CLALLAM BAY — A travel article in the Oct. 7, 1928, Seattle Post-Intelligencer said Clallam Bay “furnishes an interesting spot for motorists” and its Slip Point Lighthouse the highlight of a trip in a LaSalle sedan on “excellent gravel roads” out of Port Angeles.
The lighthouse is now gone (and the roads are now paved), but a group in Clallam Bay is working toward saving the 1905 keeper’s house that is still standing and preserve a slice of local history it believes could be a centerpiece of a revitalized town.
Susan Heiny and her daughter Sarah Winter Grafstrom of the Clallam Bay Slip Point Lighthouse Keepers imagine the keeper’s house as many things: a museum, a visitor center, a tourist attraction and a reason for people to stop in Clallam Bay rather than driving past it to reach the Hoh Rain Forest or Cape Flattery.
It could be a place for community events, weddings or a destination for school groups.
“This will help save our town,” Winter Grafstrom said. “There’s a huge history here, and it’s the only historical building in our community.”
The placement of the keeper’s house on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023, they say, is an official testament to its worthiness for preservation.
The group faces a number of challenges.
First, the U.S. Coast Guard, which owns the property, must transfer ownership of Slip Point to Clallam County for use as a public park — something the county has been waiting for since U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, sponsored the legislation in 2001.
“There’s plenty of need for beach access, and that’s where the Slip Point property would really be this gem,” Clallam County Commissioner Mike French said.
The building itself is in very poor condition.
“It’s an old building with lots of issues, and it looks pretty sad on the outside,” Heiny said. “But inside it has beautiful original wood floors and banisters.”
According to a September 2024 summary report of the exterior of the keeper’s house by Dimensional Building Consultants, the building needs significant work, much of it related to its exposure to maritime weather conditions. Its roof and decks need to be replaced, and the wood siding, trim and window frames are all in poor condition.
When part of the roof was torn off in a storm last year, they called a local carpenter, the late Paul Petersen, who repaired it for a reduced fee.
“The first grants and donations we’re going to look for are for the roof,” Winter said. “We know the county doesn’t have funding.”
No formal discussions have been held regarding who would pay for preservation, maintenance and other costs associated with the keeper’s house.
French said public agencies have a fiduciary duty to understand what they are getting into with old buildings that need expensive renovation.
“But we have this community group, and so I’m really optimistic that we’ll figure it out,” he said.
In the meantime, the county continues to wait on the Coast Guard, which must complete a hazardous materials remediation of the site that involves removing 6 feet of soil from around the perimeter of the keeper’s house to a depth of 6 inches.
In its 2026 budget overview, the Coast Guard estimated the cost at $824,000.
“The rules are very clear that no one else can pay for that work to be done, it has to be the Coast Guard,” said Don Crawford, the county’s parks, fair and facilities manager. “The big hurdle is the money.”
In a statement, Sen. Patty Murray’s office said it has “had multiple conversations with Clallam County and local advocates about the transfer of the Slip Point Lighthouse property. Sen. Murray is working to secure funding for the remediation work that will help make it a reality.”
The holdup has stymied progress, but it hasn’t stopped the Slip Point Lighthouse Keepers from moving forward.
It registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit last year. It received a $5,000 grant from the the Local Rural Leadership Initiative, and it was awarded $10,000 from the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee to promote the keeper’s house.
The group is focusing on what it can do now to generate interest in Slip Point, like building a website. It’s initiating plans for projects like a trail through the woods to the location of the former lighthouse with markers displaying historical information.
Getting people mobilized and working together to save the keeper’s house and make Clallam Bay a destination once more has been exciting, Winter Grafstrom said.
“I didn’t realize I loved this community so much,” she said. “I’m starting to learn how great it is.”
Slip Point Lighthouse Keepers can be reached by email at Slippointlighthousekeepers@gmail.com.
Donations can be mailed to Slip Point Lighthouse Keepers, P.O. Box 43, Clallam Bay, WA 98326.
It also has a Clallam Bay Slip Point Lighthouse Keepers Facebook page.
Lighthouse background
In 1900, Congress appropriated $12,500 for a lighthouse and fog signal at Slip Point. Surveying began in January 1901, but construction was delayed when private property owners didn’t to sell their land at the government’s price.
It was needed, a sea captain told the Port Angeles Olympic-Tribune in 1902, because the treacherous 100-mile coastline to Puget Sound had only three lighthouses.
“The desolate condition of the strait as regards lighthouses is a disgrace to civilization,” he said.
After work finally got underway, it was completed in 1904 and lighted on April 1, 1905.
A light tower was added in 1916. The U.S. Coast Guard took over its operation in 1939 when it merged the United States Lighthouse Service.
It decommissioned Slip Point Lighthouse in 1951 and replaced it with a tower outfitted with a beacon and fog signal.
The original lighthouse was dismantled shortly afterward, and the catwalk that led out to it was removed about 25 years ago.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Slip Point lighthouse was dismantled in the 1950s. The keeper’s house has been unoccupied for decades. The property is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
