will be looking forward to returning to this lovely island with the Cape Cod Lighthouse with its happy ghosts!  

As you read this, Keith and I have just completed a unique experience in Crescent City, being the lighthouse keepers for the month of July at the Battery Point Lighthouse.

Battery Point Lighthouse was built in 1856 and was one of the first seven lighthouses built in California. She was built using a Cape Cod style of architecture, a single tower rises from the center of the house. Having the tower in the middle of the lighthouse home meant during bad storms the keeper could tend to the light without going outside.

The first light was lit on December 10, 1856. Today the lighthouse is a museum with many original artifacts to give you a rare glimpse of what it was like to be a lighthouse keeper many years ago.

The walls of the house are 24 inches thick, so during a bad storm the sound of the waves or wind are not usually heard. Keith and I lived in the house for the whole month of July.  I will give historical tours and Keith is going to run the gift shop and, of course, we have to make sure the light is on at all times.

This lighthouse is visited by thousands of people annually.  You can only get to the lighthouse at low tide; otherwise it is surrounded by water, so you have to check the tides prior to coming. You are able to climb the spiral staircase to the tower room and see the Drumm lens and perhaps even  hear stories of reported ghosts of the house. 

I have kept a daily journal and tried to keep track of all the people we met from all parts of the world. I will report this in my September Historian’s Notes article.       

As you read this, Keith and I are in Crescent City being the lighthouse keepers for the month of July, at the Battery Point Lighthouse.

Battery Point Lighthouse was built in 1856 and was one of the first seven lighthouses built in California. She was built using a Cape Cod style of architecture; a single tower rises from the center of the house. Having the tower in the middle of the lighthouse home meant during bad storms the keeper could tend to the light without going outside.

The first light was lit on December 10, 1856. Today the lighthouse is a museum with many original artifacts to give you a rare glimpse of what it was like to be a lighthouse keeper.

The walls of the house are 24 inches thick, so during a bad storm the sound of the waves or wind are not usually heard. Keith and I will live in the house for the whole month of July. I will give historical tours and Keith is going to run the gift shop and, of course, we have to make sure the light is on at all times.

If you are around Crescent City in July, come by and I will give you a tour. You can only get to the lighthouse at low tide; otherwise it is surrounded by water, so check the tides. You will be able to climb the spiral staircase to the tower room and see the Drumm lens and I will even tell you about the reported ghosts of the house.  

I plan to keep a daily journal and keep track of all the people we meet from all parts of the world. I will report this in my September historical article; I will not write for the August newsletter because of being on the island.  

At our May meeting, I showed a picture that Ken and Sandy Williams donated to our museum.

I want to thank them for taking the time to buy the picture at a flea market in Aptos, then framing it so it is ready to hang.

The picture is of the San Francisco Bay Bridge being built in 1936. In the background if you look carefully, you can see several ferries in their berths at the ferry building. It is a wonderful photo of the Bay Bridge being built and underneath the bridge, the Ferryboat “FRESNO” is making its way across the Bay.

When I looked up the FRESNO, I found it was built in 1927 at the Bethlehem Steel Company Union Yard in San Francisco. It was operated by Southern Pacific and Southern Pacific-Golden Gate Ferries, Ltd. It had four diesel engines and two electric motors. She was sent to Puget Sound, remodeled and renamed WILLAPA, after 1937. She was on the Seattle Bremerton run.  

This month I would like to write about someone who has had a great history at Sportsmen Yacht Club. That person is Tom MacLean.

Recently we attended Tom’s funeral. What a special man. Tom and Ismini joined the club in 1975 and we have been friends since 1980. Tom had many talents and I learned there were many more. Because Tom was modest and humble, many of us didn’t know just how talented he was.

I learned that he was an accomplished artist and even had several cartoons published. He wrote a book about his experiences in the Korean War.  When he sent it to several publishers, they wanted him to edit it and he said, “No, because this was the way it was.”  

Tom had a great sense of humor.  He said, “People jog, I power shuffle.” Tom and Ismini came on our boat several times and I remember one time we were all sitting in the back and he came through the doors singing “Oklahoma,” which was very good.  Later when we decided to do a play at the Club, I knew who would be the singing, dancing priest. He was great!

He was our Club Secretary for years and mailed our newsletters until just recently; but the thing I remember most is when he and Ismini were Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. They did this until the early 2000’s when he was no longer able to do it.  For all of our children, he was the real Santa!  

I have just touched on the surface of Tom’s life; he was a loving husband and father, teacher, and a friend to everyone.  In a lifetime, there are few people you can say you are a better person because you knew them. That was Tom; he will be missed, but not forgotten.

Did you know there was a “Caruso of the ferries”? He was a young deckhand with an operatic voice on the Southern Pacific ferries who delighted the passengers with selections from the favorite scores while helping with the mooring lines when the boat docked.

There was also a man with one arm and was deaf that carried envelopes of lavender. On each envelope there was an explanation that this was his only means of support. When the ferry got under way, he would go into top deck saloon and drop an envelope into each persons lap, then he doubled back after the passengers had time to read the message and either collect money offered or the packet itself, if the passenger didn’t want to purchase it. Then he would repeat this on the other side of the saloon and then both sides of the main deck.

The record of the ferries is impressive, in the height of Bay travel, over 50 ferries on various routes, sometimes all traveling at the same time, each carefully missing each other. Most near collisions were fortunately avoided by skillful navigation, making the ferries a popular mode of travel.  

This bit of history was written in the Berkeley Daily Gazette in 1900.

It was a fine afternoon when the Ferry San Rafael left the Sausalito dock. The San Rafael still provided a lovely ride, even though the boat was 23 years old. Some passengers thought only about getting over to the other side of the Bay; some, with their elbows resting on the rails, took in the view. No one on board thought it would be a memorable trip.

However, on this particular day passengers got more then their money’s worth. The details were reported the next day in the Gazette.

“Yesterday afternoon the Ferry San Rafael ran into a whale. After leaving Sausalito at one o’clock, the form of a whale rose above the surface of the water dead ahead and the ferryboat bumped against it with considerable force. The keel of the vessel slid over the whale, which had apparently been pressed down by the weight and a moment later it arose at the stern of the boat. Blowing up a column of water, the monster disappeared. Everybody on board the San Rafael felt the shock and the engineer and firemen rushed on deck to learn the cause.”  

Keith and I spent New Years Eve in Victoria B.C. to celebrate a significant anniversary. The reason I mention it is because of the ferry ride from Swartz Bay Washington to Tsawwassen B.C.

It was advertised as, “On board you can enjoy a wide range of services, including snacks, an entire meal, shopping, entertainment, plus comfortable seating with scenic views.” It sounded just like advertisements from the days of the San Francisco Ferries from 1894-1931 and many more years.

We had flown to Seattle then boarded a bus. The bus drove right on the ferry with many cars that had been waiting in line for hours. When many of us were children we rode the car ferries and it felt very familiar as we parked and walked between the buses and cars then up the stairs to find a good place to sit. 

Of course the grandeur of the past ferries is not quit there, but the excitement of taking off and sitting by a window and watching the water is still wonderful. We would recommend it to everyone.