Avila Beach ~ The South County Historical Society Welcomes You

Avila Beach sits seven miles north of Pismo Beach, seven miles south of San Luis Obispo, and half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Driving a few miles west of Highway 101 along shady, tree-lined roads that lead to the Pacific Ocean, Avila Beach and a bay with three piers come into view. A privately owned pier between Avila Pier and San Luis Wharf is gated, while the other two wooden piers are open to the public and offer beautiful views, restaurants and a working fish market.

Last year the Avila Boardwalk got a facelift. There are new concrete benches and walkways containing nautical art and themes. Cement starfish cling to benches, much as the real ones can be seen while standing on the lower stairs landing of the pier, overlooking pilings beneath the planked walkway.

Tucked away behind apple orchards, hot springs and tree filled mountains, Avila is a gem on the Central Coast.

My Memories of Avila and the Lighthouse

By Jens Wagner as told to Jane Line

I was born in San Francisco in 1932 of immigrant parents. My

father, Jens Otto Wagner, was born near Hamburg, Germany. He

met my mother Phyllis in Wellington, New Zealand, and they

immigrated to the United States in 1931. My father was a sailor.

He began sailing as a youngster, eventually achieving the position

of Chief Marine Engineer.

In 1936, at my mother’s request, my father stopped sailing as a

marine engineer for various steamship lines and took a job with

the U. S. Department of the Interior in the Lighthouse Service.

His first post was St. George’s Reef off the Pacific coast near

Crescent City, California. This particular lighthouse was often

referred to as “The Widowmaker” due to its rugged location.

In 1937, my parents, now with two young sons, left St. George’s

Reef bound for duty in San Luis Obispo County at the Lighthouse

Station in Avila Beach, California. We traveled down the coast by

bus, arriving in time to meet our furniture which had been shipped

by sea. To our surprise, we found that we would be joining two

other families, the Morehouses and the Lewises, already in

residence. Together there were six children calling this lighthouse

station home. We lived there for approximately two years.

The Avila Lighthouse Station compound consisted of three

buildings, a cistern, and a white-washed henhouse. The main

building with its tower was the Morehouse residence and is still

there. The other building, a duplex, was home to the Wagner and

Lewis families. Built at the end of the 19th century in the

Crafstman style, our part of the two-story duplex had three

bedrooms on the upper floor and living quarters below. In the

early 1940s, the Lighthouse Service was transferred to the U.S.

Coast Guard to consolidate surveillance and protection of the

Pacific coastline. In order to make room for more housing, our

home was pushed over the cliff and the Coast Guard built the

barracks which are there today. The third building is still there

and housed the foghorns.

Everything to do with a lighthouse needs to be kept functioning

properly at all times. Our fathers worked 8 hour shifts. This

provided the necessary 24-hour rotation required to carry out the

duties and responsibilities of operating and maintaining the fog

horns and the tower light. Diesel and steam power were available

for running the equipment which was all started manually. The

tower light was kept clean and lit all the time. The foghorns had

different sounds to identify our location for ships at sea. My

bedroom was about 100’ from the foghorn building and I learned

to sleep through just about anything! I don’t remember any

accidents or rescues while we were there and that original Fresnel

lense, I think, now belongs to the San Luis Obispo County

Historical Society.

Most of the families living in Avila at this time were fishing

families or families associated with Union Oil of California.

Names that I remember are the Martins, the St. Johns, and the

Gilmans. I also remember a native American Chumash who lived

like a hermit near the current PG&E gate. Though he was

reclusive, somehow my folks got to know him. He gave me a

present once - an old coffee grinder. It would be a nice treasure

today if I knew where it was!

The Wagners always walked everywhere unless we could catch a

ride on the old small gauge railroad. From the lighthouse, we

would walk down the side of the hill to approximately where Fat

Cat Restaurant is today, then follow the tracks into Avila. The

railroad tracks belonged to the Pacific Coast Railway and

Steamship Company built 1873. It was still the transportation of

that day. The Roundhouse was on Lower Higuera in SLO. From

there, traffic was diverted to the two rail routes, carrying

passengers and produce either from San Luis Obispo to Avila or

south through the Village of Arroyo Grande to Los Olivos. The

old PCR tracks, I believe, were ripped up during WWII to provide

steel for the war effort. Some of the rolling stock was still around

in the late 1940s and two of the passenger cars had been converted

to an ornithological museum.

There were three piers then, as now. The business district was

located in the area of the first pier where the Yacht Club is today;

the second pier belonged to Union Oil for loading and unloading

and the third pier is where the restaurant is now. The original first

pier was probably built by John Harford who had also built one in

the Spyglass area, but weather destroyed that one early on. The

Old Custom House, the Canet General Store, the Post Office, a

boarding house, and a bar or two were located near the first pier.

In those days, the Old Custom House was a sandwich shop and ice

cream cones were 5 cents! The Post Office was located in the

Avila Market. Alice Canet was the postmistress and

proprietress of the Market. From her, we used to get a

“billie” can - equivalent to one gallon - of fresh milk from

the Creamery in SLO. Fresh milk was a treat as our usual

milk was canned, evaporated milk. We also bought meat

at the Avila Market. And sometimes Dad would go out at

night with the commercial fishermen. If the catch was

good, he would come back the next morning with a couple

of big fish - salmon, albacore, sometimes halibut and cod.

Dad also had a garden on the lighthouse bluff. One year

he grew 900 head of cabbage which he took into town and

bartered for an old 1928 Model T coupe and 100 pound

sack of potatoes. We thought it was a great deal because

the Model T had a rumble seat and we got to eat a lot of

the potatoes! Dad planted the rest. There was good soil

up there on that bluff and I’ve heard there are wild

vegetables growing there today….perhaps remnants of my

Dad’s old garden. There may also be descendants of some of

Mother’s cats. Mother loved cats and at one point we had over 25!

We also had raccoons and skunks.

Avila was a close knit community although we had no church. We went

to St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Pismo or the Old Mission Church in

San Luis Obispo. Our first Christmas there, Dad made a Noah’s Ark

for me.

The lid lifted up so that the hand carved animals could be placed

inside.

“Noah” was a character cut from a coffee can

label of the day. It was all quite wonderful!

In 1938, I started first grade at the two-room Avila Schoolhouse about

two blocks up the hill from town and the beach. Mrs. Lawrence was my

teacher and taught the first four grades. Mrs. Ruda, our principal, taught

the upper grades. We usually had 25 - 30 children in school. If the

weather was inclement, sometimes my Dad would lower the

long boat into the water and we would navigate across the Bay to the

first pier.

In 1939 or 1940, when the U.S. Coast Guard took over the Lighthouse

Service, my father did not want to have a commission so we

moved to San Francisco. There he took a job with the War Department

as a stationary steam plant engineer on Angel Island…..

To be continued!

~~~~~~~~~~

Editor’s Note: The Avila Schoolhouse is still on its hill above town. However, now a part of the San Luis Coastal School District, it has been determined to be lacking in

historical value and is scheduled for demolition. The SLO Coastal School District plans to build townhouses on the property, reserving three for school teachers in the District.

There were two classrooms and two teachers. Curriculum included reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, music, art, drama, and physical education. Ours was a “hands-on” experience. A knowledge of math was important to be sure of credit in your savings book for your five cent deposit on Bank Day. History, geography, and art were utilized in constructing a paper mache map of California. Music and drama skills were important for “The Last Day of School” when all students took part in plays, skits, and singing. Everyone was invited. Following the program, refreshments were served and dancing until all hours was enjoyed by all. Beginning with second grade, all students helped lower classes. This resulted in “double dip: education and was very apparent when transferring to town schools. Avila students were ahead in all facets of education.

Discipline was important, but so was fun. What a thrill it was when the P.C. Railroad made its daily run and “the little room” students were allowed to go out on the front porch and wave to the train. Another big thrill was experienced when an occasional airplane flew over and the entire school had a recess to watch in awe this amazing feat of flying.

The opening of the school day was an inspiration. It began with the ringing of the bell high in the belfry atop the school. All students lined up quietly at the school entrance. When the teachers gave the signal, the Victrola was wound up and played a rousing (sometimes scratchy) march. Students marched to their room and stood at attention by their desks. Standing tall, (slouching was not tolerated), the salute to the flag was repeated by all. After singing “My Country Tis of Thee”, students were seated and classes began.

There were some “neat’ monitor assignments. Included among these were bell ringer, pledge leader, Victrola winder and player, and paste “passer outer.” The latter was most prized because the paste had a minty taste and the monitor could sneak samples.

Grade Card (now known as report card) Day was a ‘biggie.” The most important grade and the one parents read first was deportment. Being a little slow in academics was acceptable, but ‘sassing the teacher” was totally unacceptable. “Be nice” was a daily reminder from all parents.

There was a neighboring one room school at Port. When it closed in the twenties, those students transferred to the big school at Avila.

At one time there were three grocer stores in Avila. These included Freitas, Bennets, and Canets. Seldom did anyone pay cash. Most people charged and paid when they could. Upon payment of the bill, the owners awarded the customers with a bag of chocolates.

A supermarket (Piggly Wiggly) opened with much hoopla in town. A few brave souls tried it out, but it was strictly “No Sale”. Reasons for this were having to pay cash and no chocolate awards.

There were two barber shops. Mr. Lopez set up shop in his living room. “The Barbar” had a real shop, wore a white coat and even had a barber pole.

The town was blessed with two piano teachers. Miss Levere taught classical (she even had a metronome) and Frank Abbott taught jazz. Both charged the same fee. It was twenty-five cents for a half hour lesson.

“The Watkins Man” was a source of medical supplies. He carried many patent medicines. Included were syrup of figs and brown salve (said to be good for what ails you). He also sold spices and extracts. His vanilla was claimed by some ‘boozers” to have more alcohol content than canned heat. No matter how small the purchase, he gave each child in the family a stick of gum. Everyone looked forward to his calls.

For a time “picture shows” were shown on Friday nights. The theater was an abandoned building. Seating was folding chairs and benches. One of the benches was super sturdy and reserved for a large lady known as “Fat Marie’. These silent movies were very noisy as all those who could read generously repeated the captions aloud. The biggest noise, however, came when the reels broke (often) and everyone hissed and stamped their feet.

There were occasional small oil spills in the bay. These were not considered a ‘big deal’. Union Oil Company provided free solvent to clean feet and business went on as usual.

Avila did experience a really big spill during prohibition. This was a ‘drop off’ port for rum runner boats delivering alcohol from

Canada

. One night the men overloaded the truck and it fell through the pier into the ocean. No attempt was made by them to save their cargo. They were out to sea in minutes. The next morning the bay was afloat with shiny large cans. The salvage operation was begun immediately. When the sheriff arrived, he deputized all able-bodied men to capture the evidence. (It was like a booze posse). Some of the evidence did get to the sheriff, but no one knew what happened to it after that.

During the depression, many people were very poor. When the diet of fish and beans became unbearable, there were some ”midnight trades.” A chicken would disappear from someone’s coop, but the best fish of the catch would be found (wrapped in newspaper) on the chicken owner’s porch the next morning. One large family had the opportunity to help thresh a bean crop. Their pay was a hundred pounds of beans. They shared with all their neighbors. This was a usual practice in Avila.

Transportation was varied. The P.C. train added one passenger car to the daily freight run. For ten cents one could ride to town. Pickwick Stages (forerunner of Greyhound) briefly offered service, but had to discontinue due to lack of passengers. The Holden family went to town every Saturday to attend church and generously offered free rides to all. There was also “covert” transportation. This consisted of “borrowing” a P.C. handcar for wild rides to Port and the Hot Springs.

Avila even had a baseball team (the Avilaites). The field was on “the flats.” They played neighbor teams. There was great enthusiasm but little money. Expenses were paid by small donations from the spectators.

The campground was also located on “the flats.” For a small fee, campers could rent a space for a tent. A two-burner gas plate was included. Most campers brought most of their food with them so did not add much to the local economy. The locals claimed that the campers arrived with a five dollar bill and a clean shirt and never changed either.

There was weekly Avila news in the San Luis Telegram. Mrs. Van Harreveld was the local correspondent. What a thrill it was to see one’s name in print.

The county provided a branch library. It was housed in the Jensen living room. Mrs. Jensen was the librarian. Knowing the interests of all readers, she selected books with individuals in mind. Everyone looked forward to Library Day.

Mrs. Holden was an excellent photographer. She shared her skills with all the children. With great expectations and awe, they watched as the film developed. This was truly a magic moment.

A much admired party boat skipper was “Peg Leg.” He could row a skiff in heavy seas while standing up and never miss a stroke. To watch him scale a ladder on the pier was never to be forgotten.

Jack Gwinn was the local “Burl Ives.” He played guitar and sang fold songs. Story telling was another talent he possessed. No one could forget “Old Jack.”

Avila had an ecumenical Sunday school before the pope even thought of it. Included among the participants were Catholics, Jewish, Buddhist, Methodist, Baptist, and Seventh Day Adventists. Attendance always picked up before the annual Sunday School Picnic. This activity was always held at the Hot Springs Picnic Ground. Due to a lack of transportation, most people walked to the site. A favorite route was walking the railroad tracks. Contests were held to see who could walk on the tracks longest without stepping on a tie. (This included crossing the bridge over the creek.) Everyone (even the teachers) took part in three-legged and sack races. Before lunch, everyone would sing a rousing rendition of “Onward Christian Soldiers.” (This was the difference between a Sunday School picnic and an ordinary picnic.) It was a grand outing for all.

The people of Avila had “heart.” Occasionally someone would die and there was no money for a proper burial. At this time everyone pitched in by taking part in “passing the hat.” Nickels, dimes, quarters, and occasional dollars were collected to pay for a funeral service. Flowers were gathered from home gardens to be placed at the gravesite. Everyone who possibly could, attended to pay their last respects.

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