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Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Gray Lady of Heceta Head Lighthouse - Florence, Oregon

Heceta Head Lighthouse is located between Florence and Yachats, Oregon. The lighthouse was constructed in 1894 shortly after white settlers moved into the area, named after Bruno de Heceta who explored the area in the late 1700's. It is believed that at some point, a woman lost her daughter at that location, possibly falling from the cliffs.  Some say that the child's grave is there on the lighthouse grounds somewhere.  This woman is known as Rue and she was very broken hearted over the loss of her baby girl, supposedly an infant. It is uncertain whether or not the woman eventually succumbed to grief and took her own life.


Heceta Head Lighthouse


To this day Rue has never really left the premises. It is unknown when the woman died, however since 1950 there have been many accounts of lighthouse keepers telling tales of screams and wailing heard in the night in the upstairs area, things being moved around the keeper's house, and things gone missing that suddenly reappear out of nowhere.  Rue has actually shown herself on occasion however.  She has appeared in various areas of the keeper's house and the light house itself.  She is described as having silver hair and wearing a gray dress.  The is sometimes referred to as "The Gray Lady".  



A man was once cleaning the one of the windows in the attic.  He glanced in the window and saw reflection of the gray lady.  As he turned he saw her floating above the attic floor.  Terrified he scrambled to run to get out and broke the window in the process.  He vowed never to return again.  The next day someone went into the attic to clean up the broken glass and it was all swept up into a neat pile.



 Oregon Coast on Dwellable




3 comments:

  1. wow i know for FACT! that the ghost is real which is very creepy

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  2. I grew up in Florence, but never paid much attention to the stories of the Lighthouse. I guess one either gets use to stories or ignores them. I moved to the valley from Florence when I was in my early 20's. However, many of my family members still lived in Florence and it was nice to spend weekends with them when possible. At least twenty years after leaving Florence, my present husband who had lived in there in his teens for a few years, shared the same love I had for the beach and what we both will always consider "home." One night, we decided to drive to the lookout point near Driftwood Shores Hotel. Unfortunately, the lookout points I remembered as a child, were now overgrown with brush and trees. We decided to drive down to the North Jetty with hopes of being able to enjoy the sound of the ocean waves and with some luck, be able to see the ocean. We were the only ones in the lot and of course being November, there was the typical mist and fog. This didn't bother us since we were so excited to have the time to enjoy our new found relationship and have some time alone. It was around 10:30 p.m. and we had been talking for over twenty minutes when my husband said, "What in the heck is that?" I looked out and could see what appeared to be a woman walking toward us carrying a baby in her arms. My immediate thoughts were, why was she alone at night carrying a baby and why was she walking from the beach when there were no cars in the parking lot. She seemed to almost glide toward the car in a matter of seconds. My amazement turned to alarm as she was now very close to the drivers side of the car. I was now yelling at my husband to "go, go, go." I flattened myself as far in the seat as possible and my husband turned on the car. As he did so, I saw her pass by his window. She was wearing what looked to be an old fashion dress, shawl and some type of hood. I knew being a mother, that she was cradling a baby, but couldn't see it. I didn't want to see any of this. It was a blur after this. My husband backed up and did a complete 360 with the lights on bright. She was gone. We didn't say one word to each other until we reached the main road leading to the highway. Even then, we were so stunned or shocked I suppose, the urgency to get to my family's home was necessary. I have always thought spirits could be possible, but my husband was not a believer. It was not until we got in bed that night, when we were finally able to talk about it and did so for many hours. How did this woman walk from an empty beach in November when it is so cold, and make such fast time to our car? Where did she come from? Where did she go? My husband said that when he drove the car out of the huge lot, she was gone. Unless she was a marathon runner, it would have been impossible for her to have simply "disappeared" that quickly. The clothes she wore, such a late hour on a cold November night, and carrying what appeared to be in her arms? Nothing made sense. It still doesn't. It has been over ten years since this happened and neither one of us have talked about it to many people. I know what I saw. My husband knows what he saw. We both know the sequence of events, just don't add up. I still visit Florence and miss my hometown, but have never gone back to the North Jetty. We saw a ghost! For me, it was my first time, and I plan on it being my last.

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    Replies
    1. An amazing story told with chilling detail! Thanks for relating it so clearly.

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