Cape Lookout National Seashore

Portsmouth Life- Saving Station

Historic Structure Report

2006

Historical Architecture, Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

National Park Service
Cultural Resources

Southeast Region

National Park Service

100 Alabama St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

(404) 562-3117

The historic structure report presented here exists in two 

formats. A traditional, printed version is available for study 

at the park, the Southeastern Regional Office of the NPS 

(SERO), and at a variety of other repositories. For more 

widespread access, the historic structure report also exists 

in a web- based format through ParkNet, the website of the 

National Park Service. Please visit www.nps.gov for more 

information.

2005

Historic Structure Report

Portsmouth Life- Saving Station

Cape Lookout National Seashore

Portsmouth, NC

LCS#: 012512

Cover image: Portsmouth Life- Saving Station, c. 

1910 (CALO Coll. c- 13)


National Park Service v

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Project Team xi

Management Summary

Historical Data 1

Architectural Data 1

Administrative Data 2

Locational Data 2

Related Studies 2

Cultural Resource Data 3

Historical Background and Context

U. S. Life-Saving Service 5

Origins 6

Architecture 8

Technology to the Rescue 10

United States Coast Guard 13

Portsmouth 14

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station 17

The Station House 18

Outbuildings 19

Personnel 22

Patrols and Rescue 24

Community Relations 26

Security and Law Enforcement 27

Chronology of Development and Use

Original Construction 29

Site 29

Original Plan 32

Original Exterior Finishes 34

Original Interior Finishes 36

Other Original Interior Features 36

Lighting 36

Water 36

Heating 36

Maintenance 37

Painting 37

Gutters 37

Screens 38

Flooding 38

Alterations 39

Documentation 39

1895-1915 40

1915-1946 40
vi Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Post-World War II 46

Physical Description

Associated Site Features 54

Masonry 55

Boat Ramps 55

Chimney 56

Cistern 56

Foundation 57

Structure 57

Exterior Finishes 58

Porch 59

Windows 60

Doors 62

Entrance Doors 62

Boat Room Doors 63

Interior 65

Room 100 (Hall) 68

Room 101 (Pantry/Bathroom) 68

Room 102 (Kitchen/Office) 69

Room 103 (Storm Clothes Room) 71

Room 104 (Mess Room) 73

Room 105 (Stair Hall) 76

Room 106 (Keeper’s Room) 78

Room 107 (Boat Room) 80

Room 200 (Stair Hall) 83

Room 201 (Crew Quarters) 85

Room 202 (Spare Room) 87

Room 203 (Store Room) 89

Attic 90

Watch Room 91

Plans of Existing Building 95

Site Plan 95

First Floor Plan 97

Second Floor Plan 99

Attic Floor Plan 101

Watch Room and Roof Plan 103

Molding Profiles 105

Treatment and Use

Requirements for Treatment and Use 107

Alternatives for Treatment and Use 108

Use 109

Treatment 109

Ultimate Treatment and Use 110

Use 110

Treatment 110

Sources of Information 111

Published Sources 111

Historic Drawings 111

Historic Photographs 112

Appendix A

Historic Drawings 113
National Park Service vii

“Plat of U. S. Marine Hospital Reservation at Portsmouth, NC” July 7, 1893. 115

“Position Plan for Buildings of the U. S. Life-Saving Station at Portsmouth, NC,” N.D., probably 1894.117

“Fence for the Portsmouth, N.C. LIfe-Saving Station” N.D., probably 1894. 119

“[Plot of]U. S. Life-Saving Statioin Portsmouth, N. C.,” December 17, 1900. 121

“Plot of Lot of U.S. L-S.S., Portsmouth, N. C., 7th Dist.,” June, 1903, revised July 26, 1909. 123

“Harbor and Proposed Location for Wharf,” March 1913. 125

“Sketches for Boathouse Showing Basin Hoisting Gear and Boat in House,” April 1913 127

“Details of Walk and Wharf, and Profile Showing Ground and Wharf Elevations,” April 1913. 129

“End Section of Concrete Sheet Piles,” July 9, 1914. 131

“Drawing of Walk,” April 3, 1916. 133

“Portsmouth Station” [plans of first and second floors], N. D., probably 1916. 135

Appendix B

Specifications for Brant Rock Life-Saving Station 137

Appendix C

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station Log Books, 1894-1937 159
viii Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service ix

We are pleased to make available this historic structure report, part of our ongoing effort to provide comprehensive documentation for the historic structures and landscapes of National Park Service units in the 

Southeast Region. A number of individuals contributed to the successful completion of this work, but we 

would particularly like to thank the staff at Cape Lookout National Seashore for their assistance throughout the process. Special thanks to Superintendent Bob Vogel, Michael Rikard, Mike McGee, Dave Frum, 

and Karen Duggan. We hope that this study of the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station will prove valuable to 

park management in ongoing efforts to preserve the building and to everyone in understanding and interpreting this unique resource.

Dan Scheidt, Chief

Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

December 2006

Foreword
x Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service xi

Project Manager Danny Scheidt, Historical Architect

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Primary Research, Building Investigation, and 

Author

Tommy H. Jones, Architectural Historian

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Document Publication/

Intranet Access

Jay Womack, Historian

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Program Reviews Bob Blythe, History

Allen Bohnert, Curatorial & Museum

Services

Danny Scheidt, Historical Architecture

National Park Service

Tracy Stakely, Historical Landscape Architecture

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Project Team
xii Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 1

The largest building in Portsmouth, the Life- Saving 

Station has been a landmark on the island for over a 

century. It is the best- preserved example of some 

twenty- one “Quonochontuag” stations that the 

Life- Saving Service built along the eastern seaboard 

between 1891 and 1904, only ten of which survive 

today.

Historical Data

The present report drew upon the park’s large 

collection of historic photographs of the 

Portsmouth Life- Saving Station, beginning about 

1910, and on the station log books, which were kept 

continuously from 1894 until 1937 and are now at the 

Atlanta branch of the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA). In addition, nine 

historic architectural drawings were located at 

NARA’s Philadelphia facility and at their 

cartographic division in College Park, Maryland. 

Copies of these historic drawings and an abstract of 

the station’s log books can be found in the 

appendices to this report.

Located in the uninhabited village of Portsmouth, 

North Carolina, on the south side of Ocracoke Inlet, 

the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station was constructed in 1894 as part of a chain of stations that the 

United States Life- Saving Service established along 

the nation’s coastlines in the last quarter of the 

nineteenth century. Technological advances in the 

early twentieth century reduced the need for the 

Life- Saving Service, and in 1915, it was merged with 

the United States Merchant Marine to form the 

United States Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard continued the work of the LifeSaving Service, but as part of the country’s military 

establishment the Coast Guard also played a major 

role in defense and in control of the nation’s coasts 

against smuggling and illegal immigration. In 1937, 

the Coast Guard decommissioned the Portsmouth 

station as part of a consolidation of resources, 

although it was re- activated for a brief period 

during World War II. Used as a hunting club after 

the war, the building was once again returned to 

government ownership after authorization of the 

the Cape Lookout National Seashore in 1966.

Architectural Data

Constructed in 1894 with only slight modifications 

to a standardized, Shingle- Style design and plan by 

Life- Saving Service architect George R. Tolman, the 

Portsmouth Life- Saving Station is one of only ten 

Quonochontaug- type stations remaining in existence and the only one that has not undergone major 

modifications. There is no physical evidence in the 

present building to suggest any changes to the original floor plan, except for installation of the gun 

closet in Room 101 and of the lightweight partition 

in Room 103 and closure of the door opening 

between Rooms 102 and 104. In addition, most 

alterations to the station, including replacement of 

the original plaster walls and ceilings and the original door hardware occurred during the historic 

period.

The station flooded on several occasions, 

necessitating repairs to the plaster walls as early as 

1904. Two wash rooms were created in 1908, but a 

privy remained a fixture at the station as late as the 

1940s. The original lock sets, knobs, and escutcheon 

plates at all interior doors were replaced in 1913, 

although all of the original doors remain intact. 

There has probably been some replacement of 

window sash due to storm damage, but the original 

six- over- two muntin pattern has not been 

Management 

Summary
2 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

changed. Nearly all of the original plaster was 

replaced, probably when the station was reactivated 

during World War II, but it was never wired for 

electricity. The NPS added a shower in Room 102 

but later removed all plumbing fixtures from the 

building. The cedar- shingle siding and roofing were 

completely replaced in 1978.

Although it has apparently not been occupied on a 

year- round basis since the end of World War II, the 

station has always been used primarily as a residence. Only the boat room did not serve that residential function, historically being used for storage 

and maintenance of the station’s boats or, as in 

recent years, for the storage and maintenance of 

lawn tractors and other landscape equipment.

Treatment and Use

Unlike most of the other structures at Portsmouth, 

which are simple vernacular buildings, the old LifeSaving Station is a significant example of historic 

architecture, designed and later modified by the 

government for specific uses. It is the bestpreserved of the few life- saving stations of this type 

that remain along the East Coast and has the 

potential to be the centerpiece of the park’s 

interpretation of the United States Life- Saving 

Service and Coast Guard as well as a major point of 

interpretation of the village of Portsmouth itself.

The park is presently planning presentation of the 

building as a museum to exhibit both the building’s 

architecture and its use as a life- saving station. The 

historical significance of the Life- Saving Station and 

the quality and scale of its architecture insures a high 

level of public interest in the building. Because of 

the building’s architectural significance, the few 

unsympathetic alterations to the building that 

occurred after World War II should be reversed. 

The interior of the building should be repaired as 

necessary and preserved in more- or- less its present 

condition. Much of this work is presently underway 

as part of repair of hurricane damage that has 

occurred over the last five or six years.

Administrative 

Data

Locational Data

Building Name: Portsmouth Life- Saving Station

Location: Portsmouth, North Carolina

LCS Number: 012512

Related Studies

Burke, Kenneth E. “The History of Portsmouth, 

North Carolina, From Its Founding in 1753 to Its 

Evacuation in the Face of Federal Forces in 

1861.” Unpublished undergraduate thesis, 

University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, 

1958. Revised 1974, 1976.

Denver Service Center. General Management Plan/

Development Concept Plan, Cape Lookout 

National Seashore. December 1982.

Ehrenhard, John E. Cape Lookout National 

Seashore: Assessment of Archeological and 

Historical Resources. SEAC, NPS, 1976.

Holland, F. Ross. A Survey History of Cape Lookout 

National Seashore. Department of History, 

Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, 

NPS, 1968.

FIGURE 1. Map of Portsmouth, NC, with arrow 

indicating location of Life-Saving Station.
National Park Service 3

Management Summary

Cape Lookout National Seashore, “Portsmouth 

Village, Historic Structures Management 

Recommendations,” August 19844.

Olson, Sarah. Historic Resource Study, Portsmouth 

Village, Cape Lookout National Seashore, 

North Carolina. NPS- DSC, 1982.

Van Beck, Sara L. Cape Lookout National Seashore, 

Archives and Records Management Review. 

NPS, 2000.

Cultural Resource Data

National Register of Historic Places: Contributing 

structure in Portsmouth Village Historic District, 

listed Nov. 1979

Period of Significance: 1890- 1930

Proposed Treatment: Preservation
4 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 5

Located in the uninhabited village of Portsmouth, 

North Carolina, on the southwest side of Ocracoke 

Inlet, the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station was constructed in 1894 as part of a chain of stations that the 

United States Life- Saving Service established along 

the nation’s coasts in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Technological advances in the early 

twentieth century reduced the need for the LifeSaving Service, and in 1915, it was merged with the 

United States Revenue Cutter Service to form the 

United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard continued the work of the Life- Saving Service, but as 

part of the country’s military establishment also 

played a major role in defense and in control of the 

nation’s coasts against smuggling and illegal immigration. In 1937, the Coast Guard decommissioned 

the Portsmouth station as part of a consolidation of 

its resources, although the station was re- activated 

for a brief period during World War II. Used as a 

hunting club after the war, the building was once 

again returned to government ownership after 

authorization of the Cape Lookout National Seashore in 1966.

U. S. Life-Saving 

Service

As shipping increased along the Atlantic seaboard 

after the American Revolution, so too did maritime 

disasters and resultant loss of life. While northbound shipping generally took advantage of the 

powerful Gulf Stream, which kept them well away 

FIGURE 2. Detail from Henry Mouzon’s “An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina, 1775,” showing part 

of the Outer Banks, with Portsmouth on the south side of Ocracoke Inlet just right of center in this view. 

(North Carolina Department of Archives and History) 

Historical Background 

and Context
6 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

from the shoals and hazards along the Outer Banks, 

southbound shipping did not have that option and, 

especially when weather conditions were bad, often 

foundered in the treacherous waters off the Outer 

Banks. Ocracoke Inlet, which is the only one of the 

several inlets to Pamlico Sound that has remained 

continuously open throughout the historic period, 

offered its own hazards with shifting shoals and 

channels bringing disaster to many unwary pilots.

The federal government began to establish lighthouses and light stations as early as the 1790s, and a 

lighthouse was in operation on Shell Island at Ocracoke Inlet in 1797. By 1803, a lighthouse was also in 

operation at Cape Hatteras, and in 1823, a lighthouse 

at Ocracoke replaced the old Shell Island beacon, 

which had been struck by lightning and burned in 

1818. In spite of these efforts, the sea continued to 

take a dreadful toll as sailing vessels were routinely 

blown onto the shoals and broken to pieces by the 

waves. Any crew that did not drown with the 

wreckage had little hope of escaping death from 

exposure once they reached what were, even in 

New England, sparsely- populated shores.

The Massachusetts Humane Society established the 

first "Huts of Refuge" along the Massachusetts 

shore in 1787, providing shelter at least for shipwrecked sailors. In 1807 they began to equip some of 

these shelters with boats and equipment that could 

be used by volunteers to make rescues at sea. Other 

volunteer organizations sprang up, but these were 

generally limited to areas around busy ports, especially the Long Island and New Jersey approaches to 

the harbor at New York. In any case, volunteers 

could provide help but to a few of the dozens of 

ships that wrecked along the Atlantic seaboard each 

year.1

Origins

The origins of the federal government's Life- Saving 

Service can be traced to August 14, 1848, when Congress passed the Newell Act and appropriated 

$10,000 for "surf boats, rockets, carronades and 

other necessary apparatus for the better preservation of life and property from shipwrecks" along the 

New Jersey shore. Eight lifeboat stations were built 

and equipped, and in 1849 additional appropriations 

allowed construction of fourteen stations on the 

shores of New Jersey and Long Island. 

In 1850, a station was established in Rhode Island, 

and lifeboats and boat houses (but no live- saving 

stations) were also funded (but apparently never 

built) for the shores of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. Administered by the Treasury 

Department’s Revenue Marine Division (later the 

Revenue Cutter Service), the Life- Saving Service 

was perennially underfunded, and equipment and 

stations that were in place frequently fell into disrepair.

The loss of over two hundred lives in the wreck of 

the Powhattan off the New Jersey shore on April 16, 

1854, spurred a Congressional investigation. Especially troublesome was the news that many of the 

bodies that washed ashore had been robbed by 

“shore villains,” and the government had “no provision to prevent such depredations.”2

 The wreck of 

the New Era at Deals Beach, New Jersey, in November 1854 claimed another 230 lives and sparked 

additional support for an effective Life- Saving SerFIGURE 3. Sumner Increase Kimball (1834-1923), 

general superintendent of the United States LifeSaving Service. (CALO Coll.)

1. The U.S. Coast Guard’s web site at http://

www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/h_USLSS. html provides 

a comprehensive history of the Life-Saving Service.

2. Means, Dennis R. “A Heavy Sea Running: The 

Formation of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, 1846-1878.” 

Prologue: Journal of the National Archives, Winter 

1987, Vol. 19, #4.
National Park Service 7

Part I: Developmental History

vice; but it was not until 1857 that appropriations 

were made to begin implementation of the recommendations from the Congressional investigation in 

1854. Full- time station keepers were hired for the 

first time, but their effectiveness was often limited 

by the difficulty in rounding up a volunteer crew 

when an emergency arose.

Another series of disasters in the winter of 1870- 71 

exposed the sorry state of the life- saving service 

after years of neglect during the Civil War. In February 1871, responding to renewed calls for reform, 

the Treasury Department appointed a new director, 

Sumner Increase Kimball, for the department’s 

Revenue Marine Division, which included the LifeSaving Service. Kimball, a young lawyer from 

Maine, promptly began a complete evaluation of the 

system of life- saving stations. Based upon his 

report, Congress appropriated $200,000 to employ 

life- saving crews and build new stations. New regulations and standards were established by Kimball, 

professionalizing the system and dramatically 

increasing its effectiveness.

The system of life- saving stations was greatly 

expanded in the early 1870s, with twenty- three new 

stations built in 1874 alone, including stations on the 

Outer Banks of North Carolina at Currituck Beach, 

Caffey’s Inlet, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Bodie Island 

(located south of Oregon Inlet and later renamed 

for the inlet)3

, Little Kinnakeet, and Chicamacomico.4 Nonetheless, the recommended threemile distance between stations was not yet achieved, 

especially along the isolated, southern reaches of 

the Outer Banks.

On November 24, 1877, the Huron ran aground and 

broke up off Nags Head, claiming ninety- eight lives. 

Then, on January 31, 1878, with the hue and cry over 

that disaster barely past, the Metropolis went down, 

taking with her another eighty- five lives. Worse yet, 

the crew at the closest station was slow to notice the 

wreck and, when they finally did, botched the rescue. These disasters provoked another round of 

recriminations, and a bill was even introduced in 

Congress that would remove the Life- Saving Service from the jurisdiction of Kimball and the Treasury Department altogether. Support for Kimball 

was strong, however, and the move failed. Instead 

House Resolution 3988 was passed on June 17, 1878, 

and signed into law by President Hayes the following day, formally establishing the Life- Saving Service as a separate agency within the Treasury 

Department. Sumner Kimball was named general 

superintendent, a post he would hold as long as the 

Life- Saving Service existed.

3. The original station on Bodie Island north of Oregon 

Inlet was called Tommy’s Hummock.

4. Richard L. Chenery III, Old Coast Guard Stations, 

Volume II, North Carolina (Station Books, 2000).

FIGURE 4. View of Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving 

Station, typical of the first generation of architectdesigned stations built by the Life-Saving Service in 

1874. (U. S. Coast Guard Coll.)

FIGURE 5. The Kill Devil Hills Life-Saving 

Station around 1903. (Library of Congress)
8 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

The 1878 Act that created the Life- Saving Service 

also included authorization for thirty new life- saving and life- boat stations, including fifteen new stations on the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. 

Eleven stations went up along the Outer Banks at 

Wash Woods, Penny’s Hill, Poyner’s Hill, Paul 

Gamiel’s Hill, Kill Devil Hills, Tommy’s Hummock 

(later renamed Bodie Island), Pea Island, Gull Shoal, 

Big Kinnakeet, Creed’s Hill, and at Hatteras (later 

called Durants). In 1881, a station was built at Cape 

Fear, and the following year, new stations were constructed at New Inlet, Cape Hatteras, Hatteras Inlet, 

and on Ocracoke Island three miles northeast of 

Ocracoke Inlet.

Like so much else with the Life- Saving Service, 

however, full appropriations to construct new stations at the recommended intervals were slow to be 

made, and not until 1886 was a station built at Cape 

Lookout, the first station along the forty- mile 

length of Core Banks south of Ocracoke Inlet. In 

1894, a life- saving station opened at Portsmouth at 

the north end of Core Banks, and the following year, 

a station opened about half- way between Portsmouth and Cape Lookout. Called Core Banks Station (later Atlantic Station), it was the last station 

built on Core Banks but still left the three stations 

with many miles of shoreline to patrol.

While life- saving remained the primary mission of 

the Life- Saving Service, the distribution of the stations along the nation’s shorelines led to military use 

of the Life- Saving Service during the SpanishAmerican War. In 1898, the Navy’s need to patrol the 

coasts prompted the department to assign the coast 

watching mission to the Life- Saving Service. As a 

result, two- thirds of the Navy's coastal observation 

stations along the coastline of the U.S. were lifesaving stations. Although the Spanish fleet was 

never observed along the nation’s coasts, the LifeSaving Service’s role in that endeavor was a precedent for military operations by the Service’s successor, the United States Coast Guard.

Architecture

The Construction Branch of the Department of the 

Treasury was responsible for construction of the 

Life- Saving Service’s new stations and, after 1874, 

generally employed architects who produced standard plans and designs that were typically used for 

construction of several stations.5

 Francis W. Chandler produced some of the earliest professionally 

designed stations in 1874, but J. L. Parkinson was the 

first architect employed directly by the Life- Saving 

Service, beginning in 1875. Several of the first stations along the Outer Banks, including the stations 

at Chicamacomico, Kinnakeet, Bodie Island, and 

FIGURE 6. View of Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station about 1890, designed by 

J. L. Parkinson and built in 1887. (CALO Coll. G-09)
National Park Service 9

Part I: Developmental History

Cape Lookout, owe their design to him. Parkinson 

apparently left the service around 1882, and a series 

of architects, including the famed McKim, Mead, 

and White, were contracted for station design until 

Albert B. Bibb was employed by the Life- Saving 

Service full time in 1885. Under his tenure, which 

ended in 1890, some 78 stations were constructed, 

but apparently none of them were on the Outer 

Banks.

George R. Tolman. Parkinson’s successor was 

George R. Tolman, who worked for the Life- Saving 

Service from 1891 until 1896 and was responsible for 

the design of the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station. 

Born in Dorchester,6 Massachusetts, in 1848, Tolman was the youngest child of Joseph A. and Elizabeth Tolman. The elder Tolman was a dry goods 

salesman of rather modest means whose wife died 

while George was still a teenager. George’s education has not been documented, but by 1870, he was 

working as a “draughtsman,” although where he was 

employed is not known. He was still living at home 

with his father, his older brother Albert, who was 

working as an architect, and his oldest sister Mary 

and her husband William Ulman.7

Sometime in the 1870s, George Tolman formed a 

partnership with George F. Moffette and, as Moffette and Tolman, designed a number of Boston residences and commercial buildings. Tolman was also 

noted for his water colors and for his illustrations 

for the Rev. Edward G. Porter’s Rambles in Old Boston, New England, published in Boston in 1887. During the same period, Tolman’s brother Albert went 

to work as an architect for the United States Treasury Department, and it was probably that connection that brought George Tolman into the 

employment of the Life- Saving Service in 1891.

Tolman’s first design for the Life- Saving Service was 

a Shingle- Style building for a station at Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, constructed in 1891 (Figure 

7). Over the next ten years, twenty- one buildings 

would be built to the similar design, including the 

stations at Portsmouth, Currituck, Caffey’s Inlet, 

Oregon Inlet, and Core Bank on North Carolina’s 

Outer Banks. A modified version of the design, 

which included a cross- gabled roof, was also used 

for the Life- Saving Service’s exhibit at the World’s 

Columbian Exposition in 1893.

The original Quonochontaug station was destroyed 

in the great hurricane of 1938, and all but eight other 

stations of this type have been destroyed as well, 

including the Core Bank station which burned in 

the 1970s. At least two of the surviving Quonochontaug stations- - Virginia Beach and Oregon Inlet- -

were altered after World War I by the addition of 

square watch towers set on the side of the building. 

(The Core Bank station underwent similar alterations.) Three Quonochontaug- type stations have 

5. Unless otherwise noted, information about the 

architecture of the Life-Saving Service is taken from 

Eugene York, “The Architecture of the United States 

Life-Saving Service” (Boston University, unpublished 

undergraduate thesis, 1972) and from Shanks, et.al., 

The U. S. Life-Saving Service (Petaluma, CA: Costano 

Books, 1996).

6. Dorchester was annexed by the City of Boston in 

1870.

7. U. S. Federal Census, 1850-1870.

FIGURE 7. Tolman’s station at Quonochontaug, 

Rhode Island, the prototype for the 

Portsmouth station. (From York, Architecture 

of the United States Life-Saving Service)

FIGURE 8. View of Core Bank Life-Saving Station 

prior to its expansion and remodeling in 1934. 

Note the stone foundation, which the 

Portsmouth station did not have. (CALO Coll.)
10 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

been adapted as residences, one of which was on the 

market for over a million dollars in the late 1990s, 

and three others have been adapted for commercial 

purposes. The abandoned Oregon Inlet station, 

which was altered in the 1930s, is in very poor condition. Only the Portsmouth station is well preserved, retaining most of its original features.

In July 1896, Tolman was dismissed from his position at the Life- Saving Service after he went absent 

without leave, apparently to escape incarceration 

for some unknown legal difficulties. His six- plus 

years at the service marked the shortest tenure of 

any of the Life- Saving Service’s architects, but during that period Tolman designed at least forty- seven 

new life- saving stations.8 His career after 1896 has 

not been documented, and he cannot be located in 

the Federal census until 1930, when he is shown living with his niece Mary Ullman and her family in 

Hingham, Massachusetts, not far from where he 

had been born eighty- two years earlier.9

Technology to the Rescue

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 

there were tremendous technological advances that 

had a profound effect on the work of the Life- Saving Service. Not only did technology change the 

nature of the life- saver’s work, technology changed 

the very need for the service as well.

Sailing vessels remained in common use into the 

twentieth century, but by the 1860s, steam- powered 

ships, with their greater carrying capacity and reliability, were rapidly replacing sailing vessels. Even 

the great clipper ships faced obsolescence with the 

opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Steam power not 

only kept a ship moving in calm weather, but it also 

gave the captain greater control in stormy weather, 

making it less likely that the vessel would be blown 

on to shoals or the shore itself. Even so, a great 

“nor’easter”10 in March 1888 sent as many as 200 

ships onto the shoals along the Atlantic seaboard.

Radio Communication. Even with the advantage of 

steam, however, there was still no way to determine 

positions at sea when the sky was overcast, and 

lighthouses served as only rough markers of location. However, advances in radio technology in the 

late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries 

allowed not only for better ship- to- shore communication but ultimately provided the technology for 

accurate positioning, regardless of weather conditions. These technological innovations fundamentally altered the Life- Saving Service’s work.

Historically, communication between ship and 

shore depended entirely on visual contact, with 

warnings against impending disaster limited to the 

use of flares and signal flags. The advent of batterypowered “occulting lights” in the early 1900s 

allowed life- saving stations to communicate 

FIGURE 9. Elevation for Tolman’s design for a 

station at the World’s Columbian Exposition. 

(Taken from York, “Architecture of the United 

States Life-Saving Service”)

FIGURE 10. Tolman’s plan for the station at the 

Columbian Exposition. (Taken from York, 

“Architecture of the United States Life-Saving 

Service”)

8. York, “Architecture of the United States Life-Saving 

Service,”; Shanks, et. al. The U. S. Life-Saving Service, 

pp. 233-237.

9. U. S. Federal Census, 1900-1930.

10. A “nor’easter” or “northeast storm” is a cyclonic 

storm that forms off the East Coast of North America, 

so called because the winds over the coastal area 

preceding the storm's passage are from the northeast. 

They may occur at any time of the year but are most 

frequent and most violent between September and 

April.
National Park Service 11

Part I: Developmental History

through Morse code, not only with ships at sea but 

also with nearby stations. Nevertheless, visual contact was still necessary and even the station’s 

occulting light was virtually useless in foggy or 

stormy conditions.

Radio waves were first detected in 1887 by Henrich 

Hertz, and in 1895 Guglielmo Marconi built the first 

radio transmitter, marking the birth of wireless 

communications. The technology’s utility in protecting shipping interests was readily apparent, and 

the first official naval radio message, using Morse 

code, was sent from ship to shore in 1899. By the 

early 1900s, all of the major shipping lines had onboard radio transmitters; but only after the Titanic

disaster in April 1912 did ship- board radio transmitters become nearly universal, greatly reducing the 

isolation of ships during emergencies and bringing 

about an almost immediate reduction in the loss of 

lives from maritime disasters.11

Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian- born inventor 

who had worked under Thomas Edison, is generally 

regarded as the “father” of modern radio, having 

made the first radio transmission of sound in 

December 1900. Early in 1901, working under contract for the U. S. Weather Bureau, he began construction of three signal stations at Manteo and 

Buxton on the Outer Banks and at Cape Henry, Virginia. Living at Manteo for a year and a half, he was 

able to fine tune his system of continuous- wave 

transmissions, leading to the first true radio broadcast on Christmas Eve 1906.12

The Titanic disaster gave Fessenden the impetus to 

perfect his submarine fathometer, an echo depth 

finder that was later known as SONAR (Sound 

Navigation and Ranging). In the years leading up to 

World War I, applications of the new radio technology proliferated, and in 1916, the Navy first used 

radio telephones between ships. With the United 

States’ entry into the war in 1917, radio quickly 

became one of the military’s most important tools.

In addition, the need for a reliable means of locating 

the source of suspicious radio signals led the Navy 

to build on Fessenden’s work to create the “radio 

compass,” which utilized a system of triangulation 

to determine the origin of signals. The utility of the 

radio compass as an aid to navigation was quickly 

recognized, since the radio compass obviated the 

necessity for ships to guess at their location, whatever the weather or visibility. As Secretary of the 

Navy Josephus Daniels reported in 1919, "The system of radio compasses on shore . . . proved such a 

useful aid to navigation that during the past year 

[nineteen] additional stations have been constructed."13

11. “Important Events in Radiotelegraphy,” Dept. of 

Commerce, Bureau of Navigation, Radio Service, 1 

February 1916, Government Printing Office, viewed 

on line at <http://earlyradiohistory.us/

1916impt.htm#safeguard> on 31 May 2005.

12. Thomas Yocum, “Reginald Fessenden, Pioneer of 

Wireless Radio,” <www.coastalguide.com/bearings/

wirekess01.htm>.

FIGURE 12. An early motor boat on Lake 

Michigan, 1905. (Chicago Daily News 

negatives collection, DN-0003451. Courtesy 

of the Chicago Historical Society)

FIGURE 13. Surfmen from the Race Point Coast 

Guard Station wheeling their surfboat to the 

water. (Library of Congress, call # LC-USW38- 

002064-C)
12 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

Motor Boats. The life- saving service utilized a 

variety of boats to accomplish its mission, and by 

the 1890s, most stations were equipped with at least 

two. “Surf boats” were small boats that were 

designed to be launched directly from the beach 

into heavy surf, and every station had at least one, 

which would be hauled to the beach on a wagon 

drawn by horses or quite often by the surfmen 

themselves. The Monomoy surf boat, named after 

the Massachusetts town of the same name, evolved 

from double- ended whaling boats and could be 

rowed or sailed in virtually all conditions. Standardized at 26’ long, 7’ wide, and 2’- 4” deep, the 

boat could accommodate up to ten rowers and was 

one of the first boats at the Portsmouth Life- Saving 

Station. (Similar boats at the Kill Devil Hills and the 

Cape Lookout stations can be seen in Figures 5 and 

6.)

The Beebe- McClellan surf boat, named after the 

two men who created it, was perhaps best- known. 

Developed for the government in 1879 and used at 

nearly all life- saving stations, these boats were 

advertised as self- righting and self- bailing and were 

known to be virtually unsinkable. About the same 

size as the Monomoy boat, the Beebe- McClellan 

could also be rowed or sailed.

The advent of gasoline- powered boats was a great 

boon to the Life- Saving Service, reducing the 

crew’s isolation during the active season and dramatically easing the crew’s work in responding to 

emergencies. In 1896, the American Motor Company produced the first outboard motor, but not 

until 1905 did Cameron B. Waterman become the 

first to produce a really affordable outboard motor. 

Although the government itself was slow to provide 

power boats to its life- saving stations, residents of 

the Outer Banks and similar areas were quick to 

adopt the new technology. By 1910, gasoline- powered boats had become so popular that Congress 

passed the Motorboat Act, giving the Revenue Cutter Service jurisdiction to regulate pleasure boating 

in the United States and assigning identification 

numbers to each craft.

While the owner of the first power boat at Portsmouth is not known, the Keeper himself had a “gas 

boat” as early as November 1904.14 The Life- Saving 

Station logs indicate that many, if not most, of the 

crew at Portsmouth and at other stations as well 

acquired gasoline- powered boats around the same 

time.15 The Life- Saving Station logs also document 

that the Life- Saving Service delivered a gasolinepowered boat to the Cape Lookout station in the fall 

13. Viewed on line at <http://www.multied.com/Navy/

Tug/Adelante.html> on 3 June 2003.

FIGURE 14. The Coast Guard cutter Pamlico, 

commissioned in 1907 and stationed in New Bern, 

for patrol of the sounds along the North Carolina 

coast, including the waters around Portsmouth. (U. 

S. Coast Guard collection, accessed at <http://

www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/WEBCUTTERS/

Pamlico_1907.html> November 18, 2005)

FIGURE 15. A Coast Guard speedboat on Lake 

Michigan, 1926, developed for enforcement of 

Prohibition. (Library of Congress, DN-0080877, 

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago 

Historical Society)

14. November 22, 1904, Station Log of the Portsmouth 

Life-Saving Station, original documents at National 

Archives and Record Center in Morrow, GA, 

hereinafter referred to as “Station Log.”

15. See Station Logs for the Cape Lookout and the Bodie 

Island Life-Saving Stations.
National Park Service 13

Part I: Developmental History

of 1909, but the Portsmouth station appears not to 

have gotten its own power boat until February 

1912.16

United States Coast Guard

The Life- Saving Service was perennially underfunded, with no retirement system and certainly no 

compensation for injured crew. More importantly, 

salaries remained so low that it was difficult to hire 

new recruits. Kimball had long recognized these 

problems, but not until the eve of World War I was 

there enough support to finally act on his proposals. 

On May 26, 1913, Senate Bill #2337 was introduced 

to combine the Life- Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service into a single entity, to be called 

the United States Coast Guard. Signed into law by 

President Wilson on January 28, 1915, the bill not 

only combined the two services but also provided 

for the retirement of Kimball and many of the older 

keepers and surfmen, something Kimball had advocated for years.

After forty- four years of service, Kimball could be 

proud of what he had almost single- handedly 

brought into being. During that period, 28,121 ships 

and 178,741 people had benefitted from Life- Saving 

Service rescue missions, and the death toll where 

stations were in existence was limited to 1,455 during the same period.

The law creating the Coast Guard stipulated that it 

would constitute part of the country’s military 

forces, but that it would continue to operate under 

the Treasury Department during peace time. In time 

of war, however, “or when the President shall so 

direct,” the Coast Guard was to operate as part of 

the Navy, under the command of the Secretary of 

the Navy. And so, when the United States declared 

war on Germany in April 1917, President Wilson 

issued an Executive Order that transferred control 

of the Coast Guard to the Navy. In August 1919, with 

the war over, a second Executive Order transferred 

control back to the Treasury Department.

Domestic law enforcement soon became the primary mission of the Coast Guard after passage of 

the Eighteenth Amendment in January 1919 prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of 

alcoholic beverages in the United States after January 1920. The Volstead Act, passed over President 

Wilson’s veto in October 1919, gave the Treasury 

Department’s Bureau of Internal Revenue the 

authority to administer Prohibition, but enforcement through interception of contraband quickly 

became the Coast Guard’s prime mission. Until 

repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the Coast Guard 

16. Station Log, February 6 and 15, 1912. played an ongoing game of cat and mouse with the 

FIGURE 16. Coast Guard mounted beach patrol at Portsmouth, 1942. (CALO Coll.)
14 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

“rum runners,” for whom the dimly lit, sparsely 

populated shores of the Outer Banks provided perfect shelter for their illicit activities. Inevitably, only 

a small part of the illegal alcohol that flooded into 

the country by land and sea was ever confiscated.

In July 1939, the Lighthouse Service, which had been 

organized in 1910 as part of the Department of 

Commerce, was made a part of the Coast Guard. 

This completed a consolidation of maritime- related 

bureaus that began with creation of the Coast Guard 

in 1915. With the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, the Coast Guard was ordered to carry 

out neutrality patrols, since the country still maintained a neutral stance in the conflict. In June 1940, 

President Roosevelt invoked the Espionage Act of 

1917 which governed the movement of all ships in 

U.S. waters and placed the Coast Guard in charge of 

providing port security. A short time later, the Coast 

Guard was given jurisdiction over any ship carrying 

high explosives or other dangerous cargo. In March 

1941, the Coast Guard seized over two dozen Italian, 

two German and nearly three dozen Danish merchant ships and by the end of the month had sent 

ten modern Coast Guard cutters on Lend- Lease to 

Great Britain.

On November 1, 1941, President Roosevelt transferred control of the Coast Guard to the Navy, and 

after Pearl Harbor, many inactive stations, including 

the one at Portsmouth, were reactivated. For the 

duration of the war, the Coast Guard played a vital 

role in the hostilities, landing Army and Marine 

troops in every major invasion in North Africa, Italy, 

France, and the Pacific. On shore, armed Coast 

Guardsmen patrolled beaches and docks, sometimes in vehicles but mostly on foot or horseback.

By 1944, the necessity of beach patrols was waning, 

and with the end of the war in August 1945, many of 

the reactivated Coast Guard stations, including the 

one at Portsmouth, North Carolina, were once 

again abandoned. In January 1946, the Treasury 

Department resumed control of the Coast Guard, 

whose primary responsibilities revolved again 

around safety at sea and aiding navigation.

During the Cold War, law enforcement again 

became an important component of the Coast 

Guard’s mission, especially after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. In April 1967, by Executive Order, the 

Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury 

Department to the newly- formed Department of 

Transportation. In March 2003, the Coast Guard 

was transferred again, this time from the Department of Transportation to the newly created 

Department of Homeland Security. 

Portsmouth

Chartered as a port town in 1753, Portsmouth is 

located on the southwest side of Ocracoke Inlet, 

which was the principal access route into Pamlico 

Sound in the last half of the eighteenth and the first 

half of the nineteenth centuries. The town flourished in the 1780s and 1790s, and by 1800 as many as 

250 people were in residence, making Portsmouth 

the largest settlement on the Outer Banks. Recognizing the town’s commercial importance, the Federal Government established a customs house at 

Portsmouth in 1806, provided for a marine hospital 

in 1827, and authorized a post office in 1840. In 1842, 

Congress appropriated money to buy land and build 

a permanent marine hospital at Portsmouth. ComFIGURE 17. Detail from topographic survey of 

Portsmouth in 1866, annotated with arrow showing 

approximate site of Portsmouth Life-Saving Station. 

(U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, reprinted in Olson, 

1982) 
National Park Service 15

Part I: Developmental History

pleted in 1847 “on the waterfront . . . at the junction 

of House [Horse?] Island Channel and the Southwest Creek,” the hospital was a two- story building, 

50’ by 90’, and the largest structure ever built in 

Portsmouth.17 By 1850, the town had a population of 

463, a number which included 117 slaves. The town 

reached the zenith of its growth in 1860 when it had 

more than 600 residents and 109 dwellings.

On the eve of the Civil War, however, Portsmouth’s 

importance as a port was already in decline. A slowmoving hurricane on September 7- 8, 1846 reopened Hatteras Inlet some twenty miles north of 

Ocracoke, which provided much better access to 

the central coast of North Carolina. The new inlet 

soon began drawing traffic away from the shifting 

channels of Ocracoke Inlet, beginning a long period 

of decline for Portsmouth.

The Marine Hospital was closed in 1860, the same 

year that Edmund Ruffin (1794- 1865), the noted 

agricultural reformer, visited Portsmouth and 

described the town in Agricultural, Geological, and 

Descriptive Sketches of Lower North Carolina, and 

the Similar Adjacent Lands:

The occupations of the whole resident population of 

Portsmouth are connected with the vessels which have 

to wait here. Pilots, and families and adult males- - and 

the remainder are the few who as shopkeepers, &c., are 

necessary to minister to the wants of the others. If 

Ocracoke inlet should be closed by sand (which is no 

improbable event) the village of Portsmouth would 

disappear- - or (like Nagshead) remain only for its other 

use, as a summer retreat for transient visitors, sought 

for health and sea- bathing.18

Evacuated during the Civil War, Portsmouth never 

fully recovered its population or its economic vitality after the war and the customs house was moved 

to New Bern in 1867. The government attempted to 

sell the old hospital building but was unsuccessful 

and allowed the U. S. Signal Corps to use it as a 

weather station between 1876 and 1885.19

As Portsmouth’s population declined, the number 

of residential buildings in the town dwindled as 

well, falling from a peak of 109 in 1860, to 59 in 1870, 

to 44 in 1880. By 1883, as Ruffin predicted, the shifting sands of the Outer Banks had closed Ocracoke 

Inlet to all but the smallest vessels, forcing a dwindling population to find other means of making a 

livelihood.

17. Sarah Olson, Historic Resource Study, Portsmouth 

Village, Cape Lookout National Seashore, North 

Carolina (U. S. Department of Interior, 1982), p. 76.

FIGURE 18. View west of Portsmouth from top of life-saving station, c. 1920. (CALO Coll. A-08)

18. Edmund Ruffin, Agricultural, Geological, and 

Descriptive Sketches of Lower North Carolina, and the 

Similar Adjacent Lands. (Raleigh, NC: Institution for 

the Deaf & Dumb & The Blind, 1861).

19. Sarah Olson, Historic Resource Study, Portsmouth 

Village, Cape Lookout National Seashore, North 

Carolina (U. S. Department of Interior, 1982), p. 76.
16 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

The United States Life- Saving Service’s establishment of a station at Portsmouth in 1894 gave a boost 

to the community, offering employment to a few 

residents of the village. Washington Roberts, whose 

family had lived at Portsmouth for at least three 

generations, worked at the station for nearly thirty 

years, and Jesse Babb was employed for over ten 

years, first as a cook and then as a surfman and 

mechanic. Others, including George Dixon, worked 

as temporary substitutes on occasion. Most continued to make a living as fishermen, although that 

became an increasingly precarious existence as 

competition increased and over- fishing depleted 

stock. The Portsmouth Fisheries Company opened 

a cannery on Casey Island in 1916 and provided 

some work until it closed the operation in the 1920s.

In addition, some residents benefited from the 

hunting clubs that were established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By 1900, the 

great flocks of water fowl that wintered on Pamlico 

Sound were attracting large numbers of wealthy 

sportsmen from Baltimore, New York and elsewhere, many of whom maintained hunting lodges 

on the Outer Banks. The Pilentary Club on Core 

Banks ten miles southwest of Portsmouth and the 

Harbor Island Club off Cedar Island were two of the 

best known, but up and down the Banks, residents 

worked as guides and cooks and provided other 

services for these hunters and their clubs. 

Hurricanes and “nor’easters,” which could be as 

severe as hurricanes, appeared regularly, flooding 

the entire island and causing tremendous damage. 

After back- to- back storms in the summer of 1842, 

for instance, only one house was said to have 

remained standing at Portsmouth.20 The 1890s were 

an extremely busy decade for the Atlantic seaboard 

with four major hurricanes sweeping the coast from 

Georgia northward, including the great "Sea Islands 

Hurricane" that killed as many as 2,000 people in 

Georgia and South Carolina in 1893. The worst 

along the Outer Banks was the “San Ciriaco” hurricane, which is also believed to be the longest- lived 

storm on record.21 Beginning in the tropical Atlantic 

on August 4, 1899, it devastated Puerto Rico on 

August 8, struck near Cape Hatteras ten days later, 

and reached the Azores before finally dissipating in 

early September. Believed to have been a Category 4 

storm, the hurricane brought winds of 140 m.p.h. at 

Hatteras before the anemometer blew away. There 

was tremendous damage up and down the Outer 

Banks, and the storm precipitated permanent abandonment of the settlements that had grown up on 

Shackleford Banks near Cape Lookout in the last 

quarter of the nineteenth century.

Portsmouth, too, was heavily damaged, with the 

churches destroyed, houses off their foundations, 

and over 9” of water inside the Life- Saving Station, 

which occupied some of the highest ground on the 

Island.22 Some residents abandoned Portsmouth 

after that, but there were still nearly 150 residents 

enumerated in the 1900 census. When another 

major storm destroyed the Methodist church again 

in September 1913, the community remained strong 

enough to support its reconstruction, although that 

did not occur until the summer of 1915.23

The year 1933 set a record for the most hurricanes or 

tropical storms to form in the Atlantic basin, a 

record that stood until 2005, and two of those 

storms affected Portsmouth. On August 23, 1933, a 

moderate hurricane swept up the Outer Banks, 

dumping rain but not particularly strong winds on 

Portsmouth. The interior of the Coast Guard station 

was flooded and much of the wharf destroyed, but 

for once the telephone line was not damaged. Less 

than a month later, on September 15- 16, a strong 

Category 3 hurricane swept the Outer Banks. Portsmouth endured 100 m.p.h. winds, torrential rain, 

FIGURE 19. Duck hunter with live decoys, near 

Portsmouth, December 1915. (CALO Coll. A-33)

20. Draft HRS, citing David Cecelski, The Waterman’s 

Song: Slavery and Freedom in Maritime North 

Carolina (University of North Carolina Press, 2001), p. 

62.

21. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/

22. Station Log, August 16-19, 1899.

23. Station Log, August 10 and September 13, 1915.
National Park Service 17

Part I: Developmental History

and a storm surge that flooded most of the island 

and destroyed many houses. The families of some of 

the surfmen at the Portsmouth Coast Guard Station 

sought refuge at the station, but it was soon flooded 

with nearly a foot of water on the first floor. At the 

height of the storm, the officer in charge recorded in 

the station log the next day, the entire building “was 

surging badly and expected to go away.”24 The 

building held, but there was terrible damage all over 

Portsmouth. The Red Cross finally arrived with 

much- needed supplies on September 28, but 

according to one resident, who witnessed waves 

crashing through her dining room windows, the 

damage was so widespread that "everybody just 

left."25

The Core Bank Coast Guard station, which was 

built in 1895 using the same design as the Portsmouth station, was so badly damaged by the storm 

that part of its crew was assigned to Portsmouth in 

February 1934 while the Core Banks building was 

being repaired.26 The station at Bodie Island was 

also heavily damaged and had to be abandoned for 

over a year before repairs could be made.27

With this drain on its resources, the Coast Guard 

delayed major repairs to the Portsmouth station 

indefinitely. The station did continue to operate, 

however, but was deactivated on June 1, 1937, 

depriving Portsmouth of another reason for being. 

The station was reactivated in 1942, but by then, 

there were only 42 permanent residents of the town. 

In September 1944, the “Great Atlantic Hurricane,” 

a Category 3 storm, came ashore near Cape Hatteras, sinking two Coast Guard cutters near Oregon 

Inlet, killing 47 people and flooding Portsmouth 

again. By the end of World War II, even more residents of Portsmouth had relocated to the mainland.

The Coast Guard closed the Portsmouth station 

permanently in 1946, and by 1950 the village had 

only fourteen year- round residents. The post office 

was discontinued in 1959; and by the time Cape 

Lookout National Seashore was authorized in 1966, 

only a handful of permanent residents remained. 

With the death of the village's last surviving male 

resident, Henry Pigott, in 1971, the only other residents, Elma Dixon and Marion Babb, moved to the 

mainland and Portsmouth was abandoned except 

for seasonal use.

Portsmouth LifeSaving Station

Congress authorized a life- saving station at Portsmouth, North Carolina, in 1888, but for unknown 

reasons, development of the station did not begin 

for five more years. The site was chosen by the District Superintendent of Construction Capt. C. A. 

Abbey, civil engineer Paul Bausch, and a committee 

that included the Keeper of the Cape Lookout LifeSaving Station William H. Gaskill, all of whom visited the site sometime between June 8 and June 11, 

1893.28 The site was surveyed on June 11, and an 

engineering report was completed at the same time.

Construction on the station may not have begun 

until the spring of 1894, but in a letter to the General 

Superintendent dated July 3, 1894, Abbey reported 

24. Station Log, September 15, 1933.

25. Olson, p. 93.

26. Station Log, February 14, 1934.

27. Joseph K. Opperman, Bodie Island Coast Guard 

Station Historic Structure Report (NPS, 2005).

28. Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station Log, June 8, June 

11, 1893.

FIGURE 20. “Plat of U. S. Marine Hospital 

Reservation at Portsmouth, N. C.,” showing 

location of new life-saving station, July 1893. 

(National Archives and Records Administration, 

Philadelphia, Record Group 26)
18 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

that the Portsmouth station had been completed on 

June 28, 1894. The first Keeper was on duty at the 

end of September 1894, but without a crew, and the 

first full entries in the station’s log book do not 

appear until November 3, 1894, when the Keeper 

listed what was apparently a temporary crew of six. 

The first permanent crew signed articles of agreement for service on March 11, 1895.29

The Station House

From the time it was completed in 1847 until its 

mysterious destruction by fire in 1893, the Marine 

Hospital had been the largest building at Portsmouth. With its completion in the spring of 1894, the 

Life- Saving Service’s building became the village’s 

largest structure and most prominent landmark, 

visible from almost anywhere on the island. The 

design and plan for the new station at Portsmouth 

followed, with some variation, those developed by 

Life- Saving Service architect George R. Tolman in 

1891 for a station at Quonochontaug near Charleston, Rhode Island. A similar design was used for 

construction of some twenty life- saving stations in 

the 1890s, including a modified version with a 

cross- gabled roof that was constructed for the 

World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, 

but over half of these have since been destroyed.

The Quonochontaug- type buildings were ShingleStyle structures, so- called for the fact that the exteriors were clad almost entirely in wood shingles. 30

The Shingle Style first appeared in the 1870s in 

coastal resorts in the Northeast, where its relatively 

clean lines and shingled exteriors were eminently 

suited to a windswept, maritime environment. 

Although never as popular as its contemporary, the 

Queen Anne style, Shingle- Style buildings continued to be built throughout the 1890s, although they 

remained relatively rare outside New England.

Typical of life- saving stations in the late nineteenth 

century, the main building at Portsmouth featured a 

large boat room that occupied over half of the first 

floor, with the other half containing a “setting 

room” for the crew, a dining or “mess room,” the 

Keeper’s bedroom, and a small store room that was 

originally designed as a pantry. On the second floor 

were the crew’s quarters, consisting of a large open 

room flanked by closets, as well as a “spare room” 

29. All dates in this paragraph from Station Log Books.

FIGURE 21. View of Portsmouth Life-Saving Station from the west in 1916, with oil 

house at left, “cook house” just left of center, and the coastal warning display 

tower and the wreck pole at right of center. (CALO Coll. B-99)

30. See Eugene V. York, “The Architecture of the United 

States Life-Saving Service,” MA thesis, Boston 

University, 1983.
National Park Service 19

Part I: Developmental History

for visitors. The second floor also had a large storage 

room and there was additional storage space in the 

attic, which was completely floored. From the attic 

level, another set of stairs rose to the watch tower at 

the fourth floor level.

Outbuildings

As with all life- saving stations, the Portsmouth station included a variety of ancillary structures. These 

included an oil house, a privy, stables, and, much 

later, a “summer kitchen,” but there were other 

structures as well.

Oil House. Located about 60’ northwest of the station31, the oil house was a small wood- framed 

structure that was also built in 1894. It was designed 

for storage of kerosene, or “coal oil” as it was often 

called, which was used for lighting; linseed oil and 

turpentine, which were used for mixing paint; coal, 

used for heating; and any other flammables that 

would be a hazard if stored inside the station itself. 

“Torn up” for the first time by a hurricane in 1896, 

frequently damaged and repaired after that, it was 

finally removed prior to or in the early 1940s.32

Privy. Originally, the station did not have indoor 

bathrooms, only a wood- framed privy located just 

east of the station. It was apparently not built over a 

pit but rather constructed in such a way that the 

tidal flow would flush away the waste. A new privy 

was constructed in 1910, only to be damaged when it 

was blown into the creek in the September 1913 hurricane. Also damaged repeatedly, a privy remained a 

fixture at the site at least into the 1940s.

Stables. In various entries, the station log books 

refer to “stables” and a “barn,” but it is likely that 

these were the same building. The station may not 

have had horses at first, since stables were not completed until August 1896. Little is known of this 

building except that it was kept whitewashed and 

was located in the vicinity of the present barn, 

which apparently dates to 1928. The original stables 

were swept away, “with horses in them,” during the 

1899 hurricane but were replaced the following year. 

Reference to repair of the “old stables” in 1910 suggests that new stables were constructed that year.33

The last of the horses were taken away in 1932, after 

which the old barn was used as a garage and storage 

building.34

Boat House. Although the station house had a large 

boat room, the crew constructed a boat house “on 

the outer beach” in 1897 in order to shorten the 

arduous work of hauling the boat wagon back and 

forth from the station to the beach. It was damaged 

in the 1899 hurricane before being condemned for 

use in 1905. The crew salvaged the building, however, by moving it back to the station yard and 

repairing it as a shelter for the Monomoy surf boat.

31. Location is documented by the 1903 plat map of the 

station (revised in 1909).

32. Station Log, October 11, 1896. The building is absent 

from historic photographs taken during World War II.

FIGURE 22. “End Section of Concrete Sheet-pile for Proposed Bulkhead,” July 9, 1914; used to construct 

seawall in 1915. (National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA, Record Group 26)

33. Station Log, August 8, 1910.

34. Station Log, March 19, 1932.
20 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

Other Structures. In early 1895, the crew put up a 

“wreck pole,” which simulated the mast of a ship 

and was used for rescue drills.35 It was located 75’ or 

80’ west of the summer kitchen. Also in 1896, the 

crew constructed a wooden breakwater along the 

creek on the east side of the station. That same year 

they also constructed a “dam” at the head of the 

creek just southeast of the station. The dam was 

back- filled with sand, thus shortening the creek 

considerably and, presumably, helping to maintain a 

deeper channel.

Over the winter of 1899- 1900, the crew built a “carriage house” or “cart house,” which was probably 

used to shelter the wagon used to haul the surf boat 

and/or the “carriage” for the Lyle gun, which was 

used to shoot rescue lines to wrecked vessels. No 

such structure appears on any plats of the station 

grounds, and nothing else is known about this 

building.

In 1913, the crew erected a steel “coastal warning 

display tower”, that was part of a hurricane warning 

system for ships that was begun by the National 

Weather Bureau in 1898. A series of red and redand- black flags or pennants were flown from the 

tower to alert small craft and ships at sea to bad 

weather. At night red and white lights were used as a 

warning signal. A more elaborate system of flags was 

used to indicate forecast weather conditions, but 

after 1925, use of the warning towers was discontinued as radio communication came into use for providing weather reports and warnings. Located 

between the wreck pole and the summer kitchen, 

the Portsmouth tower was blown down in the hurricane of September 1933.

In the fall of 1914, the crew began replacing the old 

wooden breakwaters, first constructed in 1896 but 

frequently damaged or destroyed by storms, with 

the concrete bulkhead or seawall that now lines the 

western side Coast Guard Creek. The seawall was 

built with reinforced- concrete sheet piles and a 

continuous reinforced- concrete coping, and it 

greatly reduced the erosion of the shoreline in the 

vicinity of the station.

In the summer of 1915, the crew spent many days 

taking up the old wooden walkways around the staFIGURE 23. View of the wharf at Portsmouth Coast 

Guard Station in the 1920s. (CALO Coll. A-09)

FIGURE 24. View of abandoned stables and 

boat house in 1946. (CALO Coll. A-46)

FIGURE 25. Coast Guardsmen at Portsmouth, 

1942. Note privy over creek at right. (CALO Coll. 

B-32)

35. All construction dates in this section are documented 

by the station log books.
National Park Service 21

Part I: Developmental History

tion grounds and pouring new concrete walkways 

as well as building concrete ramps to the boat room 

doors of the main station building. The walkways 

and ramps were completed that fall, but material 

shortages interrupted work on the seawall in January 1916, and the last 103’ of the wall were not completed until early in 1918.

Plans were also drawn in 1913 for construction of a 

walkway or pier extending into Ocracoke Inlet as 

well as a boat house on the pier that would have 

included a hoist for dry docking the boats. Actual 

construction of the pier was delayed until 1916, 

however, and it is not clear if the boat house was 

ever constructed at all.36

In October 1917, a cable was finally laid across Ocracoke Inlet, making telephone service available at 

Portsmouth for the first time. No longer did the 

Keeper have to send a surfman to Ocracoke or to 

Hatteras to use the telegraph, and although the lines 

were often damaged by storms and waves, telephone service between the Portsmouth station and 

other stations and district headquarters was an 

enormous benefit, especially in emergencies.

Few changes were made to the station before it was 

decommissioned in 1937, although in 1921, a round 

metal cistern, similar to the one now located at the 

Portsmouth Schoolhouse, was assembled and set up 

at the end of the porch on the southeast side of the 

station. In addition, a new barn was constructed in 

1928, and there may have been some other structures that have not yet been documented.

Much of the damage from the 1933 hurricane was 

not fully repaired, and since free- ranging livestock 

on the island was eliminated in the 1920s, the fencing of the station compound was never reconstructed. A number of changes were made when the 

Coast Guard re- activated the station during World 

War II. Historic photographs suggest that the oil 

house and some of the other outbuildings were 

removed around that time.

Summer Kitchen. When first constructed, the 

Portsmouth Life- Saving Station did not have a separate “summer kitchen.” All cooking was done in the 

kitchen that was originally in Room 102, with the 

surfmen’s dining or mess room located in Room

36. Station log books document this work.

FIGURE 26. Keeper Charles S. McWilliams, seated, 

and crew of the Portsmouth Life-Saving Station in 

1910. The only surfmen who can be identified are 

long-time #1 surfman Washington Roberts, left, 

and #5 Surfman Mitchell Hamilton, third from 

left. (CALO Coll. F393)

FIGURE 27. The crew of the Portsmouth 

station in the late 1920s. Mitchell Hamilton, 

left, and Merwyn Taylor, right, are the only 

surfmen who can be identified. (CALO Coll. 

A-05)

FIGURE 28. Coast Guardsmen at Portsmouth 

in 1942. Note privy over creek in 

background. (CALO Coll. B-32)
22 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

104. The exact date of construction of the summer 

kitchen is not known, but it was certainly in place by 

the time the 1903 plat of the station grounds was 

revised in 1909. It seems likely that construction of 

the summer kitchen began in May 1908 when the 

station log records the arrival of George T. Hale “to 

begin work on station” and, two days later, “Mr. 

Shull, the contractor who is to repair this station.”37

The station logs make reference to no other largescale construction projects that could include the 

summer kitchen. The first reference to the summer 

kitchen in the station logs was in September 1913 

when the hurricane that destroyed the Methodist 

church also took the top off the kitchen chimney.38

The first reference to a full- time cook for the station 

does not come until August 1918, indicating that the 

crew rotated cooking duties or else hired somebody 

from the village to cook for the crew.39

Historic photographs show that the original kitchen 

or “cook house” was a one- room, end- gabled 

building with wood- shingled walls and roof. Photographs also show that during World War II, probably in 1942, the building was expanded to the east 

by the addition of a dining room, with the addition 

finished on the exterior with shiplap siding instead 

of the shingles used on the original portion of the 

building.40

Personnel

Each station had a Keeper in charge of station operations and responsible for hiring and supervising a 

crew of six or eight “surfmen.” As noted above, a 

cook was employed at Portsmouth beginning in 

August 1918. Prior to organization of the Coast 

Guard in 1915, the keeper and the crew were almost 

always local residents. With the advent of gasolinepowered motor boats in the early twentieth century, 

it became practical for men living further up the 

Banks or even on the mainland to work at Portsmouth and still be able to take the short one or two 

day leaves of absence that were routinely granted. 

After 1915, most of the crew at the Portsmouth station continued to reside in the village but by the 

1930s, crew members often had permanent residences on the mainland at Atlantic, Sea Level, 

Davis, and even New Bern, or on the Outer Banks at 

Rodanthe, Frisco, and some of the other settlements 

around Cape Hatteras. In the late 1920s and early 

1930s, there were even a few surfmen with home 

addresses as far away as Michigan and Rhode 

Island.

37. Station Log, May 27 and 29, 1908.

38. Station Log, September 3, 1913.

39. Station Log, August 6, 1918.

FIGURE 29. Portsmouth Coast Guard Station, c. 1920. (CALO Coll. A-01)

40. This addition is not mentioned in the station logs, but 

it does appear in historic photographs after 1940.
National Park Service 23

Part I: Developmental History

Keepers. Given that most of the Life- Saving Service’s early employees on the Outer Banks were 

local men, it was somewhat unusual that the first 

Keeper of the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station, Ferdinand G. Terrell, was actually a native of New York. 

Born on Long Island about 1856, he was working as 

a “bayman,” or oyster gatherer, in 1880 and was living in Brookhaven, Suffolk County, on Long Island. 

He married around 1887 and appears to have had a 

single child before his appointment as Keeper of the 

Portsmouth Life- Saving Station on August 22, 1894. 

He resigned the position on October 8, 1903, perhaps because of health problems, and by 1910 was 

apparently operating a grocery store at Pantego, a 

small town about 30 miles east of Washington, NC. 

He died sometime after 1920.41

Terrell’s replacement was Charles S. McWilliams, 

born in North Carolina in May 1871. Married about 

1892, he was working at the Ocracoke Life- Saving 

Station in 1900 and had at least six children by 1910. 

Appointed on November 25, 1903, McWilliams 

served longer than any other Keeper of the Portsmouth station and oversaw the station’s transition to 

Coast Guard control. Under the Coast Guard, the 

stations no longer had “keepers” but rather “officers in charge.” McWilliams was forced to retire on 

permanent disability on February 24, 1916.

After Terrell and McWilliams, a succession of officers was put in charge of the Portsmouth Life- Saving 

Station, either on a permanent or an acting basis, 

but most were there for relatively brief periods. 

McWilliams was replaced by Albert L. Barco, who 

was born in Virginia around 1876 and appointed 

Acting Keeper at the Portsmouth station in February 1916. He received a permanent appointment in 

September of that year, but in April 1917 was transferred to Station 164 at North Bay, Cape Henry, Virginia. Barco was replaced by Mitchell Hamilton, a 

North Carolina native born about 1878. Hamilton 

apparently purchased a house in Portsmouth and 

remained a little over three years before leaving to 

become Assistant to the District Superintendent in 

December 1920.

After Hamilton’s departure, there was no permanent officer in charge for nearly four years. For 

much of that time, Portsmouth- native Washington 

Roberts, who had signed on for service when the 

station opened in 1894, was in command. Not until 

November 1924 was Joseph Emery appointed 

Officer in Charge. Born about 1878, probably on the 

Outer Banks, Emery was Keeper at the Nags Head 

Life- Saving Station before being assigned to the 

Oregon Inlet station and, in 1924, to the Portsmouth 

station. He served a little over four months before 

being transferred to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, 

where he, like Hamilton, served as Assistant to the 

District Superintendent.

Roy Robinson, born in North Carolina in 1895, was 

one of the youngest officers to command the station 

when he was transferred from the Hatteras Inlet 

station to assume command of the Portsmouth station in July 1925. He, too, bought a house in Portsmouth and remained in charge of the station until 

he was transferred to the life- saving station at Fort 

Macon near Beaufort, North Carolina, on December 21, 1931. George H. Meekins, another North 

Carolina native, succeeded Robinson in December 

1931. Born about 1890, he served until July 1932 when 

he was reassigned as Officer in Charge of the Big 

Kinnakeet Life- Saving Station.

Elisha G. Tillet, a surfman at the Nags Head station 

born about 1898, assumed command at Portsmouth 

on July 1, 1932, and was in charge during the dreadful 

hurricane season of 1933. He was replaced by Julian 

L. Gray on January 23, 1935. A North Carolina native 

born about 1905, Gray had worked as a surfman at 

the East Hampton Life- Saving Station on Long 

Island and was the officer in charge when the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station was decommissioned on 

June 1, 1937.42

Crew. Unlike the Keeper, who was present yearround, the station’s crew was present only during 

the “active season,” which ran from September 1 

through April 30 until 1897, after which it extended 

from August 1 through May 31. In 1916, after creation 

of the U. S. Coast Guard, crews were employed 

year- round. If disaster struck during the off- season, as it some times did, the Keeper was forced to 

round up a crew from local fishermen. Surfmen 

were also hired on a temporary basis when illness, 

41. U. S. Federal Census schedules, 1850-1930, document 

age, marital status, home town, home ownership, and 

other details of the lives of the officers and crew at 

the station.

42. There is some conflict between sources in the dates of 

tenure for the officers in charge. Dates in this 

paragraph are based upon entries in the station logs 

for Portsmouth.
24 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

liberty for crew members, or other absences left the 

station with less than a full crew. Local men like 

George Dixon might serve at sporadic intervals for 

years, with apparently no desire for full- time 

employment.

A temporary crew was in place at the Portsmouth 

station by early November 1894, but the permanent 

crew did not sign their articles of engagement until 

March 11, 1895. That original crew included Joseph 

W. Roberson, George Dixon, Joseph Styron, Augustus Mason, George R. Willis, Dennis Mason, and 

Washington Roberts, but for unknown reasons the 

district superintendent ordered the discharge of 

Roberson, Dixon, and Styron less that a month later. 

They were replaced by Martin Dixon, George Gilgo, 

and David Salter, but only Gilgo remained in service 

two weeks later. By the time the crew reported back 

to the station on August 1, 1895, a more or less permanent crew was established, consisting of Dennis 

Mason, Washington Roberts, Augustus D. Mason, 

James T. Salter, George R. Willis, George W. Gilgo, 

and Jesse J. Newton.43

The crew at the Portsmouth Station, as at most lifesaving stations, did not remain the same for very 

long, with crew members leaving for a variety of 

reasons, including sickness, injury, and simple 

boredom with the station’s routine. Usually surfmen 

resigned their commissions or refused to re- enlist if 

they were unhappy with the work, but sometimes 

the Life- Saving Service had to make that decision 

for them, as it did in December 1919 when twentyyear- old Norwood Roberts was discharged for 

“inaptitude” [sic] for service after a brief probationary period. Most unusual was Washington Roberts, 

a distant cousin of Norwood Roberts, who signed 

on as a young man of twenty- one in 1894 and 

worked at the Portsmouth station for nearly thirty 

years, retiring early in 1925.

The surfmen’s positions in the crew were numbered, with the #1 position generally going to the 

man with the longest, most reliable service. The #1 

Surfman generally took charge of the station during 

the Keeper’s absence. In 1918, the Keeper enlisted a 

cook, apparently for the first time, bringing the total 

number of men at the station to ten.

Patrols and Rescue

The main mission of a life- saving station was, of 

course, search and rescue, and there were routine 

drills in proper techniques. During the active season, watch was kept from the lookout tower during 

the day, and there were patrols of the beach itself at 

night or whenever there was fog or reduced visibility. According to a newspaper account of a visit to 

Portsmouth in 1921, the station’s crew often used 

their own ponies for patrol.

At night the Portsmouth Coast Guard ride their 

own ponies along the beach in all the dark hours; 

two miles to Ocracoke Inlet one way and 3- 1/2 

FIGURE 30. Three-masted schooner 

breaking up in the surf. (CALO Coll. G02)

FIGURE 31. Surfman on beach patrol. (CALO Coll. 

G-08) 43. Station logs identify crew members.
National Park Service 25

Part I: Developmental History

miles down the beach the other way. Queer little 

stables house these ponies, handsome animals, 

which are found wild on the “banks,” between 

Portsmouth and Cape Lookout mainly. They are 

“penned each year by men who drive them, and 

one of these “pens” is right in the village in 300 

yards of the Coast Guard station.44

To insure that patrols were actually taking place, 

time keys were stationed at the north and south 

ends of the patrol, and the man on duty was 

required to key into the clock carried on each 

round, making indentations on small metal plates 

that could then be checked by the Keeper before 

being sent to District Headquarters for verification. 

Failure to key into the clock could mean loss of liberty or, if there were repeated offenses, dismissal 

from the service.

Part of the crew’s duties was simply to warn ships 

away from the shoals, using a kerosene lamp with a 

red chimney as a signal. Often, however, the crews’ 

first sighting of a vessel came when it was already 

aground. In those circumstances, the lifeboat was 

quickly launched and rowed out to the wreck site. 

Unlike the crew at the Cape Lookout Life- Saving 

Station, which often spent most of a day or night 

reaching vessels aground far out on the shoals 

below the cape, the Portsmouth crew’s range was 

generally no more than three miles. The treacherous 

shoals of Ocracoke Inlet grounded many unwary 

pilots, and a significant portion of the station’s rescues involved refloating those grounded vessels.

The first major incident calling the Portsmouth station into action occurred on December 27, 1894, 

when the schooner Richard S. Spofford ran aground 

off the beach at Ocracoke. A life- saving station 

would not be built at Ocracoke until 1904, so it was 

left to the Portsmouth crew to effect a rescue. The 

Spofford’s small boat capsized as part of the crew 

tried to escape, but residents of Ocracoke rescued 

five of the crew by joining hands and wading out 

into the surf. Three crew members remained on 

board, and with heavy surf breaking over the 

schooner, the Portsmouth crew could not get the 

station’s small boat close enough to rescue the men. 

And so, Keeper Terrell noted in the station log, he 

and the crew from the station at Hatteras “kept 

watch on the beach all night, also fires to encourage 

sailors” still on board. At daybreak, they were finally 

able to rescue two of the men, but the third crew 

member “perished.”45

Perhaps, the best known of the Portsmouth station’s 

rescues was that of the barkentine46 Vera Cruz that 

went aground on Dry Shoal Point near Portsmouth 

on May 8, 1903. Originating in the Cape Verde 

Islands and carrying some 371 hopeful immigrants47, the ship was abandoned by its Portuguese 

captain, who is reported to have paid a local man 

44. Fred A. Olds, “The Barrier Reef,” The Orphan’s Friend 

and Masonic Journal (Oxford, NC), October 28, 1921.

45. Station Log, December 27-28, 1894.

46. A barkentine is a three-masted vessel with squarerigged foremast and fore-and- aft rigged main and 

mizzen masts.

47. In the station log, Terrell counted 371 passengers; 

other sources put the number over 400.

FIGURE 32. Launching a surfboat. (CALO Coll. 

G-03)

FIGURE 33. Passengers from the Vera Cruz 

disembarking at New Bern, May 1903. (CALO 

Coll. C-32)
26 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

$50 to take him to Belhaven where he said he had to 

go to wire the ship’s owner. No one saw the captain 

after that, and it was left to the Portsmouth LifeSaving Station crew to retrieve the passengers. The 

rescue required thirty- two trips in the life boat plus 

every available skiff in the community before all the 

passengers were ashore.

The government kept the station supplied with 

equipment and provisions, and the Women’s 

National Relief Association provided routine shipments of clothes, blankets, sugar, tea, reading matter, and other items for disaster victims. In the case 

of the Vera Cruz, all of these supplies were quickly 

exhausted. In the end, feeding, clothing, and housing the unfortunate people nearly overwhelmed the 

resources of the entire village before the Revenue 

Cutter Boutwell was able to take the immigrants to 

New Bern. Ultimately nearly all of them were 

deported, without the personal money that they had 

given to the erstwhile captain for safe keeping.

Most incidents at the Portsmouth station were less 

dramatic than the rescue of the Vera Cruz. The 

Portsmouth station commanded a full view of 

Ocracoke Inlet, and most of its work involved ships 

grounding on the shoals around the inlet. In many 

cases, the vessel had to be emptied of whatever it 

was carrying in order to get it afloat again, and most 

of that work was done by the surfmen. Rescue missions were not limited to ships at sea but included 

rescue of local fishermen as well. In February 1895, 

for instance, nine oyster fishermen from the mainland at Davis sought refuge at the Portsmouth LifeSaving Station for nearly nine days, “there being so 

much ice [they] was afraid when it broke up, they 

would be carried to sea.”48

On another occasion, the Portsmouth station supplied twenty- four people who were ice bound at 

Harbor Island Club, one of the hunting clubs down 

the banks from Portsmouth.49 With the advent of 

motor boats in the early 1900s, more of the station’s 

efforts went to the rescue of small craft, almost 

always because of engine trouble. By the end of 

World War I, radio communications had made 

large- scale shipwrecks a rarity and fundamentally 

changed the nature of the Life- Saving Service’s 

work.

Community Relations

Besides being a prominent physical landmark, the 

life- saving station was often a place of refuge for 

residents of Portsmouth, especially families of the 

crew. During the dreadful San Ciriaco hurricane in 

1899, which locals remembered as “the great August 

storm,” the tide “was over a man’s head in all this 

part of the world,” according to one account, “and 

people got on roofs or in garrets that dreadful 

night.”50 The keeper recorded in the station’s log 

that the families of Charles and Daniel Willis, neither of whom worked at the station, were rescued 

and taken to the station after their houses were 

swept from their foundations by the storm.51

The Portsmouth Life- Saving Station was an integral 

part of the community’s social and economic life. 

Throughout its history of operation, most of the 

life- saving station’s men were or became residents 

of Portsmouth. It might be argued that, without the 

Life- Saving Service’s station, Portsmouth would 

have withered much faster than it did, since no small 

part of the village’s economic vitality was because of 

the regular income of the station’s crew.

The station also assisted local residents with emergency communications, transportation, and even 

medical assistance. In October 1895, the Keeper at 

the Portsmouth station reported that “Mrs. Ackins a 

lady boarding at Portsmouth was taking [sic] with 

cramps [and] scent [sic] to the Station for Jamaica 

ginger, as she could get none on the island, [and] so 

the Keeper let her have some.”52 On more than one 

occasion, the life- saving station crew had the grim 

task of retrieving and burying the dead. Usually 

bodies were found simply washed up on the beach, 

but in February 1904, one of the surf men came 

upon “a yawl boat partly full of water with a Negro 

man frozed [sic] to death in it.”53 The bodies were 

almost never identified, and it was left to the station 

crew to build a coffin and bury the dead. The crew 

even built coffins for local residences, including one 

for Washington Robert’s mother when she died in 

November 1913 and another for George Dixon’s wife 

when she died in March 1914.54

48. Station Log, February 8-17, 1895.

49. Station Log, January 5, 1918.

50. Olds, “The Barrier Reef,” October 28, 1921.

51. Station Log, August 17-18, 1899,

52. Station Log, October 2, 1895,

53. Station Log, February 13, 1904; also see August 24, 

1899, January 22 and March 11, 1900, August 29, 

1901, September 19, 1913.
National Park Service 27

Part I: Developmental History

Sometimes the crew’s aid to the local community 

was more than incidental. For three days after the 

1913 hurricane, for instance, the crew worked with 

locals to raise the school house which had blown or 

floated off its foundation during the storm. 55Two 

years later, when the local congregation could 

finally begin rebuilding the Methodist church, it was 

the life- saving station crew that spent two days 

unloading lumber for the reconstruction.56

Security and Law Enforcement

As noted above, the Navy’s need to patrol the coasts 

during the Spanish- American War prompted the 

War Department to assign the coast- watching mission to the Life- Saving Service. The Spanish fleet 

was never observed at Portsmouth or anywhere else 

along the Atlantic seaboard, but the experience 

began the militarization of the Life- Saving Service. 

With the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, helping 

to secure the coasts became a primary focus and the 

station was often on alert. Stations were issued circulars showing the silhouette of German submarines and other types of shipping, but the 

Portsmouth station apparently never made any of 

those sightings. Nor did they spot the six German 

officers who left a cruiser at Norfolk in October 1915 

and were presumed to be working as spies.57

In 1919, passage of the Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol increased the Portsmouth station’s work load significantly. In addition 

to rescue of crew and passengers of grounded vessels, the station was now tasked with search and seizure of contraband, sometimes including seizure of 

the vessel itself. In December 1921, the schooner 

Message of Peace ran aground in Ocracoke Inlet, and 

almost immediately, district headquarters telephoned the station, ordering them to seize the vessel 

until the Coast Guard cutter Pamlico arrived. Bound 

to New York from the Bahamas, the Message of 

Peace was loaded with contraband whiskey, and 

while the station log indicates that the ship was 

carefully guarded, a resident of Portsmouth later 

remembered that “the island had all the whiskey 

they wanted to drink for quite awhile” after that.58

54. Station Log, October 29, 1913, March 11 and 

September 8, 1914.

55. Station Log, October 7-9, 1913.

56. Station Log, August 10, September 13, 1915.

FIGURE 34. View to west of Portsmouth in 1969, with Portsmouth Life-Saving 

Station at lower left. (CALO Coll. C-08)

57. Station Log, October 15, 1915.
28 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Historical Background & Context

In the early 1920s, the Coast Guard was woefully 

under- equipped to deal with the flood of liquor 

from “rum runners” into the country. With thousands of miles of coast line to patrol, only a fraction 

of the supply was interdicted before reaching the 

mainland. After May 1925, attempts at enforcement 

of Prohibition were stepped up, and in the late 

1920s, the Portsmouth Coast Guard Station was 

even required to station pickets at Ocracoke Inlet 

after dark. Repeal of Prohibition in 1933 brought an 

end to this police work and contributed to the 

obsolescence of many of the Coast Guard’s coastal 

facilities. That same year, the Portsmouth station got 

its first and only truck, which was shipped up from 

the station at Cape Lookout, and the last of the 

horses was shipped out of the station. But by then, a 

life- saving station at Portsmouth was becoming 

more and more difficult to justify.

Portsmouth was one of many stations that were 

closed in 1937 and 1938, although the Coast Guard 

retained ownership of most of the stations. After 

Pearl Harbor, the Coast Guard reactivated a number 

of these stations, including Portsmouth, to meet the 

war- time need for coastal observation. In 1942 or 

1943, the station was remodeled, and for two years 

during the war, the beaches at Portsmouth were 

patrolled by Coast Guards patrols on horseback.

In 1945, the Coast Guard closed the Portsmouth 

station permanently and, in March 1946, formally 

conveyed the property to the War Assets Administration. In the early 1950s, the Brant Rock Rod and 

Gun Club acquired the old station for a private club 

house. They were responsible for creating a landing 

strip that obliterated what little remained of the old 

Marine Hospital. The old life- saving station was 

occupied on a seasonal basis until it was incorporated into the Cape Lookout National Seashore in 

1977. The Portsmouth Coast Guard Station was 

listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 

November 29, 1978, at a state level of significance for 

its association with the U. S. Life- Saving Service on 

the Outer Banks and for its role in the history of 

Portsmouth Village.

58. Station Log, December 30-31, 1921; Ben B. Salter, 

Portsmouth Island, Short Stories and History (Privately 

published, 1972), p. 45.
National Park Service 29

Constructed in 1894 with only slight modifications 

to a standardized, Shingle- Style design and plan, 

the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station is the bestpreserved of the twenty- one Quonochontaug- type 

stations that the Life- Saving Service built between 

1891 and 1904. As noted in the previous section, only 

ten of these buildings remain, and except for the 

Portsmouth station, all of those have undergone 

major modifications.

Most of the significant alterations to the station, 

including replacement of the original plaster walls 

and ceilings and the original door hardware, 

occurred during the historic period. The original 

floor plan remained unchanged, except for construction of the lightweight partition in Room 103, 

probably in 1908; closure of the door opening 

between Rooms 102 and 104, which probably 

occurred around 1914; and installation of the gun 

closet in Room 101, which probably occurred in the 

late 1910s or 1920s.

The station flooded on several occasions, necessitating repairs to the plaster walls as early as 1904. 

Two wash rooms were created in 1908, but a privy 

remained a fixture at the station as late as the 1940s. 

The original lock sets, knobs, and escutcheon plates 

at all interior doors were replaced in 1913, although 

all of the original doors remained in place. There 

has probably been some replacement of window 

sash due to storm damage, but the original sixover- two muntin pattern has not been changed. 

Nearly all of the original plaster on wood lath was 

replaced with plaster on rock lath, probably when 

the station was reactivated during World War II, but 

the building was never wired for electricity. The 

NPS added a shower in Room 102 but later removed 

all plumbing fixtures from the building. The cedarshingle siding and roofing were completely replaced 

in 1978.

Although it has apparently not been occupied on a 

year- round basis since the end of World War II, the 

station has always been used primarily as a residence. Only the boat room did not serve that residential function, historically being used for storage 

and maintenance of the station’s boats or, as in 

recent years, for the storage and maintenance of 

lawn tractors and other equipment.

Original 

Construction

Authorized in 1888, construction of the life- saving 

station at Portsmouth was inexplicably delayed for 

nearly six years. Since the Federal government 

already owned a large tract of land on which the old 

Marine Hospital was built, it is unclear what caused 

the delay in construction, although it was not 

unusual for several years to pass between the time a 

station was authorized and the time construction 

began. At Cape Lookout, for instance, eight years 

elapsed between the time Congress authorized the 

station and the time the station was actually constructed. As noted earlier, construction may not 

have begun until the spring of 1894, but the Superintendent of Construction reported that it was 

completed on June 28, 1894. The first entry in the 

Portsmouth station’s log is dated September 30, 

1894, which may be the date the building was first 

occupied, but the first crew of surfmen was not on 

duty until November of that year.

Site

On June 8, 1893, the Life- Saving Service’s Superintendent of Construction Capt. C. A. Abbey and civil 

engineer Paul Bausch were at Cape Lookout LifeSaving Station to pick up the Keeper of that station, 

William H. Gaskill. He was part of a committee 

Chronology of 

Development and Use
30 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

appointed to select sites for the new life- saving stations to be built at Core Bank and at Portsmouth.58

They must have made their decision by June 11, 

when the first survey was drawn of the Portsmouth 

site, showing the location of the new station. (See 

Figure 19.)

The old Portsmouth Marine Hospital, which was 

located less than four hundred feet west- southwest 

of the present building, was apparently still standing 

in 1893, since it is depicted on the plat of June 11. The 

hospital occupied some of the highest ground on the 

island and provided a clear view of Ocracoke Inlet 

and of both the ocean and sound sides of Portsmouth Island. There may even have been some 

thought of adapting the old hospital building, but 

that was soon laid to rest when the building was 

burned, apparently deliberately, sometime later that 

year.

In addition, the nature of the shallow tidal creek that 

ran to the east of the old hospital site was surely a 

factor in locating the new life- saving station. Storms 

frequently washed large quantities of sand into the 

creek, and constant dredging would have been necessary to keep open a channel from the hospital site 

to Ocracoke Inlet. In 1908, the station crew built a 

dam across the head of the creek just south of the 

station and the creek was filled in completely from 

that point westward.59 Rather than the inland site of 

the marine hospital then, the new station was 

located much closer to the mouth of the creek 

where water was generally deep enough for a boat 

launch. Even then, keeping a channel open to deep 

water remained a challenge for the station’s crew.

The boundaries for the large tract of land on which 

the hospital had stood were reduced considerably 

for the life- saving station. Bounded by Coast Guard 

Creek on the southeast and Ocracoke Inlet on the 

northeast, the station reserve was only about a sixth 

of the area of the old hospital reserve and did not 

extend much further northwest and southwest than 

the present buildings on the site. The original station 

compound was a square of about 150’ on each of 

three sides with the creek forming the fourth side of

58. Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station Log, June 8, 1893.

FIGURE 35. Undated plans, probably 1894, for fencing of the station compound. A 

barn was soon built outside this compound. (National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, Record Group 26)

59. Station Log, August 11-12, 1908.
National Park Service 31

Part I: Developmental History

FIGURE 36. “Position Plan for Buildings of the U. S. Life-Saving Station at Portsmouth, N. C.,” probably summer 1894. This plat is a revision of the plat of the proposed site that was drawn in July 1893 and shown in Figure 20. (National Archives 

and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA, Record Group 26)
32 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

the square. The compound was originally fenced, 

using 4” by 4” posts and 1” by 6” boards, with the 

fence parallel to the building about 35’ away from its 

northeast end and about 58’ away from its southwest 

end. That first fence was washed down during the 

hurricane of 1899, but it was replaced, only to be 

destroyed again in 1913. Sections were frequently 

damaged by other storms. With the end of freeranging livestock in the 1920s, there was less need 

for a fence, and after the fence was washed away 

again in September 1933, it was not replaced.60

Original Plan

As the site for the new station was being surveyed, 

the Life- Saving Service was also planning for the 

building’s construction. On July 31, 1893, the Service’s General Superintendent wrote to C. A. Abbey, 

the Service’s Superintendent of Construction, concerning “the intention to build new stations at 

Cahoon’s Hollow, Spermacetti Cove, Avalon, [all in 

New Jersey] and Portsmouth, N. C.,” and asking if 

there would be “objections” to using the plans for 

the Brant Rock (Massachusetts) Life- Saving Station, built in 1892, or the Ditch Plain (New Jersey) 

Life- Saving Station, built in 1886. The next day, 

Abbey responded:

We see no objection to the use of the Brant Rock 

plans at all the points named for the reason that 

such houses are well adapted to the present 

needs of the Service. The addition of an 

inexpensive verandah on the South side of the 

Portsmouth house is very desirable, and is 

probably the only change that will be necessary 

in the drawings.61

The Ditch Plain Life- Saving Station, constructed 

near Montauk Point on Long Island, New York, in 

1885, was similar to the station built at Cape Lookout 

in 1887, with both following a plan developed by 

Parkinson in 1882. The Ditch Plain plan would not 

do, Abbey wrote, being “a modification of an old 

plan of a small, weak, and generally unsatisfactory 

house” and more expensive besides.62

The Brant Rock station, which was built in 1892- 93, 

was the third station built to plans that George R. 

Tolman, the Life- Saving Service’s chief architect in 

FIGURE 37. Plans originally drawn for the lifesaving station at Quononchontaug, Rhode 

Island. (Taken from York, “Architecture of the 

United States Life-Saving Service,”1972)

FIGURE 38. Tolman’s plan for the life-saving station 

at the World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893. (Taken 

from York, “Architecture of the United States LifeSaving Service,” 1972)

60. Station Log September 16, 1933.

61. Letter from Superintendent of Construction to the 

General Superintendent, August 1, 1893, photocopy 

of original correspondence in CALO files.

62. Ibid.
National Park Service 33

Part I: Developmental History

the early 1890s, designed for a Shingle- Style station 

at Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, in 1891 (see Figure 37). Late in 1892, Tolman adapted the Quonochontaug design for a station that was built at 

Jackson Park on Lake Michigan for the Worlds 

Columbian Exposition in 1893 (Figure 38). Most 

notably, Tolman relocated the “storm clothes room” 

from a position between the “mess room” and the 

stair hall to a position on the opposite side of the 

mess room from the hall. The crew entrance, which 

was into the storm clothes room, was then at the 

gable end of the building and windows were 

changed accordingly. An historic photograph of the 

Quonochontaug building (see Figure 7) does not 

indicate a door on what corresponds to the southeast side of the Portsmouth station, suggesting that 

this change in the floor plan may have occurred 

even before the original Quonochontaug station 

was built. At the Portsmouth station, there is no evidence that there was ever a door at the southeast 

end of the stair hall, as indicated on the original 

Quonochontaug plans. It is not clear why this 

change to the plan was made, since it reduced light 

and air in the crew’s mess room.

A second station using the modified Quonochontaug design was built at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, 

around the same time that the Jackson Park station 

was under construction. It incorporated most of the 

features in the Jackson Park plans and became the 

model for the station at Portsmouth. In form and 

architectural style, the Quonochontaug, Brant Rock, 

and Portsmouth buildings were almost identical 

(the Rhode Island station was destroyed by the 

great New England hurricane of 1938 and the Brant 

Rock station burned in 1967), and both buildings 

had the same number of rooms, each room configured in much the same way and, at least on paper, 

intended for the same use.

Although Abbey initially thought the addition of a 

porch was the only change to the Brant Rock plans 

and specifications that would be required, he outlined a few other changes in a letter to the General 

Superintendent on March 30, 1894 (see Appendix B 

for a copy of the Brant Rock specifications and 

Abbey’s letter outlining proposed changes). Most 

were relatively minor, e.g., allowing for sawn shingles rather than split or “shaved” shingles; specifyFIGURE 39. View of Portsmouth station about 1910, the earliest image of the station. 

The photographer was apparently standing on the “dam” that the crew built at the 

head of the creek in 1908. (CALO Coll. C-13)
34 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

ing 4” rather than 1- 1/2” flashing “for the reason that 

1- 1/2” flashings have been found insufficient to prevent leakage”; and changing the smaller boat room 

door from 6’ to 7’ wide in order to accommodate the 

“beach apparatus cart” that would be using it.63

Abbey also thought that the design of the boat room 

doors “is not as satisfactory as it should be,” noting:

in such doors, leakage and damage occurs by the 

settling of water in the beads of the diagonal 

paneling, where it sets in the frame, and this in 

time causes discoloration and decay.64

As noted above, the porch that the original Quonochontaug plan shows wrapping the gabled end of 

the building was apparently not constructed for the 

Quononchontaug or the Brant Rock stations. At the 

Jackson Park building, the porch was replaced by a 

balustraded deck without a roof. At Portsmouth, 

however, the full porch was constructed as shown 

on the original Quonochontaug plans, and all stations built to those plans after that time had porches 

as well.

The rooms in the Portsmouth station functioned 

more or less as designated on the Quonochontaug 

plans. On the first floor, in addition to a stair hall 

and “storm- clothes room,” where the surf men kept 

their slickers, boots, and other bad- weather gear, 

there was a small entrance hall that was used primarily by the Keeper and visitors; a kitchen with an 

adjacent pantry; a “mess room” or dining room; the 

Keeper’s private bedroom; and a large, three- bay, 

boat room. Doors and windows were in their 

present locations, but there was also originally a 

door opening from the kitchen directly into the 

mess room. That door was shown as a sliding or 

pocket door on the Brant Rock plans, but Superintendent Abbey proposed a conventional door.

A door, instead will be much better and prevent 

the necessity of passing through the vestibule 

when going from one of these rooms to the 

other, which tend, to keep the dining room cold. 

With a door as suggested the heat from the 

kitchen will suffice for warming the dining room 

except in very cold weather.65

On the second floor were the crew’s quarters, which 

included a large open bunk room and eight small 

closets, each with a built- in chest of drawers. Also 

on the second floor were a “spare room,” which was 

used to accommodate overnight guests, and an 

unfinished “store room.” A conventional stair case 

to the attic was designed for the hall between these 

last two rooms, but at Portsmouth steep, ladder- like 

stairs were installed instead. The hall also featured a 

double- leaf trap door in the floor that allowed large 

objects to be hoisted up from the boat room below.

Original Exterior Finishes

Although the original boat room doors and some 

windows are now covered with plywood and all of 

the exterior shingles were replaced in 1980, the 

present building retains or replicates nearly all of the 

building’s original exterior finishes. Original exterior finishes included cedar shingles with metal 

ridge caps on the roof, cedar shingles on the walls, 

six- over- two double- hung sash, and tongue- andgroove flooring on the verandah or piazza, as it was 

sometimes called. (See the following section of this 

report, “Physical Description,” for details of these 

finishes.)

Original features that are no longer present are the 

wooden lattice that was originally used to close off 

the crawl space beneath the building and the 

wooden ramps that descended from the boat room 

doors (see Figure 39). There is no evidence that the 

building ever had shutters or blinds at the windows, 

but half screens at the windows and storm doors at 

all outside doors and at the door between the stair 

hall and the boat room appear to have been part of 

the building’s original construction.

The original exterior colors of the building are 

uncertain, although in the earliest photograph (c. 

1910) the trim appears to be painted while the shingles appear to have been left untreated.66 Specifications for the Brant Rock Life- Saving Station (1892) 

called for dark red window sash, with other “woodwork usually painted” to be “light red, made of 

Venetian red and yellow ocher and pure linseed oil.” 

The exterior of the boat room doors were to be “oil 

stained” and finished with three coats of “Pellucidite,” a type of varnish, while the shingles were “to be 

left in natural wood, no paint or oil.” The Ports- 63. Letter from Superintendent of Construction to the 

General Superintendent, March 30, 1994, photocopy 

of original correspondence in CALO files.

64. Ibid.

65. Ibid.

66. Historically, shingles were usually left untreated or 

were stained but were seldom painted.
National Park Service 35

Part I: Developmental History

FIGURE 40. Undated plans for Portsmouth Life-Saving Station, perhaps 1916, but corresponding to the station’s plans as it was originally constructed. (Record Group 26, 

National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA)
36 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

mouth station may have been treated in a similar 

manner.

The Brant Rock specifications also called for 

wooden inclines at the boat room doors and builtin wooden gutters. These features were constructed 

but no longer remain with the present building. 

Finally, the Brant Rock specifications called for “a 

brick cistern to be built adjacent to the kitchen, outside the main building.” In spite of its rather awkward placement, the brick cistern at Portsmouth 

was probably part of the station’s original construction. It was to be built on a 6”- thick, concrete foundation, “4 feet of the height to be below the 

established grade, and the remainder above the 

same.”

Original Interior Finishes

Interior walls and ceilings were plaster on wood 

lath, with wooden wainscotting present in all rooms 

except the keeper’s room and the crew’s quarters, 

where there were only wooden chair rails,67 and the 

spare room, where there was neither wainscot nor 

chair rail. The present tongue- and- groove flooring 

appears to be original, but that is not certain. It is a 

mixture of 2- 1/2”- wide and 3”- wide boards, but 

there is no evidence for extensive repairs or 

replacement. Physical evidence shows that most of 

the interior woodwork was originally stained and 

varnished (“hard- oiled,” is the term used for “varnished” in the station logs). The Brant Rock specifications call for a “light wood stain, made of sienna 

and pure linseed oil,” on most interior woodwork, 

but a cherry stain was specified for the interior of 

the window sash. All woodwork was to be finished 

with two (2) coats of ‘Pellucidite,” which was apparently a type of varnish.68 That included flooring, 

where even the boat room floor was kept varnished.69 Neither the Brant Rock specifications nor 

the station logs document the original finishes on 

the station’s interior plaster.

Other Original Interior Features

A number of other interior features are documented 

in the Brant Rock specifications. These include the 

three closets in the boat room and the mantle in the 

mess room. Other features that were probably built 

but that are no longer present in the Portsmouth 

station include a china cabinet in the Pantry (101), 

window seats at the dormer windows, and cherrywood interior door knobs.

Lighting

For most of its history, the Portsmouth station was 

lit with kerosene lamps. Kerosene chandeliers might 

have been present in the mess room, but most likely 

all of the lighting was provided by table lamps. Parts 

of kerosene lamps are stored in the store room 

(Room 203) on the second floor, but it is not known 

if these were used in the station or came from 

another building.

Water

The plans (c. 1916) in Figure 40 indicate a a sink with 

a hand- operated pump along the northeast wall of 

Room 102, which was the original kitchen, and 

although these are no longer present, they were 

probably original features. The Brant Rock specifications called for “‘Columbus” wrought steel galvanized sink, 18 by 30 by 6 inches . . . with a brass screw 

drainer, complete, supported by a strong frame, left 

open below, with a wooden grooved draining shelf.” 

It is not clear if the pump now stored in Room 203 is 

an historic feature of the building. The building had 

no indoor bathrooms.

Heating

In addition to a wood- burning cook stove in the 

kitchen, heating was provided by coal- and woodburning stoves.70 The earliest plans of the building 

67. The plans in Figure 39 document the presence of a 

chair rail in the Keeper’s Room.

FIGURE 41. View of kerosene lamp parts, 

pumps, and ice tongs now stored in Room 203. 

These could have been used in the station. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

68. Brant Rock Specifications, p. 15.

69. E.g., station log, February 27, 1911.
National Park Service 37

Part I: Developmental History

show only three flues in the chimney, which served 

stoves in the kitchen, the mess room, and the 

keeper’s room. The plans also show a mantle shelf 

in the mess room and in the keeper’s room. However, by the time the plans in Figure 40 were drawn, 

a stove was also present in the crew’s quarters on 

the second floor, although the rest of the second 

floor remained unheated. Since there were only 

three flues in the chimney and since sleeping quarters were often unheated in the nineteenth century, 

it is likely that the stove in the Crew’s Quarters was 

not originally present. The stoves were routinely put 

up in October or November and dismantled and 

stored in April or May.

Maintenance

In between rescue drills and actual rescues, the surf 

men were responsible for nearly all of the maintenance of the station, from daily housekeeping to 

routine repairs. Fortunately for the Portsmouth 

crew, the station’s design greatly reduced maintenance, since the cedar shingles covering most of the 

building did not require painting.

Painting

Although there are references in the station logs to 

painting materials, including white lead and linseed 

oil, there has been no analysis of surviving paint on 

the existing building, and there is little definitive 

information on the building’s painted finishes. 

However, as noted earlier, historic photographs and 

the station’s log books prove that the exterior trim 

was painted and support circumstantial evidence in 

the Brant Rock specifications and historic photographs that exterior shingles were left unfinished.

Typically the station’s “trimmings,” windows, doors, 

and porch ceiling and floor were repainted every 

three or four years, generally in the spring or fall. 

Until pre- mixed paints began to be used in the late 

1890s, the crew routinely mixed their own paints 

using white and red lead, pigments, and linseed oil. 

Outbuildings and fences were routinely whitewashed. In 1910, the station’s exterior trim was 

painted white, and historic photographs suggest 

that white trim was the norm throughout the 

remainder of the historic period.71

A visitor to the island in 1921 published an account 

of his visit in which he described the life- saving station as “all white and green.”72 This suggests that the 

exterior shingles might have been stained or possibly painted green by that time, but the writer might 

have only been describing the green paint that has 

been documented on the brick cistern and the 

porch ceiling.

The interior was less- frequently repainted, and 

with most of the woodwork stained and varnished 

(or “hard oiled,” as it was called), maintenance was 

minimal. The station’s log book documents painting 

of much of the plaster on the first floor in 1908, but 

there is no note made of colors used. However, in 

December 1918, twenty gallons of “straw paint” was 

delivered to the station, and it is likely that this was 

used for repainting the plaster walls and ceilings in 

1919.

Of some interest is the use of “alabastine” on the 

plaster walls in the 1910s.73 Advertised and “celebrated” as a “sanitary wall coating,” alabastine was 

deemed “the finest substitute for kalsomine and 

wall paper yet discovered.” Composed of calcium 

sulfate, a form of gypsum, the material was sold in 

powdered form to be mixed with paint.74 The station logs document a few other aspects of the 

building’s historic painted finishes, including the 

use of grey paint on the porch floor and on the boat 

room doors, which were originally stained and varnished.75

Gutters

Gutters were always present during the historic 

period and were important not only for filling the 

cistern but also to provide some protection for the 

exterior walls, which the narrow eaves did little to 

shelter. The original gutters may have been built- in 

wooden gutters, as called for in the Brant Rock 

specifications, but in November 1899, the station log 

notes the receipt of gutters. That these were metal 

gutters is shown by the entry of June 14, 1900, which 

notes “tinner puts up new gutters.” No doubt, these 

70. Station logs document periodic deliveries of coal and 

wood.

71. Station log, September 26, 1910.

72. Fred A. Olds, “The Barrier Reef,” The Orphan’s Friend 

and Masonic Journal (Oxford, NC), October 28, 1921.

73. Station log, May 5, 1910, and September 5, 1918.

74. See <http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/4791/

sep1881.html>.

75. Station log, October 25, 1917; June 13, 1919.
38 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

were the same roof- hung, half- round gutters 

shown in the 1910 photograph of the station.

The harsh marine environment hastened deterioration of gutters, especially if they were not galvanized. By 1907, the gutters installed in 1900 were in 

need of repair, and they appear to have been 

replaced entirely in 1913, perhaps using galvanized 

metal since there is no further mention in the station 

log of gutter replacement.

Screens

As noted above, the station appears to have been fitted with wood- framed window screens when it was 

originally constructed. However, because their 

light- weight construction made them prone to 

storm damage and because the harsh marine environment took its toll on the screening itself, the 

window screens and screened doors required frequent repairs. In May 1910, the Keeper recorded that 

fifteen window screens and two screen doors, all 

that were in the station, had been condemned and 

were replaced.76 At least some screens were 

replaced again in 1918.77

Flooding

Although the building itself flooded only infrequently during the historic period, the entire site 

was and remains prone to flooding, often two or 

three times a year. Between November 1894 and 

December 1895, for example, the site was under 

water on four separate occasions. Water was nine 

inches deep inside the station in the wake of the San 

Ciriaco hurricane in 1899, and the station flooded 

twice in 1933, although there is no record of how 

much water entered the station at that time.78

There were also several inches of water inside the 

station during Hurricane Dennis in 1999 and Hurricane Alex in 2004. Hurricane Isabel in 2003 was 

perhaps the worst, with some twenty- two inches of 

FIGURE 42. Plot map of Portsmouth Life-Saving Station in 1900. The walk leads 

to the oil house, which is not depicted on this map. Note that neither the 

summer kitchen nor the cistern yet exist. (RG 26, National Archives and 

Records Administration, Cartographic Division, College Park, MD)

76. Station log, May 26, 1910.

77. Station log, August 28, 1918.

78. Station logs document these amounts.
National Park Service 39

Part I: Developmental History

water inside the station at the height of the storm. 

Obviously flooding took its toll on the building, 

especially the plaster walls, parts of which were failing as early as 1903.79 Whether or not there was 

material damage, these storms always left the station’s crew with a huge mess to clean up. In addition, while water did not always rise high enough to 

flood the station itself, the flooding caused significant erosion of the site, especially during the early 

years. In January and February 1896, the crew constructed a wooden breakwater along the creek, but 

in October of that same year, it was “washed down” 

by storm surge during a tropical storm.80 The 

breakwater was damaged again in the 1899 hurricanes, and in November 1900, a nor’easter cut the 

bank of the creek to within nine feet of the station’s 

walls. The breakwater was washed down a fourth 

time in the 1913 storm, and throughout this period, 

the Keeper noted in his log on several occasions 

that the crew was “hauling bricks and stone” to put 

around the station. Only after construction of the 

sea wall during World War I was it possible to stabilize the site.

Alterations

In addition to painting, routine maintenance, and 

repairs to storm damage, four significant building 

campaigns can be identified. The first came in the 

spring of 1908 when the “summer kitchen” was 

constructed. Additional construction occurred 

around the time the Coast Guard was created in 

1915, which probably included alterations to the 

original kitchen or cook room, as it was called. A 

third construction campaign can also be identified 

when most of the interior plaster was replaced, 

which probably occurred when the station was 

reactivated in 1942. The final series of significant 

alterations or repairs came during the early years of 

NPS ownership of the site.

Documentation

Research for this report included a thorough review 

of the station’s log books, which begin in September 

1894 and continue until the station’s closure on June 

1, 1937. Keepers were instructed to note any activity 

at the station, and most of the alterations discussed 

below are documented in the station log books. 

However, Keepers generally omitted the work that 

was performed by contractors and that did not 

involve the station crew’s labor. As a result, uncer- 79. Station log, December 22, 1903.

80. Station log, January 16, February 3, 1896.

FIGURE 43. View north of Portsmouth Coast Guard Station, dated July 10, 

1917. Barely visible at extreme left are the station stables, with the 1908 

kitchen in the foreground and the 1894 oil house at center. (CALO Coll. A-67)
40 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

tainty remains as to precisely when some changes 

were made. 

However, historic drawings from the 1890s and early 

1900s as well as photographs taken between about 

1910 and 1950 help in dating some alterations as do 

the characteristics of certain building materials used 

in alterations and additions. In addition, the present 

study has benefitted from historic structure reports 

recently completed for the life- saving stations at 

Cape Lookout and Bodie Island. Those studies also 

included research in the station log books and provide useful parallels for interpretation of changes at 

the Portsmouth station.

1895-1915

In addition to alteration and relocation of outbuildings, routine maintenance, and repair of storm 

damage, the Life- Saving Service made or began 

making some significant changes to the station prior 

to World War I. These included construction of a 

separate kitchen building and replacement of the 

original door locks.

Kitchen. A significant change for the Portsmouth 

station was construction of a one- room “summer 

kitchen” just west of the station house, which probably occurred in 1908. When the Cape Lookout station was built in 1887, its kitchen was also inside the 

station house, but there and elsewhere the LifeSaving Service soon found that in a Southern climate, at least, an outside kitchen was a necessity. A 

separate kitchen building was built at Cape Lookout 

in the fall of 1892, but the Portsmouth station did not 

get a summer kitchen until 1908. The new summer 

kitchen is depicted as part of the 1909 revisions to a 

1903 plot of the life- saving station in which the 

kitchen was not present. The only large- scale construction projects that could have included the 

kitchen prior to that time occurred in late spring and 

summer of 1908. The station logs suggest that the 

original kitchen, or “cook room,” continued to be 

used during the winter, and perhaps other times as 

well.

Sewer Lines. Construction of the kitchen included 

installation of new sewer lines. On July 6, 1908, the 

keeper noted that the crew had spent the day “taking up and putting down the sewer pipe that Mr. 

Shull put down in July.” Keeper McWilliams went on 

to explain in the station log book:

He put it down two feet lower at the cistern than 

it was at the pipe that lead from the sink to the 

cistern pipe and the dirty water that come from 

the sink and the salt water on high tide would 

run down at the lower end of the pipe to the 

cistern and ruined the water in the cistern.

Sewer lines are depicted on the 1909 plot of the station (Figure 45) and appear to indicate that, in addition to water service to the summer kitchen, there 

were at least two sinks inside the station. One was 

located around the west corner of the kitchen 

(Room 102) and it appears that another was located 

in the storm- clothes room (Room 103), giving the 

crew their first wash room inside the building.

Installation of a wash room inside the station was 

apparently part of an ongoing effort by the LifeSaving Service to provide indoor wash rooms at all 

stations. In October 1903, an inspector with the 

Life- Saving Service visited the station at Little Kinnakeet and noted “that there is no washing place 

provided for the crew (an omission that is now 

being remedied in many stations, old and new).” At 

Little Kinnakeet and at Portsmouth, the remedy was 

to create a wash room in the storm clothes room that 

included “a sink large enough to take two movable 

wash basins, with pump to supply the water thereto, 

be placed along the closed end of the storm clothes 

room.”81

Door Locks. Journal entries document replacement 

of all of the door locks in the station in 1913. In June 

of that year, the keeper recorded in the station log 

receipt of “18 door locks with brass knobs” along 

with several thousand feet of lumber.82 It is not clear 

for what purpose the lumber was intended, but the 

locks were clearly for the station itself, since the 

building has eighteen mortise locks, not including 

the simple latches on the nine closet doors on the 

second floor and the thumb latch on the door to the 

attic. The station log records that the crew installed 

these new steel locks on August 20, 1913. The locks 

were manufactured by Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company of Stamford, Connecticut. Why it was 

necessary to replace the original locks is not known, 

but it might have been done simply as an upgrade 

from common rim locks and the wooden door 

81. Quoted in David Wallace, “Historic Furnishings 

Report, Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station” (NPS, 

1991), p. 35.

82. Station Log, June 6, 1913.
National Park Service 41

Part I: Developmental History

FIGURE 44. “Plot of Lot of U.S. L-S.S. at Portsmouth, N. C.,” June 1903 with revisions 

dated July 26, 1909. (National Archives and Record Center, Cartographic Division, 

College Park, MD)
42 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

knobs that were installed when the station was first 

built.

1915-1946

The Coast Guard completed some of the projects 

that were begun by the Life- Saving Service, including construction of the long concrete sea wall that 

was begun in 1914 north and east of the station. In 

addition, the Coast Guard appears to have made a 

number of other improvements at the Portsmouth 

station, as it did at many other old life- saving stations. Station logs indicated that, by the end of 

World War I, washrooms and telephone service had 

been added to the station and that new paneling had 

been installed in the original “cook room” and the 

adjacent store room. At least some damage done by 

the 1933 hurricanes was not repaired before the station closed in 1937. When the station was reactivated 

in 1942, nearly all of the old plaster walls and ceilings 

were replaced.

Boat Ramps. Along with construction of the concrete seawall, replacement of the original wooden 

ramps to the boat room doors was planned by the 

Life- Saving Service and completed by the Coast 

Guard. All three ramps were constructed of concrete over a shell and sand fill that the crew carried 

from elsewhere on the site. In addition to the ramps, 

concrete walkways around the station and to the 

summer kitchen were also poured around the same 

time.83

Telephone. Although the Portsmouth station was 

apparently never wired for electricity, a telephone 

cable was laid across Ocracoke Inlet to Portsmouth 

and telephone lines were strung to Core Bank station in the summer of 1917.84 Two telephones were 

installed. Most likely, one telephone was located in 

the lookout and the other in the keeper’s room.

Old Kitchen and Pantry. The earliest floor plans of 

the building (see Figure 40) date no earlier than 

191585 and depict the kitchen and pantry very much 

as they are shown on Tolman’s original plans for the 

Quonochontaug stations in 1893. However, in 1918, 

the first references to a “surf man’s wash room”86

and a “keeper’s wash room”87 appear in the station 

log books. Although neither of these rooms is 

depicted on the 1915 plans, a wash room (but no 

water closet) had apparently been created in the 

storm- clothes room (Room 103) in 1908.88 SomeFIGURE 45. View east of station, 1916, one of few images showing the 1894 

wreck pole, right, and the 1913 steel storm-warning tower. (CALO Coll. B-99)

83. Station Log, various dates between November 1913 

and March 1918.

84. Station Log, March 15, October 3, 1917.

85. Although the plans are undated, they are labeled 

“Coast Guard, Portsmouth Station,” and so must postdate the founding of the Coast Guard in 1915.

86. Station Log, July 18, 1918.

87. Station Log, October 25, 1918.
National Park Service 43

Part I: Developmental History

time between 1915 and 1918, the sink was removed 

from the west corner of the original kitchen (Room 

102), and it or a different sink was installed in the 

pantry (Room 101) to create a wash room for the 

Officer in Charge.

The addition of these facilities to the station must 

have coincided with the installation of new V- joint 

paneling on the walls and ceilings of both rooms, as 

suggested by the fact that there is no evidence on 

the present paneling for the kitchen sink, counters, 

and other features depicted in the 1915 plans, while 

there is clear evidence for the presence of a bathroom sink and toilet in the old pantry. In addition, 

the use of V- joint boards in place of the original 

beaded tongue- and- groove boards echoes similar 

material differences in the Cape Lookout Life- Saving Station where bathrooms are known to have 

been added and finished with V- joint paneling 

during or shortly after World War I.

In the summer and fall of 1918, the crew spent several weeks removing varnish and refinishing walls, 

ceilings, and floors. References to “sandpapering 

walls and ceiling in keeper’s washroom”89 suggest 

that his washroom was, in fact, the old pantry, since 

that is the only small room with a paneled ceiling. It 

is unclear if the old kitchen continued to be used for 

cooking, but it probably did not. Log book entries 

suggest, but do not prove, that the room was used as 

an office for the officer in charge of the station. This 

suggestion is supported by the absence of any evidence in the present room for a sink or other features clearly related to the room’s use as a kitchen. 

In addition, installation of the V- joint paneling 

must have included the closure of the door between 

the Kitchen and the Mess Room, since there is no 

evidence in the present wall to indicate that a door 

opening has been closed at that location.

Metal Cistern. In March 1921, the station’s crew 

spent two days erecting a “water tank,” which must 

have been the round, metal tank that stood until 

recently at the end of the porch on the southeast 

side of the building.90 While it functioned like a cistern by collecting rainwater from the station’s roof, 

this tank was probably used to store water for firefighting and not for human consumption. The tank 

was recently taken down and put in storage.

88. This assumption is based on the sewer lines depicted 

on the 1909 drawing in Figure 45.

FIGURE 46. The Portsmouth Coast Guard Station in 1942. At center, note water 

tank that was installed in 1921 and, at right, the station’s privy. (CALO Coll. B-26)

89. Ibid.

90. Station Log, March 14-15, 1921.
44 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

Gun Cabinet. The cabinet in the north corner of 

Room 101 appears to have been added after installation of the V- joint paneling since it was built over 

the chair rail that surrounds the room. It was clearly 

built as a locker for rifles, and probably ammunition 

and other guns as well. In October 1918, the station 

log records receipt of “rifle, Springfield, belt, sling, 

bayonet, scabbard, and canteen- - 240 cartridges.”91

Other rifles could have been issued around the same 

time, but not until 1930 do log entries clearly indicate that rifles had been issued to most, if not all, of 

the station’s crew.92 Most likely the rifles were 

issued as part of the government’s stepped- up 

efforts in the spring of 1925 to enforce the Volstead 

Act which prohibited the manufacture, transport or 

sale of alcoholic beverages.

1933 Hurricanes. There is no record of precisely 

what damage was done to the station by the 1933 

hurricanes, but it must have been considerable. 

Water rose high enough during both storms to flood 

the first floor of the station, which would probably 

have caused significant damage to the plaster walls if 

nothing else. At the height of the storm, the officer 

in charge recorded later, the building was so buffeted by the wind and the accompanying storm 

surge that it was “expected to go away.”93 The building held, but recovery was slow. Phone service was 

not restored until January 1934, and it was not until 

April 1934 that the Coast Guard was able to make a 

full assessment of the damage. Some repairs must 

have been made, but even so, when Julian Gray 

assumed command of the Portsmouth Coast Guard 

Station in January 1935, he immediately noted in the 

station log book that “buildings are in need of repair 

due to damage done by storms,” an entry that was 

repeated routinely until the station was closed on 

June 1, 1937.94

“Rock Lath” Walls and Ceilings. Installation of the 

existing plaster walls and ceilings in the station 

could have occurred prior to the station’s deactivation in 1937, but that does not seem likely. While 

“rock lath” became popular in the 1930s, it is almost 

certain that the station would have been vacated in 

order for the old plaster walls and ceilings to be 

removed and replaced, and there are no entries in 

the station’s logs that would indicate that this hapFIGURE 47. Portsmouth Coast Guard crew moving 

a sidewalk, perhaps in conjunction with construction of the addition to the summer 

kitchen,1942. (CALO Coll. B-40)

FIGURE 48. View of the Coast Guard’s mounted 

beach patrol at Portsmouth in 1942. The summer kitchen was painted white after the addiFIGURE 49. View of Portsmouth Coast Guard Station around the time it was permanently 

decommissioned in 1946. (CALO Coll. G-18)

91. Station Log, October 10, 1918.

92. Station Log, August 2, 1930.

93. Station Log, September 16, 1933.

94. Station Log, January 23, 1935.
National Park Service 45

Part I: Developmental History

pened. Most likely, these and other repairs were 

made when the station was re- activated in 1942. At 

that time, all of the original plaster and wood lath 

was removed from walls and ceilings throughout 

the building except in the closets. Walls and ceilings 

were then finished with the plaster on rock lath that 

remains in the building today.

Gypsum or rock lath is a manufactured plaster 

board, usually 16 inches by 48 inches and 3/8 of an 

inch thick. It became popular in the 1930s as a less 

expensive alternative to wood lath, being much less 

labor intensive to install. Nailed directly to the wall 

studs, it received two coats of plaster, with the rock 

lath replacing both the wood lath and the brown 

coat in the original system. The first coat was a 

cement plaster about 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch thick. The 

finish coat was a hard finish- grade plaster approximately 1/8 inch thick. Rock lath can sometimes be 

identified by a characteristic pattern of cracks that 

may be visible in ceilings and walls. In the present 

building, the back sides of the lath are also visible in 

the attic and a few other places.

Screened Porch. Another change that has not been 

dated, but that historic photographs suggest was 

made when the station was reactivated in 1942, was 

screening of the porch on the southwest and southeast sides of the house.95 Probably at the same time, 

1” by 6” boards were used to close off the area 

beneath the porches, replacing the lattice that was 

used originally but which had probably been damaged and replaced on more than one occasion.

Post-World War II

The Portsmouth Coast Guard Station may have sat 

vacant for a time after it was declared surplus in 

1946. Its condition certainly deteriorated, as evidenced by photographs from the period, but by the 

mid- 1950s it was being used as a hunting club and at 

least some repairs were being made. The old woodshingled roofing was recovered with white asphalt 

shingles in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Around the 

same time, the porch wrapping the southeast side of 

the building was removed, apparently to accommoFIGURE 50. View of old Portsmouth Coast Guard Station when it was being 

used as a hunting club, c. 1956. (CALO Coll. B-35)

95. Porches at the Cape Lookout station were screened 

around the same time.
46 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

date vehicular parking, and the old WWII- era 

screening was entirely replaced on the remainder of 

the porch.

In 1978, the wood shingles cladding the exterior of 

the building were replaced along with repair or 

replacement of damaged and missing window sash. 

Screening was also removed from the front porch, 

and the porch flooring was replaced. Later, when 

the building was being used to house park personnel 

(1980- 1990), a shower was installed in the west corner of the old pantry (Room 101), temporary wiring 

was installed, and urinals and other fixtures were 

removed from the old storm clothes room (Room 

103). Although the building has been flooded on 

numerous occasions in the past, the storm surge 

during Hurricane Isabel in 2003 may have set a 

record, with 22” of water measured inside the station. Damage was perhaps the most severe of any 

suffered by the station, with parts of the wall at the 

east end of the building destroyed and much of the 

northeast quadrant of the boat room floor torn 

loose.

FIGURE 51. View of old Portsmouth Coast Guard Station in 1974. (CALO Coll. F-203)
National Park Service 47

Part I: Developmental History

.

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station Chronology

Unless otherwise noted, quoted material is from the station’s log books.

30 September 1894 First entry in journal of Portsmouth Life-Saving Station

3 November 1894 First entry indicating presence of a crew and full operation

12 April 1895 Nor’easter sends tide “all around station”

13 December 1895 Tide all around station, “highest in three years”

3 February 1896 Completed building breakwater east of station”

August 12, 1896 Completed building stables

October 10, 1896 Tide all around station from Category 2 hurricane at sea

October 11, 1896 Oil and coal house “tore up” by storm; breakwater east of station and part of fence “washed 

down”

October 29, 1896 Crew rebuilding breakwater

February 26, 1897 Crew completes boat house “on outer beach”

April 12, 1898 Island underwater from nor’easter

August 16, 1899 Category 3 San Ciriaco hurricane strikes Outer Banks, putting island under water, washing 

down fence, and causing boat house at hill to settle in the sand

August 17, 1899 Nine inches of water in station, “stables gone with horses in them,” two families rescued and 

brought to station

October 30, 1899 Category 2 hurricane strikes south of Wilmington, washes down part of breakwater

November 23, 1899 Received gutters and lumber for cart house and walkway

February 24, 1900 Asst. Superintendent of Construction supervising construction of watch house

March 1, 1900 Nor’easter puts tide all around station and washes over breakwater damaged in October 1899 

storm, cutting bank within 9’ of station on east side

June 2, 1900 Crew “fixing boat room doors”

June 17, 1900 “Tinner” finishes installation of new gutters

May 23, 1901 Men puttying windows and painting “trimmings” on station

December 22, 1903 “A piece of plastering fell from station wall about the size of 7 inch by 7 ft in length”

January 5, 1904 “A piece of plastering fell from station wall size about 2-1/2 by 13 ft”

March 12, 1904 In answer to standard entry “Is the house in good repair?,” keeper begins entering “fair” 

instead of “good”

May 17, 1904 Crew cleaned out cistern

December 18, 1904 Crew hauling rocks and bricks to put at east side of station

December 30, 1904 Mr. Henry E. Davis inspects “condition of this station Barn & etc.”

May 22, 1905 Crew engaged in putting on hard oil finish in Keeper’s room and dining room

May 23, 1905 Crew “finished putting on hard oil finish down stairs”

May 27, 1905 Crew putting rocks and turf at south corner of station

October 1-2, 1906 Water around station

February 16, 1907 Journal notation that “porches, windows, stables, gutters, etc.” need repair
48 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

March 9, 1907 Journal note that “general repairs” are needed

May 24, 1907 Crew put stone on each side of station

August 11, 1907 “Capt. Newcom visited station and inspected it and barn for repairs”

May 27, 1908 “Mr. George T. Hale has arrived to begin work on station.” which probably included 

construction of the summer kitchen

May 29, 1908 “Crew saved about $250 worth of lumber that belong to Mr. Shull the contractor who is to 

repair this station”

August 6, 1908 Crew “taking up and putting down sewer pipe that Mr. Shull put down in July. He put it down 

2’ lower at the cistern than it was at the pipe that lead from the sink to the cistern pipe and 

the dirty water that come from the sink and the salt water on high tide would run down at 

the lower end of the pipe to the cistern and ruined the water in the cistern.”

August 27-29,l 1908 Ground underwater around station

September 3, 1908 Crew finish putting up “yard fence”

September 7, 1908 Crew painting “keeper’s room”

September 9, 1908 Crew painting “cook room”

September 12, 1908 Crew painting “dining room”

September 14, 1908 Crew “putting on hard oil finish down stairs”

September 17, 1908 Crew “hard oil boat room floor”

December 7, 1908 Crew hauling sand to fill in at northeast corner of station

December 28, 1908 Crew hauling stone and brick for northeast corner of station

March 1, 1909 Crew paint “piazza floor”

March 16-20, 1909 Crew paint windows on station

March 23-26, 1909 Crew paint “trimmings” on station

May 10, 1909 Crew landing lumber for station

February 5, 1910 Crew finishes building new privy

April 4, 1910 Crew working on window screens

April 5, 1910 Crew painting water closet and working on window screens

April 6, 1910 Crew making door screens

April 9-13, 1910 Crew working on and painting window screens

May 5, 1910 “Putting alabastin on lower walls”

May 28, 1910 Sandpapered and oiled boat room floor

May 31, 1910 Hard oiled keeper’s room

Aug-Sept 1910 Exterior trim painted white

October 3-4, 1910 Crew painting overhead in piazza

October 26, 1910 Painting floor of piazza

February 11, 1911 Asst. Supt. of Construction T. J. Lothar arrivied to see about building a boat house

February 27, 1911 Hard oil boat room floor and keepers room

April 17-18, 1911 Painting windows on station

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station Chronology
National Park Service 49

Part I: Developmental History

November 15, 1911 Hard oiled boat room floor

March 7, 1912 Crew hard oil lookout

March 9, 1912 Crew “engaged in hard oiling in their setting room”

March 21, 1912 Crew “put hard oil on doors and trimmings on second floor

March 24, 1912 Crew “put hard oil on siding in store room”

April 5, 1912 Crew painting trimmings in station

April 13, 1912 Crew painting porch floors

April 19, 1912 Crew paint cistern

May 21, 1912 Received 16 window shades

February 21, 1913 Received gutters for station

March 26-27, 1913 Crew installs gutters on station

April 7, 1913 Crew finishes painting windows

April 1913 Painted trimmings on station and outbuildings

April 22, 1913 Received “one steel storm warning tower complete”

April 28-29, 1913 Crew erects storm warning tower

May 12, 1913 Crew paints walls of the setting room on first floor

June 6, 1913 Received six painted window sash; 1000’ 2 by 4 by 16’; 4000’ of 1 by 6 by 16; and 18 door locks 

with brass knobs

August 20, 1913 Crew install locks on station doors

September 2-3, 1913 Hurricane blew off top of kitchen chimney, turned over water closet, washed away part of 

sand fence and jetty at creek

October 14, 1913 Crew plastering setting room and work on watch house

November 18, 1913 Received 184 blls of Portland cement, 1400’ 1x6x16, 610’ 2x4x16, 100 lbs 8d galvanized nails, 

and one sidewalk marker (or maker?)

December 17-18, 1913 Mason rebuilding kitchen chimney

May 1914 Crew painting trimmings and windows on buildings

October 5, 1914 Supt. of Construction John S. Randall arrives

October 9, 1914 Keeper takes Randall to Hatteras Inlet Station

January 12-14, 1915 Crew assists Mr. Latham with “concrete wall”

Jan-March, 1915 Continuing work on concrete breakwater

February 26-27, 1915 Crew work on sewer pipe from kitchen to creek

May 1915 Crew painting trimmings on station

May 9, 1915 Crew hard oil stairs

May 15, 1915 Crew paints gutters

May 21, 1915 Crew paints “U. S. Coast Guard” on boats and on station roof

August 1915 Several days of work taking up old walks and pouring concrete walks

September 14, 1915 Crew working on “station walks and Inclined” [sic]

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station Chronology
50 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use

September 15, 1915 Crew work on incline on east side of station

September 24, 1915 Crew working on “molds” for inclines and repairing door sill in boat room

September 27-28, 1915 Crew working on concrete forms

September 29, 1915 Crew haul sand to fill in incline

October 19, 1915 Crew finishes work on concrete walks

October 1915 Work on concrete breakwater continues throughout the month

January 3, 1916 All of concrete and rebar used up, but 103’ of the wall are still not done

January 5, 1916 Oiling boat room floor

March 6-7, 1916 Crew measuring and surveying station

May 8, 1916 Crew repairing old screens

October 3, 1917 Two telephones placed in operation at station

July 15, 1918 Removed varnish from dining room of station building

July 18, 1918 Crew prepare woodwork in surf man’s wash room and the dining room for varnish

August 20, 1918 Varnish lookout and stairs

August 28, 1918 Dining room walls prepared for painting; put in new screens

September 5, 1918 Painted walls of plastered rooms on lower floor with albastine

September 6, 1918 Crew varnish dining room of main building; paint plastered walls of dining room

September 11, 1918 Crew remove varnish from doors on second floor

September 12, 1918 Crew remove varnish from doors and walls in surf man’s room

September 25, 1918 Crew paints porch floors

October 2, 1918 Crew removes varnish from keeper’s bedroom

October 9, 1918 Crew paints window screens

October 10, 1918 Crew removes varnish from keeper’s room

October 11, 1918 Crew prepares floor for paraffin oil

October 13, 1918 Crew removes varnish from keeper’s office

October 15, 1918 Crew removes varnish from keeper’s room

October 16, 1918 Crew removes varnish from keeper’s office

October 18, 1918 Crew remove varnish from walls and ceiling of keeper’s room

October 20, 1918 Crew remove varnish from keeper’s office

October 25, 1918 Crew sandpaper ceiling and walls in keeper’s wash room

October 28, 1918 Crew cleaning floor of keeper’s room

October 30, 1918 Crew cleaning and hard oil keeper’s room

October 31, 1918 Crew varnish keeper’s room

November 1, 1918 Crew polishing floor in keeper’s room

November 6, 1918 Crew putting hard oil in keeper’s room

November 15-16, 1918 Crew remove varnish from interior of Kitchen

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station Chronology
National Park Service 51

Part I: Developmental History

January 21, 1920 Crew repair pipes leading from cistern to sink in surf man’s wash room “bursted during recent 

freeze”

May 1920 Crew painting windows, screens, trimmings on station and outbuildings

March 7, 1921 Crew work on water tank

March 14-15, 1921 Crew work and finish water tank

September 27, 1924 Rcd. 11 pcs 6x6x16, 6 pcs. 6x6x12, 15 pcs 3x6x12, 10 pcs 3x6x16, 18 bundles of flooring

August 1931 Crew work on repairing “base” of station building

Feb-March 1932 Crew paint interior of station

Dec 1932 Crew repairs porch

March 20, 1933 Truck transferred from Cape Lookout station

June 1, 1937 Station decommissioned at sunset

1942 Station reactivated during World War II; interior walls and ceilings replastered; some 

outbuildings removed

c. 1943 Addition to summer kitchen; porches screened

March 1946 Coast Guard conveys station to War Assets Administration

1956 Brandt Rock Gun Club begins occupying the station

1960s Station re-roofed; part of porch removed; remainder of porch re-screened

1977 Station becomes part of Cape Lookout National Seashore

1978 Station listed on the National Register as a contributing structure in the Portsmouth Historic 

District; exterior of station rehabilitated

c. 2000 Water tank (1921) dismantled and stored

September 2003 Hurricane Isabel puts 22” of water inside the station and causes significant damage at the 

northeast end of the boat room

Portsmouth Life-Saving Station Chronology
52 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Chronology of Development and Use
National Park Service 53

Located near the northern tip of Portsmouth Island 

perhaps twenty feet from the bank of a small inlet 

known as Coast Guard Creek, this Shingle- Style 

building was originally constructed in 1894 as a 

United States life- saving station. In 1915, it became 

part of the newly organized United States Coast 

Guard. The station was decommissioned and 

vacated in 1937, reactivated briefly during World 

War II, and used as a hunting lodge after the war.

Although the building has retained most of its original character, there have been a number of alterations since it was originally constructed, including 

installation of bathrooms, which were not present in 

the original building, and replacement of nearly all 

of the interior plaster and exterior shingles. The 

building has suffered frequent damage from tropical 

storms, hurricanes, and nor’easters, with flooding of 

the station interior on several occasions. The station 

underwent a major restoration in the 1980s.

A site plan, floor plans, and selected molding profiles 

can be found at the end of this section.

Set on wooden pilings less than two feet above 

grade, the building is wood- framed, one- and- ahalf stories high, and has a steep roof that is gabled 

FIGURE 54. View north of Portsmouth Life-Saving Station, with kitchen at left 

and stable beyond. (NPS, 2005)

Physical 

Description
54 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

at the southwest end, hipped at the northeast end, 

and pierced by three dormers. A hipped- roof lookout or watch tower rises above the northeastern end 

of the building and a one- story, hipped- roof porch 

wraps the southwest end of the building on three 

sides. The entire structure is clad in the wood shingles that define the architectural style.

Associated Site 

Features

Mostly turf covered, the site contains three historic 

buildings, all of them wood- framed and constructed in the late nineteenth or early twentieth 

centuries. In addition to the station house itself, 

there is the so- called “summer kitchen” located a 

few yards west of the station house and probably 

contemporaneous with the station itself. A stable, 

which is probably the same “barn” constructed by 

the crew in 1928, is located several dozen yards 

northwest of the station house. The kitchen house 

has been adapted as a part- time residence for park 

volunteers and is in excellent condition. The stable, 

which is used only for storage, is in fair condition. 

Adjacent to the stable are a series of pilings that 

mark the site of an historic boat house.

Also significant to the site are several historic concrete features, all of which date to the early twentiFIGURE 55. View of ramp to smaller boat room 

door on northwest side of building. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 56. View of deterioration on ramp to small 

boat-room door. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 57. View southwest of station (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 55

Part I: Developmental History

eth century. Concrete walkways run a few feet off 

the southwest and northwest sides of the building 

and also run to the kitchen house. All of these features were constructed by the station crew in 1915. In 

addition, a concrete seawall runs for several hundred feet along the west and northwest sides of 

Coast Guard Creek, and a concrete ramp descends 

to the water level through the sea wall about a hundred feet east of the station house. These features 

were also constructed by the crew, beginning in 1915 

but not completed until January 1918.

Masonry

In addition to the concrete site features, there are 

masonry features associated with the building itself. 

These include three concrete boat ramps, a brick 

cistern, and a brick chimney stack.

Boat Ramps

Three concrete ramps descend to the ground from 

each of the boat- room doors, two on the northwest 

side of the building and one on the southeast side. 

All of them are poured concrete over sand fill, constructed by the station crew in 1915. The bases of 

these ramps were constructed using a very coarse 

aggregate composed primarily of shells, with the 

base then finished with a layer of conventional, 

sand- aggregate concrete about 1” thick. The finish

FIGURE 58. View southeast. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 59. View of ramp to Boat Rooms doors D5. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 60. View of southeast side of chimney. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
56 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

layer on all of the ramps was poured with expansion 

joints, and the two ramps on the northwest side of 

the building were finished with large grooves, 

apparently to provide traction when the boats were 

pulled up into the boat room.

Condition: The ramp from the easternmost door on 

the northwest side of the building is basically sound, 

but the finish layer of concrete on the other two 

ramps is spalling away from the base along part of 

the edges of the ramps.

Chimney

A brick chimney stack, which appears in good condition, rises from the ground through the roof ridge 

near the center of the southwestern half of the 

building. There are certainly two and possibly three 

flues within this chimney. None of the flues served a 

conventional fire place since the building was 

designed to be heated by wood- or coal- burning 

stoves. The stack is around 24” by 48” at the first 

floor, narrowing to 17” by 42” as it rises through the 

attic and the roof ridge.

Condition: The chimney stack is only visible in the 

attic and above the roof. In the attic, the brick has 

been stuccoed, and the stucco remains mostly intact 

and in good condition. Above the roof, the original 

chimney stack appears to remain intact, although 

the original stepped flashing has been replaced.

Cistern

The porch roof on the northwest side of the house 

shelters a large, painted, brick cistern that is around 

8’ by 13’ in plan and rises about five feet above the 

porch floor. The brick walls are reinforced by a 

series of seven brick buttresses that taper from bases 

that are about a foot square. The slanted top of the 

cistern is closed by a wood- framed cover finished 

with a deck of 1” by 3” tongue- and- groove boards. 

There is a small hinged hatch large enough for a 

body to enter when the cistern needed cleaning. A 

pipe from the building’s gutters originally fed 

through a four- inch hole near the top of the northwest side of the cistern. A galvanized pipe, partially 

encased in concrete, is located against one of the 

buttresses on the northwest side of the cistern, but 

its original function is unknown.

Condition: The cistern appears to be in sound condition, but downspouts from the gutters no longer 

FIGURE 61. View east of cistern. (T. Jones, NPS, 

FIGURE 62. View southwest of cistern. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 63. View west under boat room. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 57

Part I: Developmental History

keep it filled.The wooden cover is in fair condition. 

The hatch that provides access to the interior of the 

cistern is nailed shut, and the condition of the interior of the cistern was not inspected.

Foundation

The building rests on a foundation of wooden pilings, 10” to 12” in diameter and set about six feet 

apart around the perimeter of the building. Two 

rows of pilings, also around six feet apart, run 

northeast to southwest beneath the boat room and 

appear to continue to the south west end of the 

building. The pilings appear to be mortised into the 

sills, with the sheer weight of the structure keeping 

the structure in place.

Condition: There is no indication that the pilings are 

not original to the building, and many of them have 

lost a considerable amount of wood, mostly due to 

erosion from sand- laden water that periodically 

sweeps the site.

Structure

The building is wooden and balloon framed using 

regularly dimensioned circular- sawn lumber and 

machine- cut nails. Joists are generally set 24” on 

centers and range from 4” by 12” in the boat room to 

2” by 8” (full dimension) in the second floor ceiling. 

First floor joists are cut so as to set into mortises in 

the sills and also lap over the sills. The attachment of 

second and attic floor joists was not observed.

Walls are framed with studs that are 3” by 3- 1/2” to 

4”. Posts are 4” by 6”. The dimension of wall plates 

and the exact nature of the wall framing system 

could not be observed. Rafters for the porch roof 

are 2- 1/2” to 3” by 7- 3/4” by 8” and 24” between 

centers, with exposed ogee- scroll ends. Rafters in 

the main roof are 2- /12” to 3” by 9- 1/2” to 10” set on 

24” centers, with every third pair doubled. Rafters 

are nailed together at the ridge without a ridge 

board.

Exterior walls are sheathed with tongue- andgroove boards, 1” by 7- 1/4”, laid horizontally. 

Rafters are decked with a similar material. The boat 

room floor has sub- flooring that is also tongueand- groove, but is twice as thick, measuring 2” by

FIGURE 64. View of typical stud wall in Room 

106. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 65. View of roof hip and junction of 

rafters and top plate of second floor walls. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 66. View at ridge of main roof. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
58 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

5- 1/2”. It is not clear if similar sub- flooring continues in the remainder of the station.

Condition: Framing material is in generally good 

condition, but there are isolated areas of termite 

damage, including some in the rafters of the main 

roof. The sills along the northeast end of the building and on the northwest side in the vicinity of the 

boat room doors have deteriorated, and at least part 

of them will need to be replaced. In addition, during 

Hurricane Isabel in 2003, water rose as high as 22” 

inside the station, doing significant damage around 

the north corner of the Boat Room. Several floor 

joists were lifted completely away from the sills, 

buckling and dislodging much of the interior flooring in the process. Some of the joists are now missing, apparently washed away in a nor’easter that 

struck Portsmouth in the spring of 2005. The storms 

also destroyed the wall beneath window W- 6, and 

the area is now covered with plywood.

Exterior Finishes

The building’s roof and exterior walls are clad 

entirely with cedar shingles that are, of course, the 

defining characteristic of Shingle- Style architecture. 

None are original, having been installed when the 

building was rehabilitated in the 1980s. A narrow 

cornice, less than a foot wide, completes the walls, 

except on the porches. The cornice is composed of a 

plain frieze board and soffit, with 3” cyma recta bed 

molding and a fascia with a broad quarter- round 

inset at its lower edge. The cyma recta bed molding 

and quarter round continue as a rake molding in the 

gable at the southwest end of the building.

The porches have unboxed eaves, and a 3” bed mold 

finishes the top of the walls between the exposed 

rafters. Six pieces of the bed molding are missing 

between the rafters on the southwest side of the 

building. The walls were originally finished at the 

base with a wooden plinth, 4- 1/2” wide with a beveled top edge, but much of this has ben replaced 

with plain boards, with the original surviving only 

on the front porch and on part of the northwest side 

of the building.

Condition: Overall the exterior of the building is in 

good condition, although there are a number of 

problems with window and doors that will be discussed below. The recent storms knocked shingles 

FIGURE 67. View of typical cornice. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 68. View of typical plinth at exterior walls. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 69. View of lookout and large dormer on 

northeast side of building. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 59

Part I: Developmental History

from the north corner of the watch tower, and there 

was significant damage to the wall finishes at the 

northeast end of the building, particularly under the 

window openings (W- 6 and W- 7).

In addition, woodpeckers or other birds have 

opened holes on both the northwest and southeast 

sides of the building where the hips of the porch 

roof meet the building’s walls. On the southeast side, 

birds are entering the building through the hole and 

nesting in the wall cavity behind or above one the 

closets on that side of Room 201.

Porch

An open porch, eight feet deep under a hipped roof 

wraps the southwest end of the building. The floor 

framing is within inches of the ground with joists set 

on beams resting at grade. The floor is decked with 

tongue- and- groove flooring, 7/8” by 2- 1/2”, all 

modern material. A 1” by 6” board skirts the porch, 

and modern shiplap siding replaces the lattice that 

was originally used to close off the area beneath the 

porch. Rafters are supported by a 4” by 6” header 

set on posts that are 5- 1/2” by 5- 1/2” by 8’ tall. Posts 

have chamfered edges and are set on plinths 1- 1/2” 

thick with beveled edges. There is no evidence that a 

balustrade or railing was ever present.

FIGURE 70. View porch wrapping northwest end of building. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 71. View of typical header and post on 

porch. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 72. View of junction of porch rafters and 

walls. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
60 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Condition: Most features of the porch, including the 

flooring, are in good condition. The bottoms of 

some of the columns are deteriorating, but none of 

the damage necessitates column replacement. Some 

quarter- round that finishes the header on the 

southwest side of the building is missing, and several 

runs of the bed molding between the rafters at the 

walls of on the northwest side of the house are also 

missing.

Windows

The building has twenty- three windows, fifteen of 

which have double- hung, counterweighted sash. 

Double- hung windows are nine- over- two on the 

first floor, six- over- two on the second floor, and 

two- over- two in the attic. There is a single, ninelight, top- hinged sash at the window into Room 103 

(W- 1), and the seven windows in the tower each 

have a single, top- hinged, three- light sash. Window 

casing is around 3- 1/2” wide and 1- 1/8” thick and 

includes a deeply molded, 2- 3/8”- wide, backband 

around the perimeter of the tops and sides of the 

cased opening. Window sills are 2- 1/4” thick.

Windows into living areas of the building (W- W- 2, 

W- 3, W- 5, W- 8, W- 9, W- 10, W- 11, W- 12, W- 13, 

W- 14, W- 15) were probably all originally fitted with 

wood- framed screens, but only the brackets from 

which they hung remain in place. Some of the 

FIGURE 73. Plan showing numbering of windows 

and doors. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 74. Section through exterior wall at 

window jamb. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 61

Part I: Developmental History

screens may be among those that remain in storage 

in the attic, including at least five whose measurements appear to match those of the tower windows. 

All of the windows were probably also originally fitted with solid, board- and- batten storm shutters, 

which were probably hung in a manner similar to 

the screens. Five small board- and- batten shutters 

remain in storage in the attic and probably fit the 

tower windows, although it is unclear how they 

would have been hung.

The building has three gabled dormer windows, 

located on the northwest, northeast, and southeast 

sheds of the roof. The northwest and southeast dormers both have a single double- hung window, 

shingled walls and cyma recta cornice and gable 

rake molding. The northeast dormer is finished in a 

similar fashion but is larger and has double windows.

Condition: Some of the sash may have been 

replaced, and most are in good condition, although 

many of the counterweight ropes are broken and 

there are several panes of broken glass. The sash in 

the attic window, which are almost certainly original, are badly weathered, primarily because the 

interior side of the sash has not been maintained. At 

the northeast end of the boat room (Room 107), 

recent storms badly damaged both windows (w- 6 & 

FIGURE 75. View of typical window casing. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 76. View of W-2, a typical nine-over-two 

window. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 77. View of southeast dormer. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
62 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

W- 7), knocking the sash and frame completely from 

one opening (W- 6). Both windows are now covered 

with plywood, as are the two windows (W- 13 and 

W- 14) in the double dormer, which may also have 

been damaged in the recent storms.

Doors

The building has five exterior door openings, all of 

them historic. On the northwest and southwest sides 

of the building, there are entrance doors that provide access to the building’s living quarters. In addition, there are large, double, board- and- batten 

doors at the entrances into the boat room (Room 

107), with two of them on the northwest side and 

one on the southeast side.

Entrance Doors

The two entrance doors (D- 1 and D- 2) appear to be 

original features of the station. Although they differ 

slightly, both are just under seven feet tall and each is 

surmounted by an 18”- high, three- light transom. 

Door D- 1 on the northwest side of the building 

opens into Room 100 and is 2’- 10” by 6’- 10” b y 1- 3/

4” with four vertical panels and a fifth, horizontal 

panel between the upper and lower pairs of panels. 

Door D- 2 on the southwest side of the building 

opens into Room 103 and is 3’- 0” by 6’- 10” by 1- 3/

4”. Its panel molding is similar to that of the other 

exterior door, but there are only four vertical panels, 

without the fifth, horizontal panel found on Door 

D- 1. Both doors are hung with three, 4” by 4” butt 

hinges with removable, ball- tip pins. Casing for the 

FIGURE 78. Door D-1 on northwest side of 

house. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 79. Door D-2 on southwest side of 

house. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005) FIGURE 80. View of Door D-5. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 63

Part I: Developmental History

entrance doors is like that used for the windows, but 

with the addition of a 1- 1/4”- thick drip cap at the 

top.

Condition: Although the doors themselves are in 

reasonably good condition, historic mortise locks 

are inoperative or missing. The historic lock set and 

escutcheon plates are entirely missing from the 

northwest door but remain on the southwest door, 

although the lock is missing its thumb latch so that it 

is essentially inoperable. An historic deadbolt lock is 

also missing from both doors, and one hinge is 

missing from door D- 1. The sill to the southwest 

door has been replaced, but its installation damaged 

the door frame and the sill itself appears not to be 

attached to the building’s framing.

Boat Room Doors

There are three double doors opening from the Boat 

Room. Door D- 3, on the southeast side of the 

building, and Door D- 4, on the northwest side of 

the building, are around 9’- 6” wide and 9’- 5” high. 

The third door, D- 5, also on the northwest side of 

the building is smaller, measuring around 6’- 6” 

wide by 8’- 6” high. All three doors appear to have 

been constructed in a similar fashion, but the modern plywood covering the exterior of the doors 

makes characterization of the doors’ construction 

uncertain. Stiles and rails are 2- 3/8” thick and 6- 1/2” 

wide. Tongue- and- groove boards, 3/4” by 2- 1/2”, 

are set vertically into grooves in the stiles and rails

FIGURE 81. View of typical upper (left) and 

lower (right) sliding bolts on boat room doors. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 82. View of one leaf of Boat Room door 

D-3. The diagonal brace is not an historic 

feature. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 83. View of historic handle and 

escutcheon on door D-2. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
64 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

and appear to be overlaid with 7/8” by 3” beaded 

tongue- and- groove boards set diagonally into the 

same grooves in the stiles and rails. In addition, 

another layer of vertical tongue- and- groove boards 

(historic but not original) is visible on the exterior of 

Door D- 4 and is probably present on the other 

doors as well. All three sets of doors are covered on 

the exterior with modern 1/2” plywood installed on 

top of the historic tongue- and- groove material.

The doors are hung with large strap hinges bolted to 

the exterior surface of the doors. All but one of the 

hinges is covered b y modern plywood, but hinges 

for the large doors appear to be about 36” long, 

while those for the smaller doors are somewhat 

shorter. Originally, the doors were secured when 

closed using large zinc or galvanized steel sliding 

bolts mounted to the interior surface of the doors. 

Each door is equipped with two sliding bolts, one 

fastening the top of the door and the other the bottom. In addition, there was originally a metal pull on 

the interior of each door. All of this hardware 

appears to have been part of the building’s original 

construction.

Casing for the boat room doors is similar to that 

used for the windows and entrance doors, although 

the alterations to the boat room doors has reduced 

the apparent projection of the back band. The 

backband found at the top of the windows and 

entrance doors is replaced at the boat room doors 

by plain boards, 1- 1/4” thick, supported by small 

scrolled brackets at each end and projecting as 

much as 3” beyond the plane of the walls. The pronounced cant of these boards allows them to function as a drip cap that helps protect the tops of the 

doors from rainwater. 

Condition: All three sets of boat room doors are 

deteriorated, and crossbraces have been added to 

strengthen the large doors. Deterioration is especially pronounced along the doors’ lower edges, but 

Door D- 4 was also severely damaged in the recent 

storms, with some of the paneling in the lower part 

of the door torn away. The historic hardware 

remains completely intact on only two of the six 

boat room doors. On the others, the lower bar guide 

is missing or broken and the interior pull is missing 

from two of those. Some or all of the drip caps 

appear to have been replaced, perhaps with somewhat narrower material.

FIGURE 84. View of damage to lower panel of leaf 

of Boat Room door D-5. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 85. View of one leaf of double doors at 

D-3, showing typical original hinge and added 

layers of tongue-and-groove material and 

plywood. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 86. View of typical drip cap at Boat Room 

doors. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 65

Part I: Developmental History

Interior

The original floor plan of the station house remains 

intact with no alterations, although there have been 

a number of alterations to interior finishes. The first 

story contains slightly more than 2,000 square feet 

of floor space, over half of that encompassed by the 

boat room (Room 107) at the northeast end of the 

building. The remainder of the first floor is occupied by an entrance hall (Room 100), a pantry 

(Room 101) that was later converted to a bathroom, 

an indoor kitchen (Room 102) later used as an office, 

another entrance hall (Room 103) that was known as 

the “Storm Clothes Room” and part of which was 

also later converted into a bathroom, a “Mess 

Room” (Room 104) for the crew, a stair hall (Room 

105) with stairs to the second floor, and the keeper’s 

room (Room 106).

The second story contains only about 1,800 square 

feet, with a significant portion of that around the 

perimeter of the floor not useful except for storage 

due to low heights under sloping ceilings. Stairs rise 

from the first floor into an L- shaped stair hall 

(Room 200) that provides access to the other rooms 

on the floor and includes ladder access to the attic 

and the lookout tower. The largest room, located at 

the southwest end of the floor, is the crew’s quarters 

(Room 201), which is flanked on both the northwest 

and southeast sides by a series of four walk- in closets. At the northeast end of the floor, above the boat 

room, are a large store room (Room 203) and a spare 

room (Room 202).

A ladder in the second floor hall (Room 200) 

accesses an intermediate landing from which 

another ladder rises to the lookout tower. A door 

opening from the intermediate landing provides 

access to an attic above the second floor.

Flooring. Most if not all of the flooring is assumed 

to be original. All of it is painted, tongue- andgroove, probably quarter- sawn pine, but in a mixture of 2- 1/2” and 3” wide material. Flooring in

FIGURE 87. Floor plans of existing building. Scaled drawings may be found at 

the end of this section.
66 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Rooms 100, 102, and 202 is all 3”- wide material and 

that in Room 104 is all 2- 1/2” wide material. Flooring 

in the other rooms is a mixture of widths, sometimes 

alternating with every other board a different width. 

Presumably, the mixture of widths was the result of 

an initial mistake in ordering material, since the differences do not appear to be attributable to later 

repairs. A 3”- wide saddle is present at each interior 

door opening.

Condition: Flooring is in good condition on the second floor, but the recent storms and accompanying 

flooding tore loose a large section of the flooring in 

Room 107 and buckled a section of the flooring in 

Room 104. The remainder of the flooring on the first 

floor is in fair condition, with only slight cupping of 

the boards as a result of the flooding. Flooring on 

the second floor remains in good condition.

Walls and Ceilings. Ceilings are generally set about 

9’- 6” above the floor, and most of the wall and ceiling finishes are historic if not actually original to the 

building. Nearly all of the original plaster on wood 

lath was replaced with plaster on a plaster- board 

substrate, probably during World War II. Original 

plaster on wood lath remains intact only in the closets. Original wainscotting, ranging in height from 

37” to 43”, is present in Rooms 100, 103, 104, 105, and 

107 and is composed of 3”- wide, single- beaded, 

tongue- and- groove boards installed vertically. A 2-

1/4” molded chair rail finishes the wainscotting, 

except in Room 107 where a 4” chair rail is present. 

Walls and ceiling in Room 107 are finished with 3”, 

single- beaded, tongue- and- groove boards, which 

is assumed to be original material. The material is 

installed vertically below the chair rail and horizontally above. Walls and ceilings in Rooms 101 and 102 

are finished with 2- 1/2”- wide, V- joint, tongueand- groove boards, installed vertically on the walls. 

This material probably dates to the early twentieth 

century. It is likely that the original walls and ceilings 

in Rooms 101 and 102 were plastered, but that is not 

certain.

Condition: The lower two or so feet of the plaster 

walls on the first floor have been severely damaged 

by the recent flooding, when water rose as high as 

22” inside the station. Above the water line, the 

upper walls and ceilings are in fair condition and 

can be easily repaired. In the closets, where the 

original plaster on wood lath was not replaced, 

much of the plaster is missing, although the wood 

FIGURE 88. View of original plaster on wood lath 

in one of the closets in Room 201. (T. Jones, NPS, 

2005)

FIGURE 89. View of water-damaged plaster on 

rock lath in Room 106. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 90. View of typical flooring, wainscot, 

and baseboard. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 67

Part I: Developmental History

lath remains intact. All of the tongue- and- groove 

wall and ceiling finishes remains in excellent condition.

Wood Trim. Doors and windows are trimmed with 

a 4” molded casing and “bull’s- eye” corner blocks. 

Door casing terminates in a plain, 8”, base block or 

plinth. In Rooms 101 and 102, the casing terminates 

at the chair rail, which also forms a stool and apron 

for the window opening. Where a wainscot is not 

present, a conventional stool and apron are used. 

Baseboards are of three basic types. In Rooms 103, 

104, and 105), there is a 6” baseboard without a base 

cap but with a slightly rounded upper edge. These 

baseboards do not butt to the base blocks in a conventional manner but rather lap over the block and 

terminate at the edge of the door opening. In Room 

106 and in all the rooms on the second floor, there is 

a plain 5” baseboard with a 1- 1/2” ogee base cap. The 

same type of baseboard is used in Rooms 101 and 

102, but there the board is 5’- 3/4” plus a 1- 1/2” double- ogee base cap. The baseboard in Room 107 is 

unique, consisting of a single board, 7/8” by 3- 1/2” 

with a V- shaped groove down the center of the 

board. It is not clear if shoe molding was ever 

present with any of the baseboards.

Doors. Interior doors have six raised panels, except 

for the closet doors on the second floor where twopanel and one single- panel doors are present. The 

doors between Rooms 100 and 101, 101 and 102, and 

both doors from Room 106 are 2’- 6” wide; the 

remainder of the principal doors are 2’- 10” wide. 

Closet doors in Room 107 are 2’- 4” wide and the 

second floor closet doors are 2’- 0” wide. Most 

doors are 6’- 10” tall, with a single 6’- 8” door 

between Rooms 101 and 102, a 7’- 0” door between 

Rooms 105 and 107, and closet doors at 6’- 0”. Doors 

are hung with a pair of 4”, brass, loose- pin, butt 

hinges.

The design of the original locks on the principal 

doors inside the building is not known, since all 

were replaced in 1913 with the present mortise locks, 

which feature simple oval door knobs and escutcheons with a beaded edge in a design first introduced 

in the 1890s. A number of the knobs and escutcheons are now missing. The lock in the door between 

Rooms 101 and 102, which is typical of the mortise 

locks elsewhere in the building is imprinted 

“Wrought Steel/Pat’d Sept 1, 1891/Yale & Towne Mfg. 

Co./Stamford, Conn. USA.”

FIGURE 91. Typical six-panel door and casing. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 92. Typical door knob and escutcheon. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
68 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Room 100 (Hall)

Measuring about 4’- 11” by 5’- 11” with a ceiling at 9-

1/2’, this small space functions as an entrance hall 

from the porch on the northwest side of the building 

and provides access to the keeper’s room (Room 

106) and the kitchen (Room 101). Except for the 

plaster walls and ceiling, all of the finishes in this 

room are original.

Flooring: Flooring is 3”- wide, painted, tongue- andgroove pine, presumably original to the space. 

Flooding has caused slight cupping of the floor 

boards.

Walls: Walls are finished with plaster on plasterboard above a wooden wainscot that rises to about 

37” above the floor. The wainscot is composed of 

3”- wide, beaded, tongue- and- groove boards and is 

completed with a 2”- wide molded chair rail.

Ceiling: The ceiling is plaster on plaster board in 

good condition. A water line runs across the ceiling 

above the entrance door to service a sink that once 

existed in Room 107.

Doors: In addition to the exterior entrance door 

discussed above, two six- panel doors open from 

this room, one into Room 102 and one into Room 

106. Both are 2’- 6” by 6’- 10” by 1- 3/4”, and all original hardware is present.

Wood Trim: Doors are cased with typical 4” casing, 

bull’s- eye corner blocks, and 8” base block. There is 

a typical 6” baseboard and a 2” molded chair rail 

typical of the original construction.

Room 101 (Pantry/Bathroom)

Entered from the building’s original kitchen (Room 

102), this space is around 5’- 11” by 11’- 9”. Designed 

as a pantry for the kitchen, it appears to have been 

remodeled for a bathroom and/or storage after the 

kitchen was relocated to a separate building. Most 

of the original finishes, except flooring, appear to 

have been replaced at that time. A wooden cabinet 

in the north corner of the room was installed during 

World War I as a gun locker, and it may have been 

shortly after that time that the room was converted 

into a half bathroom. The NPS installed a shower in 

the west corner of the room when the building was 

used as a residence in the 1980s.

FIGURE 93. View north from Room 102 into 

Room 100. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 94. View northeast in Room 101. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 69

Part I: Developmental History

Flooring: Flooring is a random mixture of 3”- wide 

and 2- 1/2”- wide material. The flooring is painted 

except where the toilet and shower were located, 

indicating that the flooring was painted after the 

those features were installed.

Walls: Walls are finished with vertically installed, Vjoint, tongue- and- groove boards, 2- 1/2” wide. 

Originally stained and varnished, the walls are now 

painted.

Ceiling: The ceiling is finished with the same 2- 1/2”-

wide, V- joint, tongue- and- groove boards as the 

walls.

Door: The single door, opening from Room 102, is a 

typical six- panel door, but at 2’- 6” by 6’- 8” by 1- 1/

2”. Except for closet doors, it is both shorter and 

thinner than the typical interior door. All hardware 

is present, including knobs. The mortise lock is 

stamped on the interior with “Wrought Steel/Pat’d 

Sept 1, 1891/Yale & Towne Mfg Co/Stamford, Conn., 

USA.”

Window: Located on the northwest wall, the single 

window in the room is a typical double- hung window, nine over two, 2’- 10” by 5’- 8”. Both panes of 

glass in the lower sash are broken.

Wood Trim: The door and window are cased with 

typical 4” casing with bull’s- eye corner blocks. The 

room is finished with a 5- 3/4” baseboard with a 1- 1/

2” molded base cap and with a plain 4- 1/2” twopart chair rail set at about 45” above the floor. The 

same molding used as a base cap is inverted and 

used as a crown molding at the junction of the walls 

and ceiling.

Miscellaneous: In the north corner of the room, a 

small closet was added during World War I. Measuring 1’- 9” by 3’- 3” by 7’- 0”, it was constructed 

with V- joint tongue- and- groove material similar to 

that which was used for the walls and ceilings. The 

interior of the closet has a series of shelves and a 

separate section that is designed as a rack to hold a 

nine rifles.

Room 102 (Kitchen/Office)

With entry from either Room 100 or Room 103, this 

room measures 10’- 5” by 13’- 8”. The room was the 

station’s original kitchen before construction of the 

so- called “summer kitchen” in the early twentieth

FIGURE 95. View west in Room 101. (T. Jones, NPS, 

2005)

FIGURE 96. View northeast of gun cabinet in 

Room 101. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
70 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

century. After that, the room was apparently 

remodeled with new wall and ceiling finishes.

Flooring: Flooring is painted, but unlike some 

rooms, where a mixture of flooring widths was used, 

flooring here the flooring is all 3”- wide tongueand- groove.

Walls: Walls are finished with typical 2- 1/2”- wide, 

V- joint, tongue- and- groove boards, probably 

installed in the early twentieth century.

Ceiling: The ceiling is finished with 2- 1/2’- wide, Vjoint, tongue- and- groove boards, probably 

installed in the early twentieth century.

Doors: In addition to the door opening from the hall 

(Room 101) and into the pantry (Room 102), a third 

six- panel door opens from the storm- clothes Room 

(Room 103). It measures 2’- 10” by 6’- 10” by 1- 3/4”. 

Its original hinges, mortise lock, and escutcheons 

remain intact, but the knobs are missing.

Windows: The room has two windows on the 

northwest wall. Both are double- hung, nine- overFIGURE 97. View east in Room 102. (T. Jones, NPS, 

2005)

FIGURE 98. View west in Room 102. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 71

Part I: Developmental History

two, and are 2’- 10” by 5’- 8”. One of the large panes 

in each of the lower sash is broken.

Wood Trim: The room features a two- part baseboard and two- part chair rail about 37” from the 

floor, both features like those found in Room 101. In 

addition, there is a 4” crown molding at the junction 

of the walls and ceiling. Windows and doors have a 

typical 4” molded casing with bull’s- eye corner 

blocks.

Miscellaneous: A corner of the chimney projects into 

the east corner of the room. About seven feet from 

the floor is a stove- pipe flue for the cook stove that 

would have been in place when the room was used 

as a kitchen.

Room 103 (Storm Clothes Room)

With a door to the outside, this room also provides 

access to the original kitchen (Room 102) and to the 

mess room (Room 104). The room measures 5’- 1” by 

16’- 11” but, during World War I, was subdivided by a 

light curtain wall to create a wash room for the surfmen. The fixtures for that bathroom have since been 

removed, and the space is now used for storage.

FIGURE 99. View south in Room 102. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 100. View north in Room 102. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 101. View southwest in Room 103. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
72 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Flooring: Flooring is painted, 3”- wide, tongue- andgroove, slightly cupped as a result of flooding.

Walls: An original wainscot consists of 3”- wide, 

beaded, tongue- and- groove boards, installed vertically to a height of 43”, which includes a chair rail 

like that found in Room 100. The remainder of the 

walls are finished with typical plaster on plaster 

board replacing the original plaster on wood lath. 

The wall that was added to partition the space for a 

bathroom is set about 7’- 2” from the northeast end 

of the room and rises to a height of about 7’- 3”. The 

wall is constructed of 2- 1/2”- wide, V- joint tongueand- groove boards installed vertically and matching 

the boards used on the walls and ceiling in Rooms 

101 and 102.

Ceiling: The ceiling is typical plaster on plaster board 

replacing the original plaster on wood lath.

Doors: In addition to the door openings from the 

exterior (D- 2) and into Room 102, a third door 

opens into Room 104. It is a typical 6- panel door, 

2’- 10” by 6’- 10” by 1- 3/4” but is missing its knobs 

and escutcheon plates, although its original hinges 

and mortise lock remain intact. A fourth door was 

added along with the partition wall. It is 2’- 7” by 6’-

11” by 1” and has three, flat, plywood panels, a simple 

metal pull, and a hook- and- eye latch.

Windows The room has a single window set high on 

the northwest wall. It is 3’- 3” wide by 2’- 9” high and 

has nine lights. The sash is fixed now and although 

there are no visible hinges, it must have once been a 

top- hinged window. Hooks on each side of the 

interior frame appear to have facilitated holding the 

sash open.

Wood Trim: The three original doors are cased with 

typical 4” casing, bull’s- eye corner blocks, and 8” 

base block. The added fourth door is without casing. The window is trimmed with typical 4” casing 

with bull’s- eye corner blocks at upper and at lower 

corners. There is a typical 6” baseboard and a 2” 

molded chair rail typical of the original construction, both like those used in Room 100. A plain 4”-

wide board beaded on both edges was installed on 

all four walls of the original space. Set with the top 

about 71” from the floor, the board has a series of 

coat hooks, an indication of the room’s original 

purpose.

FIGURE 102. View southwest in Room 103. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 103. View of marks showing high-water 

marks for recent hurricanes. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 73

Part I: Developmental History

Miscellaneous: On the base board and door casing 

adjacent to the door to Room 104, park staff have 

marked the high water mark for three hurricanes 

that struck Portsmouth in recent years. The first was 

for Hurricane Dennis on 30 August 1999 when water 

rose to about 3” inside the station, followed by Isabel on 18 September 2003 when the high water mark 

was at 22”. The third mark is for Alex on 3 August 

2004 when there were 4” inches of water inside the 

station.

Room 104 (Mess Room)

Measuring 14’- 1” by 16’- 11”, this room is entered 

from the storm- clothes room (Room 103) or the 

stair hall (Room 105). Designated “mess room” in 

the original plans for this type life- saving station, 

this room also functioned as a sort of living room for 

the station’s crew and is the only room in the building with a fireplace.

Flooring: The entire floor is laid with painted, 2- 1/2” 

wide, tongue- and- groove flooring, the only floor in 

the building laid entirely with the narrower flooring. 

As a result of storm flooding, flooring is severely 

buckled on the northwest side of the room.

FIGURE 104. View east in Room 104. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 105. View north in Room 104. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
74 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Walls: An original wainscot, like that in Room 103, 

consists of 3”- wide, beaded, tongue- and- groove 

boards, installed vertically to a height of 43”, which 

includes a chair rail like that found in Rooms 100 

and 103. The remainder of the walls are finished with 

typical plaster on plaster board replacing the original plaster on wood lath.

Ceiling: The ceiling is typical plaster on plaster board 

replacing the original plaster on wood lath.

Doors: In addition to the door opening from Room 

103, a second door opens from Room 105. It is a typical 6- panel door, 2’- 10” by 6’- 10” by 1- 3/4”. Its 

original knobs are missing, with a glass knob replacing one of the missing originals. There is a 3- light, 

top- hinged transom, the hardware for which is in 

place but bent, rusted, and inoperative.

Windows The room has two windows on the southwest wall. Both are typical double- hung, nineover- two, 3’- 4” by 5’- 8”. Counterbalance ropes are 

broken on both windows.

Wood Trim: The doors are cased with typical 4” casing, bull’s- eye corner blocks, and 8” base block. 

Windows use the same casing and bull’s- eye corner 

FIGURE 106. View of mantel shelf in Room 104. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 107. View of typical double window stool. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 108. View west in Room 104. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 75

Part I: Developmental History

blocks as the doors. Windows have an unusual double stool, which was probably installed to inhibit 

water infiltration from wind- driven rain. In addition, unlike the windows in Rooms 102 and 107, the 

window casing does not terminate at the chair rail, 

but rather descends to base blocks at the floor. This 

suggests that the windows might have once been 

door openings, but there is no other evidence for 

that. Since two windows at this location were part of 

the original plan for this type station, it is likely that 

this treatment of window trim was simply to give the 

room a more formal appearance, although analysis 

of painted finishes would be necessary to confirm 

that assumption. A typical 6” baseboard like that in 

Rooms 100 and 103 surrounds the room. A 7/8” by 

5- 3/4” board with a series of coat hooks is mounted 

on the southwest wall at a height of 71”, running 

between the door to Room 103 and the south corner 

of the room.

Fireplace: This room has the only fireplace in the 

station, although it is not clear if it was actually built 

for an open, coal- burning fire or just for a coal- or 

wood- burning stove. Typical 4” molded casing, 

bull’s- eye corner blocks, and 8” base blocks frame 

what appears to be a firebox opening, which is now 

closed, and the remainder of the fireplace surround 

FIGURE 109. View south in Room 104. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 110. View of door in Room 104. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
76 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

is finished with 3” beaded tongue- and- groove 

boards like those used for the wainscotting. The 

wooden fireplace surround and the apparent lack of 

a hearth suggests that the fireplace was constructed 

for a wood- burning stove and not for an open fire. 

A wooden mantel shelf is mounted on four castiron brackets at a height of about 58”.

A small wooden shelf measuring about 1’ by 2’ is 

mounted on the northeast wall at the north corner 

of the room. Its original purpose is not known but it 

may have served as a telephone stand. On the 

southwest wall on the east side of the windows is a 

small wooden panel a few inches above the floor. Its 

original purpose is also unknown.

Room 105 (Stair Hall)

Providing access to the second floor, this room can 

be entered from Rooms 104, 106, or 107. The room is 

around 6’- 2” by 16’- 10”.

Flooring: Flooring is a random mix of 2- 1/2”- and 

3”- wide, painted, tongue- and- groove pine, presumably original to the space. Flooding has caused 

slight cupping of the floor boards. FIGURE 111. View northeast in Room 105. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 112. View north in Room 104. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 77

Part I: Developmental History

Walls: As in Room 100, walls are finished with plaster on plasterboard above a wooden wainscot that 

rises to about 37” above the floor. The wainscot is 

composed of 3”- wide, beaded, tongue- and- groove 

boards and is completed with a 2”- wide molded 

chair rail.

Ceiling: The ceiling is plaster on plaster board in 

good condition.

Doors: In addition to the door opening into Room 

104, a similar six- panel door, 2’- 6” by 6’- 10” by 

1- 3/4” opens into Room 106. A third door, 2’- 10” by 

7’- 0” by 1- 3/4” opens from Room 107. It, too, is a 

typical six- panel door, and all original hardware is 

present on both doors. In addition, a wood- framed 

screened door, presumably historic, is present at the 

door to Room 106.

Wood Trim: Doors are cased with typical 4” casing, 

bull’s- eye corner blocks, and 8” base block. There is 

a typical 6” baseboard and a 2” molded chair rail like 

those in Rooms 100, 103, and 104.

FIGURE 113. View southwest in Room 105. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 114. View northwest of stairs to second 

floor. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 115. View of newel post and bannisters. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
78 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Staircase: The open stairs to the second floor have 

an open stringer and have treads with a rise of 8” 

and a run of around 11- 1/4”. One- inch cove molding 

rims the treads to the stringer casing. The newel post 

is 4” by 4” by 43” and has an ovoid post cap molded 

with concentric rings. The molded hand railing is 2” 

thick, and there are two 1”- diameter pickets at each 

step.

Room 106 (Keeper’s Room)

Entered from either of the two hallways on the first 

floor, this room was designed to be the Keeper’s 

personal room. It measures 16’- 10” by 10’- 4” and is 

the only room on the first floor without a wainscot.

Flooring: Flooring, which is painted, consists of 

alternating 3”- wide and 2- 1/2”- wide boards. 

Flooding has caused some cupping of the material.

Walls and Ceilings: Walls and ceiling are finished 

with plaster on plaster board. Recent flooding badly 

damaged the lower portions of the walls, and some 

of the plaster board has been removed. Residue 

from the original plaster on wood- lath walls is visiFIGURE 116. View northwest in Room 106. (T. Jones, ble on exposed studs. NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 117. View west in Room 106. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 79

Part I: Developmental History

Doors: The room has two typical six- panel doors 

into the room, one opening from the entrance hall 

(Room 100) and one from the stair hall (Room 105). 

Both ar e 2’- 6” by 6’- 10” with all hardware intact, 

although the knob on the door to Room 100 is damaged. In addition, there is a single closet door, which 

also has six panels and is 2’- 6” by 6’- 10” by 1- 3/4”, 

but it is missing knobs and escutcheons.

Window: There is one window in the room, located 

on the northwest wall. It is a typical double- hung, 

nine- over- two, 3’- 4” by 5’- 8”.

Woodwork: The window and doors are trimmed 

with typical 4”- wide molded casing with bull’s- eye 

corner blocks, and the doors have a typical 8” base 

block or plinth. Unlike the rooms with wainscotting, 

this room has a 5” baseboard with a 1- 1/2” ogee base 

cap.

Miscellaneous: This room has a single closet, complete with three shelves. On the southeast side of the 

closet, there is an alcove that now has two shelves. 

The chimney breast protrudes into the south corner 

of the room, and a flue for a heating stove was originally located in the alcove. The L- shaped mantle

FIGURE 118. View south in Room 106. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 119. View of closet in Room 106. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
80 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

depicted on the earliest plans of the building have 

been replaced by two shelves that are probably contemporaneous with the plaster board walls and ceiling.

Room 107 (Boat Room)

Occupying the eastern half of the building’s first 

floor, the Boat Room was used for the storage and 

maintenance of the life- saving station’s smaller 

boats. Entered from the residential portion of the 

building through a door from Room 106, the room 

also has three, large, double doors opening to the 

exterior, two on the northeast wall and one on the 

southwest wall. The room measures approximately 

34’- 1” from northwest to southeast and around 30’-

1” from northeast to southwest. It includes Closet A 

located under the staircase in Room 106 as well as 

Closets B and C which are triangular closets in the 

south and east corners of the room.

Flooring: Flooring is a typical mixture of 2- 1/2” and 

3”- wide tongue- and- groove flooring. The storm 

surge that accompanied Hurricane Isabel in 1993 did 

severe damage to the north corner of the room, 

including dislodging sub- flooring and flooring from 

the floor joists, although the flooring itself was not 

destroyed.

FIGURE 120. View of closets on southwest side of 

Room 107. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 121. View of flooring damaged by storm 

surge in 1993. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 122. View southeast in Room 107. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 81

Part I: Developmental History

Walls: Walls are finished with the 7/8” by 3” beaded 

tongue- and- groove boards typical of the original 

station. Below a chair rail installed about 41” above 

the floor the boards are installed vertically; above 

the chair rail, the boards are installed horizontally. 

Al of the wall boards are painted and most are in 

very good condition.

Ceiling: At 11’- 1”, the ceiling here is significantly 

higher than the 9’- 6” typical in the remainder of the 

station. It is finished with typical 3” beaded tongueand- groove boards. Two wooden headers, about 6’ 

by 9”, divide the ceiling into thirds. Each header is 

supported across its span by a pair of 7- 1/2” diameter columns with elongated capitals with ogee ends. 

Near the center of the northwest side of the ceiling 

is a 35- 1/2” by 56- 1/2” hatch opening to the second 

floor hall, which allowed large items to be hoisted to 

the second floor without resort to negotiating the 

relatively narrow stairs.

Doors: In addition to the three exterior doors and 

the door into Room 105 described above, there are 

three closet doors. All are six- panel doors, with the 

two corner- closet doors measuring 2’- 4” by 6’- 0” 

and the other closet door measuring 2’- 4” by 6’- 8”. 

Hardware is intact on all three doors.

FIGURE 123. View west in Room 107. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 124. View of ceiling hatch to second floor. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 125. View of header and top of post in 

Room 107. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005) 
82 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Windows: The room has two windows, both located 

on the room’s northeast wall and typical nine- overtwo windows, 3’- 4” by 5’- 10”. The north window of 

the pair was badly damaged by the storm surge during Hurricane Isabel. The sash and most of the 

frame were knocked from the opening, but the sash 

were not destroyed.

Wood Trim: As noted above, a 4”- wide chair rail, 

unlike the others used in the building, surrounds the 

room at a height of about 41”. Doors and windows 

are cased with a typical 4” molded casing and bull’seye corner blocks, and doors have a typical 8” base 

block. The ceiling hatch to the second floor is also 

cased in a typical 4” molded casing but without corner blocks. The 7/8” by 3- 1/2” baseboard surrounding the room is unique, consisting of a plain board 

with a V- shaped groove running the center of the 

board. The tool closet under the stairs has a 5” baseboard and cap like that used in Room 106. A 3” ogee 

crown molding trims the ceiling headers and walls.

Closets: The Boat Room’s three closets appear to be 

original to the space, and all three have shelving that 

appears to be original. Built into the lower end of the FIGURE 126. View of corner closet in Room 107. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 127. View east in Room 107. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 83

Part I: Developmental History

closet under the stairs is a three- drawer chest similar to those found in the crew’s closets on the second floor. Although in poor condition, some of the 

building’s only surviving plaster on wood lath is also 

found in the closet beneath the stairs.

Room 200 (Stair Hall)

Reached by the stairs from the first floor and providing access to the rooms on the second floor, this 

hall also contains the ladder- like stairs to the attic 

and the watch tower. The room measures about 6’-

4” by 19’- 11”.

Flooring: Because of the difference in ceiling heights 

between Room 107 and the other rooms on the first 

floor, there is a change in floor level of about 15” in 

this room with a step spanning the width of the hall 

to accommodate the change. Flooring is a typical 

mixture of 2- 1/2” and 3” tongue- and- groove 

boards, all of it painted. Between the doors to 

Rooms 202 and 203 are the double doors for the 

hatch in the ceiling of Room 107. Measuring 35- 1/2” 

by 56- 1/2”, the pair of doors could be opened to 

allow large items to be hoisted to the second floor 

without having to negotiate the main staircase.

Ceiling: The ceiling is plaster on plaster board, and 

with the change in floor levels, ceiling height ranges 

from about 9’- 5” at the head of the stairs to just over 

8’ at the doors to Rooms 202 and 203. At the northeast end of the space, the ceiling is open to the 

underside of the watch room floor, which is about 

14” above the floor of the hall. The open floor joists 

and flooring for the attic landing is about 8’ above 

the floor at that end of the hall and, with the open 

joists and flooring of the watch room floor form the 

ceiling at that end of the room.

Walls: Walls are also plaster on plaster board along 

with a 37”- high wainscot of 3” beaded tongue- andgroove boards like that in the hall (Room 105) below. 

Paint is peeling badly from some portions of the 

walls.

Doors: Three doors open out of this space into the 

three adjacent rooms. All are typical six- panel doors 

measuring 2’- 10” by 6’- 10”. The door into Room 201 

also has an 18”- high, three- light tilting transom. 

Escutcheons and knobs are missing from the doors 

to Rooms 202 and 203.

FIGURE 128. View northeast in Room 200. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 129. View southwest in Room 200. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
84 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Windows: The dormer window on the southeast side 

of the building lights the stairs from the first floor. 

The window measures 2’- 10” by 4’- 4” with sash that 

are double- hung, six- over- two. In addition, two 

smaller windows are located at the northeast end of 

the hall. Both are 2’- 6” by 2’- 7” with single, tophinged, four- light sash, but all of the glass is missing. 

Although these windows open into the adjacent 

Rooms 202 and 203 and are now boarded up, they 

originally acted as “borrow lights” for the north end 

of the hall, being lit by the double- windowed dormer on the northeast side of the building.

Wood Trim: Woodwork in this room is typical. 

Doors and windows are trim with 4” molded casing 

and bull’s- eye corner blocks and the doors have 8” 

base blocks. Three of the bull’s- eye corner blocks at 

the small windows at the northeast end of the hall 

and one at the door to Room 203 are missing, and 

the dormer window above the stairs is missing both 

stool and apron. Although the wainscot has a chair 

rail like that used in Rooms 100, 104, and 105, there is 

no baseboard with the wainscot. On the attic landing, there is a 5” baseboard with 1- 1/2” cap like that 

used in Rooms 106 and 201. Except for the missing 

corner blocks, woodwork remains intact and in 

good condition.

FIGURE 130. View from Room 200 of attic landing 

and stairs to watch room. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 131. View east in Room 201. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 85

Part I: Developmental History

Stairs: In addition to the regular staircase from the 

first floor, steep, ladder- like stairs ascend to a landing at the attic level, where similar stairs continue to 

the watch room above. These stairs have an overall 

width of 24”, 1- 3/4” by 8- 1/2” stringers, and 1- 3/8” 

by 7” x 20- 1/2” treads. The hand railing is brass pipe 

1- 1/4” in diameter.

Room 201 (Crew Quarters)

Occupying the northwestern half of the second 

floor, this large room is lined with single beds and 

small closets that originally served the station’s crew. 

The room measures 22’- 2” by 24’- 4” plus a sort of 

alcove for the dormer window on the northwest side 

of the station. Entered directly from the hall (Room 

200), it includes a series of eight identical closets 

that run along the northwest and southeast sides of 

the room. The chimney stack rises through the center of the room and is boxed in to a dimension of 24” 

by 48”.

Flooring: Flooring is a typical mixture of painted 2-

1/2” and 3” tongue- and- groove boards.

Walls: Walls are plaster on plaster- board, except in 

the closets where the original plaster on wood lath

FIGURE 132. View north in Room 201. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 133. View of typical closet door. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
86 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

remains intact, although much of the plaster has 

fallen from the lath.

Ceiling: The ceiling is plaster on plaster board.

Doors: The door from the hall is a typical six- panel 

door, 2’- 10” by 6’- 10”, but also has a three- light 

transom. The transom originally tilted open, but the 

tilt mechanism is now missing. The eight closet 

doors are all 2’- 0” by 6’- 0” by 1- 1/2” with two, 

square- edged, raised panels. Unlike the other doors

in the building, the closet doors here have separate 

escutcheons for the key hole and for the knob. The 

key escutcheon is rectangular, 1” by 1- 3/4”, while the 

knob escutcheon is round, 2- 1/4” in diameter.

Windows: The room is lit by three windows, all double- hung with six- over- six sash. One is a dormer 

window on the northwest side of the room. The 

other two are located on the southwest wall, centered in the large gable at that end of the building.

Wood Trim: The room has typical 4” casing, bull’seye corner blocks and base blocks at doors and 

windows. Baseboard is a 5” baseboard plus an 1- 1/2” 

ogee base cap, like that used in all of the rooms that 

do not have wainscotting. In addition, a 5- 3/4”-

wide board with a series of coat hooks runs along 

FIGURE 134. View of door from Room 200 to 201. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 135. View west in Room 201. (T. Jones, NPS, 

2005)

FIGURE 136. View of typical closet in Room 201. 

(T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 87

Part I: Developmental History

the northeast and southwest walls at a height of six 

feet. Around the chimney breast, the board is surmounted by a 9- 1/2” shelf, but there is no evidence 

that a similar shelf was ever present elsewhere.

Miscellaneous: Each of the closets has a small, builtin chest of drawers. Each has two drawers and measures 21” deep, 36” long, and 22” high. Birds nesting 

above the ceiling in the closets on the southwest side 

of the building have soiled the space with their 

droppings and contributed to damage to the plaster.

Room 202 (Spare Room) 

Designated simply as a “spare room” on the building’s original plans, this room would have been used 

to temporarily house ship- wrecked victims or storm 

refugees. The main portion of the room measures 

9’- 10” by 26’- 2”, plus the alcove formed by the dormer at the northeast end of the room. A low closet 

also runs along the knee wall at the northwest side of 

the room.

Flooring: Unlike most of the other rooms in the station, all of the flooring in this room is 3” tongueand- groove.

FIGURE 137. View northeast in Room 202. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 138. View of closet door in Room 202. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
88 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Walls: Walls are plaster on plaster board.

Ceiling: The ceiling is plaster on plaster board.

Doors: In addition to the large six- panel door from 

the hall (Room 200), there is a small, single- panel 

door to the closet on the northwest wall. The door 

measures 2’- 2” by 3’- 0”.

Windows: In addition to the window that opens into 

this room from the northeast end of the hall (Room 

200), one of the windows in the building’s double 

dormer lights this room. It is a typical double- hung 

window with six- over- two sash and measures 3’- 0” 

by 4’- 5”. Counterweight ropes are broken.

Wood Trim: Doors and windows are trimmed with 

typical 4” molded casing, bull’s- eye corner blocks, 

and base blocks. The 5” baseboard and 1- 1/2” ogee 

base cap are typical of those rooms that do not have 

a wainscot.

Miscellaneous: The wall below the dormer window 

has been severely damaged, apparently due to water 

FIGURE 139. View northwest in Room 203. (T. penetration. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 140. View southwest in Room 202. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 89

Part I: Developmental History

Room 203 (Store Room)

Designated for storage on the original plans for this 

type of building, this room originally had no wall or 

ceiling finishes. Fiberboard was later installed on the 

walls and ceiling. The room is approximately the 

same size as Room 202 and its closet combined.

Flooring: Flooring is a typical mixture of 2- 1/2” and 

3” tongue- and- groove boards.

Walls and Ceiling: Walls and ceiling, which originally 

were open to the building’s framing, were finished 

with fiber board in the mid- twentieth century. Only 

remnants of that material remain in place.

Door: The door that opens into this room from the 

hall is a six- panel door, 2’- 10” by 6’- 10”, like the 

other principal doors on this floor.

Windows: As in Room 202, this room has two windows. One of the double dormer windows provided 

light for this room but is now boarded up. The sixover- two sash is in poor condition. Also as in Room 

202, opposite the dormer window, there is a borrow 

light for the adjacent hall (Room 200). It, too, is 

missing all glass and is boarded over.

FIGURE 141. View northeast in Room 203. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 142. View damaged wall below window 

in Room 202. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 143. View of artifacts in Room 203; also 

note intact fiberboard walls and baseboard. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
90 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

Trim: Wooden casing, baseboard, and other trim 

were not used in this room. Instead, when the fiberboard walls and ceiling were installed, 4”- wide 

strips of fiberboard were used for casing and baseboard. Most of that material is now missing.

Miscellaneous: A number of pieces of furniture and 

other items have been stored in this room, including 

parts of an antique kerosene lamp and old pumps 

that may have been used at the station.

Attic

At the northeast end of Room 200, the ceiling is 

open to the underside of the watch tower floor, 

which is about 14’ above the floor of Room 200. The 

ladder- like stairs from the second floor described 

above, rise to a small landing that is about 3’- 11” by 

6’- 2”. Opening on the northwest side of that landing 

is the door to the floored portion of the attic. The 

attic floor space is about 15’- 3” wide and some 34’-

8” long.

Flooring: The landing at the attic door is floored 

with 3” tongue- and- groove boards. The attic itself 

is floored with plain boards, 7/8” by 11- 1/4” to 11- 1/2” 

wide, installed with machine- cut nails.

FIGURE 144. View northeast in attic. (T. Jones, NPS, 

2005)

FIGURE 145. View southwest in attic. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 91

Part I: Developmental History

Door: The door from the landing into the attic is a 

four- panel door, 2’- 6” by 5’- 6”. It is the only door 

in the building that retains its original varnished finish and has not been painted. It is fitted with a simple thumb latch, which is probably original.

Window: A single window in the southwest gable 

lights the attic. It is the only two- over- two window 

in the building and measures 2’- 4” by 3’- 5”. 

Because the interior of the sash has never been 

painted or varnished, there has been significant UV 

degradation of the soft wood.

Miscellaneous: A wide range of furniture and other 

artifacts are stored in the attic. These include window sash and screen, some of which may belong to 

this building. Other artifacts, including roof shingles, are tagged to indicate they came from the 

church or other historic buildings in Portsmouth.

Watch Room

Another ladder rises from the landing at the attic 

door to the watch room. The watch room, which has 

windows on all four sides, is 6’ by 9’- 9” with a ceiling height of 7’- 6”.

Flooring: Flooring is painted, 3”- wide, tongue- andgroove. A small area of water- damaged flooring in 

FIGURE 146. View of attic door. (T. Jones, NPS, 

2005)

FIGURE 147. View of second floor hall (Room 200) 

from attic landing. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 148. View north of attic landing and 

stairs to watch room from attic door. (T. Jones, 

NPS, 2005)
92 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

the west corner of the room is covered with plywood.

Walls: Walls are finished with a wainscot of 3”- wide 

beaded tongue- and- groove boards installed vertically and a chair rail at 52” above the floor. Above 

the chair rail, walls are finished with the same 3”-

wide material, but installed horizontally.

Ceiling: The ceiling is finished with the same 3”-

wide beaded material used on the walls.

Door: The door or hatch in the floor, which provides 

the only access into the room, is 26- 1/2” by 44”. It 

has a frame made of 7/8” by 5” boards and is covered 

by the same 3” tongue- and- groove material used on 

the floor. The opening is surrounded on three sides 

by a 1- 5/8”- diameter brass pipe rail, 33” high.

Windows: The room has seven windows, not eight as 

shown on some plans of the building. Two are 

located on each of the northwest, southwest, and 

southeast walls, with one located on the northeast 

wall. Sash are 20- 1/2” by 28”, top hinged, and 

divided into three lights. Both sash are missing from 

the two windows on the northwest side of the room, 

and the openings are now covered by plywood.

FIGURE 149. View northeast of watch room. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)

FIGURE 150. View west of watch room’s hatch door. (T. Jones, NPS, 2005)
National Park Service 93

Part I: Developmental History

Woodwork: Windows are cased with 3”- wide 

reeded boards not found anywhere else in the 

building. Corner blocks are plain, not the bull’s- eye 

blocks used elsewhere in the building. There is no 

baseboard, but there is a 3” crown molding at the 

top of the walls.

Miscellaneous: A small wooden box is mounted on 

the east corner of the room and may have once held 

the time clock used to record the watchman’s time 

on duty. For unknown reasons, a 6” by 8” hole has 

been opened in the southeast wall and a portion of 

the chair rail is missing in that location.

FIGURE 151. View northwest of Portsmouth village from watch room. (T. 

Jones, NPS, 2005)
94 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description
National Park Service 95

Part I: Developmental History

Plans of Existing 

Building

Site Plan
96 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description
National Park Service 97

Part I: Developmental History

First Floor Plan
98 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description
National Park Service 99

Part I: Developmental History

Second Floor Plan
100 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description
National Park Service 101

Part I: Developmental History

Attic Floor Plan
102 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description
National Park Service 103

Part I: Developmental History

Watch Room and Roof Plan
104 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description

106 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Physical Description
National Park Service 107

The Portsmouth Life- Saving Station is a relatively 

rare example of Shingle- Style architecture in the 

southern United States and is the best- preserved of 

the twenty- one Quonochontaug- type stations that 

the U. S. Life- Saving Service constructed between 

1891 and 1904, only ten of which remain in existence 

today. The station played a major role in the history 

of Portsmouth and helped keep the village viable 

into the twentieth century. From its construction in 

1894 until it was finally decommissioned in 1946, the 

station was a source of shelter during storms and of 

assistance during all kinds of emergencies, and it has 

remained a major landmark on the Outer Banks to 

the present day.

Well constructed, the building has had relatively few 

alterations and remains, for the most part, structurally sound. However, a series of storms, including 

hurricanes in 2001 and 2004, has taken its toll on the 

building and caused major damage, especially 

around the north corner of the building. The Portsmouth Life- Saving Station is one of the park’s 

most- significant historic resources and is indispensable for interpretation of the history of Portsmouth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth 

centuries.

Requirements for 

Treatment and Use

The authorizing legislation (Public Law 89- 366) for 

Cape Lookout National Seashore mandated the 

park’s establishment for the purpose of preserving 

“for public use and enjoyment an area in the State of 

North Carolina possessing outstanding natural and 

recreational values.” Shortly after the seashore was 

Treatment and 

Use
108 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

actually established in 1976, the cultural resources at 

Portsmouth were also recognized through listing of 

the Portsmouth Village Historic District on the 

National Register of Historic Places. The general 

management plan (GMP) developed for the park by 

the Denver Service Center in 1982 states that one of 

the park’s management objectives is “[t]o preserve 

intact, as feasible, the historic resources of the 

national seashore and to recognized that dynamic 

natural forces have influenced them throughout 

their existence and will continue to influence 

them.”96 The GMP envisioned interpretation of the 

park’s cultural resources that would “emphasize 

man and his relation to the sea” with maritime history a focus at the [Cape Lookout] Lighthouse and 

the cultural and economic life of the Outer Bankers 

at Portsmouth Village.”97

The key to the success of any historic preservation 

project is good judgement in determining where 

replacement of a deteriorated building element is 

necessary. Deterioration in part of an element 

should not necessitate total replacement of the element, since epoxy consolidants and fillers can often 

be used to repair the damaged area, often without 

even removing the damaged element to make the 

repair. While total replacement of a damaged element is often recommended, especially in rehabilitation projects, the success of most preservation 

projects can be judged by the amount of historic 

material that remains. Even "replacement in kind" 

does not typically address natural processes that 

give the historic materials an aged appearance that 

cannot be duplicated except by the passage of time.

Because it is a contributing building in a National 

Register district, legal mandates and policy directives circumscribe treatment of the Life- Saving Station. The NPS' Cultural Resources Management 

Guideline (DO- 28) requires planning for the protection of cultural resources "whether or not they 

relate to the specific authorizing legislation or interpretive programs of the parks in which they lie." 

Therefore, the building should be understood in its 

own cultural context and managed in light of its 

own values so that it may be preserved unimpaired 

for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

To help guide compliance with legal mandates and 

regulations while still maintaining the building’s 

historic integrity, the Secretary of the Interior's 

Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties 

have been issued along with guidelines for applying 

those standards. Standards are included for each of 

the four separate but interrelated approaches to the 

treatment of historic buildings: preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction. These 

approaches define a hierarchy that implies an 

increasing amount of intervention into the historic 

building. Rehabilitation, in particular, allows for a 

variety of alterations and even additions to accommodate modern use of the structure. NPS Management Policies permits restoration only if (a) it is 

essential for public understanding of the cultural 

associations of a park and (2) it can be accomplished with minimal conjecture based on sufficient 

data. Restoration of prehistoric or historic ruins is 

prohibited. Regardless of approach, a key principle 

embodied in the Standards is that changes be 

reversible, i.e., that alterations, additions, or other 

modifications be designed and constructed in such 

a way that they can be removed or reversed in the 

future without the loss of existing historic materials, 

features or characters.

Treatment of the building should be guided by the 

International Building Code, including that code’s 

statement regarding historic buildings:

3406.1 Historic Buildings. The provisions of 

this code related to the construction, repair, 

alteration, addition, restoration and movement 

of structures, and change of occupancy shall not 

be mandatory for historic buildings where such 

buildings are judged by the building official to 

not constitute a distinct life safety hazard

[emphasis added].

Threats to public health and safety will be eliminated, but because this is an historic building, alternatives to full code compliance should be identified 

where full compliance would needlessly compromise the integrity of the historic building.

Alternatives for 

Treatment and Use

Because of the building’s distinctive architecture 

and the major role that the station played in the history of Portsmouth, treatment and use of the building should preserve the building’s historic character 

as it evolved through World War II.

96. Cape Lookout GMP, p. 4.

97. Ibid.
National Park Service 109

Part II: Treatment and Use

Use

A use that requires significant alterations to the 

building’s historic interior, which remains in relatively good condition, should not be considered. 

Use of the life- saving station for overnight accomodations for volunteers could be considred if 

improvements were kept to a minimum. However, 

installation of full bathroom facilities, central heating and air- conditioning, and other amenities 

would require significant alterations to the building 

that could diminish its integrity as an historic 

resource.

Treatment

Most of the building's distinctive materials, features, 

and spaces are essentially intact, and in spite of 

alterations, the building retains its historic integrity. 

Repair and preservation of the building in its current state is a valid approach to treatment. Restoration of the building to earlier appearances might be 

considered as well, but only within the context of 

the park’s interpretive goals for the entire historic 

district.

Preservation. Much of the work to simply repair 

and preserve the building is already underway as 

part of repair of storm damage that has occured 

over the last few years. This approach does not 

attempt to restore or recreate lost features, such as 

the porch floor at the south corner of the building, 

but aims only to preserve the building in more or 

less its existing state.

Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation of the building 

would include all of the repairs necessary to stabilize and preserve the building in its existing state. 

This approach would be coupled with adaptive use 

which would probably require installation of modern HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems in the 

building.

Restoration. While there have been relatively few 

changes to the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station 

since it was deactivated at the end of World War II, 

restoration as an approach to treatment could be 

pursued with a goal of returning the building to its 

appearance at four main points in its evolution as an 

historic building.

1945 Restoration: Restoration of the building to its 

appearance when it was decommissioned at the end 

of World War II.

■ reconstruct missing section of porch

■ install screening on southwest (facing the 

kitchen) and southeast (facing creek) sides 

of porch; leave cistern side of porch 

unscreened

■ install half screens at windows

■ recreate washrooms but no toilet in old 

pantry (101) and storm clothe's room (103); 

administrative office for commanding 

officer in old kitchen (102)

■ reinstall metal cistern

■ replace shingles with siding on addition to 

summer kitchen; maintain shingles on 

original portion of summer kitchen; paint 

entire building white

1937 Restoration: Restoration of the building to its 

appearance when it was first decommissioned by 

the Coast Guard

■ reconstruct missing section of porch

■ install half screens at windows and screen 

doors at exterior doors

■ recreate “washrooms” in 101 and 103, but no 

kitchen in 102

■ recreate washrooms but no toilet in old 

pantry (101) and storm clothe's room (103); 

administrative office for commanding 

officer in old kitchen (102)

■ reinstall metal cistern

■ remove c. 1942 addition to summer kitchen

1915 Restoration: Restoration of the building to its 

appearance when it became a Coast Guard station

■ reconstruct missing section of porch

■ install half screens at windows and screen 

doors at exterior doors

■ remove V- joint paneling from 101 and 102; 

reconstruct door opening between 102 and 

104; and restore original finishes

■ remove partition from 103

■ install sink in kitchen (102) and in storm 

clothes room (103)

■ remove gun cabinet from 101 and 

reconstruct shelving, etc.

■ recreate pantry in 101, kitchen in 102, mess 

room in 104

■ remove c. 1942 addition to summer kitchen

1894 Restoration: Restoration of the building to its 

original appearance

■ reconstruct missing section of porch
110 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

■ replace concrete boat ramps with wooden 

ramps

■ remove V- joint paneling from 101 and 102; 

reconstruct door opening between 102 and 

104; and restore original finishes

■ remove partition from 103

■ determine character of original door 

locksets and knobs and replace existing 

hardware

■ install half screens at windows and screen 

doors at exterior doors

■ install sink in kitchen (102)

■ remove gun cabinet from 101 and 

reconstruct shelving, etc.

■ recreate pantry in 101, kitchen in 102, mess 

room in 104

■ remove summer kitchen (built in 1908)

Ultimate 

Treatment and Use

Use

When the park’s current General Management Plan 

(GMP) was developed in 1982, the Life- Saving Station was being used as a residence for park personnel. That use was discontinued around 1990, and 

the building has been occupied only sporadically 

since that time. The park is presently planning presentation of the building as a museum to exhibit 

both the building’s architecture and its use as a lifesaving station. The historical significance of the 

Life- Saving Station and the quality and scale of its 

architecture insures a high level of public interest in 

the building.

Treatment

Unlike most of the other structures at Portsmouth, 

which are simple vernacular buildings, the old LifeSaving Station is a significant example of historic 

architecture designed and later modified by the 

government for specific uses. It is the bestpreserved of the few life- saving stations of this type 

that remain along the East Coast and has the 

potential to be the centerpiece of the park’s 

interpretation of the United States Life- Saving 

Service and Coast Guard as well as a major point of 

interpretation of the village of Portsmouth itself.

The park is presently planning presentation of the 

building as a museum to exhibit both the building’s 

architecture and its use as a life- saving station. The 

historical significance of the Life- Saving Station 

and the quality and scale of its architecture insures a 

high level of public interest in the building. Because 

of the building’s architectural significance, the few 

unsympathetic alterations to the building that 

occurred after World War II should be reversed. 

The interior of the building should be repaired as 

necessary and preserved in more- or- less its 

present condition.

Much of this work is presently underway as part of 

repair of hurricane damage that has occured over 

the last five or six years. All of the issues raised in 

this section are necessary for the continued 

preservation of the building and should be 

addressed regardless of the use to which the 

building is put.
National Park Service 111

Published Sources

Canney, Donald L., “Rum War: The U. S. Coast Guard & 

Prohibition,” accessed on line at <http://

www.uscg.mil/hq/g- cp/history/h_rumwar.html>, 

November 18, 2005.

Chenery, Richard L. Old Coast Guard Stations, Volume II, 

North Carolina. Glen Allen, VA: Station Books, 2000.

Dunbar, Gary S. Historical Geography of the North 

Carolina Outer Banks. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana 

State University Press, 1958.

Ehrenhard, John E. Cape Lookout National Seashore: 

Assessment of Archaeological and Historical Resources.

NPS: Southeast Archaeological Center, Tallahassee, 

FL, 1976.

Greene, Jerome A. Historic Structure Report, Historical 

Data Component, Little Kinnakeet Life- Saving 

Station, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North 

Carolina. National Park Service, 1987.

Holland, F. Ross. A Survey History of Cape Lookout 

National Seashore. NPS: Division of History, Office 

of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, January 

30, 1968.

Merryman, J. H. “The United States Life- Saving Service.” 

Scribner’s Monthly. Vol. 19, #3, January 1880, pp. 321-

338. Accessed at <http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgibin/moa/pageviewer?coll=moa&root=/moa/scmo/

scmo0019/&tif=00339.TIF&view=50&frames=1> 17 

November 2005.

Means, Dennis R. “A Heavy Sea Running: The Formation 

of the U.S. Life- Saving Service, 1846- 1878.” Prologue: 

Journal of the National Archives, Winter 1987, Vol. 19, 

#4. <http://www.chicamacomico.org/Library/

heavy_sea_running.html> (November 2002).

National Park Service. Cape Lookout General 

Management Plan/Development Concept Plan. 

Denver Service Center: December 1982.

National Park Service. Cape Lookout National Seashore: 

Amendment to General Management Plan and 

Environmental Assessment. Southeast Regional 

Office: January 2001.

Noble, Dr. Dennis L. “A Legacy: The United States LifeSaving Service.” November 2001. <http://

www.uscg.mil/hq/g- cp/history/h_USLSS.html> 

(November 2002).

Olds, Fred A. “The Barrier Reef,” The Orphan’s Freind and 

Masonic Journal (Oxford, NC), October 28, 1921.

Ruffin, Edmund. Agricultural, Geological, and Descriptive 

Sketches of Lower North Carolina, and the Similar 

Adjacent Lands. Raleigh, NC: Institution for the Deaf 

& Dumb & The Blind, 1861. http://docsouth.unc.edu/

nc/ruffin/ruffin.html (November 2002).

Salter, Ben B. Portsmouth Island, Short Stories and History. 

Privately published, 1972.

Shanks, Ralph, Wick York, and Lisa Woo Shanks. The U. S. 

Life- Saving Service: Heroes, Rescues, and Architecture 

of the Early Coast Guard. Petaluma, CA: Costano 

Books, 1996.

Stick, David. The Outer Banks of North Carolina. Chapel 

Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1958.

United States Coast Guard. “Search and Rescue: The 

Coast Guard and the U. S. Life- Saving Service.” 

Updated March 2002. <http://www.uscg.mil/hq/gcp/history/h_USLSS. html> (November, 2002).

United States Coast Guard, Journals of Portsmouth LifeSaving Station, 1894- 1937. (Original volumes at 

National Archives, Morrow, GA.

Whittier, Bob. “The History of Outboards,” Yachting 

Magazine (January 1957). Accessed at <http://

www.acbs.org/Public/Rudder/Fall2001/

OutboardHistory.htm> 25 May 2005.

York, Eugene V. “The Architecture of the United States 

Life- Saving Service. Undergraduate Thesis, Boston 

University, 1972

Historic Drawings

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Plat of U. S. Marine Hospital 

Reservation at Portsmouth, NC” July 7, 1893. RG 26, 

National Archives and Records Center in 

Philadelphia, PA.

Sources of Information
112 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Position Plan for Buildings of 

the U. S. Life- Saving Station at Portsmouth, NC,” 

N.D., probably 1894. RG 26, National Archives and 

Records Center in Philadelphia, PA.

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Fence for the Portsmouth, N.C. 

LIfe- Saving Station” N.D., probably 1894. RG 26, 

National Archives and Records Center in 

Philadelphia, PA..

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “[Plot of]U. S. Life- Saving 

Statioin Portsmouth, N. C.,” December 17, 1900. 

National Archives and Records Center, Cartographic 

Division, College Park, MD.

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Plot of Lot of U.S. L- S.S., 

Portsmouth, N. C., 7th Dist.,” June, 1903, with “new 

data added” on July 26, 1909. RG 26, National 

Archives and Records Center, Cartographic Division, 

College Park, MD.

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Harbor and Proposed Location 

for Wharf,” March 1913. RG 26, National Archives and 

Records Center in Philadelphia, PA.

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Details of Walk and Wharf, and 

Profile Showing Ground and Wharf Elevations,” 

April 1913. RG 26, National Archives and Records 

Center in Philadelphia, PA.

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “Sketches for Boathouse 

Showing Basin Hoisting Gear and Boat in House,” 

April 1913. RG 26, National Archives and Records 

Center in Philadelphia, PA.

U.S. Life- Saving Service, “End Section of Concrete Sheet 

Piles,” July 9, 1914. RG 26, National Archives and 

Records Center in Philadelphia, PA.

U.S. Coast Guard, “Drawing of Walk,” April 3, 1916. RG 26, 

National Archives and Records Center in 

Philadelphia, PA.

U.S. Coast Guard, “Portsmouth Station” [plans of first and 

second floors], N. D., probably 1916. RG 26, National 

Archives and Records Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Historic 

Photographs

Cape Lookout National Seashore has a large collection of 

historic photographs of the building, the oldest 

dating to around 1910. Unless otherwise noted, all of 

the historic photographs were taken from this 

collection.
National Park Service 113

Historic Drawings

Appendix A
114 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 115

“Plat of U. S. Marine Hospital Reservation at Portsmouth, NC” July 7, 1893.
116 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 117

“Position Plan for Buildings of the U. S. Life-Saving Station at Portsmouth, 

NC,” N.D., probably 1894.
118 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 119

“Fence for the Portsmouth, N.C. LIfe-Saving Station” N.D., probably 1894.
120 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 121

“[Plot of]U. S. Life-Saving Statioin Portsmouth, N. C.,” December 17, 1900.
122 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 123

“Plot of Lot of U.S. L-S.S., Portsmouth, N. C., 7th Dist.,” June, 1903, revised 

July 26, 1909. 
124 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 125

“Harbor and Proposed Location for Wharf,” March 1913. 
126 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 127

“Sketches for Boathouse Showing Basin Hoisting Gear and Boat in House,” 

April 1913
128 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 129

“Details of Walk and Wharf, and Profile Showing Ground and Wharf 

Elevations,” April 1913.
130 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 131

“End Section of Concrete Sheet Piles,” July 9, 1914.
132 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 133

“Drawing of Walk,” April 3, 1916.
134 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 135

“Portsmouth Station” [plans of first and second floors], N. D., probably 

1916.
136 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 137

Specifications for 

Brant Rock LifeSaving Station

Appendix B
138 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 139

The specifications copied below were for the Brant Rock Life- Saving Station, which were 

adapted for the Portsmouth Life- Saving Station per recommendations made in a letter from 

the Construction Superintendent, a copy of which can be found at the end of this appendix. 
140 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 141
142 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 143
144 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 145
146 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 147
148 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 149
150 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 151
152 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 153
154 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 155
156 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 157
158 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR
National Park Service 159

Portsmouth, NC, 

Life-Saving 

Station Log Books, 

1894-1938

Notes taken from original volumes at NARA, 

Record Group 26.4, Morrow, Georgia, Fall 2005

1894

Sep 30 Sunday morning about 9AM A. Styron

 sighted boat 15 miles out; loaded with

cedar and honey from Cuba; landed

north of Ocracoke and went to Hatteras

to telegraph

Oct 27 schooner ashore on Beacon Island inside

Ocracoke Inlet

Nov 3 first full entries in log book made this

day; crew listed include George R. Willis,

Jesse Newton, Washington Roberts,

Augustus D. Mason, James to Salter,

George R. Willis, George W. Gilgo;

Dennis Mason was sick

Nov 12 patrols not taken, beach flooded; “tide al

around station” with nor’easter blowing

Nov 14 rcd uniforms for surfmen; “house duty

performed”

Dec 15 “scrubbed the house”

Dec 27 vessel grounded at Ocracoke; Ocracoke

Station unaware; vessell crew’ small boat

capsized but five crew rescued by people

on beach joining hands and wading out

into the surf; Terrell couldn’t get men to

go with him in vessel’s small boat to get

remaining three crew but they wouldn’t

go; “kept watch on beach all night. Also

fires to encourage sailors.”

Dec 28 at daylight, Ocracoke keeper went to

work; saved two of crew with breech’s

buoy; one perished.”

Dec 31 3- masted schooner in distress; beach “all

covered with water and ice”; 20

Portsmouth men helped launch Jersey

boat

1895

Jan 2 beach still flooded- - - had to take wagon

apart and put in boat to get it back to

station

Jan 13 ship aground, lost anchor, could not get

her off

Jan 14 unloaded wood and flour but still

couldn’t get her off until wind changed

Jan 16 rcd. “remainder of articles for

Portsmouth Station”

Jan 17 schooner Sulphen got off and went in to

Ocracoke

Feb 1 rcd. Jersey surf- boat and one monomay

surfboat with sails- - - returned surfboat

and wagon borrowed from Creed’s Hill

Station

Feb 8 9 men from Davis oystering came to

station; “there being so much ice was

afraid when iit broke up they would be

carried to sea. They was furnished meals

and lodging.”

Feb 9 9 men still there; “everything froze up”;

in 20s all day

Feb 11 men still there; “dare not stay aboard

their boats”

Feb 15 men tried to get boats but failed

Feb 17 9 men left station

Feb 24 report on oystermen- - - stayed 9 nights

and “furnished 162 meals at the Keeper’s

house.”

Mar 11 “Crew arrived at station at 7 AM and

signed articles and went to work”; set key

posts.

Appendix C
160 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Crew:

1. Joseph W. Roberson

2. George Dixon

3. Augustus Mason

4. Joseph Styron

5. George R. Willis

6. Dennis Mason

7. Washington Roberts

Mar 12 put up wreck pole

Apr 6 discharged Joseph W. Robinson, George

Dixon, Joseph Styron as directed by

Gen’l Superintendent; hired Martin

Dixon, George Gilgo, David Salter

Apr 12 rcd box of clothing from Women’s

National Relief Assoc.

Apr 17 tide all over beach and around station

Apr 19 had to move north key post; shore

washed away

Apr 18- 20 helping sweep for lost anchor to

schooner lade with 500 tons coal

Crew:

1. Jesse Newton

2. George W. Gilgo

3. Augustus D. Mason

4. James T. Salter

5. George R. Willis

6. Dennis Mason

7. Washington Roberts

Aug 1 Crew arrived back at station- - -

1. Dennis Mason

2. Wash Roberts

3. Augustus D. Mason

4. James to Salter

5. George R. Willis

6. George W. Gilgo

7. Jesse J. Newton

Oct 2 “Mrs. Ackins a lady boarding at

Portsmouth was taking with cramps 

scent to Station for JJamaica ginger, could

get none on the island, so keeper let her

have some”

Oct 7 12 tons of coal for station

Oct 19 rcd. two handcarts from Racine Wagon

and Carriage Co

Dec 13 highest tide in 3 years

1896

Jan 16 Rcd. from Trent Lumber Co. by

Schooner Two Friends lumber for

breakwater- - - 20 pcs 2 x 12 x 16, 10 pcs 6

x 6x 16

Feb 3 crew finish building breakwater east of

station

Mar 31 rcd. 1 sheet of zinc, 3 elbows, 6”

galvanized stove pipe

Aug 12 finished stables today

Sep 4 rcd two cords of fire wood

Oct 6 fcd 4500 lbs oats, 4500 lbs corn, 8000 lbs

hay, 1200 lbs straw

Oct 10 tide knee deep around station- - - - [Cat 2

storm stayed well off shore] 

Oct 11 oil and coal house tore up- - - breakwater

east of station washed down along with

part of fence

Oct 12 island still covered with water

Oct 29 crew repair breakwater

Dec 2 tide around station, island underwater

1897

Feb 10, 13,

 17- 18 crew building boat house on outer beach

Feb 26 finished boat house

Oct 30 warning rcd. about ships with yellow

fever

1898

Mar 7 repaired walk from station to oil house

Apr 12 island under water

May 27 whitewashed barn and boat house

Nov 1 rcd one grey horse

1899

Apr 17 whitewashed fence

Aug 8 [San Ciriaco hurricane devastates Puerto

Rico, Cat 4 storm at its height; still Cat 3,

110- 130 mph winds when it hit Hatteras]

Aug 16 gale, island under water, fence down,

boat house at hill settled in sand

Aug 17 9” of water in station; “stables gone

with horses in them”; rescued families of

Charles and Daniel Willis whose houses

were off foundations

Aug 18 Willis families still at station

Aug 20 water still 3’ deep between station and

outer beach

Aug 24 body found and buried

Oct 30 tide all around station; breakwater

damaged; [Cat 2 storm came ashore south

of Wilmington]

Nov 23 rcd gutters, lumber for cart house and

walk; additional material on Dec 22

1900

Feb asst super of construction framing watch
National Park Service 161

house

Mar 1 gale, sea tide over breakwater washed

down in October; cut bank within

9’ of station

March 15- 16 surfmen finish working on carriage

house

Jun 2 fixing boat room door

Jun 14- 17 tinner puts up new gutters

1901

Crew in 1901:

1. Wash Roberts

2. W. T. Willis (b. 1870)- - Portsmouth

3. D. W. Yeomans (b. 1873)- - Portsmouth

4. M. M. Pigott

5. J. W. Fulcher

6. H. D. Goodwin (b. 1873) Portsmouth

1902

Nov 28 rcd. two wood heating stoves

May 23 men puttying windows and painting

“trimmings”

1903

Dec 22 a piece of plastering fell from station wall

about the size of 7” by 7 ft in length

1904

Jan 5 a piece of plastering fell from station wall

size about 2- 1/2 ft by 13 ft.

Mar 12 in answer to “Is the house in good

repair?: “good” replaced by “fair”

May 17 cleaned out cistern

May 18, 20 hauled turf to put in and around station

yard

May 27 made shelter to put monomy surf boat

under

Aug 17 rcd. 1- 1/2 lbs of bicarbonate of soda, 4 oz.

sulphuric acid for fire extinguishers

Oct 11 rcd ten iron bedsteads, 80 lbs soap, 12

brooms, 12 chairs, 2 boat hooks, 60 lbs 

white lead, 4 gal varnish, 5 gal linseed oil,

5 lbs putty

Nov 22 “so we came ashore and got keeper gas

boat” [first mention of motor boats]

Dec 18 crew hauling rocks and bricks to put at

east side of station

Dec 30 Henry S. Davis inspects “condition of

 this station barn etc.”

1905

Crew in 1905:

1. Washington Roberts

2. H. D. Goodwin

3. M. M. Pigott

4. E. T. Roberts

5. H. S. Goodwin

6. Homer Harris

7. Milton Robinson

Jan 4 rcd. Crawford Range

Jan 7 nor’easter, sea tide washed sand down in

the creek on east side of statioin 35 ‘

northeast of launch way for surfboat

Apr 24 crew moved condemned boat house

from beach to the station to shelter the 

Monomay surfboat

Apr 26- 29crew work on boat house

May 1- 2 crew whitewash boat house

May 22 “crew engaged putting hard oil finish in

keeper’s and dining rooms”

May 23 finished hard oil downstairs

May 27 putting rocks and turf at south corner of

station

Sep 23 rcd. new Lyle gun w/ carriage, etc.

1906

Jan 25 keeper carried linen and laundry to Core

Bank station

Mar 10 crew shingling wood house

Mar 27 rcd. 75 lbs white lead, 2 gal hard oil finish,

5 gal boiled linseed oil, 1 gal green

paint, 2 lbs lamp black

Apr 25 district superintendent inspects station

May 17 painted Beebe- McClellan and Monomay

surf boats

Aug 6 motor boat “Defiance” ashore on Bush

Shoal

Oct 1- 2 water all around station [no tropical

storm in vicinity]

1907

Feb 16 “What repairs, if any, are needed upon

the buildings?” was a standard entry

in the station logs. Typically “none” was

the answer, but on this date “porches, 

windows, stables, gutters, etc.” was

entered.

Mar 9 “general repairs needed”

May 24 crew putting stone on each side of station

May 27 crew hauling bricks and turf to put on

each side of station

Jul 8 keeper fell thru wharf at Ocracoke and

broke his leg

Aug 1 Washington Roberts is acting keeper
162 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Aug 7 crew whitewash fence and out houses

Aug 11 Capt Newcomb visited station and

 inspected it and barn for repairs

Aug 21 Keeper returns to duty

1908

May 27 Mr. George T. Hale has arrived to begin

work on station

May 29 crew saved about $250 worth of lumber

that belong to Mr. Shull [sic], the contractor who is to repair this station

Aug 3 crew working on walks

Aug 4 crew working on “horse pound”

Aug 6 crew taking up and putting down sewer

pipe that Mr. Shull put down in July. He

put it down 2’ lower at the cistern than

it was at the pipe that lead from the 

sink to the cistern pipe and the dirty

water that come from the sink and the 

salt water on high tide would run down at

the lower end of the pipe to the cistern

and ruined the water in the cistern- - -

cleaned cistern out today

 Aug 7 finished walks

Aug 11- 15 working on “dam” on east side of station

Aug 27- 29“ground under water”; third category

1 storm that year

Sep 3 finished putting up yard fence

Sep 7 crew painting keepers room

Sep 9 crew engaged painting cook room

Sep 12 crew painting dining room

Sep 14 crew putting hard oil finish down stairs

Sept 17 crew hard oiled boat room floor

Sep 28 crew making cork jackets

Dec 7 crew hauling sand to fill in at northeast of

station

Dec 28 hauling stone and brick for northeast

corner of station

1909

Mar 1 crew painted piazza floor

Mar 13, 16, 20crew painting windows

Mar 23, 24, 26crew painting trimmings of the station

May 10 crew landing lumber for station

May 11 crew landing lumber for sand fence

May 14- 15 crew putting up sand fence

1910

Jan 13 crew finish foundation to privy

Jan 23 rcd. 200# white lead, 15 gal raw oil, 3#

blind green paint 

Feb 5 finish building privy

Feb 7 working on store house

Feb 16 finished building the dam at head of

creek and will fill in same as soon as we

get a sand scraper

Mar 21 building sand fence

Mar 22 moving sand hill from west end of yard

Apr 4 crew working on window screens and

cleaning up yard

Apr 5 crew painting water closet and working

on window screens

Apr 6 making door screens

Apr 7 crew help W. H. Babb move his house

Apr 9, 11, 13crew paint window screens

Apr 20 whitewashing fences

Apr 25 working on windows for oil house

Apr 26 whitewashing barn

Apr 29 painted trimmings on oil house

May 2 crew hauling sand in sand scoop and

finished painting trimmings on store

house

May 5 putting Alabastine on lower walls

May 26 condemned a number of articles

including 2 screen doors and 15 window

screens

May 28 sandpapered and oiled boat room floor

May 31 hard oiled keepers room

Aug 8 hauling turf and repairing old stables

Aug- Sep painting trimmings on the station

Sep 26 finished painting the white trimmings on

the station

Oct 3- 4 crew painting overhead in piazza

Oct 26 painting piazza floor

Nov 5 rent 31’ power boat from Harry Dixon for

$5 to make rescue in rough weather

1911

Feb 11 Asst. supt. of Const. T. J. Lothar arrived to

see about building a boat house

Feb 27 hard oil boat room floor and keepers

room

Apr 17- 24 painting trimmings on station

Nov 15 hard oiled boat room floor

1912

Mar 9 hard oil lookout and crew “setting room”

Mar 21 hard oil on doors and trimmings on

second floor

Mar 24 hard oil on siding in store room

Apr 5 painting station trimmings

Apr 13 crew painting porch floors

Apr 19 crew painting cistern

May 21 rcd. 16 window shades
National Park Service 163

1913

Feb 21 rcd. gutters for the station

Mar 26 - 27crew putting up gutters on station

Apr 7 crew painting trimmings on station

Apr 22 rcd one steel warning tower complete

May 12 crew engaged in painting walls of the

setting room on the first floor

June 6 rcd 6 window sash painted and fitted for

frames; 1000’ of 2 x 4 x 16; 4000’ 1 x 6 x 16

and 18 door locks with brass knobs

Aug 18 crew painting windows

Aug 20 crew putting locks on station

Sep 2- 3 Cat 1 hurricane blew off top of kitchen

chimney, turned over water closet, 

washed away part of sand fences and 

jetty at creek; two wrecks; destroyed

Methodist church

Sep 9 got water closet out of creek

Sep 11 putting back sand fence

Sep 20 reset water closet

Oct 7- 9 crew help raise school house which blew

or washed off blocks in Sep storm

Oct 29 crew make coffin for Washington

Roberts’ mother

Nov 18 rcd 184 barrells of Portland cement, 1400’

1 x 6 x 16, 610; 2 x 4 x 16; 100 lbs of 8d

galvanized nails and 1 side walk maker

Dec 17- 18 mason rebuilds cook house chimney

1914

Jan 3 rcd 1412 pcs 1 x 6 x 16; 403 pcs 4 x 4 x 8;

100# 10d galvanized nails

Jan 14 crew painting white enamel bedsteads

Feb 23 rcd from Harris Hdw. 250 iron rods, 1/2”

x 16; and 36 pcs 3/8” x 16’

May crew painting trimmings on station and

putting up sand fence

Jun 16 station out of water; no rain since midApril

Jun 19 rain

Oct 5 Supt of Construction John S. Randall

arrives

1915

Jan 12- 14 assist Mr. Latham with concrete wall;

work continued throughout February

Feb 23 crew sign enlistment papers for Coast

Guard

Feb 26- 27 crew work on sewer pipe from kitchen to

creek

Mar- Apr continuing work on concrete wall

Mar 4, 11- 12finish sewer pipe

May paint station trimmings

May 9 hard oil stairs

May 15 paint gutters

May 21 crew finish painting U.S. Coast Guard on

boats and station

May 25 work on window screens

Jul 29 Capt Milam H. Willis delivers 149 bas of

cement on his contract

Aug Crew on duty:

1. Washington Roberts, Portsmouth

2. L. D. Williams, Ocracoke

3. Homer Harris, Stacy NC

4. M. W. Gilgo, Portsmouth

5. Homer Howard, Ocracoke

6. Gary Bragg, Portsmouth

7. Munroe Robinson, Atlantic

8. Joe Roberts, Portsmouth

Aug 6 161 more bags of cement delivered

Aug 10 unloaded lumber for church

Aug 14 rcd 99 barrells of cement, 50# 8d nails

Aug 17 crew taking up old walks in yard

Aug 19- 20 crew working on walks

Aug- Sep crew putting down concrete walks

Sep 13 work on walks in AM; haul lumber for

church in PM

Sep 14 crew work on “station walks and Inclined

[sic]”

Sep 15 crew work on “incline” on east side of

station

Sep 24 crew work on “moulds” for incline and

repairing door sill in boat room

Sep 27- 28 crew work on forms for concrete

Oct 19 finished walks at 2:40 PM

October work on concrete continues all through

the month

Nov 22 crew hauling shells and sand for concrete

1916

Jan 3 used up all cement and re- bar but still

lack 103’ completing sea wall

Jan 5 crew oiling boat room floor

Jan 14 Keeper ordered to Wilimington for exam

as to his permanent disability; Roberts

acting officer in charge

Jan 20 crew working on “incline” to barn and

putting shingles on old barn

Jan 29 crew backfilling sea wall with sand

Feb 17 fix screen door to cook house

Feb 24 McWilliams retired at midnight, leaving

Roberts in charge

March 6- 7crew measuring and surveying station

Mar 8 Albert Barco assumes actg. officer in
164 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

charge

May 8 crew making screens for store house and

repairing old one in main house

May 9 crew underpinning boat house

Jun 12 one of horses died after being sick for

quite a while

Jun 22 rcd. # plates for boats: #722, motor life

boat Alert; #579, Beebe McClellan surf

boat;

#246, Monomay surf boat

Jul 10 rcd. 90 pilings 15’ long, 28 pilings 20’ long,

and 11 kegs of nails

Jul 18- 19 storm brings 40- 60 mph winds

Crew list:

Albert L. Barco, Virginia Beach, VA

Wash Roberts, Portsmouth, NC

L. D. Williams, Ocracoke, NC

Homer Harris, Stacy, NC

Monroe Gilgo, Portsmouth, NC

Homer Howard, Ocracoke, NC

Gary Bragg, Ocracoke, NC

Murray Robinson, Atlantic, NC

Joe Roberts, Portsmouth, NC

Jul 31 order to change station sign rcd.

Aug 14 rcd. material for building “bridge”

Aug 17 trying out new horse

Sep 1 rcd. blueprint for construction of “walk”;

hauling sand and filling in creek

Sep 4 fixing scow for use in building

“boardwalk”

Sep 8 fixing scow for use in building “wharf”

Sep 15 crew working on “walkway or wharf”

Sep 17, 18, 23worked on wharf

Oct 25 painted porch floor; 3 lbs drop black, 10

lbs. white lead, 1 gal. linseed oil, 1 pint

dryer

Dec 5 delivered wheeled road scraper to Station

187 for transport to Station 186

Dec 8 staked out channel from anchorage of life

boat to deep water

1917

Crew list:

Albert L. Barco, Virginia Beach, VA

Wash Roberts, Portsmouth, NC (brother 

 D. L. in Washington, NC)

L. D. Williams, Ocracoke, NC

Homer Harris, Portsmouth, NC

M. W. Gilgo, Portsmouth, NC

Homer Howard, Portsmouth, NC

Gary Bragg, Portsmouth, NC

Murray Robinson, Portsmouth, NC

Joe Roberts, Portsmouth, NC

Mitchell Hamilton, Sea Level, NC

Marvin A. Taylor, Sea Level, NC

Mar 15 Asst. Superintendent of telephones F. R.

Pitt arrives to collect data in regard to a

telephone line to this station and beyond

Mar 31 Barco transferred, leaving Roberts acting

Apr 2 Mitchell Hamilton assumes duties as

keeper

Apr 26 crew working on wharf and horse pound

May 7 rcd. addendum to submarine silhouette

guide

May 14 crew whitewash stable and boat house

May 16 paint trimmings on station and outbuildings

May 18 ditto and putty windows

Jun 7 rcd. 100 bags cement

Jul 26 3 men sent to work on telephone construction in afternoon

Jul 30 mention of receipt of radio message from

Beaufort

Sep 6 crew use power life boat to help lay cable

from Portsmouth to Ocracoke

Sep 21 crew back at work on sea wall

Oct 3 telephone crew place two telephones in

station and made all connections to 

main line

Oct 7 telephone tests, line working well

Oct 10 putting up heating stoves

Oct 12 notice to lookout for Standard tanker,

Palerine, leaving Baltimore for 

Beaumont; specifically painted to 

reduce visibility; report results as to 

how far she can be seen

Oct 16, 17, 31crew building concrete wall

Nov 20 crew building sea wall

Dec 8 telephone working south but not north

1918

Jan 5 24 people at Harbor Island Club icebound without food; sent two day’s provisions

Feb 18 work on sea wall

Mar 6, 12 building sea wall

Mar 18 crew moving boat house

Mar 21 work on sea wall

Apr 26 heavy nor’easter, “crew employed in

saving property around the station and 

premises during the night”; 65 mph 

wind

Apr 27 telephone line down “for miles”
National Park Service 165

May 1 telephone service restored north of

station

May 22 paint trimmings on station

Jul 15 removed varnish from dining room of

station building

Jul 18 crew prepared all bright work in

surfman’s wash room and the dining 

room for receiving coat of varnish

Aug 6 Glenn Bantley Willis enlisted as cook

(first cook?)

Aug 20 varnish lookout and stairs

Aug 28 prepared dining room walls for painting;

put in new screens

Sep 5 painted walls of plastered rooms on

lower floor with alabastine

Sep 6 crew varnish dining room of main

building; painted plastered walls of

dining room

Sep 9 buried gasoline storage tank

Sep 11 remove varnish from doors on second

floor

Sep 13 remove varnish from doors and walls in

surfmen’s room

Sep 25 painted porch floors

Oct 2 remove hard oil from keeper’s bedroom

Oct 9 paint window screens

Oct 10 removed varnish from keeper’s room;

rcd. one rifle, Springfield, belt, sling, 

bayonet, scabbard, and canteen- - -

240 cartridges

Oct 11 crew prepared floor for paraffin oil

Oct 14 crew remove varnish from keeper’s room;

telephone message relating to “sea 

planes”

Oct 16 crew remove varnish from keeper’s office

Oct 18 crew remove hard oil from walls and

ceilings of keeper’s room

Oct 20 worked on keeper’s office removing

varnish

Oct 23 had to take cook to doctor in Atlantic

Oct 25 crew sandpaper ceiling and walls in

keeper’s wash room

Oct 28 crew cleaning floor of keeper’s room

Oct 30 cleaned and hard oiled keeper’s room

Oct 31 varnished keeper’s room

Nov 1 crew work on keeper’s room polishing

floor

Nov 6 crew employed putting hard oil in

keepers room

Nov 9 Harris and Taylor leave on power life

boat 722 to Elizabeth City

Nov 11 3 PM rcd. telegram relating to end of

present war

Nov 15 crew remove varnish from interior of

kitchen

Nov 16 crew remove hard oil from kitchen

Nov 18 Harris and Taylor return with 26’ power

surf boat 1553

Dec 11 Rcd 20 gal straw- colored paint

Dec 18 problems with surfboat engine

1919

Jan 4 religious service conducted by Rev. Geo.

Willis from 10 to 10:30 Sat. morning

Jan 7 flag at half staff on death of Teddy

Roosevelt

Jan 20 rcd. telephone message stating medical

officer for Coast Guard crew was obtainable at Manteo by sea plane

Jan 22 rcd. magneto for power boat but Harris

couldn’t install it

Feb 3 supply ship Carolina takes surfboat 1553

for repairs and returns life boat 722 after

repairs to hull

Feb 11 Steamer Wishkah from Seattle bound for

Norfolk runs aground- - - 28 crew taken 

to station

Feb 16 Wishkah crew leave station for Morehead

City

Mar 6 cook Glenn Willis promoted to surfman

#8 after Joe Roberts discharge

Mar 13 Jesse J Babb enlisted as cook

Mar 26 repair window screens

Mar 28 crew scraping hard oil from walls of

kitchen

Apr 2 crew remove hard oil from walls of

kitchen

Apr 7 crew worked on walls and ceiling of

kitchen

Apr 9 crew worked on interior of kitchen

Apr 15 crew hard oiled kitchen

Apr 17 crew hard oiled inside of kitchen

Apr 23 crew whitewashing station fence and old 

barn

Apr 29 crew painted windows and doors

May 6 crew painted windows and doors

Jun 10 crew paint piazza floor and cistern

Jun 13 crew paint boat room doors, expending 1

gal grey paint

Aug 16 delivered life boat 722 to supply boat

Carolina to be transferred to Station 

192

Aug 21 rcd. from Carolina power life boat 1097

and equipment transferred from Station 
166 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

190

Sep 19 Baalim, bay horse, 9 yrs old rc. Aug 14,

1916, taken with staggers

Sep 21 horse dies

Nov 4 crew repair and paint steel flag pole

Nov 5 crew puts up all heating stoves

Nov 12 sea plane lands near station with Lt. M. B.

Blanchard, W. C. Hampler, R. G. Sackett 

of NY; spent night

Dec 10 Norwood Roberts discharge for

“inaptitude” during probationary period

Dec 22 Jesse Babb promoted to #8

1920

Jan 2 Edw. C. Fulcher arrived from Station 190;

demoted from surfman to cook at his 

own request to replace Babb

Jan 21 crew repair pipes leading from cistern to

sink in surfman’s wash room “bursted 

during recent freeze”

May 6 paint screens

May 7 Paint windows

May 21, 24, 31 paint trimmings on station

Jun 3 crew paint trimmings on station and

outbuildings

Crew list:

Mitchell Hamilton, Sea Level

W. Roberts, Portsmouth

L. D. Williams, Ocracoke

Homer Harris, Portsmouth

Monroe W. Gilgo, Portsmouth

Murrary Robinson, Atlantic

Glenn B. Willis, Atlantic

Roy Robinson, Atlantic

Jesse Babb, Portsmouth

Edw. C. Fulcher, Portsmouth

Jun 9 whitewash barn and boat house\

Jun 10 paint steel tower

Jul 28 first mention of Pilentary Club House;

also Harbor Island Clubhouse

mentioned

Dec 8 Boatswain Hamilton ordered to

superintendent’s office, Roberts acting

1921

Feb 6 B’son W. M. Yeomans transferred from

Station 169 to take charge of 188

Mar 3 grey horse had been sick—shot today

Mar 7 crew work on water tank

Mar 14 crew employed in work on tank

Mar 15 crew working on and finishing water tank

Apr 6 rcd. 1 dark bay horse

Crew list:

W. M. Yeomans, Portsmouth

W. Roberts, Portsmouth

L. P. Williams, Ocracoke

Homer Harris, Portsmouth

G. B. Willis, Portsmouth

J. J. Babb, Portsmouth

A. W. Rice, Portsmouth

Samuel Williams, Portsmouth

E. G. Fulcher, Portsmouth

Harry Dixon (cook), Portsmouth

Dec 30 Message of Peace aground at inlet;

ordered to be seized and cutter Pamlico

summoned

1922

May 12 Power surf boat 1295 transferred to

station from Station 183

1924

Jul 16 crew cutting grass in station yards

Aug 1 rcd. 5500 shingles for station barn

Sep 27 rcd. 11 pcs 6 x 6 x 16, 6 pcs 6 x 6 x12, 15 pcs

3 x 6 x 12, 10 pcs 3 x 6 x 16, 18 bundles

flooring

Nov 16 J. R. Emory detached from Oregon Inlet

Station to take charge here- - - C. H.

Wroton sent to Wash Woods Station

1925

Apr 4 Roy Robinson detached from Hatteras

Inlet and put in charge of Portsmouth;

Emory sent to Elizabeth City, NC

May

Crew list:

Roy Robinson, Bosn L, Atlantic, NC

W. P. Willis, BMc, Portsmouth, NC

Homer Harris, MMC, Portsmouth, NC

J. J. Babb, MMc, Portsmouth, NC

Samuel Williams, Portsmouth, NC

D. H. Scarborough, Portsmouth, NC

T. C. Miller, Portsmouth, NC

C. W. Midgett, Portsmouth, NC

D. E. Meekins, Portsmouth, NC

W. R. Styron, Portsmouth, NC

Dec 17 run engines of power boats- - - surfboat

1295, lifeboat 1097

1926

Feb 6 mention of Robinson’s motorboat #798

being anchored at Sheep Island Slue
National Park Service 167

Feb 23 rcd. 300 gal. gasoline Standard Oil

Mar 5 rcd. material to repair wharf

70 pcs 3x10x16, 10 pcs 3x8x16, 169 pcs.

2x6x6, 40 pcs 2x4x16 cypress, 100# 

2od nails, 100# 30d nails, 100# 60d

galvanized

May 20 rcd. from A.B.- 21 one barrel of lime and

one Radio set

Jun 1 “Rev. Geo Willis was transferred down

the beach from Core Bank, held service 

at this station” spent night and then taken 

to Ocracoke

Dec 9 sent boat to Ocracoke for Rev. Willis

Dec 10 transferred Rev. Willis to Core Bank via

automobile

1927

Mar 2 nor’easter with snow, sleet, 75 mph

winds; rescued 3 schooners and 2 motor

boats; south post and key washed away;

assisted in refloating boats for the next

week

Mar 15 schooner distress flag five miles sw of

station; stranded since Mar 3; took Ford

car to site, but took two days to float her

1928

[numerous entries regarding picketing of inlet]

Oct 26 crew employed in building barn

Nov 2, 6, 19, 20several days spent working on barn

Nov 8 rcd picket boat I375 in good condition

Nov 24 rcd life boat 1560 and surfboat 1231 in

good order

1929

[Among the crew is Hermon W. Ritchie from 

Lincoln, Michigan, and Harold W. Kriewell from 

Port Hope, Michigan]

Oct 19 rcd radio and equipment

Dec 6 AB- 21 delivers material for wharf

1930

Aug 2 instructed crew in firing rifles and pistols

1931

Jan 20 Robinson leaves sick and is gone until 

June 15

Jul 10 rcd. 300 pounds of ice from Albert Styron

at Ocracoke

Jul 24 ditto; arrived w/ tractor for station

Jul 27 delivered tractor to Ocracoke Station

Aug 1 rcd. 300 lbs ice; assisted prohibition

agents in boarding vessel; found 4 gal.

corn whiskey,

22 bottles home brew; seized vessel

Aug 20- 21 crew repairing base of station 

building in afternoon

Aug 25 crew repair and paint base of station

Dec 21 Robinson transferred to Ft. Macon

Station- - - George Meekins (Avon, NC)

takes command

1932

Feb 23- 25, 29 crew paint interior of station

Mar 1- 4 ditto

Feb 26 crew assembling tractor which has been

out of commission since it first arrived at 

this station 

Mar 17- 18 crew making palings for fence around

station

Mar 19 delivered horses for delivery to

Portsmouth, VA

May 26, 30, 31crew erecting station fence

Jun 1, 6- 8 ditto

Jul 1 Elisha G. Tillett takes command

Jul 2 rcd. oil stove for cooking

Jul 5 crew employed at painting wall leading to

officer in charge’s sleeping room in

afternoon

Jul 13 landing and hauling Tillett’s furniture

Jul 21 crew cleaning provision room

Jul 25 crew touching up paint in company room

Aug 22 new telephone installed

Dec 21 repairing porch in afternoon

1933

Aug 22 gale 50 mph in evening; “crew preparing

for approaching storm in afternoon”; no 

patrol in PM due to extremely high tide; 

9:30 PM part of fence washed down; 

secured it to prevent its going adrift; 

10 PM water in lower rooms in station

Aug 23 5:30 AM- - - part of wharf and wharf

house gone; motor surfboat 3398 sunk to 

leeward of dock; fence on NE side of 

station gone, but telephone still working;

8AM water on lower floors

Aug 24 rcd lumber for wharf

Aug 29 rcd 1 barrel of kerosene

Aug 31 cleaned cisterns for water supply

Sep 15 making preparation for storm as far as

possible; by midnight winds over 90mph;

10PM water on all lower floors of station 

and in all buildings
168 Portsmouth Life-Saving Station HSR

Sep 16 “flag tower blew down just after midnight; launched surfboats 4097 and 579 

at 3 AM and moored them to leeward of 

station as station was surging badly and 

expected to go away”; water 10” deep in 

lower rooms; all crews’ families at station

for protection; at daylight discovered all

of station fence gone, chimney down on 

kitchen, shingles off NE side of barn;

both patrol houses “had gone away in 

storm” 

Sep 28 Red Cross sends supplies to Portsmouth

Oct 6 crew repair incline to barn and install

new barn door

Nov 3 Elisha G. Tillett appointed chief 

boatswains mate lifesaving

1934

Jan 7 telephone service restored

Feb 14 three men assigned from Core Bank

Station until it can be repaired

Mar 9 outbuildings in need of repairs from

storms

Mar 14 supt. of const. L. J. Jordan arrives to take

inventory of needed work

Apr 11 Luther Jordan spends morning at station

“for purpose of gaining information in

regard to repair of statioin buildings, 

making sketches, etc.

Crew members:

Elisha G. Tillet, Wanchese, NC

Troy Morris, New Bern, NC

Roland Styron, Davis, NC

Harvey Taylor, Sea Level, NC

Wilbur S. Goodwin, Lola, NC

Whelington Robinson, Atlantic, NC

Horatio G. Midgett, Rodanthe, NC

Walter Goodwin, Roe, NC

Thomas H. Nelson, Marshallburg, NC

Julian L. Gray, Rodanthe, NC

Shanklin S. Fulcher, Frisco, NC

Garfield Emory, Roe, NC

1935

Jan 23 Julian L. Gray assumes command;

“buildings are in need of repair due to 

damage done by storms,” an entry that is

routinely repeated until station is closed

in 1937

1937

May 26 crew repair window screens; letter rcd.

announcing decommissioning of station

May 31 inventory of equipment

Jun 1 station decommissioned at sunset
As the nation’s principal conservation agency,

the Department of the Interior has

responsibility for most of our nationally owned

public lands and natural resources. This

includes fostering sound use of our land and

water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife,

and biological diversity; preserving the

environmental and cultural values of our

national parks and historical places; and

providing for the enjoyment of life through

outdoor recreation. The department assesses

our energy and mineral resources and works to

ensure that their development is in the best

interests of all our people by encouraging

stewardship and citizen participation in their

care. The department also has a major

responsibility for American Indian reservation

communities and for people who live in island

territories under U.S. administration.

NPS D-81 December 2006