The "The Jersey Shore: Saving The Life Of The Building That At One Time Saved Lives" Story

It was an ordinary day.  8:00 am and I'm walking the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey.  Grabbed a dozen and a half donuts at Ove's which is at 4th and Boardwalk and headed back to our rental which was located at 830 Pennlyn.  Walked a block and a half west and then headed north on Atlantic to see a bit of the north end of the city.  

Life Saving Station on corner of Atlantic and 4th Streets.

There on the corner of 4th and Atlantic was a rather large building that after further examina- tion, I found it was a life saving station.  How can that be?  A block and a half from the ocean?  A day later, after returning from a day on the beach, I walked back to the building once again to take a few photographs.  

View of the Life Saving Station when it was on the beach.

Saw the front door was open so I climbed the steps to the porch and walked in the open door.  There I was greeted by a white-bearded gentleman, about my age, who could have passed for Santa any day of the week.  John Loeper is the Ocean City Life Saving Station #30, as well as U.S. Coast Guard Station #126, historian I found out rather quickly.  

Historian John Loeper tell me the history of the building.

He answered question after question with answers that told the life of the building in which we were standing.  The construc- tion of the Ocean City Life Station began on September 17th, 1885.  It was a 1882-type lifeguard station of Carpenter Gothic style and one of 25 stations that were designed by architect James Parkinson.  

John told me that the station was a private residence at one time.

The following year on May 28th, the crew moved in to begin their job of keeping bathers and boaters safe.  The one-and-a-half story building was built entirely of wood that sat on 4 ft. high pilings, on a foundation of logs, concrete and brick.  The original walls were weatherboard and singles.  A one-story "lookout" tower sat atop the gable dormer roof made of asphalt shingles.  

This map show where the station was when
it was first built (red dot in center of the
photo).  More sand accrued around it, thus
it moved inland from the original location.

A brick chimney was used to heat the building.  Years later the wooden pilings were replaced with concrete.  Twenty years after construction  a porch was added on the west, south and a portion of the east sides.  The station was originally staffed by the U.S. Life-Saving Service, but in 1915 the newly created U.S. Coast Guard succeeded in taking over the station which now was known as Station #126.  Not long after sidewalks were added on the west and south sides.  A perimeter post and rail fence was placed around the building by 1931.  At the time the building sat next to the beach, but over time the beach accrued sand and moved the coastline eastward 400 meters or 1/4 mile.  One of my first questions was answered when I asked John why the building isn't on the beach.  In 1936 the building was closed due to its distance from the beach in the middle of new homes.  

The lifeboat is being returned to the Life-Saving Station.

The building was reopened during WWII to store equipment and personnel who patrolled the beach for German subs and spies.  After the war ended it was once again shut down.  During the time it was open, 62 men served at the station.  Then in 1945 the Coast Guard sold the building to a private individual who made it into a single-family home.  

This shows the station when it was a private residence.

Trees were added and the "lookout" tower was removed.  Then in 1999 the property was sold to a builder who had plans to demolish it and build three duplexes on the site.  The city wouldn't allow the destruction of the building and the builder attempted to sell the property.  In 2005 the builder offered the building and property to Ocean City for $3 million, but it wasn't approved by the Ocean City residents.  

This view shows the south and east sides of the station.

So, the builder donated the property to the city.  But, the state ruled the city had to pay fair market value of slightly over $1 million.  A group known as "Saving Our Station" was formed and eventually got the state to allow them to buy the property and building for $887,500.  In March 2010 the Ocean City Council approved the sale.  

This photograph tell the story of the current building.
Click on images to enlarge them.

A group known as U.S. Life Saving Station 30 was formed to seek grants to support building repairs.  On April 8, 2013, Ocean City Life-Saving Station 30 was listed on the state historic registry and in June was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  As I stand in the building today with John, the place looks great.  He ushered me from room to room, showing me item after item that has been preserved and will be a part of the new "museum".  I should tell you that I have added that word, but I'm sure it will become a living museum to show all visitors to Ocean City the history of the original Life-Saving Station.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - photos that follow I took during my visit with John.  I hope I have given a suitable description of what I thought I heard during my visit.

This was an award given to lifeguards who performed with distinction for the Life-Saving Station.

Looking into the office of the station.  Notice the wooden phone on the wall.

An Underwood manual typewriter sits on the dest of the Captain of the station.

While on duty the lifeguards could listen to music on this old music box.

One of the surfboats inside the building.

This metal boat is a lifecar, which was used to bring people ashore from ships wrecked or stranded.   The first step in setting up the rescue equipment was to fire a light line across the vessel from a Manby mortar on shore.  When everything was in place, the life car was pulled through the surf from shore to the vessel and back.  When the water was rough, the ride must have been very uncomfortable.  The lifecar was built in 1848 and is identical to one used to rescue 201 passengers from the ship Ayreshire on the New Jersey coast in 1850.  At the time, rescues were performed by volunteer crews.  

Another view of a surfboat that has been restored.

Click on image to read the story of the oarlock.

The rear or east side can be seen better in this photo.  The garage doors house the surfboat, or life boats, inside them.  Renovations to the building have made it look like it did when it was first opened.