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| Harbor Defense Way, Port Townsend, WA 98368, USA (Port Townsend, Washington)
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Point Wilson Lighthouse
Located on Point Wilson on the grounds of Fort Worden State Park in Washington, this lighthouse has witnessed tragedy in its over-a-century of service, as well as more than a few ghost tales. The light first shown on December 15, 1879, though the original light tower was first built on the existing lightkeeper's house, raising 46-feet high. However, the high tide and stormy conditions in the area began to erode the beach, threatening the structure. To patch this, the officials built a rock wall to reinforce the area and protect the tower from rising tides.
The decision was made to build a new tower in 1913 and strip the tower from the existing lightkeeper's house. The house was moved to its current location and the new 49-foot tower was erected in its place. The octagon-shape of the new tower was designed to reduce the wind pressure on the structure. The light was manned and the keepers continued to live in the house nearby until November 1976 when the light was automated. Like most lighthouses on the west coast, the light went dark in the midst of World War II in order to protect Fort Worden. While the light has been used for years for mariners to navigate safely, it could do little to save the S.S. Governor.
The Wreck of the S.S. Governor
The water just off Point Wilson was the scene of a tragic shipwreck on April 1, 1921. The S.S. Governor was transporting 240 passengers and crew from San Francisco, California to Seattle, Washington. After a brief stop to let off some of the passengers at Victoria, British Columbia, the ship made its way towards Puget Sound. As the ship rounded Point Wilson, it suddenly was rammed at the center of its starboard side by the freighter, the S.S. West Hartland. The night was reportedly clear and the pilot of the Governor reportedly mistook the running lights of the West Hartland for the fixed lights of Marrowstone Point.
Rescue efforts were underway immediately. Point Wilson Lighthouse keeper, William J. Thomas, had heard the warning whistles from the ships and the deafening roar of impact and immediately called in the authorities from nearby Port Townsend. The West Hartland had ripped a 10-foot gash into the Governor and the captain of the West Hartland immediately issued the orders to set the engines at full steam ahead in order to keep the hole plugged the best they could. As power flickered out on the Governor, the passengers and crew quickly climbed over to the S.S. West Hartland and to safety. Not all made it.
At the time of impact, Harry and Lucy Washbourne and their two daughters had the misfortune of being asleep in the cabin on the S.S. Governor, which was at the sight of the impact. The bow of the West Hartland sliced through the room and separated the parents from the children, who were sleeping in bunks directly across from them. Harry Washbourne was severely injured, but Lucy was able to make it out of the cabin to seek help. The crew was able to free Harry as the water rushed in the room, but the two girls were essentially trapped with no way to free them. The crew had no choice but to leave them to go down with the ship and the hysterical mother had to forcefully be removed to topside. However, as her husband was being passed to safety, Lucy broke free from her rescuers and ran back into the bowels of the sinking ship. She was never seen again.
The S.S. Governor sank in a matter of 20 minutes just off of Point Wilson and now rests upright at a depth of around 240 feet of water. Due to the quick rescue efforts, only eight lives were lost in the accident.
The Haunting
The ghost stories of Point Wilson Lighthouse tie directly into the tragic wreck of the S.S. Governor. According to the tales, a Coast Guard watchman reported seeing the glowing apparition of a woman in a gown wandering aimlessly around the grounds outside the lighthouse, before suddenly passing through the locked door at the tower and going up into the structure itself. Many have speculated that the figure was the ghost of Lucy Washbourne, who is still looking for her two daughters that went down with the S.S. Governor.
The lightkeeper's house seems to be the focus of most of the paranormal activity however. Though currently unoccupied, it served as the residence for Coast Guard members and their families for years. Most of the experiences recorded concerned the sounds of someone walking or moving furniture on the second floor and even rummaging through the cupboards. In the latter case, when the occupants went to investigate, they found items had been removed from the cupboards and were sitting on the floor. Other experiences noted were of seeing motion out of the corner of the eye, only for no one to be there when turned to look, and the sense of a presence in the house, though it reportedly was not menacing.
Oddly, the activity seemed to happen to only the women that stayed in the house. The men that lived there never reported anything strange ever happening to them... with one exception. A male guest to the house was sleeping on a couch when he was awoken with the sensation of being smothered. When he sat up, gasping for breath, he made out the figure of a woman standing in the kitchen, but she had vanished by the time he got up to investigate.
The Lighthouse Today
Coast Guard personnel continued to live in the keeper's quarters until 2000 and plans were underway to transfer ownership of the facilities over to the State of Washington to make it part of Fort Worden State Park. However, recent storms have caused extensive wind damage and the basement of the lightkeeper's house has been flooded at times by pummeling waves. The transfer is on hold until a more permanent solution can be reached. The current solution is to ultimately move the structures, but the cost has been estimated as high as four million to perform the work. In the meantime, tourists to Fort Worden State Park can only visit the grounds of the lighthouse. |
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| Related Sites |
Haunted Lighthouses
A site dedicated to the stories of haunted lighthouses throughout the United States and Canada. |
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| Similar Destinations |
| Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY |
| R.M.S. Rhone |
| Lake Erie |
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| See Also on TheCabinet.com |
| Blog: The Stories of the Point Wilson Lighthouse (12/15/08) |
| Blog: Tragedy on the S.S. Governor (04/01/09) |
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| Available from Amazon.com |
Ghost Stories from the Pacific Northwest (American Storytelling) |
Lighthouses of the Pacific |
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