Indian River Life Saving Service Station | |
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| Nearest city | Rehoboth Beach, Delaware |
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| Coordinates | 38°38′1″N75°4′3″W / 38.63361°N 75.06750°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1880 |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000582 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | September 29, 1976 |
The Indian River Life-Saving Station was established between Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 1880 to rescue mariners shipwrecked along the Delaware coast, as part of the United States Life-Saving Service. It was designed in 1874 as a 1+1⁄2-story board-and-batten frame structure with decorative brackets supporting overhanging eaves in a version of the Queen Anne style. It sheltered a surfboat which could be quickly rolled out through double doors facing the beach and down a ramp to the water. The main station house remains of what was once a complex that included a barn, stable, meat house, feed house and privy. An auxiliary boathouse stood about a mile to the south. The original plans for the station survive. [2]
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The facility was moved back from the water's edge due to coastal erosion. In 1915, the United States Life-Saving Service merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the United States Coast Guard. The station was converted to a Coast Guard station and occupied until the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, which left it partially buried in sand. A new Coast Guard station was built nearby in 1964. The original station was restored by the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation, and is now operated as the Indian River Life-Saving Station Museum by Delaware State Parks, as part of Delaware Seashore State Park. [2] [3]
The Indian River Life Saving Service Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 29, 1976. [1]
