It’s a big year for the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site in Rodanthe, and the site is celebrating this weekend, October 12 and 13.
Commissioned on December 4, 1874, Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station is not only 150 years old this year, but also holds the distinction of being the first life-saving station commissioned in North Carolina. The historic site is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Life-Saving Service’s establishment on the North Carolina coast with distinguished speakers, tours and programs on Saturday and Sunday.
The U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS) was created to save the lives of shipwreck victims, and one area where it was greatly needed was off the coast of North Carolina. The waters off North Carolina’s barrier islands, now known as the Outer Banks, are notoriously dangerous, a region of shoals, sandbars, storms and colliding currents. At 23 stations along the Outer Banks, U.S. Life-Saving Service crewmen patrolled the shores and performed heroic rescues. In 1915, the Life-Saving Service was merged into the newly created United States Coast Guard and continues to serve our country.
Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site is the most complete U.S. Life-Saving Service station in the nation.
Remnants from 12 U.S. Life-Saving Service stations survive on the Outer Banks today and have been repurposed as restaurants, businesses and homes (see a list here). The surviving buildings of Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station are the most complete USLSS site in the nation and a valuable museum telling the story of the USLSS on the Outer Banks. Additionally, Chicamacomico is one of the few places that presents a reenactment of the historic Beach Apparatus Drill; they do this every Thursday in summer and will do it again this weekend.
John Griffin, executive director of Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site, says there is a lot to be excited about for the weekend. Staff and board members have been planning this event for more than a year.
A distinguished guest, Rear Admiral John "Jay" Vann, Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, will deliver the keynote address on Saturday. Vann assumed the duties of commander, Fifth Coast Guard District, in June 2024. In this position, Vann serves as the operational commander of all Coast Guard missions from the North Carolina-South Carolina border to New Jersey, encompassing nearly 3,000 Coast Guard active duty, reserve and civilian personnel. This area spans 1.4 million square miles of oceans, bays, and rivers, several mid-Atlantic ports, the largest U.S. Naval Base in the world, and our National Capitol Region.
Renowned historian Kevin Duffus is coming to present his research about a forgotten 1893 rescue off Cape Fear. The Beach Apparatus Drill will take place, and there will be a U.S. Coast Guard flyover. Historic and modern rescue equipment will also be on display.
Additionally, the National Park Service is offering rare tours of Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station. The station is on NPS property 3.5 miles north of Avon and has only been open for tours this summer and during this event to help commemorate the 150th anniversary. Guests will see the inside of the 1874 Boat House and 1892 Kitchen.
The 1874 building on the site has been returned to its original purple and gray color scheme.
But what Griffin is most excited is the restoration of the 1874 building, which was just completed this week.
“That building was built in 1874 and painted in the vibrant Victorian colors of the Gilded Age,” Griffin says. “Buildings back then didn’t look like government buildings; they were painted in bright colors. We researched the original colors, and it turns out it was originally purple and gray. The restoration has been a critical piece, and I hope it drives visitation to Hatteras Island.”
Chicamacomico board member Gee Gee Rosell says it’s going to be a great weekend to visit the site.
“The Life-Saving Service is an integral part of our history, and there are going to be all sorts of activities to learn about that history this weekend,” Rosell says. “The buildings will be open, there will be docents talking about preservation and restoration. Everyone is really excited.”
150th Anniversary Commemoration of the U.S. Life-Saving Service on the N.C. Coast
Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Museum, 23645 N.C. Highway 12, Rodanthe
The event is open to the public, and admission is free.
More information can be found at chicamacomico.org.
Saturday, October 12
The Way it was Done Back Then
9 a.m. Flag Raising with Piper Ryan Leigh and Bonnie Pugh Somers (Descendant of Benjamin Pugh-Keeper of the 1874 Station)
9 a.m. Chicamacomico Station open for tours
9:30 a.m. D. Christian Thompson will give a porch talk about research and restoration of the 1874 Station
11 a.m. Kevin Duffus will present “Unheralded Heroes: The Cape Fear Life-Savers of 1893” at the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Building (across the street from the museun)
12:15 p.m. Grab lunch on your own or from one of the food trucks on the lawn of the Community Building
1:15 p.m. Beach Apparatus Drill (Rescue Drill)
2:30 p.m. Speakers and presentations
MC Carl Smith CDR USCG (ret)
Presentation of Colors by Camden HS USCG Jr ROTC
National Anthem sung by Caitlyn Gray
Invocation Reverend Pam Stoffel
Welcome from CHA President Larry Grubbs
Jackie Wenberg representing Local Surfmen Descendents
N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Education Curator Ben Wunderly
NPS Superintendent Dave Hallac
Master Chief Christopher Hinote (The USCG Ancient Keeper)
USCG District 5 Commander RADM John “Jay” Vann (Keynote)
Patriotic Music will be provided by members of the Cape Hatteras Secondary School band
The USCG will conduct a Flyover during the afternoon.
4 p.m. Recitation of Eternal Father, Lord of Hosts/Tolling of the Bell ends program
A reenactment of the Beach Apparatus Drill will be held on Saturday at 1:15 p.m.
Sunday, October 13
The Way It’s Done Today
8:30 a.m. Breakfast at the RWS Community Building ($15/person: limited to 100) Admission in advance through Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station
9 a.m. Flag Raising/Chicamacomico station open for tours
USCG Auxiliary will have an information booth throughout the morning, along with Sammy the Sea Otter.
There will be static display of USCG helicopter and motor surfboat and of equipment used in Water Rescue.
12 p.m. Lunch on your own or from the food trucks
1:30 p.m. Choose your History Tour
Hatteras Island - Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station (Sunday 1:30 pm only) Cape Hatteras Light, Frisco Native American Museum, Lost Colony Museum
Upper Beach - Bodie Island Light, Kitty Hawk Life-Saving Station/Black Pelican Restaurant, Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Wright Brothers National Memorial
Manteo - NPS Freedom Trail, Richard Etheridge Grave, Pea Island Cookhouse Museum from 3 to 5 p.m.
Monday, October 14
Tours Continue
Hatteras Island - Cape Hatteras Light, Native American Museum, Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Lost Colony Museum
Upper Beach - Bodie Island Light, Kitty Hawk Life-Saving Station/Black Pelican Restaurant, Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Wright Bros Memorial
Manteo - NPS Freedom Trail, Richard Etheridge Grave, Outer Banks History Center
The Pea Island Cookhouse Museum in Manteo will be open for tours on Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m.
Bonus: Pea Island Cookhouse Museum Tour
The Pea Island Cookhouse Museum in Manteo has ties to the USLSS as it was the cookhouse from the Pea Island Life-Saving Station. The small building where the Pea Island surfmen cooked and ate their meals was moved to Manteo and now houses a museum honoring Richard Etheridge, who grew up enslaved on Roanoke Island and later became the nation's first Black commander in the USLSS. The Pea Island station is well known as the first all-Black USLSS crew. Their most famous rescue was on October 11, 1896, when they rescued nine people from the E.S. Newman, one of the most daring rescues in history. They were not recognized for this feat until 1996, 100 years later, with the U.S. Coast Guard Gold Lifesaving Medal. The museum is only open during special events, and in honor of the 150th Commemoration it will be open on Sunday, October 13 from 3 to 5 p.m. The museum is at 622 Sir Walter Raleigh Street in Manteo.
About the Author Molly Harrison
Molly Harrison is managing editor at OneBoat, publisher of OuterBanksThisWeek.com. She moved to Nags Head in 1994 and since then has made her living writing articles and creating publications about the people, places and culture of the Outer Banks.
