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Established | 1978 |
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Location | Race Point Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°04′48″N70°12′59″W / 42.08000°N 70.21639°W |
Collections | A typical life-saving station, circa 1900, with surfboat, dory, and breeches buoy |
Curator | Cape Cod National Seashore |
Owner | National Park Service |
Nearest parking | Race Point Beach lot |
Website | Official website |
Old Harbor Coast Guard Station | |
Part of 1st District, Station #41 | |
Chatham, Massachusetts, at Nauset Beach | |
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Coordinates | 41°41′52″N69°55′47″W / 41.69778°N 69.92972°W |
Site information | |
Owner | United States Coast Guard |
Site history | |
In use | 1915 | –1944
Fate | February 10, 1947 Abandoned; sold as surplus; used as private residence |
Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station | |
Part of 2nd District | |
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Site information | |
Owner | United States Life-Saving Service |
Site history | |
Built | 1897 |
In use | 1898 | –1915
Fate | USLSS merged w/ Revenue Cutter Service in 1915; services continued as Coast Guard station |
Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station | |
Nearest city | Provincetown, Massachusetts |
Built | 1897 |
Built by | J. S. Randall of Portland, Maine, for United States Life-Saving Service |
Architect | George R. Tolman |
Architectural style | Shingle; "Duluth" type w/ jerkin-head gable roof & four-story tower |
NRHP reference No. | 75000159 [1] |
Added to NRHP | August 18, 1975 |
The Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station is a historic maritime rescue station and museum, located at Race Point Beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Built in 1897, it was originally located at Nauset Beach near the entrance to Chatham Harbor in Chatham, Massachusetts. It was used by the United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS), and then by its successor, the United States Coast Guard (USCG), as the Old Harbor Coast Guard Station. The station was decommissioned in 1944, abandoned and sold as surplus in 1947, and was used as a private residence for the next twenty-six years.
The property returned to Federal ownership in 1973, acquired by the National Park Service as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Two years later, facing the threat of imminent destruction from extreme beach erosion, it was removed, cut in half, and floated by barge to Provincetown. [2] The Park Service rehabilitated it and furnished it as it would have existed during its original use as a turn-of-the-century life-saving station. The Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station Museum opened at its new location in 1978.
The Old Harbor Station was built in 1897 by the United States Life-Saving Service. [1] The design for this station was first created by USLSS architect George R. Tolman in 1893 for a prototype station on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. In all, the USLSS used that same design to build twenty-eight stations in the "Duluth style." [3] [4] This style resulted from a gradual evolution to replace the simple pitched-roof structures of 1872, and featured a large truncated, or jerkin-head gable roof. [1] The rectangular floor plan was divided into two sections. One side of the building contained the living space, including a keeper's room, office, kitchen and mess room with sleeping quarters above for crew and rescuees. On the other side was a single-story, two-bay boat room. [3] The Duluth departed even further from the norm by adding a large, rectangular, off-center, four-story lookout tower between the sections on the front of the building. [1] [4]
The first keeper was assigned on November 23, 1897. [5] During its first five years of operation, crews from this station rescued 21 persons by surfboat, and extracted an additional 13 people by breeches buoy. [1] The latter would be deployed when the sea was too rough for the surfboat to reach a vessel in distress. [1]
In 1915, the USLSS was merged with the United States Revenue Cutter Service to form the United States Coast Guard. The renamed Old Harbor Coast Guard Station (Station #41) continued to operate until it was decommissioned in 1944. [5] It was abandoned and sold as surplus on February 10, 1947, and used as a privately owned residence for the next twenty-six years. [1]
In 1973, the station was returned to federal ownership, when the National Park Service acquired it as part of the surrounding Cape Cod National Seashore. [3] That same year, the Historian of the National Park Service nominated the building for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, and it was so added in 1975. [1]
In 1977, the former life-saving station was itself rescued from the sea, for the land upon which it stood was about to be reclaimed by the Atlantic Ocean. [6] At present, the land upon which the structure once stood has been washed away, and the site is fully submerged. [5]
Nauset Beach, upon which this structure was originally located, is a barrier beach contained within a narrow spit of sand. This barrier beach is a high wave-energy environment that bears the brunt of severe winter storms in the Atlantic Ocean. That makes the location and configuration of the beach extremely variable, due to the natural processes of rapid erosion and accretion of sand. [6]
When it was built in 1897, the station was roughly centered upon the spit, with about 500 feet (150 m) of beach to both the east and west. In 1910, a survey showed that the beach had grown to 600 feet (180 m) on the Atlantic Ocean side of the station. By 1940, the beach on that side had grown to 1,000 feet (300 m), with 10-to-12-foot-high (3.0–3.7 m) dunes. By 1966, however, only 100 feet (30 m) of beach separated the building from the high-water line, and by 1977, "waves were breaking against the foundation of the Old Harbor Station." [6] It had become clear that the barrier beach was migrating westward. [6]
In nominating this station for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service justified the need to preserve this structure:
Very rapid encroachment by the sea makes some sort of preservation action vital. If the station is not moved very soon, the ocean will claim it as it has several other such stations in recent years. ... From Monomoy to Provincetown, some forty miles, there remains only the Old Harbor station as the oldest of these buildings remaining on the shores of Cape Cod National Seashore.
This old station is a rare reminder of the days of sail, the days when shipwrecks were commonplace. Heroism of the highest order was made manifest by the acts of the small crews who manned the surfboats and set up the elaborate breeches buoy equipment to save lives in unbelievably terrible weather. ...
In retrospect, the old Life Saving Service ... was the single most important activity on Cape Cod for seventy years – add another 75 years of sea rescue work by the Massachusetts Humane Society from 1795, and we have over a century and a half of heroism which should not be forgotten. ... [Old Harbor station's] historical value, as representative of a vital part of the Cape's past, is obvious. Soon, no Coast Guard buildings will remain. [1]
In the fall of 1977, the National Park Service moved the station by cutting it in half, loading it onto a barge, and floating it to Provincetown. [2] In February 1978, it weathered the record-breaking Blizzard of 1978 while still on the barge in Provincetown Harbor. Later that year, it was reassembled on a new foundation at Race Point Beach, rehabilitated, and opened to the public as a museum park exhibit. [2]
In 2008, the station underwent a major rehabilitation, with an allocated budget of $489,000 to perform significant repairs to the interior and exterior of the building. [2]
The Park Service has restored and furnished the station as it would have existed at the turn of the twentieth century, complete with the original Race Point surfboat and dory. During the summer season, it is open to the public daily as a self-guided museum exhibit each afternoon. Admission is included with standard beach access fees. In addition, every Thursday in July and August at 6 p.m., park rangers conduct a live demonstration to reenact the historic "Beach Apparatus Drill", [7] a weekly exercise used by the United States Life-Saving Service to train for the rescue of shipwrecked mariners. The drill includes deployment of a breeches buoy to effect a rescue. [3] [8] [9]
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The name Cape Cod, coined in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, is the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.
The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) encompasses 43,607 acres on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years prior. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes nearly 40 miles (64 km) of seashore along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod, in the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. It is administered by the National Park Service.
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincetown has a summer population as high as 60,000. Often called "P-town" or "Ptown", the locale is known as a vacation destination for its beaches, harbor, artists and tourist industry.
Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, and is located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. The town had a population of 3,566 at the 2020 census, which swells nearly sixfold during the summer. A total of 70% of the town's land area is under protection, and nearly half of it is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Wellfleet is famous for its oysters, which are celebrated in the annual October Wellfleet OysterFest.
Eastham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,752 at the 2020 census.
Orleans is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, situated along Cape Cod. The population was 6,307 at the 2020 census.
Provincetown Harbor is a large natural harbor located in the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The harbor is mostly 30 to 90 feet deep and stretches roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) from northwest to southeast and 2 miles (3.2 km) from northeast to southwest – one large, deep basin with no dredged channel necessary for boats to enter and exit.
The Surfman Badge is a military badge of the United States Coast Guard, issued to enlisted or officer personnel who qualify as Coxswains authorized to operate surf boats in heavy surf. Those so qualified are referred to as surfmen, a term that was originally used by the United States Life-Saving Service, one of the predecessors to the Coast Guard.
The Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum honors and preserves the history of Virginia's maritime heritage, coastal communities, the United States Lifesaving Service, and the United States Coast Guard along the Atlantic coast.
Nauset Light, officially Nauset Beach Light, is a restored lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore near Eastham, Massachusetts, erected in 1923 using the 1877 tower that was moved here from the Chatham Light. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower is a cast-iron plate shell lined with brick and stands 48 feet (15 m) high. The adjacent oil house is made of brick and has also been restored. Fully automated, the beacon is a private aid to navigation. Tours of the tower and oil house are available in summer from the Nauset Light Preservation Society which operates, maintains and interprets the site. The tower is located adjacent to Nauset Light Beach.
Race Point Light is a historic lighthouse on Cape Cod, in Provincetown, Massachusetts; it is on the National Register of Historic Places. The original tower, first illuminated in 1816, was replaced in 1876 with the current 45-foot tall iron-plated tower and a new keeper's dwelling. The American Lighthouse Foundation operates the property and rents out two buildings for overnight stays. The actual light is maintained by the Coast Guard. The site is reached by walking about 45 minutes over sand; with a National Park Service Oversand Permit, a four-wheel-drive vehicle can be used.
A Lyle gun was a line thrower powered by a short-barrelled cannon. It was invented by Captain David A. Lyle, US Army, a graduate of West Point and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was used from the late 19th century to 1952, when it was replaced by rockets for throwing lines.
Joshua James was an American sea captain and a U.S. Life–Saving Station keeper. He was a famous and celebrated commander of civilian life-saving crews in the 19th century, credited with saving over 500 lives from the age of about 15 when he first associated himself with the Massachusetts Humane Society until his death at the age of 75 while on duty with the United States Life–Saving Service. During his lifetime he was honored with the highest medals of the Humane Society and the United States. His father, mother, brothers, wife, and son were also lifesavers in their own right.
Klipsan Beach was the site of a station of the United States Life-Saving Service. The station buildings still remain, although they are privately owned. The station is on the National Register of Historic Places. The station's name was originally Ilwaco Beach, and only later became known as Klipsan Station. The station was one of several assigned to provide protection in the area known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.
The Nauset Archaeological District is a National Historic Landmark District in Eastham, Massachusetts. Located within the southern portion of the Cape Cod National Seashore, this area was the location of substantial ancient settlements since at least 4,000 BC.
Long Point Light Station is a historic lighthouse at the northeast tip of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. As a navigational aid, it marks the southwest edge of the entrance to Provincetown Harbor. The United States Coast Guard Light List describes it simply as a "white square tower". The light it casts is green, occulting every 4 seconds, and, at a focal height of 35.5 feet (10.8 m) above mean sea level, has a visible range of 8 nautical miles. When the weather affords low-visibility, one can hear the station's fog horn – sounding a single blast for two seconds, and repeating every 15 seconds – as it seems to call out for its nearly-identical closest neighbor, the Wood End Light.
The Indian River Life-Saving Station was established at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 1876 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.
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Coast Guard Beach is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, Massachusetts. From mid-June to Labor Day, the parking area at this location is closed to all but park staff and visitors who are disabled, and access is provided by shuttle bus from the Little Creek parking area. Although the parking lot at Coast Guard Beach is open the remainder of the year, parking is limited. There are seasonal restrooms and a wheelchair-accessible rampway to the beach.
This is a list of United States Coast Guard historical and heritage sites that are open to the public. This list includes National Historic Landmarks (NHL), the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), cutters, museums, monuments, memorials and more. It includes only NHL Lighthouses. There are many more resources dedicated to lighthouses, this list attempts to collect everything else in one list. The United States Lighthouse Society, Lighthouse Friends and the many Wikipedia pages dedicated lighthouses are a few of the many excellent resources for those interested in lighthouses. This list captures the most important historical features, that is the NHL and the often overlooked U.S. Coast Guard sites.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service .
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Corps of Engineers .