Staying in a haunted house isn't for everyone, even if the ghost that lives there is friendly. However, there are a lot of people that seek out historical sites for their next vacation stay, ghost or no ghost. Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of those stunningly beautiful, historic spots along the Oregon coast that draws visitors year round. It's such a nice spot that one spectral presence has taken up permanent residence, and can be seen from time to time moving through the old lighthouse keeper's cottage rooms.

Isolation And Hardship In The Early Days Of Heceta Head Lighthouse

The lighthouse at Heceta Head along central Oregon's coastline has a long and interesting history of lighthouse keepers and their families living in seclusion. In the lighthouse's early days, there were no easy roads connecting the lighthouse to civilization. It was a long, hard journey to get to Heceta Head. In 1894, the first ever head light keeper at Heceta Head (Andrew Hald), had to walk twenty four miles down the beach to get to his destination. While there was a seven mile wagon trail south to Florence that had been built two years earlier, Florence was still a small frontier settlement at the time. That meant that lighthouse keepers and their families were isolated and had to rely on their own ingenuity and on each other in times of need.

While there were several families stationed at the lighthouse at once, it's this very isolation that caused the death of lighthouse keeper Hald's infant daughter, who couldn't get medical attention in time to save her, though records don't state what she died from.

The area was so isolated in fact that when a boy fell down an 80 foot cliff in 1927, it was quicker for lighthouse keepers to trek the two miles to the cliffs and try to save the boy themselves then to send for help. After climbing down an eight to twelve inch wide trail, they lowered a rope down to the boy, climbed down and set his broken leg, lashed him to a board and hauled him back up the cliff. After his rescue, he was sent by train to a hospital to be tended to.

A lot of men, women and children came and went from Heceta Head in it's early years, living in harsh conditions as the men tended to the lighthouse. While there are detailed records of the lighthouse and living quarters and the work that was done to keep them in top shape, including repairs, there is a lack of detailed records about the names of every woman and child that lived there.

Given how little was documented about the families who lived at Heceta Head, it’s no surprise that the origins of its most famous ghostly presence (known only as "Rue,") remain a mystery. Her story has no paper trail, no confirmed past, and yet her presence is one of the most enduring stories tied to the keeper’s house.

The House Keeper's House Has One Last Keeper, And Her Name Is Rue

While there's one documented death at Heceta Head (head light keeper Hald's infant daughter), there are rumors of another death: a girl that drowned. Stories of how she drowned vary, but say that she was the daughter of an assistant light keeper in the 1890's. She could have drowned in a cistern or the ocean.

While the details are murky and the records incomplete (documents don't confirm that there ever was a drowning or other deaths there), many believe that the story didn’t end with the girl’s death. Over the years, reports of a lingering presence in the keeper’s house began to surface: reports of an aged, silver haired woman wearing a long, dark, Victorian dress.

Ever since the 1950's, people who have lived or worked at the remaining light keeper's cottage have reported unexplainable things, ghost sightings, and a ghostly presence, leading the light keeper's cottage to be called one of the ten most haunted houses in the U.S.

One family, the Tammens, who moved into the light keeper's cottage in the 70's, began hearing strange noises, but tried their best to attribute the noises to high winds, squeaky old floors, and wind whistling down the chimney. Then one night as they held a card party at the house, the Tammens and their guests stilled as they heard an unexplainable high pitched scream.

Cupboard doors that they were certain were shut at night before bed would be found wide open in the morning. People sitting on the porch once saw a long and flowing puff of smoke with no source ascend the front porch steps.

Perhaps a logical thinker could come up with an explanation for both of those instances instead of believing them to be the work of a ghost, but one startling incident cemented into place the belief that the light keeper's cottage is in fact haunted.

The Spectral Reflection In The Attic Window

In 1975, workmen were hired to do repairs around the lone lightkeeper's cottage that remained standing after 81 years of occupation by various lightkeeper's families and others. The workmen started to notice that tools would go missing, but reappear in the same spot they had disappeared from the next day. They also found padlocks that had mysteriously been opened. Again, they tried to explain away these odd occurrences, that is, until one workman came face to face with a ghost in the attic.

Jim Anderson was in the attic cleaning a window when he became aware of a strange reflection in the glass that wasn't his own. When he turned around to see what was making the reflection, he was face to face with the ghost of an old woman in an 1890's style dress. Her face was wrinkled and she scared him so much that he left the worksite and refused to come back to complete the job. Anderson's sighting even made the front page of The Siuslaw News, with the headline, "Lady of the Lighthouse Baffles Workmen."

Finally, after several days, Anderson returned to the lightkeeper's cottage at the Heceta Head Lighthouse to finish work, but refused to enter the attic again. Instead, he worked on the outside of the house, and while doing so, accidentally broke the attic window. His encounter with the old ghost still fresh on his mind, he fixed the window from the outside, but left the broken glass inside on the attic floor. Later that night, the Tammens family woke up to a scraping noise coming from the attic. They reported that it sounded like glass being swept across the floor. They had not yet heard about the window that Anderson broke, though they later found out about it. The next morning they went up to the attic and found the broken glass swept into a little pile. This incident finally scared away the rest of the workmen.

Who Is The Ghost At Heceta Head Lighthouse?

Today, the lightkeeper's cottage serves as a bed and breakfast, but at one point it was a satellite campus for Lane Community College (LCC). During that time a group of LCC students decided to pull out a Ouija board and ask questions, trying to determine the name of the ghost and what she was doing there. R-U-E were the letters that were spelled out on the board. From that point on, the ghost that Anderson saw in the attic became known as Rue.

There's a lot of speculation about who Rue is and why she's there. Some claim that Rue is the mysterious drowned child. Olaf Hanen, who worked at the Heceta Head lighthouse off and on from 1896-1920 had several daughters who reported that there is a grave on site somewhere between the cottage and the lighthouse that marks the final resting place of a baby girl. Some point to this grave as the reason for Rue's presence. They say Rue is the mother of this child, and they believe the buried child is the one who drowned. Stories say Rue roams the halls of the cottage looking for her daughter.

Again, there are no records of a child that drowned. There are records however of the death of keeper Hald's infant daughter, so perhaps Rue is keeper Hald's wife, unwilling to leave her child, buried at the lighthouse, behind.

Facts I could find versus speculation: Stories about Rue say that she had two daughters, and that one drowned, and also that she was the wife of an assistant light keeper. Hald was a head light keeper, and I could not find records that he had two daughters. It's unclear where the rumors come from about Rue being the wife of an assistant light keeper, or about her having had two daughters, one having drowned. With so many families having lived and worked at the lighthouse, it's possible that there were other undocumented deaths there.

Staying At The Haunted Heceta Head Bed And Breakfast

The sightings of Rue didn't end in the seventies. Guests and staff at the bed and breakfast still report encounters with Rue today. One woman reported that she woke up early in the morning and felt a 'presence' climb into the bed with her. The presence stayed for a while before leaving again. She didn't feel that the presence was malicious.

A man saw a gray figure float across the hallway. One of the caretakers of the bed and breakfast reported frequently feeling a presence while working, including seeing depressions in freshly made beds, as if someone invisible had taken a seat. Like the workmen in 1975, staff and guest often report that items have been moved or rearranged in rooms, or that they go missing but are later returned. Whoever she is, Rue is often described as a friendly ghost, not a malicious presence, making her a gentle, but always present spirit that has taken up permanent residence at the lightkeeper's cottage.

Today, the lightkeeper's cottage at Heceta Head is one of the last remaining ones on the Pacific coast. Guests enjoy the cozy rooms, the handcrafted wooden staircase, stunning coastal vistas, and the seven course breakfast each morning. Some even enjoy their encounters with Rue, and book their stay just so they can say hello.

Heceta Head Bed And Breakfast Information

• Location: 92072 Hwy 101 South, in Yachats, Oregon
• Nearby things to do:
  • To the north: Hobbit Beach
  • To the north: Thor's Well
  • To the south: Sea Lion Caves
  • To the south: Florence - Seafood, salt water taffy, art galleries, dune buggy rides, and more.
• Book your stay and get more information about the bed and breakfast here.

For an interesting comprehensive history of Heceta House and Heceta Head Lighthouse, I highly recommend this free NPS History publication, and this article by Lighthouse Friends.

How do you pronounce Heceta? It's pronounced 'Ha-see-tah,' though some prefer to say 'heck-ah-tah.'