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The Tanglewood Lighthouse, on Tanglewood Island, near Fox Island, in Washington State, was part of the larger dream of Dr. Dick Schultz, who is shown here on April 13, 1947 on the outer stairway of the lighthouse, admiring the completed structure that had been built under the supervision of Ed Erickson, who is shown standing on the top of the stairs.
The lighthouse was built to serve as Dr. Schultz’s office, an infirmary, and the residence-office of the director of the 18-acre Ta-Ha-Do-Wa Camp for Boys that Dr. Schultz had built. The name stood for “Welcome Back to Pleasant Surroundings.”
The camp, 14 miles from Tacoma, had a large round pavilion on land that was adjacent to the lighthouse. The pavilion was the showcase of the camp, and it contained a dining area, play and meeting rooms, and showers. A salt water pool was adjacent to the pavilion and the temperature was kept at a steady 65 degrees. Activities at the camp included canoeing (Dr. Schultz’s favorite activity), boxing, tennis, archery, swimming, track, basketball, volleyball, crafts, rifle training, and hiking.
Dr. Schultz got the idea for the boy’s camp from his younger days when he worked at a boy’s camp in Michigan, but it wasn’t until later in life when he was financially able that he built the camp. He had an interesting and varied career. A native of Nebraska, he taught physical education at the University of Michigan, played baseball as a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians from 1920 to 1921, and later had a successful medical practice in Tacoma.
The 45-foot tall lighthouse, made of concrete, was completed and first lit in June of 1947. Newspaper reports of the time said it was an approved government lighthouse, but that is highly unlikely. The boy’s camp ceased operations in the 1970s and the lighthouse fell on tough times. The Schultz family sold the property in 1979. Media reports last month indicated, that in spite of orders by the local county government against doing so, the new property owners had started demolition of the pavilion and the lighthouse at the camp.
This story appeared in the
Mar/Apr 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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