Galveston Station Site

1888 under contract for construction and nearly completed; 1889 completed and put into operation; 1909 site secured and plans and specifications prepared for new station to replace boathouse destroyed in Galveston Flood of 9/8/1900; 1910 construction well underway; 1911 rebuilding of station destroyed in 1900 completed (USLSS Annual Reports). Turned over to GSA in 1954; new Galveston Station is still in operation; The Coast Guard began it's service to the Galveston Bay area in 1878 when the US Government acquired a lot upon which was erected a lifeboat station on Pelican Island. Joseph W. Simmons was appointed the first keeper on 24 November 1888; The station was destroyed by the Hurricane of 1900. The new station was torn down and rebuilt in 1909. The station was once again destroyed in the great hurricane of 1915. Then station was relocated to the old immigration station on Pelican Island. Attached to the station were two 32-foot picket boats used for anti-smuggling patrols, a lifeboat, a surfboat, a power dory, and a 46-foot launch. The station remained on Pelican island until it was moved to it's current location at Fort Point in 1938; after being attached to Group Galveston for over 26 years, Station Galveston became an independent unit with a command of its own in 1994 (USCG Historian's Website).