Long Island Life Saving Stations

(I am looking for information on Cecil R. Foster or anyone else stationed at the Tiana Station during WWII.
If you can help, please contact me.)

This page was last updated on 02/02/05, and is still very much under construction.

Introduction    --    The Stations    --    More Resources    --    Basic USLSS History

 

Introduction

The key point in my involvement with Life Saving Stations came when historian/preservationist/author Van Field contacted me in November 2004 to help him try to save the Lone Hill Station on Fire Island. I had read some USLSS history in researching lighthouses and volunteering at the Fire Island Lighthouse, and heard the stories of former surfman, and now friend, Frank Estler, but had never quite "clicked" on the subject. That began to change when I had to do some research on the Lone Hill station. now I see myself going down the same slippery slope that I hit when I began researching lighthouses.

Although life saving stations and the US Life Saving Service are outside my area of expertise, I have come across enough information at this point that I thought it would be beneficial to share it. The USLSS and USLHS have long had connections -- similarities in duties, personnel, locations, etc. -- and they both were integrated into the Coast Guard, so it is certainly not out of place to associate them.

On this part of the web site, I will try to share the basic history of as many Long Island stations as I can. Don't consider this site the definitive source for Life Saving station information (LI lighthouses, yes; life saving stations, no). But you will get a nice overview of the history and I will strive, as I always do, to make sure that the facts are verifiable to the greatest extent possible. I'll also add more as I learn more -- I suspect this project is going to grow.

The contributions of the following toward this part of my site should be noted:

  • Van Field, author of Wrecks and Rescues on Long Island, and New Jersey Coast Guard Stations and Rumrunners.

  • Frank Estler, a surfman at various stations on Fire Island.

  • The US Life Saving Service Heritage Association

  • The Fire Island National Seashore and Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, whose combined interpretive materials and programs have taught me a great deal about lifesaving in my time as a volunteer at the Fire Island Lighthouse.

Bob Müller
November 2004

 

 

The Life Saving Stations of Long Island:

 

Resources for more information on
Life Saving and Shipwrecks

Wrecks and Rescues on Long Island
 by Van Field. ISBN 0966022408. Available online from Barnes and Noble or directly from Van Field for $25, plus $3 shipping. Contact him at w2oqi@optonline.net.

US Life Saving Service: Heroes, Rescues, and Architecture of the Early Coast Guard
by Ralph C. Shanks, Wick York, Lisa Woo Shanks.
ISBN 0930268164. Available online from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

The United States Life-Saving Service--1880
by J. H. Merryman. ISBN 0896460711

Storms, Ships & Surfmen: The Lifesavers of Fire Island
by Ellice B. Gonzalez.

The above books are all available at the Fire Island Lighthouse.

 

US Coast Guard Historian's Office
www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/SAR_index.html

 

US Life Saving Service Heritage Association
 158 Polpis Road, Nantucket, MA 02554-2320
www.uslife-savingservice.org

 

The United States Life-Saving Service
Heritage Act
(108th CONGRESS, 1st Session, HR 904 IH, S. 443)

www.uslife-savingservice.org/lifesavingact.html

 
 

Very Basic US Life Saving History

In 1807 the Massachusetts Humane Society built the first of what would become the model for Life Saving stations, at Cohasset. These stations, manned by volunteers, had boats and other lifesaving equipment. By 1845, there were 18 of these stations in Massachusetts.

In 1848 Congress passed the Newell Act, which appropriated $10,000 for the establishment of life saving stations, but not for crews. Crews were to be all-volunteer. The funds were primarily for "surf boats, rockets, carronades and other necessary apparatus for the better preservation of life and property from ship- wrecks on the coasts of New Jersey" south of New York Harbor. The first of these was built at Spermacetti Cove, New Jersey, and seven more would be built under this act.

In 1849, the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York was established by a group of philanthropists, led by Walter R. Jones, a prominent businessman who, with his brother John, owned and ran the whaling fleet at Cold Spring Harbor. This association built ten stations on Long Island, using $10,000 of federal funds. These were located at Eaton's Neck (Long Island's first Life Saving Station), Fisher's Island, Amagansett, Bridgehampton, Quogue, Moriches, Mastic, Fire Island, Long Beach, and Barren Island. Each of these stations was to have a life boat, a wagon, and an assortment of other equipment needed for rescues. Some of the stations did not get all of the equipment, though, due to a shortage of funds.

In 1855, more money was appropriated by Congress. More stations were established on Long Island at this time.

In 1871, the U.S. Life-Saving Service was established under Sumner I. Kimball, a young lawyer from Maine. This was the major turning point in the upgrading of life saving in the US (Much as the 1852 establishment of the Light House Board revolutionized America's lighthouse system).

On January 20, 1915, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and USLSS were combined and renamed the U.S. Coast Guard.

 In July 1939, the US Lighthouse Service was absorbed by the Coast Guard
 

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All the text, code and photographs on this page are © 1998 - 2005 Robert G. Müller. Please don't copy any text, code or photographs from this site without my written permission. Thanks for understanding and respecting my work. :-)