Indian River Life Saving Service Station
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Indian River Life Saving Service Station
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| Nearest city | Bethany Beach, Delaware |
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| Coordinates | 38°38′1″N 75°4′3″W / 38.63361°N 75.06750°WCoordinates: 38°38′1″N 75°4′3″W / 38.63361°N 75.06750°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1875 |
| NRHP Reference # | 76000582 |
| Added to NRHP | September 29, 1976 |
The Indian River Life-Saving Station was established at Bethany Beach, Delaware in 1876 to rescue mariners shipwrecked along the Delaware coast by the United States Life-Saving Service. The facility was designed in 1874 as a 1-1/2-story board-and-batten frame structure with decorative brackets supporting overhanging eaves in a version of the Queen Anne style. The structure sheltered a surfboat which could be quickly rolled out through double doors facing the beach and down a ramp to the water's edge. The main station house remains of what was once a complex that included a barn, stable, meat house, feed house and a privy. An auxiliary boathouse stood about a mile to the south. The original plans for the station survive.
The facility was moved back from the water's edge in 1877 due to coastal erosion. In 1915, the United States Life-Saving Service merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form what is known today as the United States Coast Guard. The station was converted to a Coast Guard Station and occupied until the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, which left it partially buried in sand. A new Coast Guard station was built nearby in 1964. The original station was restored by the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation, and is now operated as the Indian River Life-Saving Station Museum by Delaware State Parks as part of Delaware Seashore State Park.
The Indian River Life Saving Service Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 29, 1976.
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