April 2, 2003

A public spirited citizen from Helgoland

I'm a sucker for old newspaper clippings. And I'm always interested in local versions of the Guinness Book of World Records. Recently I mentioned my interest in Harry Danmann. So you can imagine I was delighted to read a photocopy of an old newspaper clipping someone was kind enough to give me, probably published in the spring of 1948, probably in the Tribune's predecessor, the Coastside Comet, of which only a few rare samples survive.

The headline: "He's Served for Years and Years. Rockaway Beach School Trustee Really Knows Job."

"When the trustees of the Rockaway Beach School District meet next, an old hand at the business will be there ­ Harry Danmann, endurance champion among all school trustees of the state.

Mr. Danmann has just been elected for his 18th term. He's starting his 52nd year in office as a Rockaway Beach trustee.

He can remember the good old days, when the Rockaway School shuttled between Pedro Point and Rockaway as the populations of the hamlets varied from year to year. He can remember the time a farmer moved to Pedro the year the school was at Rockaway Beach and he can remember that it was his vote which decided the school should be moved to Pedro to accommodate the new resident's six children.

The school has a regular concrete foundation these days (1948) and is permanently at Rockaway and has two rooms instead of one.

Mr. Danmann lives in the rear of 'the Pedro Cliff House, H. Danmann, Prop.' And he's lived at the Point 65 years, ever since he arrived from Helgoland where he was born 92 years ago. For 51 years, Mr. Danmann has watched over the educational needs of Pedro Point and Rockaway children.

And that's very interesting because, although he's been married three times, Mr. Danmann has had only one child of his own."

I wish I knew the exact date of the clipping, but it's actually a photocopy, so I can't check the back for clues. I know that Ernst H. Danmann died at 98, in late June, 1954, so he was 92 in 1948. I don't believe Harry was on the new board when Rockaway and San Pedro Districts merged to form Laguna Salada Union District in 1950.

Can someone tell me if Harry has living descendants and if so, who?

Helgoland is a small island in the North Sea, off the northwest coast of Germany. The young German who arrived in this area was civic-minded. He pitched in to serve his tiny new community. I've discovered he was a deputy registrar of voters in 1908. I even know his height. We know he served regularly on the single election precinct that served the area that's now Pacifica. In 1908 Harry built his Cliff House, a small hotel/restaurant/bar where he lived and worked the rest of his life. After he died his widow remarried. Her new husband, Larry Ray, was famous for the generous drinks he poured at a renamed "Danmann's Hayloft."

Pedro Point's Pacific Ave. became "Danmann Avenue" in 1959, when the new city of Pacifica changed many street names for postal efficiency.

My interest in local history may have been triggered first when I prepared ads for the Hayloft, using historical themes. Some won statewide awards. When Danmann's Hayloft burned in the early seventies, the community suffered a major loss to its sense of the past, and I lost a unique advertising client.

It was a lot of trouble to communicate in 1908. Just getting to and from the post office was a real chore. Today you can e mail The Reactor at Paul@thereactor.net Check The Reactor's website at www.thereactor.net.