Photo Credit: Tom Baker took this somewhere on the Pacific Coast. Prize for anyone who knows where? http://uslife-savingservice.org/contact/
Committee Request and an Opportunity for Involvement by Members of USLSSHA:
The USLSSHA recently formed a new committee to address education resources for and within our association. Among the objectives include creating web-based video content, exploring options for a digital archives, and developing teacher packets for use in K-12 education.
Specific Needs:
- Technical experience as producer of webinars using platforms such as google classroom, YouTube, FB live, Zoom
- Experience designing educational programming at varying K-12 levels
- Content developer for serial and standalone video content
- Experience creating a digital archive for public use
We have some gaps in our expertise and hope to involve volunteers from our general membership to join the committee. If you have any of the specialty skills and would like to use them to help the USLSS Heritage Association achieve its education goals, please complete the signup at the following link: https://forms.gle/72HtcesZW8eM7YH16
Publications Now Available as Print-on-Demand
The two books that the USLSSHA produced are now available by print-on-demand at lulu.com. Search for either “They Had to Go Out” or “Rescue: The Stories of the U.S. Life-Saving Service” edited by John Galluzzo. If you have not added these two books to your library here is your chance to do so.
Chronology of Coast Guard History
If you were looking for a link to a chronology of Coast Guard History here is that link. https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
Wallops Beach Station Again Looking for a New Home
Photo Credit: NASA
This call will stay in Life Lines each month until we determine that the structures have been saved or time has run out and they have been demolished. If you can help please do so now.
The Wallops Beach Station in Virginia needs someone willing to take and move the structures from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. Both the station and the tower could be yours. NASA will demolish the structure in 2021 to reduce their mandated allotted square footage, but there is still time. If someone is interested in moving these structures please contact:
Steve Taylor
Realty Specialist
NASA Wallops Flight Facility
Bldg N-161, Rm 135
Work: 757-824-1194
Cell: 503-317-0073
Historical Photos of the Bandon, Oregon Station
Bandon, Oregon Life-Saving Station circa 1911 Mary Schamehorn Collection
Powerboat Definace on Bandon Beach Mary Schamehorn Collection
Historic photos with short descriptions were sent my way on the Bandon, Oregon Life-Saving Station, including the arrival of a very important boat to the local station.
Local Journalist Mary Schamehorn writes from an earlier account of the event and includes photos from her collection:
I never realized what an important role the local harbor played in the early days of shipping until I found an article in the Oct. 6, 1911, Bandon Recorder headlined “Many Vessels come to the Coquille River.” The subhead read: “The Largest Fleet of any Port Between San Francisco and the Columbia River,” as the article talked about the 26 vessels plying in and out of the Coquille River and the total carrying capacity of those ships.
That is why it makes sense that the government would send one of their top power boats to the local life-saving station in the form of the Defiance.
The Jan. 2, 1912, Bandon Recorder had this to say, in a top front-page article. “The new power life boat for the U.S. Life Saving Station arrived on the (Steamer) Bandon this morning, and she is certainly a beauty. She is 36 feet long, has a 40 horse power engine and is calculated to ride most any kind of a sea.
“The boat was built expressly for the Bandon station and is the first one of its kind to be put on the Pacific coast. Every detail of the boat is perfect and it makes the life saving equipment of the Bandon station most complete indeed.
“It is built entirely of mahogany and white oak, with copper fastenings throughout and weighs 9 tons.”
Another article in a subsequent paper explained that the Defiance was the first of 12 boats scheduled to be built, and “is therefore the only boat of its kind now in use in the life saving service, not only in the United States but in the whole world.”
The local life saving station “has quite a wide coast range to cover in case of an accident at sea, as there is no station between here and Humboldt Bay, and it is possibly partly for this cause that the good boat was sent, but the excellent service rendered by Capt. Johnson and his crew, no doubt had much to do with it.”
I love seeing pictures of the life-saving crew because I can always recognize Leslie Kranick, who served with the crew for many years, and later became one of the areas leading cranberry growers.
The article adds that “the local life saving station is now perfectly equipped as any station in the United States. In addition to the new life boat, which cost approximately $12,000, the government has spent about $4,000 fixing up and beautifying the local station, a part of which was spent on the concrete retaining wall and sidewalk on First Street.”
If you have a short story of your local station please send it along with a photo or two and it will be featured in a future Life Lines. Contact Us
Historical Boathouse Moved from Hull to Quincy after Court Battle
Photo Credit: Tom Gorman Patriot Ledger
After losing a court battle with the town of Hull, the historical Chatham Coast Guard Boathouse was hauled away earlier this month on a barge to Quincy.
The boathouse could be headed back to the Cape if officials in Chatham can pay for its return. It was moved from Stage Harbor in 2009 to Quincy because it faced demolition. Now, it could be headed back.
The 84-year-old boathouse had been sitting on pilings on a lot on Main Street, placed there in 2019 by Hull resident, Mike McDevitt.
If you would like to know more go here to read the rest of the story.
North Carolina is the Next Virtual 2021 Annual Conference
Photo courtesy of North Carolina Maritime Museum, Southport
The Committee from 3 local sites have begun planning the 2021 Virtual/Hybrid annual meeting. Taped interviews with local station owners are being conducted that will be showcased as part of the virtual portion. A live Question and Answer segment is also being planned for attendees to participate and learn more.
This year the North Carolina Maritime Museum, Historic Wilmington Foundation, and the Old Baldy Foundation will be our Virtual/Hybrid hosts.
Virtual activities will include speakers, site visits, interviews, a Virtual History Happy Hour, an online auction and more as we creatively think of it.
Mark your calendars for the 2021 Conference, Southport, North Carolina on September 23-25, 2021. We are in touch with the North Carolina conference planners and are monitoring the COVID-19 status in their State so those who feel safe making the trip will be able to. Watch this site and Wreck and Rescue for more information.
If you have a story to submit for the next Life Lines please contact us through our website. http://uslife-savingservice.org/contact/