{"id":1891,"date":"2021-03-01T01:30:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T06:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2025-03-06T12:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:19:16","slug":"lighthouse-history-lifesaving-stations-around-lighthouses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/lighthouse-history-lifesaving-stations-around-lighthouses\/","title":{"rendered":"Lighthouse History: Lifesaving Stations Around Lighthouses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lobster<\/a>

Wood Island Lifesaving Station, also called Jerry\u2019s Point Lifesaving Station, is under restoration on Wood Island in southern Maine.<\/p><\/div>\n

Lighthouse History: Lifesaving Stations Around Lighthouses<\/span><\/h2>\n

Lifesaving Stations Were Built to Assist in Rescues with Their Trained Surfmen<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\"Jerry's<\/a>

Early Wood Island Lifesaving Station. Courtesy New Castle Historical Society.<\/p><\/div>\n

Shipping, tourism, fishing, and whaling traffic dramatically increased after the Civil War, and there came the need for lifesaving stations to be built along the shores within a few miles of lighthouses. They could provide a broader area range in rescuing stranded survivors from the many shipwrecks throughout New England. This idea of having shore-based stations began with trained volunteer services set up by the Massachusetts Humane Society and spread to each state\u2019s Humane Society.<\/p>\n

Congress established the US Life Saving Service in 1871, consisting of a keeper, captain, and a trained crew of 6-8 men, with the necessary buildings to house these crews and their equipment. In the 1870s, nine stations were built on Cape Cod: Race Point, Highlands, Peaked Hill Bars, Pamet, Cahoon’s Hollow, Nauset, Orleans, Chatham, and Monomoy Point.<\/p>\n

\"Wood<\/a>

Wood Island Lifesaving Station Before Restoration<\/p><\/div>\n

Where the lighthouse keepers and their assistants were only allowed to attempt rescues within the lighthouse’s proximity, these newly established lifesaving stations covered a much more vast area. They could assist a greater number of distressed survivors on a wreck a distance from the shore. They were more mobile, and their personnel were explicitly trained to rescue survivors.<\/p>\n

\"Launching<\/a>

Launching a Surfboat. Painting by Sherman Groenke. Courtesy of Jill Park and US Coast Guard.<\/p><\/div>\n

Their crew consisted of experienced local mariners and fishermen, mostly volunteers, to assist in training and rescue efforts when the New England weather was the most dangerous from Autumn through Spring. These men were called \u201csurfmen<\/a><\/strong>\u201d as they got their name from launching heavy lifeboats into the thunderous surf.\u00a0 Their daily routines consisted of drills in using lifesaving equipment on the beach or rocks and shooting a small cannon called a lyle gun at a practice pole as if it were a ship\u2019s mast. They would go on daily shore patrols over five miles from either side of the station to watch for stranded wrecks.<\/p>\n

\"Lyle<\/a>

Lyle canon used for rescue efforts.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n