CAPE LOOKOUT NATIONAL SEASHORE

Coast Guard Station Boat House

HISTORIC STRUCTURE 

REPORT

Historical Architecture, Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

National Park Service

2004
Cultural Resources

Southeast Region

National Park Service

100 Alabama St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

(404) 562-3117

2004

Historic Structure Report 

Coast Guard Station Boat House

Cape Lookout National Seashore

Cape Lookout Village

LCS#: 091830

Cover page, View of Coast Guard Station, c. 

1945 (CALO Coll.)

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.
Coast Guard Station Boat House

Historic Structure Report

Contents

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List of Figures vii

Foreword xiii

Executive Summary 1

Research Summary 1

Architectural Summary 2

Recommendations 2

Administrative Data 5

Location Data 5

Related Studies 6

Cultural Resource Data 6

Part I Developmental History

Historical Background & Context 9

United States Life-Saving Service 9

Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station 11

Boat Houses 12

U. S. Coast Guard 15

New Boat House 20

David Yeomans 23

Chronology of Development & Use 27

Original Construction 29

Historic Alterations 30

Modern Alterations 32

Physical Description 37

Associated Site Features 37

Foundation 38

Structure 38

Exterior Finishes 39

Doors and Windows 40

Front Porch 41
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Interior 42

Room 100 42

Room 101 43

Room 102 44

Room 103 45

Room 104 45

Utilities 46

Part II Treatment and Use

Introduction 51

Ultimate Treatment & Use 53

Requirements for Treatment & Use 57

Alternatives for Treatment & Use 59

Recommendations for Treatment & Use 61

Site 61

Foundation 62

Structure 62

Windows and Doors 63

Exterior Finishes 63

Interior 64

Utilities 64

REFERENCE

Sources of Information 67
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List of Figures

1 View north of Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, 1893. The lighthouse is barely 

visible on the horizon at right. (CALO Coll. G-09) 10

2 Life-saving crew launching boat into surf, location unknown. (Courtesy U. S. 

Coast Guard, CALO Coll. G-03) 11

3 Plot of Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, 1893. Arrows indicate main station 

building, right; the 1892 Boat House, center; and the 1891 “inshore” Boat 

House, left. (Coast Guard Coll.) 12

4 View south of Coast Guard Station, 1917. Arrow indicates station’s second boat 

house, built in 1892. (Detail from CALO-Coll. D-57) 13

5 Map of Cape Lookout, March 1916. Arrows indicate original 1887 station 

building, below; 1891 “inshore” boat house, center; and 1896 boat house 

in the Bight. (Coast Guard Coll.) 14

6 Location plan of Coast Guard Station, 1920, showing old life-saving station in 

its new location. The boat house and stables built in 1892 would be razed 

a few months after this plan was drawn. (Coast Guard Coll.) 16

7 VIew south of Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station, 1917. New station is at left. 

(CALO Coll. D-57) 17

8 View of board walk and second boat house in the bight, built around 1916 to 

replace the original structure built in 1896. (CALO Coll., Royer Coll.) 17

9 Map of Cape Lookout in 1934, showing location of outlying boathouses. (Coast 

Guard Coll.) 18

10 Plan of Coast Guard Station, August 1934. The boat house completed in April 

1924 is at top center. (Coast Guard Coll.) 19

11 View of Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station in 1941, with arrow indicating 

“new” Boat House. Equipment Building completed in 1939 is at left. 

(CALO Coll. D-55) 20

12 Plan of station in 1938. L.S.S. Boat House is at lower right. (Coast Guard 

Collection) 21
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13 Crew cleaning surf boat, c. 1942, with boat house at left. (CALO Coll.) 22

14 View southwest of Coast Guard Station, shortly after World War II. The “new” 

Boat House is at right. (CALO Coll.) 23

15 View of new Equipment Building with 1924 Boat House at right, c. 1940. 

(CALO Coll.) 24

16 View of old Boat House in May 1960 after it had been relocated and adapted 

for a residence. One of the old doors is visible in the foreground. (CALO 

Coll., Yeomans Coll.) 25

17 Probable plan of Old Boat House as it was completed in 1924. (T. Jones, NPSSERO-CR, 2003) 28

18 View north of1924 Boat House, c. 1943. (CALO Coll.) 29

19 View west of Coast Guard Station, with 1924 Boat House at right, c. 1945. 

(CALO Coll.) 30

20 View north of Coast Guard Station, c. 1941, with Boat House at center. (CALO 

Coll. 31

21 View of Boat House in 1961 after conversion into a residence, with one of the 

original doors visible in the foreground. (David Yeomans Coll.) 32

22 Plan of Boat House showing alterations in the 1960s. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003) 33

23 View to north of L. S. S. Boat House. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 38

24 View west of L. S. S. Boat House. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 39

25 View of floor framing near rear of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 39

26 View of south corner and typical eave detail. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 40

27 View of rear (northwest) side of house, showing typical exterior finishes. 

(NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 40

28 View of historic windows on northwest side of house with modern awning 

shutters. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 41

29 View of historic window on front porch with salvaged shutters added by 

present owner. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 41

30 View north on front porch. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 42

31 View west in Room 101 with front door at left. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 42
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32 View to east in Room 101. Base counter at center left is part of a work bench 

that was originally in the space now occupied by Room 102. (NPS-SEROCR, 2002) 43

33 View of part of original boat doors under kitchen counter. Arrows indicate 

chamfered framing of door, left, and V-joint paneling used to finish doors, 

right. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 43

34 View to northeast in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 44

35 View to south in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 44

36 View of door to Room 102, believed salvaged from Life-Saving Station when 

it was remodeled in 1924. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002) 45

37 View northwest of Room 102. (NPS-SERO_CR, 2003) 45

38 View to southwest in Room 102. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 46

39 View of waste lines at rear of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 46

40 Plan of existing building. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003) 47
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Project Team

Project Manager Danny Scheidt, Historical Architect

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Primary Research, Building Investigation, 

Author

Tommy H. Jones

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Program Reviews Bob Blythe, History

Allen Bohnert, Curatorial & Museum

Services

Danny Scheidt, Historical Architecture

Jon Buono, Historical Architect

Tracy Stakely, Cultural Landscapes

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA
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Foreword

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 Field Area. Many individuals and institutions contributed to the successful 

completion of this work. We would particularly like to thank the staff at Cape Lookout National 

Seashore for their assistance throughout the process, especially the park’s facility manager Mike 

McGee, cultural resources manager Michael Rikard, and superintendent Bob Vogel. Special thanks 

go to David Yeomans, a life- long resident of Cape Lookout and Harker’s Island who has used the 

building as a vacation retreat since 1960 and who was kind and generous in facilitating access to the 

building and providing information on its history. We hope that this study will prove valuable to 

park management in their treatment of the building and to everyone in understanding and interpreting the old Coast Guard Station Boat House at Cape Lookout.

Chief

Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

December 2004
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Executive 

Summary

The Life- Saving Station played a major role in the history of Cape 

Lookout, and the boat houses were crucial to the station’s operation. The old Boat House has the potential to be one of the park’s 

more- significant historic resources if it were relocated and restored, and indispensable for interpretation of the Cape’s history 

in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Research Summary

Historical documentation for the Boat House has come from 

three main sources- - the log books of the Cape Lookout Life- Saving Station, 1888- 1942;1

 the park’s collection of maps and drawings 

from the Coast Guard’s archives, including plat maps of the station in 1893, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1934, 1938, and 1958; and the park’s 

1. Records of U. S. Coast Guard, Record Group 26, Norfolk District, 

Log Books, Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, original volumes 

at National Archives and Records Center, East Point, GA (here 

after “Cape Lookout Log”).
Executive Summary

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collection of historic photographs. Continued 

research in Coast Guard records could provide 

additional important documentation for this 

building.

The station logs document construction of five 

different boat houses and demolition or removal of three of those. Characteristics of the 

present building and circumstantial evidence 

within the body of research material shows the 

present Boat House to be the “new boat house” 

that the station logs document as having been 

completed in the spring of 1924. No architectural drawings or construction specifications 

have been located, but additional research in 

Coast Guard archives might provide additional 

documentation for the building.

In developing this historic structure report, 

NPS staff at the Park have been unstinting in 

their support for the project. In particular, 

Michael McGee, Chief of Maintenance, has 

been extremely helpful in all phases of the 

work as has Michael Rikard, Chief of Cultural 

Resources, and Robert Vogel, Superintendent.

Architectural Summary

Built in 1924 for storage and maintenance of life 

boats, the Boat House is a one- story, woodframed, hipped- roof, structure with about 775 

square feet of interior space. Altered after it was 

relocated in 1958, the building still retains most 

of its historic features and original materials 

hidden beneath layers of modern materials. 

The building was very well constructed and remains in generally good condition.

Recommendations

Alternatives for use of the building have been 

considered; but use of the building for exhibits 

to interpret the history of the Life- Saving Service and Coast Guard at Cape Lookout is the 

preferred alternative. If public rest rooms are 

needed at the Coast Guard Station, they could 

be installed in the Boat House with a minimum 

impact on the historic building.

Recommended treatment would include returning the building to its original, well- documented location at the Coast Guard Station, 

restoration of the exterior to its appearance at 

the end of World War II, and rehabilitation of 

the interior for exhibits and, if necessary, rest 

rooms.

Site

• Relocate building to its original site.

• Re- establish historic roadway that 

bypassed the station grounds.

• Remove pavement except for concrete 

apron in front of Maintenance Building.

• Replicate concrete ramps to Boat 

House doors.

Foundation

• Reset building on wooden pilings.

• Include termite shields on new pilings.

Structure

• Inspect and repair sills and joists when 

building is relocated.
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• Remove porches.

Windows and Doors

• Repair and preserve seven original 

windows.

• Close three window openings created 

after 1958.

• Re- open boat doors at northeast end 

and repair as necessary.

• Restore opening on southeast side of 

building and replicate original doors.

Exterior Finishes

• Remove cedar shingles; repair original 

drop siding.

• Repair existing soffit, window and 

door casing, and window sills.

• Remove wood- shingle roofing and 

install standing- seam metal roof.

• Paint soffit, siding, and trim white; 

paint window sash black.

Interior

• Remove all modern walls, ceilings, and 

floor coverings.

• Paint interior white if indicated after 

modern materials are removed.

• Design and install handicappedaccessible rest rooms on the northwest 

side of the building.

Utilities

• Install new water supply and waste 

lines if new rest rooms are installed.

• Design electrical system with simple 

lighting to serve exhibits.

• Install smoke/fire detector system.

• If necessary, install electrical baseboard heaters.
Executive Summary

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north

Note 3

Note 4

Note 2

Note 4

Note 1

Note 5

Notes: Remove existing cedar shingles and restore original shiplap siding. Install new concrete

2. Remove existing window and interior and exteri

1. Remove all modern partitions and adapt space for exhibits.

 ramps.

or wall finishes; restore doors and reconstruct ramp.

3. Remove existing door and wall and reconstruct original door opening, including ramp.5. Install new handicapped-accessible bathrooms, 

4. Remove existing window and close opening.

utilizing existing windows and with wall continuing

 the line of the historic closet.

storage
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Administrative 

Data 

Location Data

Building Name: L. S. S. Boat House

“Yeomans House”

Building Address: Cape Lookout Village

LCS#: 091830

Cape Lookout Village
Administrative Data 

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Related Studies

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.

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 Cape Lookout Village Historic 

District, listed June 2001

Period of Significance: 1924- 1950

Proposed Treatment: Exterior restoration, interior rehabilitation for exhibits and rest rooms
PART I

DEVELOPMENTAL 

HISTORY

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PART 1 DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

Historical 

Background & 

Context

Historical documentation for the Boat House has been derived 

from three main sources- - the log books of the Cape Lookout LifeSaving Station, 1888- 1942,1

 the park’s collection of maps and 

drawings from the Coast Guard’s archives, including plat maps of 

the station in 1893, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1934, 1938, and 1958; and the 

park’s collection of historic photographs. Continued research in 

Coast Guard records could provide additional important documentation for this building.

United States Life-Saving Service 

The origins of the United States 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 

1. Records of U. S. Coast Guard, Record Group 26, Norfolk District, 

Log Books, Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station, original volumes 

at National Archives and Records Center, East Point, GA (here 

after “Cape Lookout Log”).
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Figure 1 View north of Cape 

Lookout Life-Saving Station, 1893. 

The lighthouse is barely visible on 

the horizon at right. (CALO Coll. G09)

necessary apparatus for the better preservation 

of life and property from shipwrecks" along the 

New Jersey shore. Although a series of lifeboat 

stations were built and equipped in the late 

1840s and 1850s, the life- saving service was perennially underfunded, and equipment and 

stations that were in place frequently fell into 

disrepair.

Two maritime disasters in 1854 claimed hundreds of lives, and Congress was horrified 

when told that many of the bodies that washed 

ashore had been robbed by “shore villains” and 

that the government had “no provision [in 

place] to prevent such depredations.”2

 Nevertheless, it was not until 1857 that appropriations were made to begin implementation of 

the recommendations made after investigation 

of those disasters. Although full- time station 

keepers were hired for the first time, their effectiveness was often limited by the difficulty in 

rounding up the necessary crew of volunteer 

“surf men” 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 

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. <http://www.chicamacomico.org/

Library/heavy_sea_running.html> (November 2002).
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Civil War. In February 1871, responding to renewed calls for reform, the Treasury Department appointed a new director, Sumner 

Increase Kimball, for the Revenue Marine Division, which included the life- saving service.

Kimball promptly began a complete evaluation 

of the system of life- saving stations, and 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, who succeeded in 

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, including ones at Little Kinnakeet near Cape Hatteras and at Chicamacomico at Rodanthe, NC.3

 Nonetheless, the 

recommended three- mile distance between 

stations was not yet achieved, especially along 

the rugged length of the Outer Banks. In 1878 

the Federal government formally established 

the Life- Saving Service as a separate agency 

within the Treasury Department. Kimball was 

named superintendent, a post he would hold as 

long as the Life- Saving Service existed.

Cape Lookout Life-Saving Station

The 1878 Act that created the Life- Saving Service also included authorization for thirty new 

life- saving and life- boat stations, including fifFigure 2 Life-saving crew 

launching boat into surf, location 

unknown. (Courtesy U. S. Coast 

Guard, CALO Coll. G-03)

teen new stations on the coasts of Virginia and 

North Carolina. Like so much else with the 

Life- Saving Service, however, full appropriations to construct the new stations were not immediately forthcoming. Eight years passed 

before construction began on any of the authorized stations on Core Banks.

On May 19, 1886, C.T. and Nettie Watson, 

David and Julia Bell, and Thomas and Mary 

Daniels conveyed to the United States government title to a tract at Cape Lookout for a lifesaving station.4 Located less than a mile and a 

half southwest of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, the new station was completed by the 

end of August 1887. On December 15, William 

H. Gaskill(1857- 1914) was appointed keeper of 

the Cape Lookout Life- Saving Station and 

would serve in that capacity for twenty- five 

years. In January 1888, a seven- member crew

3. Greene, Jerome A. Historic Structure 

Report, Historical Data Component, Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station, Cape 

Hatteras National Seashore, North 

Carolina. National Park Service, 1987.

4. Carteret County Records of Deeds and 

Mortgages, Book NN, pp. 273-276. The 

deed reserved fishing rights for the grantors.
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Figure 3 Plot of Cape Lookout 

Life-Saving Station, 1893. Arrows 

indicate main station building, 

right; the 1892 Boat House, center; 

and the 1891 “inshore” Boat House, 

left. (Coast Guard Coll.)

of surf men was also appointed and the station 

went into full operation.5

A privy was built along with the station itself, 

and in the fall of 1888, the crew built an “oil 

house,” or “store house,” for storage of kerosene (called coal oil at that time), linseed oil, 

and other flammables. Between 1891 and 1896, 

a “cook house,” a “tank house,” stables for the 

station’s mules, and three boat houses were also 

built at the Life- Saving Station.

Boat Houses

When it opened in 1888, the Cape Lookout 

Life- Saving Station had a single, wooden lifeboat (visible at right in Figure 1) which was 

stored in the “boat room” that occupied twothirds of the first floor of the main building. On 

its original site, the station was oriented with 

the large double doors and ramp to the boat 

room facing the Atlantic. Typical for the period, the boat was relatively small and was 

stored on a wheeled wagon that the crew used 

to drag the boat down to the shore where it 

could be launched directly into the sea.

5. Dates provided by U. S. Coast Guard website’s page for Cape Lookout Coast Guard 

Station #190 at <http://www.uscg.mil/hq/

g-cp/history/h_USLSS.html>.
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By the 1890s, larger lifeboats with sails were 

coming into use, and even with the team of 

mules that the station acquired in November 

1891, moving such a boat from the station across 

sandy terrain to the shore was difficult at best. 

In addition, launching such a boat directly into 

the rough surf of the Atlantic was often not 

practical. So, in June 1891, the Life- Saving Service bought additional property as a “site for [a] 

Life Boat Station.”6 The lot measured 40’ by 

100’ and was located 900 yards from the lifesaving station “on south side of Cape Lookout 

Bay.” Construction of the boat house was begun in October or November 1891 and was substantially complete by the end of the year.7

 

Sometimes referred to as the “inshore” boat 

house, it was wood- framed with a wood- shingled roof. No image or other description of this 

boat house has been located. On January 21, 

1892, the Superintendent of the Life- Saving 

Service’s Sixth District accompanied delivery 

of a "self- sailing and self- righting lifeboat” to 

the station along with oars, masts, sprits, and a 

variety of other equipment.8

In early March 1892, the station received a third 

boat- - a Beebe- McLellan “self- bailing waterballast surf boat”- - and, in April, constructed 

another boat house in which to store it. Woodframed with board- and- batten siding and a 

gabled, wood- shingled roof, it stood near the 

stables on the western side of the Life- Saving 

Station’s compound (see Figure 4).9

Figure 4 View south of Coast 

Guard Station, 1917. Arrow 

indicates station’s second boat 

house, built in 1892. (Detail from 

CALO-Coll. D-57)

In January 1896, a third boat house was constructed in the bight itself. Built at the end of a 

board walk some 300 yards from the shore of 

the bight, it was apparently an open structure, 

much like the one that replaced it in 1916 (see 

Figure 8). As with the inshore boat house, no 

description or image of this boat house has 

been located nor has the type of boat been 

identified that was “hoisted in” the new building when it was completed on February 10.10

The advent of “gasoline boats” in the early 

twentieth century was a boon to the surfmen at 

the life- saving station, making it practical for 

men residing as far away as Beaufort, Morehead City, and Marshallberg to sign on for service at Cape Lookout. After 1905, many, if not 6. Carteret County Records of Deeds and 

Mortgages, Book QQ, p. 211.

7. Cape Lookout Log Book, November 27 and 

December 30, 1891, and September 25, 

1916.

8. Cape Lookout Log Book, January 21, 1892.

9. Cape Lookout Log Book, March 4, April 7-

12, 1892.

10.Cape Lookout Log Book, January 21 & 28-

31, February 10, 1896.
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Figure 5 Map of Cape Lookout, 

March 1916. Arrows indicate 

original 1887 station building, 

below; 1891 “inshore” boat house, 

center; and 1896 boat house in the 

Bight. (Coast Guard Coll.)

most, of the crew soon acquired their own 

power boats, thereby enabling them to work at 

the station and still get home for regular liberty, 

which frequently lasted less than a day.11 “Gasoline boats” are first mentioned in the life- saving station’s logs in 1905, but not until 

November 1909 did the station receive its first 

power life boat. In February 1910, the station 

also got its first power surf boat, and although 

both of these boats were primitive by today’s 

standards, they rapidly transformed life- saving 

operations.12

In February 1912, the station received a new 36’ 

power life boat and transferred the old power 

boat to the station at Portsmouth. In March, a 

new Beebe- McClellan surfboat also arrived at 

Cape Lookout, but there is no mention of the 

disposition of the old surfboat or of the construction of any new boat houses.13

11.The log books recorded the passing of as 

many as three dozen power boats in a day 

as early as September 18, 1911.

12.Cape Lookout Log Book, October 30 and 

November 8, 1909, and February 11, 1910.
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Ill health forced the station keeper, William H. 

Gaskill, to resign his position in 1912, and he 

died two years later. On April 20, 1912, W. T. 

Willis, Keeper at the Core Banks Station, was 

appointed to replace him. Willis was apparently appalled at the condition of the station, 

noting in several of his early entries, “Station 

needs thoroughly overhauling, leaks bad and is 

rotten. Kitchen, Store House, barn and all outbuildings in bad condition; need a boat house 

at once.”14 The condition of the latter was a 

special concern, its pilings so rotten that it was 

“liable to fall at any time.”

Freddie G. Gillikin was appointed station 

keeper on July 1, 1914, and he retained that position after the Cape Lookout Life- Saving Station 

became the Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station 

(#190) in 1915.

U. S. Coast Guard

On May 26, 1913, Senate Bill #2337 was introduced into the Senate 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.

As part of the reorganization, renovations of 

the Cape Lookout station began almost immediately. Throughout the spring and summer of 

1916, the crew was periodically busy repairing 

and rebuilding the outbuildings, fences, and 

walks. Renovation of the interior of the station 

itself got underway as well, including installation of a new floor in the crew’s sitting room on 

the first floor.

In addition, a new main building was constructed to replace the original station. On August 25, 1916, W. L. Schull of Newport, N. C., 

who had been awarded the contract for the station, arrived at Cape Lookout to begin work. 

With the crew still in residence, the old station 

was “blocked up” and, over the course of several days, slowly rolled to its new site a few 

yards west of its original location. In early September, the move was completed, and on September 9, construction began on the new 

station. Bad weather caused some delays in 

construction, however, and not until May 28, 

1917, was the Coast Guard’s superintendent of 

construction, P. Julian Latham, able to make his 

final inspection.15

As the new station was under construction, the 

station’s crew was engaged in a major renovation of the entire site. In September 1916, the 

old boat house on the bight, which the keeper 

had long been warning was on the verge of collapse, was “handed over to John A. Dill, Jr., 

upon receipt from him of $40.50.” The boathouse, which was “situated 300 yards from 

shore in hook of Cape Lookout,” was apparently relocated or torn down by Dill at that

13.Cape Lookout Log Book, February 2 and 

23 and March 2, 1912.

14.Cape Lookout Log Book, June 8, 1912.

15.Cape Lookout Log Book, August-September 1916.
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Figure 6 Location plan of Coast 

Guard Station, 1920, showing old 

life-saving station in its new 

location. The boat house and 

stables built in 1892 would be razed 

a few months after this plan was 

drawn. (Coast Guard Coll.)

time.16 Another boat house appears to have replaced it a short time later.

Although the new Coast Guard station appears 

to have been essentially finished in early 1917, 

there was an unexplained delay in actually occupying the building. Most likely the country’s 

entry into World War I in April 1917 disrupted 

the project, and not until the end of January 

1918 was the new building actually occupied by 

the crew of Coast Guard Station #190.17

Having occupied their new quarters, the crew 

began renovation of the old life- saving station, 

which they continued as duties permitted for 

much of the next two years. In addition to routine duties during the fall and winter of 1917-

16.Cape Lookout Log Book, September 25, 

1916.

17.Cape Lookout Log Book, January 23-24, 

1918.
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Figure 7 VIew south of Cape 

Lookout Coast Guard Station, 1917. 

New station is at left. (CALO Coll. 

D-57)

1918, the crew was also engaged in repairing one 

of the boat houses, but it is not clear if this was 

the boat house close to the station or the “inshore” boathouse, both of which were built in 

1892 and could well have needed repairs.18

The log books make no further mention of the 

boathouses until July 1920 when the officer in 

charge (the new designation for “keeper”) at 

the station recorded that the crew had white 

washed the stable and “the old boathouse.” 

Again, it is not clear to which of the boat houses 

this refers- - - the “inshore” boat house or the 

boat house near the station- - but subsequent 

events suggest it was the inshore boat house 

that was whitewashed.19

Figure 8 View of board walk and 

second boat house in the bight, 

built around 1916 to replace the 

original structure built in 1896. 

(CALO Coll., Royer Coll.)

On August 12, 1920, material for a new stable arrived at the station, and a month later, J. B. 

Daily, the carpenter hired to construct the stable, arrived to inspect the site.20 Daily had 

worked at the station the previous year putting

18.Cape Lookout Log Book, September 18 

and 27, October 1-3, 1917; April 4, 1918.

19.Cape Lookout Log Book, July 1, 1920.

20.Cape Lookout Log Book, August 12, September 18, 1920.
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Figure 9 Map of Cape Lookout in 

1934, showing location of outlying 

boathouses. (Coast Guard Coll.)
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Figure 10 Plan of Coast Guard 

Station, August 1934. The boat 

house completed in April 1924 is at 

top center. (Coast Guard Coll.)

up a new flag pole, and on October 1- 2, he supervised the crew as they poured a concrete 

floor for the new building. With the crew’s help 

in raising the building’s wood frame, Daily had 

the building up by the time Coast Guard inspectors arrived by seaplane on October 19. 

The crew installed the wood shingle roof of the 

new stable and painted the building, which was 

occupied on November 24, 1920.21 When the 

station’s mules were replaced by a tractor and a 

Ford pickup truck in 1931, those vehicles were

21.Cape Lookout Log Book, August 12; October 6, 19, 25, 29; November 1-3, and 24, 

1920.
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Figure 11 View of Cape Lookout 

Coast Guard Station in 1941, with 

arrow indicating “new” Boat 

House. Equipment Building 

completed in 1939 is at left. (CALO 

Coll. D-55)

stored in the stable until it was torn down for 

construction of the Maintenance Building in 

1939.

Two days after occupying the new stable, the 

crew began tearing down the old 1892 boat 

house near the station, which a Board of Survey 

had condemned when the inspectors were at 

the station in October. By early December 

1920, the boathouse was gone.22 After Christmas, the crew turned their attention to demolition of the old stable, and by January 3, 1921, 

they were “tearing down” the foundation of the 

old building.23

New Boat House

There are a number of log book entries after 

the 1892 boat house near the station was torn 

down that record the crew’s bringing surf boats 

“to the house,” apparently a reference to the 

boat room in the old Life- Saving Station.24 

The Navy’s remodeling of the station partitioned the second floor and gave it a separate 

entrance, but the boat room on the first floor 

appears to have remained in use until a new 

boat house was completed in 1924.25

In April 1924, the station log mentions “the new 

boat house” for the first time, and contextual 

references indicate that this was the boat house 

near the station seen first in photographs taken 

around 1941 (see Figure 11).26 The occasional 

references to the “old boat house” after that

22.Cape Lookout Log Book, November 24, 26, 

and 29, 1920.

23.Cape Lookout Log Book, December 29-31, 

1920; January 3, 1921.

24.E.g., Cape Lookout Log Book, September 

21, October 20, 1921.

25.See Cape Lookout LIfe-Saving Station Historic Structure Report (NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003).

26.Cape Lookout Log Book, April 14-16, 1924.
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Figure 12 Plan of station in 1938. 

L.S.S. Boat House is at lower right. 

(Coast Guard Collection)
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22

Figure 13 Crew cleaning surf 

boat, c. 1942. The 1924 boat house 

is at left. (CALO Coll.)

refer to the 1892 “inshore” boat house, which 

was mentioned in the station logs as late as August 1930 but was removed by 1934, when a plot 

of the station shows the “former location” of 

that boat house (see Figure 9).27

The station acquired a tractor and a Ford truck 

in 1931, eliminating the need for mules, and the 

stable or barn that was constructed in 1920 began to be used as a garage for the truck. In 1938, 

it was demolished for construction of a new 

“Equipment Building” on that site.

After Pearl Harbor, the government expanded 

its military presence at Cape Lookout and 

other stations significantly. In April 1942, Cape 

Lookout Bight became an anchorage for convoys traveling between Charleston and the 

Chesapeake Bay. The 193rd Field Artillery was 

sent to the Cape to provide protection for the 

Bight, replaced that summer by heavier guns 

that remained in place throughout the war.28

With the end of World War II, the army and 

navy presence at Cape Lookout quickly diminished, and in 1945, most of the government 

property at the cape reverted to Coast Guard 

control, including the lighthouse station which 

had become a part of the Coast Guard in July 

1939. The compass station, also known as the 

“radio shack,” was removed about that time. 

The Army’s lease on ninety- five acres south of 

the Coast Guard station was allowed to expire 

in 1949, and the radio beacon was moved from 

the Coast Guard Station to the Lighthouse Station that same year. In 1950, an underwater 

electrical cable was laid from Harker’s Island to 

the lighthouse, which then became fully automated. The Coast Guard continued to evolve, 

27. Cape Lookout Log, March 25, April 8, 

1926; January 17, May 1, 1929; August 13, 

1930.

28.Rex Quinn, The Gun Mounts at Cape Lookout, Historic Resource Study (National Park 

Service, 1986).
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Figure 14 View southwest of 

Coast Guard Station, shortly after 

World War II. The “new” Boat 

House is at right. (CALO Coll.)

and many of the buildings at Cape Lookout 

were deemed obsolete. In 1957, the Coast 

Guard decided to surplus a number of the old 

structures at Cape Lookout, and the old Coast 

Guard Station Boat House was acquired by 

David Yeomans.

David Yeomans

David Eden Yeomans was born in 1921 on 

Harker’s Island, one of two children of Eugene 

Yeomans (born February 1856) and his second 

wife Sabor J. Yeomans (born about 1892). Eugene Yeomans was a fisherman most of his life, 

but in his old age in the late 1920s and early 

1930s, he was the mail carrier at the Harker’s Island Post Office, where his nephew Floyd Yeomans was postmaster. David grew up on 

Harker’s Island, where he also went to school, 

but he spent long periods of time, including 

most summers, at Cape Lookout, where his father had built a “fishing shack” at Wreck Point 

in the nineteenth century.

In June 1959, having acquired the old L.S.S. 

Boat House, Yeomans and his wife Clara 

bought a quarter acre of land at Cape Lookout 

from his cousin Clifton Yeomans and H. G. 

Willis. The land was part of Luther Guthrie’s 

property that Yeomans and Willis had purchased in August 1958.29 It took over a month 

for David Yeomans to move the building, using

29.The title was apparently clouded, however, which allowed Charles Reeves to 

temporarily gain title to the land through 

North Carolina’s unusual Torrens land title 

system.
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Figure 15 View of new Boat 

House after its relocation in 1958. 

(CALO Coll.)

two telephone poles and a pickup truck. Even 

then, the difficulties presented by the deep 

sands at the site prevented Yeomans from placing the structure exactly as he had planned. As 

a result, the road now jogs slightly to the east as 

it passes the house.30

In 1966 the Federal government established the 

Cape Lookout National Seashore, a fifty- fourmile stretch of the Outer Banks from Portsmouth Island to Cape Lookout. In April 1976, 

the Yeomans conveyed title to the old Coast 

Guard Station Boat House to the State of North 

Carolina who conveyed it to the Federal government for inclusion in the National Seashore 

in June 1978. As were many of the other private 

property owners, the Yeomans were granted a 

25- year lease and continue to periodically occupy the house.

The Cape Lookout Lighthouse Station was 

listed on the National Register of Historic 

Places in 1972, and the Coast Guard Station was 

listed in 1989. In June 2000, the Cape Lookout 

Village historic district was listed on the National Register. The district has twenty- one 

historic structures, including the lighthouse 

(1859), two keeper’s quarters (1873 and 1907), 

the old Life- Saving Station (1887), the old LifeSaving Station’s boathouse (1891), the Coast 

Guard Station (1917), and several private residences (c. 1910- c. 1950).

30.Interview with David Yeomans by the 

author, 21 August 2002.
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Six of the ten historic private dwellings were 

built by fishermen or Coast Guard employees 

for their families from about 1910 to around 

1950. Two houses were built about 1915 for 

Army Corps of Engineers workers, and two 

others were built as vacation cottages in the two 

decades before World War II. With recent 

transfer of ownership of the lighthouse from 

the Coast Guard, the National Park Service 

now owns all of the property in the historic 

district.
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Chronology of 

Development & 

Use

No plans, specifications, or other documentation has been located that would specifically date the Boat House’s original construction. However, a process of elimination based on research in 

the station logs, examination of historic photographs, and investigation of the existing building leads to the conclusion that the 

present L. S. S. Boat House was constructed in 1924. Additional 

research in Coast Guard records would probably provide documentation to confirm that date.

As outlined in the previous section, the station logs document 

construction in late fall 1891 of the first boat house, located some 

distance from the station on the shore of the bight, and of a second 

boat house, which was constructed a few dozen yards northwest 

of the life- saving station in the spring of 1892. The logs also document construction in the winter of 1896 of a third boat house, 

which was built in Cape Lookout Bight some 300 yards from 

shore. The logs also document subsequent demolition and replacement of that boat house in the same location in 1916 as well as 

the razing of the 1892 boat house in 1920. There is no mention in 

the logs of the fate of the 1891 boat house on the shore of the bight, 

but the log books document the presence of a “new boat house” 

in the spring of 1924 along with an “old boat house” to which there
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Figure 17 Probable plan of Old 

Boat House as it was completed in 

1924. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

are scattered references throughout the 1920s. 

A Coast Guard map of Cape Lookout in 1934 

shows the “former location of [the 1891] boathouse,” but there is no documentation for its 

fate. It is possible that the 1891 boat house was 

relocated to the station and is the same as the 

present building. That would mean, however, 

that the “new boat house” finished in 1924 was 

never photographed and was torn down before 

World War II, leaving the 1891 building intact. 

Given the rapid deterioration documented for 

the other outbuildings, that scenario seems unlikely.

In addition, the design characteristics of the 

present L. S. S. Boat House differ significantly 

from the other nineteenth century outbuildings, including the 1892 boat house and, it must 

be assumed, the 1891 boat house as well. All of 

the nineteenth century out- buildings at the 

station, including the 1892 boat house, had gabled roofs, unboxed eaves, and board- andbatten siding. In contrast, the 1916 Coast Guard 

Station had a hipped roof, boxed eaves, and 

ship- lap siding, all features found on the 

present L. S. S. Boat House.

In addition, the eaves of the present Boat 

House are finished with double- V- joint 

tongue- and- groove boards very much like the 

double- V- joint boards used in the alterations 

to the Life- Saving Station after World War I. 

1' 4' 8'

north

work bench

(length approximate)
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Figure 18 View north of1924 Boat 

House, c. 1943. (CALO Coll.)

V- joint material was available in the late nineteenth century, but double- beaded boards 

were more typical and were used in construction of the Life- Saving Station in 1887.

Because so much of the historic building is obscured by modern materials, the door in Room 

101 is one of the building’s most- prominent architectural features. Identical to the doors in 

the 1887 Life- Saving Station, its presence has 

led to the erroneous conclusion that the Boat 

House is contemporaneous with the 1887 LifeSaving Station. The door is not, however, original to the Boat House, as will be discussed below; and it must be assumed that the present 

structure is the “new boat house” that the station logs document as being built in the spring 

of 1924.

Original Construction

Wood- framed with a hipped roof, the original 

building was constructed without partitions, 

leaving one large open space on the interior. 

Two large door openings, each almost 10’ wide, 

filled the northeast end of the building and another door, around 9’ wide, was located at the 

southern end of the southeast side. The doors 

themselves were constructed of double- Vjoint, tongue- and- groove boards on crossbraced frames of 2”- thick material, 4” to 6” 

wide, with chamfered edges. The mechanism
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Figure 19 View west of Coast 

Guard Station, with 1924 Boat 

House at right, c. 1945. (CALO Coll.)

by which the doors opened has not been positively identified, but the single door on the 

southeast side appears to have been sidehinged and bi- fold while the front doors may 

have been overhead doors.31 At each of the 

doors, there were large, full- width, wooden 

ramps to the ground. 

The building was also built with seven, doublehung, six- over- six windows: three on the 

northwest side, two on the southeast side, and 

two on the southwest end. The exterior walls 

were finished with 6” shiplap siding and the 

eaves with double- V- joint tongue- andgroove boards.

In historic photographs, metal caps are clearly 

evident on the hips and ridge of the Boat House 

roof, but the building’s original roof covering is 

not certain. The Coast Guard Station was built 

in 1916 with a wood- shingled roof, but when 

the Equipment Building was constructed in 

1939, asphalt shingles were used. Photographs 

of the Coast Guard Station around 1940 provide the first images of the Boat House, and in 

those images, the Boat House roof is distinctly 

lighter than the other roofs. This may indicate 

the building had been recently re- roofed and 

the wood shingles had not darkened with age, 

but it is also possible that the Boat House was 

originally roofed with standing- seam metal, 

like that which was installed on the Life- Saving 

Station around 1942. Further investigation of 

the existing roof may confirm the nature of the 

historic roofing material. Throughout the historic period, the interior of the Boat House had 

no ceiling or wall finishes. Flooring was plain, 

2”- thick planks, spaced slightly apart to allow 

water to drain through the floor.

Historic Alterations

The Boat House was apparently completed 

under contract with an outside party, but the

31.The current orientation of the building is 

similar to its original orientation.
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Figure 20 View north of Coast 

Guard Station, c. 1941, with Boat 

House at center. (CALO Coll.

Life- Saving Station crew, and later the Coast 

Guard crew, were responsible for much of the 

routine maintenance of the station buildings, 

including re- roofing, repainting, and all sorts 

of repairs. On occasion, they even assisted in 

or took over construction, from the store house 

that they constructed in 1888 to the concrete 

retaining walls that they built in 1926.

On April 14, 1924, the officer in charge recorded 

that the crew spent much of the afternoon “arranging apparatus in new boat house” and 

spent the following day cleaning around the 

building. They spent much of April 16- 17 carting wind- blow sand from the station yard and 

grading in front of the new boat house.

The most significant alteration the station crew 

made to the Boat House was the addition of a 

“tool locker,” which they worked on in July 

1924.32 Apparently, this work created the small 

room that is now the bathroom (102), replicating a similar room that had been part of the 

boat room in the original Life- Saving Station. 

The door to the room is identical to the original 

doors in the Life- Saving Station and retains its 

original rim lock and one of its porcelain 

knobs. Significantly, however, the frame and 

casing for this door are makeshift, with the casing made from the same double- V- joint, 

tongue- and- groove boards used on the exterior soffit. It is likely that it was salvaged from 

the Life- Saving Station, perhaps from the original tool room in that building, as the Navy began partitioning the first floor.

There are scattered references to shingling and 

painting of one of the boat houses throughout 

the 1920s, but it is unclear to which boat house 

the entries refer.33 A “hurricane disaster,” according to the station log, occurred on September 12, 1930, damaging the station and some

32.Cape Lookout Log, July 14, 1924.

33.E,g, Cape Lookout Log, March 25, April 8, 

1926; May 1, 1929.
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Figure 21 View of Boat House in 

1961 after its conversion into a 

residence. One of the original 

doors is visible in the foreground.

of the outbuildings, but it is not clear if the Boat 

House was damaged in this storm.34

In December 1941, the crew was busy mixing 

and pouring concrete for a ramp for the boat 

house. Located at the front doors at the northeast end of the building, this ramp was the last 

documented Coast Guard alteration to the 

building.35

Modern Alterations

One of the more significant alterations to the 

building occurred in 1958 when the building 

was relocated a few hundred yards north of its 

original site. The original foundation and the 

ramps at the doors were lost at that time.

After the building was moved, it was converted 

into a residence, which necessitated several alterations. The conversion occurred in several 

stages, with most of the alterations occurring 

inthe 1960s.

Alterations to the doors was the first major 

change. The single door on the southeast side 

of the building was removed and the opening 

closed by a wall and a conventional front door. 

The exterior of the wall was sided with drop

34.Cape Lookout Log, September 12, 14, 

1930.

35.Cape Lookout Log, December 2, 1941.
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Figure 22 Plan of Boat House 

showing alterations in the 1960s. (T. 

Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

siding that matched the original siding, but it is 

not clear if the existing front door was installed 

at that time or if it is a later replacement. At the 

northeast end of the building, the old double 

doors were simply fixed in place and the exterior covered with drop siding. The roof was 

also shingled with wood at the same time.

The interior was partitioned by construction of 

a center wall the length of the building, and the 

old tool locker in the western corner of the 

building was converted into a bathroom. A 

ceiling set about 10’ above the floor was also installed and finished with fiberboard tiles. A 

second wall was also installed to partition the 

northwest side of the building to create two 

bedrooms, but it stopped two feet below the 

ceiling. A second bathroom and a small closet 

were later framed at the northern end of that 

side of the building. All of the interior walls 

were paneled with 4’ by 8’ sheets of plywood 

paneling. The floor appears to have also been 

covered with plywood and finished with carpet 

or vinyl floor coverings.

The old work bench that had once stood along 

the northwest wall of the building was relocated to the opposite corner of the building, 

where it remains in use as a counter for the 

kitchen sink. The present window opening was 

also created above the kitchen sink around the 

north 1' 4' 8'
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same time. Windows were also added in the 

two bathrooms. Exterior louvered blinds, 

which the building had never had, were also 

installed.

Finally, a shed- roofed porch was installed at 

the new front door to the house in the 1960s. In 

1979, the porch was screened and, more recently, expanded to its present size. By 1976, 

the exterior of the building was also covered 

with cedar shingles.
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Time Line for L. S. S. Boat House

Aug 1887 Construction of Cape Lookout Life- Saving Station completed

Jun 1891 Watson, Bell, et. al. convey land for boat house

Jan 1892 Boat house on bight completed; stable for mule team completed

Apr 1892 Boat house constructed near station house

Fall 1892 Cook house constructed

1893 First photograph of station

1896 Second boat house constructed, in bight 300 yards from shore

Fall 1909 Station gets first gasoline- powered boat

Jan 28, 1915 Life- Saving Service becomes part of new U.S. Coast Guard

Aug- Sep, 1916 Old life- saving station relocated for construction of new Coast Guard building; 

1892 boat house in Bight sold and removed

May 1917 New Coast Guard building completed

Jan 23- 24, 1918 Crew moves into new Coast Guard Station

Jun 26, 1919 Station keeper turns old life- saving station over to Navy for remodeling as a 

residence for radio compass station personnel.

Nov- Dec 

1920

Old boat house and stable torn down; new stable constructed

Apr 1924 New boat house completed

Jul 1924 Crew builds “tool locker” in boat house

Aug- Dec? 

1926

Contractor at station doing unspecified work, probably including partitioning 

of first floor of Life- Saving Station

Sep 12, 1930 Station log records unspecified damages to station and outbuildings during 

“hurricane disaster”

1930- 1934 1892 boat house on bight disappears

Dec 1941 Crew pours concrete ramp for boat house

Feb 4, 1942 Last entry in Cape Lookout life- saving logs

1950 Light Station automated

1958 Boat house acquired by David Yeomans, relocated, and converted into a 

residence
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1966 Cape Lookout National Seashore established

Oct 1972 Cape Lookout Light Station listed on National Register of Historic Places

Apr 1976 Daniels convey property to N. C. and sign 25 year lease

1989 Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station listed on National Register

Jun 3, 2000 Cape Lookout Village Historic District listed on National Register

Time Line for L. S. S. Boat House
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Physical 

Description

The old Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station Boat House is located 

on a quarter- acre lot (Parcel 105- 26) about two hundred yards 

northeast of the old Coast Guard Station, on the northwest side of 

the main road to the Lighthouse. Facing in a southeasterly direction, the building is wood- framed with a hipped roof and sided 

with cedar shingles. The historic structure is approximately 22’ by 

37’, encompassing a little over 800 square feet of floor space. 

Constructed in 1924, it is the only one of the several boat houses 

built by the Life- Saving Service and the Coast Guard in the late 

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to survive at Cape Lookout. A modern, shed- roofed porch, built in two phases after 1958, 

spans the width of the front of the building, which is now used as a 

private residence.

Associated Site Features

In the yard northeast of the house is a small, modern, woodframed storage building. On the southwest side of the house is an

Note: A plan of the existing building is at the end 

of this section.
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Figure 23 View to north of L. S. S. 

Boat House. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

example of what is today known as “yard art,” a 

large assemblage of buoys, oars, ropes and 

other marine- related items that the owner has 

salvaged from the shoreline. Weeping willows 

are the most notable trees on the site, which is 

mostly grassed and is surrounded by native 

myrtle and other low vegetation.

Foundation

As is typical of most structures at Cape Lookout, the building is wood- framed and set on 

very low wooden piers or pilings that elevate it 

less than 10” from the ground. Heavy- duty 

wire mesh, installed to prevent animal entry 

under the house, surrounds the foundation. 

Because of the wire mesh and the building’s 

close proximity to the ground, the condition of 

the pilings and floor framing could not be determined.

Structure

 The building’s proximity to the ground, the 

modern finishes that cover most of the building, and lack of attic access prevent direct examination of most of the structure’s framing. 

Floor framing can be observed through the 

wire mesh that encloses the foundation and appears to be 2” by 8” joists on about 20”- 24” centers. Joists run parallel to the building’s long
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Figure 24 View west of L. S. S. 

Boat House. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

side and are supported at mid- span by a 4” by 

8” beam that runs the width of the structure. 

Walls appear to be framed with 2” by 4” studs, 

but the spacing could not be determined. The 

roof’s structure is supported by the four outside walls of the building and by a 6” by 8” 

beam running the length of the building and 

resting on the end walls and two internal 5- 1/2” 

by 5- 1/2” posts. There is no access to the attic, 

which prevents examination of the character 

and condition of the roof framing. Historically, 

the building had no ceiling, but one was added 

when the house was moved. It appears to be 

framed with 2” by 4” or 2” by 6” (nominal dimensions) on 20” centers.

Figure 25 View of floor framing 

near rear of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003)

There is evidence that termites have attacked 

the floor framing, but the damage may not be 

widespread. Walls are generally plumb, floors 

are level, and the roof shows no visible signs of 

structural deficiencies.
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Figure 26 View of south corner 

and typical eave detail. (NPS-SEROCR, 2002)

Figure 27 View of rear 

(northwest) side of house, showing 

typical exterior finishes. (NPS-SEROCR, 2002)

Exterior Finishes

Except for the building’s soffit, fascia, and some 

of the windows and their trim, all of the building’s exterior materials are modern. The building’s eaves are boxed with a soffit finished with 

double- V- joint, tongue- and- groove boards 

about 3” wide. They appear to be original material. Bed molding, about 2- 1/2” wide, finishes 

the juncture of the soffit and the walls. Fascia is 

a plain 1” by 6” board.

The exterior walls are finished with sawn cedar 

shingles. These may be laid directly over the 

original shiplap siding, which appears to have 

been installed without an underlying sheathing.

Roofing is modern, three- tab, asphalt shingles. 

The character of the roof decking has not been 

determined. There are no gutters on the building.

Doors and Windows

As originally constructed, the building appears 

to have had a pair of large doors, each as much 

as eight feet wide, at the northeast end of the 

structure and a similar door at the south end of 

the southeast side. One and probably both of 

the doors at the northeast side remains mostly 

intact, having been simply closed and covered 

inside and out with modern materials. Part of 

the door at the east end of the northeast side is 

visible on the interior underneath the kitchen 

counter. It is constructed with chamfered, 2” 

by 6” cross- bracing and double- V- joint boards. 

The opening for the third original door was infilled after the building was moved in 1959. It 

was replaced by the present front door, a modern four- panel door, 2’- 8” by 6’- 6”, with four 

lights arranged in a semi- circle.

In its historic configuration, the building appears to have had seven window openings: two 

on the southeast side, two on the southwest, 

and three on the northeast. The thickness of 

the existing sash (1- 1/2”) suggests that these may 
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not be the original sash (the original sash in the 

Life- Saving Service, for example, are 1- 3/4” 

thick). However, the seven windows with 

wooden sash that remain in the building appear 

to be historic, having been in place when the 

building was moved in 1959. All are 2’- 10” by 5’-

2” with six- over- six, double- hung sash.

Most exterior trim at original windows appears 

to be historic, consisting of plain 1” by 4- 1/4” 

casing, a 2”- thick sill, and no drip cap. Most 

original windows are fitted with wood- framed 

screens that appear to date to the historic period if not to the building’s original construction.

In addition, three other windows were added 

after the house was relocated. The window 

over the kitchen sink is 2’- 5” by 3’- 2”, double 

hung sash with two- over- two horizontal lights. 

In the bathroom at the north corner of the 

building, the window is 3’- 0” by 3’- 2”, also double hung, but with six- over- six sash. In the 

bathroom at the west corner, the window 

opening is 2’- 1” by 2’- 11” with an aluminum, triple- track storm window closing the opening.

Front Porch

The front porch, which is not an historic feature of the building, was added in two phases. 

The earliest portion, which was added shortly 

after the house was moved, is at the southwest 

end of the front of the house and measures 

about 7’- 8” by 16’- 7”. In recent years, the porch 

was expanded to the north by an addition that 

measures about 11’- 6” by 21’. Both sections are 

framed with modern 2” by 8” floor joists and 2”

Figure 28 View of historic 

windows on northwest side of 

house with modern awning 

shutters. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002)

Figure 29 View of historic window 

on front porch with salvaged 

shutters added by present owner. 

(NPS-SERO-CR, 2002)
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Figure 30 View north on front 

porch. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002)

Figure 31 View west in Room 101 

with front door at left. (NPS-SEROCR, 2002)

by 4” rafters, all on 16” centers. Roof decking 

and flooring consists of 3/4” plywood.

Aluminum storm windows with screens enclose the three exterior sides of the porch.

Interior

The building was partitioned into three main 

rooms and two bathrooms after it was moved 

in 1958. The front door provides the only access into the house, entering into a large room 

that stretches the length of the front of the 

house and that functions as a combination living room, dining room, and kitchen. Across the 

rear of the house are two bedrooms and, in the 

north and west corners, the two bathrooms.

The original flooring for the building consisted 

of 2” by 6” boards, spaced slightly apart to allow water to drain. It is unclear if this flooring 

was replaced or simply covered when the 

building was remodeled, but evidence for its 

existence can be seen in the pattern of water 

stains on the floor joists (see Figure 3, above). 

The original building had no ceiling, and the 

walls were probably unfinished as well.

Room 100

Occupying the front half of the building and 

running its length, this room serves as a combination living room, dining room, and kitchen. 

It measures about 10’- 8” by 36’- 7”.

Floor: The floor is covered with a sheet vinyl 

floor covering in a faux wood pattern. The underlayment of this floor covering is unknown 

but is probably plywood.

Ceiling: A series of exposed wooden beams, 7-

3/8” by 1- 1/2” set on 48” centers, support the 

ceiling framing. The ceiling is finished with 

plywood panels.

Walls: The wall running through the center of 

the building is composed of 1- 3/4” by 3- 3/4” 

studs, dating to the period after the building 

was moved. Outside walls contain the build-
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ing’s historic framing, except around the front 

door where a much larger door opening was infilled when the building was remodeled. Walls 

are finished with plywood paneling in 4’ by 8’ 

sheets. Part of the paneling in the kitchen area 

is covered with wallpaper. The space is partially 

divided by a low wall about 7’- 6” long and 48” 

high surmounted by a series of 9”- wide shelves 

that runs to the ceiling.

Trim: Windows are cased with plain boards, 3/

4” by 3- 3/4” with a simple molded stool, 1- 1/8” 

by 3- 1/4”, and unmolded apron, 3- 3/4” wide.

Miscellaneous: A wooden base cabinet approximately 27” wide runs the width of the northeast end of the room. According to the house’s 

present occupant, who moved the building in 

1958, this cabinet was part of a somewhat 

longer workbench that was originally located 

on the northwest (rear) wall of Room 102. Dimensions of wood used in its construction suggests that the cabinet dates to the building’s 

original construction. The base cabinet door 

openings may not be original but the two 

drawers appear to be so. Both have faces 8- 1/2” 

by 33”, with broadly chamfered edges. Beneath 

the cabinet, part of the original boat doors at 

that end of the building are visible. The door 

was constructed with double- V- joint, tongueand- groove, similar to that used on the building’s soffit.

Wall cabinets on the northeast and northwest 

walls and the base cabinet on the northeast wall 

are wood and date to the building’s remodeling 

after 1958. The top of the work bench is a board 

that is unusually wide, 22”, and 1- 3/4” thick.

Figure 32 View to east in Room 

101. Base counter at center left is 

part of a work bench that was 

originally in the space now occupied 

by Room 102. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002)

Figure 33 View of part of original 

boat doors under kitchen counter. 

Arrows indicate chamfered framing 

of door, left, and V-joint paneling 

used to finish doors, right. (NPSSERO-CR, 2002)

Room 101

The northwest side of the building is partitioned into two bedrooms, Rooms 101 and 103, 

each connected by separate doors from Room 

100.
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Figure 34 View to northeast in 

Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002)

Figure 35 View to south in Room 

101. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2002)

Floor: The floor is covered with a sheet- vinyl 

floor covering that imitates wood flooring. The 

underlayment of this floor covering is unknown but is probably plywood.

Ceiling: The ceiling is finished with plywood 

similar to that used in Room 100, but without 

beams or battens.

Walls: Walls are paneled with modern plywood 

paneling.

Doors: The door from Room 100 is a modern, 

hollow- core, flush door, 2’- 6” by 6’- 6”. The 

door to Room 102 is the only historic door remaining in use in the building. Measuring 2’- 6” 

by 6’- 6” by 1- 3/4”, the door has four raised panels and deeply molded stiles and rails. The style 

of the door suggests that it was re- used from an 

earlier building when this room was created 

shortly after the boat house was constructed in 

1924.

Trim: Both window openings are historic, but 

the trim may be modern. It consists of a stool 1-

1/8” by 3- 1/4”, 3- 3/4” casing, and a 3- 3/4” apron. 

The historic door to Room 102 is cased with the 

same V- groove paneling, 3- 3/4” wide, used on 

the soffit and on the original boat room doors 

at the northeast end of the building.

Room 102

This small room, which is about 3’- 4” by 5’- 2” 

with a ceiling at 7’- 6”, was created in July 1924, 

shortly after the building was constructed. 

Originally windowless, it was built as a “tool 

locker,” similar to one that was in the boat room 

of the original 1887 life- saving station. The sink 

is dated 1950, which may indicate a sink (and 

possibly a toilet) were installed in the room 

prior to the time of its relocation, but that has 

not been otherwise documented. The window 

opening on the southwest wall was created after 1958 and is now filled with an aluminum 

storm window, 2’- 1” by 2’- 11”.
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Room 103

The northwest side of the building is partitioned into two bedrooms, Rooms 101 and 103, 

each connected by separate doors from Room 

100.

Floor: The floor is covered with a sheet- vinyl 

floor covering that imitates brick. The underlayment of this floor covering is unknown but 

is probably plywood.

Ceiling: The ceiling is finished with plywood 

like that used in Room 101.

Walls: Walls are the painted back sides of the 

modern plywood paneling in Rooms 100 and 

101.

Doors: The door from Room 100 is a modern, 

hollow- core, flush door, 2’- 6” by 6’- 6”. The 

door to the bathroom (104) is a modern, hollow- core door, 2’- 0” by 6’- 6”. There is no door 

to the closet.

Trim: Both window openings are historic, but 

the trim may be modern. It consists of a stool 1-

1/8” by 3- 1/4”, 3- 3/4” casing, and a 3- 3/4” apron.

Miscellaneous: A ceiling- mounted light fixture 

is a few feet off the wall on the southeast side of 

the room. It is not centered in the room and 

may pre- date the partitioning of this side of the 

Boat House.

Room 104

This modern bathroom contains a lavatory, tub, 

and toilet. The window, which was created as

Figure 36 View of door to Room 

102, believed salvaged from LifeSaving Station when it was 

remodeled in 1924. (NPS-SERO-CR, 

2002)

Figure 37 View northwest of 

Room 102. (NPS-SERO_CR, 2003)
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Figure 38 View to southwest in 

Room 102. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

Figure 39 View of waste lines at 

rear of house. (NPS-SERO-CR, 2003)

part of the construction of this room, is wood, 

six- over- six, 3’- 0” by 3’- 2”.

Utilities

The condition of the wiring could not be examined. Water and sewer lines are relatively 

new but are run in an ad hoc fashion across the 

rear of the house. There is no central heating.
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Figure 40 Plan of existing 

building. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CR, 

2003)

100-B

Front Porch

100-A

101

102

103

104

103-A
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PART 2 TREATMENT & USE

Introduction

The Boat House that is the subject of this study was the last of five 

boat houses that were built at the Cape Lookout Life- Saving Station between 1891 and 1924 and the only one that has survived. 

Constructed near the station in 1924, the Boat House here replaced an older boat house from the 1890s and remained in use 

until after World War II. Surplused by the Coast Guard in 1957, 

the building was moved from the Coast Guard’s property to its 

present site a few hundred yards north of the Coast Guard Station 

in 1958.

The Life- Saving Station played a major role in the history of Cape 

Lookout, and the boat houses were crucial to the station’s operation. The old Boat House has the potential to be one of the park’s 

more- significant historic resources if it were relocated and restored, and indispensable for interpretation of the Cape’s history 

in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Very well constructed, the building remains, for the most part, 
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structurally sound. There were significant alterations to the building when it was converted 

into a residence after 1958, but nearly all of 

these changes were additive in nature and most 

of the building’s historic features and finishes 

remain intact, if generally covered by modern 

materials.

This section of the historic structure report is 

intended to show how a plan for treatment and 

use of the Boat House can be implemented 

with minimal adverse affect to the historic 

building while still addressing the problems 

that exist with the current structure. The following sections outline issues surrounding use 

of the building as well as legal requirements and 

other mandates that circumscribe treatment of 

the building.

In addition, because the Cape Lookout Historic District was only recently designated, the 

park’s use of the various historic structures in 

the district, including the Boat House, has not 

been fully explored or defined in terms of general management goals. Preliminary options 

for use of the Boat House will be outlined and 

evaluated in the following pages and will conclude with recommendations for treatment.
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Ultimate Treatment 

& 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.” By the time the seashore was actually established 

in 1976, the area’s cultural resources at Portsmouth and at the 

Cape Lookout Light Station were also recognized.

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.”1

 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 lighthouse and the cultural and economic life of the 

Outer Bankers at Portsmouth Village.”2

Since that time, additional cultural resources besides the lighthouse station and Portsmouth have been recognized through Na1. Cape Lookout GMP, p. 4.

2. Ibid.
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tional Register listing. In 1989, the Cape 

Lookout Coast Guard Station, with four intact 

historic structures, was listed on the National 

Register; and in June 2000, the Cape Lookout 

Village Historic District, with fourteen historic 

residential buildings and the old Life- Saving 

Station, was listed as well. An amendment to 

the 1982 GMP was completed in January 2001, 

but it only addressed improvements in overnight accommodations and transportation services for visitors to Core Banks and not the 

additional cultural resources that had been recognized since 1982.

Since the buildings in the historic district have 

only recently come under the park’s jurisdiction, the park’s current General Management 

Plan (GMP) does not address their use. Continued residential use of the L.S.S. Boat House 

has been suggested, but because of the major 

adaptation necessary for residential use, such 

use would preclude interpretation of the historic building. The historic buildings in the district differ markedly from one another in terms 

of scale, significance, and condition; and some 

buildings are clearly more- appropriate for certain uses than others. A comprehensive planning process resulting in an amendment to the 

park’s GMP will be necessary to insure that the 

park’s and the public’s needs are addressed and

that the historic buildings, including the LifeSaving Station, are treated and used appropriately.

Use: The park envisions interpretation of the 

Life- Saving Service and the Coast Guard 

through exhibits at the Coast Guard Station, 

and the Boat House could play a role in that effort. Permanent exhibits, perhaps including a 

life boat, could be accommodated in the Boat 

House. Although more in- depth interpretation 

of the historic district would require more 

space elsewhere, the Boat House could be 

opened only as needed without interfering with 

the routine use of the other buildings at the station.

The historic building had about 775 square feet 

of floor space, uninterrupted except by the 

small closet, now a bathroom, in the western 

corner of the building. Rest rooms may be necessary as visitation increases at the Coast Guard 

Station. If so, the Boat House might be an appropriate site, since it could be more- easily 

adapted for that purpose than some of the 

other historic buildings in the district.

Since both entrances to the historic building 

were ramped, the Boat House could also be 

easily adapted for full handicapped accessibility. Properly designed for self- service use, it 

could be the primary visitor contact point at the 

Coast Guard Station.

Treatment: Alternatives for treatment are also 

discussed below, but recommended treatment 

should include returning the building to its 

original, well- documented location at the 

Coast Guard Station. The exterior of the building should be restored to its appearance at the 

end of World War II by removing the cedarshingle siding; re- opening of the original boatroom doors; installation of a standing- seam, 

metal roof; and repairing and repainting exterior woodwork, most of which remains on the 

building. The historic interior of the building 
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should be exposed by removal of modern partitions (which do not include the walls that create Room 103) and finishes. Room 103 should 

be preserved, since it is an historic feature of 

the building and would be useful for storage of 

equipment and supplies. If bathrooms are installed, additional enclosures will be necessary, 

but these could be designed in a way that would 

be fully reversible and minimize their intrusion 

on the historic space.
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Requirements for 

Treatment & Use

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 a portion 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 

L. S. S. Boat House. 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 house 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 
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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. However, 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.

While modern building codes and accessibility 

issues often necessitate significant changes to 

the an historic building, the character of the 

Boat House is such that code issues will be 

minimal. Unlike some of the other historic 

buildings at the Cape, handicapped accessibility can readily achieved at the Boat House by 

simply reconstructing the concrete ramps to 

the doors. The design of new rest rooms and 

exhibits can also easily incorporate features 

that would make the building fully accessible.

Electrical and plumbing systems and fixtures 

are not historic and will need to be redesigned 

to accommodate the building’s new program of 

use. Installation of a smoke/fire detection system will also be required.

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 

are recommended where compliance would 

needlessly compromise the integrity of the historic building.
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Alternatives for 

Treatment & Use

The L. S. S. Boat House is a simple, utilitarian structure designed 

and constructed specifically for boat storage and maintenance. Of 

all the contributing structures in the Cape Lookout Village Historic District, the Boat House has undergone the most radical 

transformation, primarily because, unlike the other structures, it 

was adapted for an entirely new use after its relocation in 1958. 

Nevertheless, most of its historic features and finishes remain intact, concealed under modern finishes. The building has the potential to be an important part of the park’s efforts to interpret the 

historic district at Cape Lookout.

The Boat House is in excellent condition, and residential use 

could be continued, if utilities were upgraded. However, residential use necessarily obscures the historic character of the building, 

requiring interior partitions, conventional doors, and additional 

windows to function in that capacity. While additional alterations 

to the historic building might not be necessary to continue residential use, the potential for meaningful interpretation would remain unrealized.

At a minimum, the exterior of the building should be restored, including re- opening of the large boat doors, which are perhaps the 

building’s defining feature. These doors in themselves may limit 
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use, however, since their large size do not lend 

themselves to the sort of regular opening and 

closing expected of a conventional building 

entrance. For that reason alone, use of the 

building for offices, for instance, would not be 

practical.

One of the park’s goals is expanded interpretation of the Life- Saving Service and the Coast 

Guard at Cape Lookout. Part of that expansion 

would include relocation of the 1887 Life- Saving Station to its original location at the Coast 

Guard Station and overall improvements to 

presentation of the site. Increased visitation at 

the site might necessitate additional visitor facilities, especially rest rooms. The Boat House 

could be easily adapted for rest rooms, even 

with the large doors in place, since they could 

be raised and lowered each day to provide access to separate rooms built out on the interior 

of the building.

Consideration has also been given to again using the building for storage and maintenance, 

its original use, since much of what is significant about the structure can be interpreted 

without interior access. However, the 1939 

Equipment Building at the Coast Guard Station 

is currently being used in that capacity, and additional space is not really necessary.

The park envisions interpretation of the LifeSaving Service and the Coast Guard through 

exhibits at the Coast Guard Station, and the 

Life- Saving Station has been proposed for that 

purpose. The Boat House could also be used 

for exhibits, especially of a life boat, since restoration of the Boat Room in the Life- Saving 

Station is not recommended. The building 

could be opened only as needed without interfering with the routine use of the other buildings at the station. Properly designed, it could 

be entirely self- service. With approximately 

775 square feet of floor space and easily 

adapted for full handicapped accessibility, it 

would be possible to accommodate both rest 

rooms and exhibits in the building, turning it 

into the primary visitor contact point at the 

Coast Guard Station.
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Recommendations 

for Treatment & 

Use

Significantly altered after it was relocated in 1958, the Boat House 

still retains most of its historic features and original materials hidden beneath layers of modern materials. Built in 1924, the building 

is very well constructed and is in generally good condition.

Use of the building for exhibits to interpret the history of the LifeSaving Service and Coast Guard at Cape Lookout is the preferred 

alternative. If public rest rooms are needed at the Coast Guard 

Station, they could be installed in the Boat House with a minimum 

impact on the historic building. Recommended treatment would 

include returning the building to its original, well- documented location at the Coast Guard Station, restoration of the exterior to its 

appearance at the end of World War II, and rehabilitation of the 

interior for exhibits and, if necessary, rest rooms.

Site

The historic site of the Boat House can be readily identified 

through the numerous plot plans and photographs of the station. 

Located in the northernmost corner of the station’s main compound, the building was oriented parallel to and about one hundred feet northeast of the 1939 Maintenance Building. There are 

no visible signs of the building’s location, its original piers and 
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concrete ramps having been lost when the 

building was relocated in 1958.

Complete site recommendations if the building 

is returned to its historic location are beyond 

the scope of this report, since they would be 

determined by treatment of the Coast Guard 

Station as a whole. Most significantly, the existing route of travel from the dock through the 

station and northward through the village was 

created after the Life- Saving Station was relocated in 1958. Some realignment of traffic flow 

will be necessary, perhaps including re- establishment of the historic route of public travel, 

which ran just south of the Lewis- Davis House 

(see Figure 15).

In addition, a large, concrete apron was poured 

in front of the Maintenance Building when it 

was constructed in 1939, but the remainder of 

the pavement was added in the 1960s and 

should be removed.

The original wooden ramps to the Boat House 

doors were replaced with concrete in 1941, and 

new concrete ramps should be reinstalled 

when the building is relocated. Both ramps 

were the width of the adjacent door opening 

and stretched about twenty feet from the building.

• Relocate building to its original site.

• Re- establish historic roadway that 

bypassed the station grounds.

• Remove pavement except for concrete 

apron in front of Maintenance Building.

• Replicate concrete ramps to Boat 

House doors.

Foundation

Historically, the building was always set with 

the bottoms of the sills within a foot of grade 

level. To facilitate inspection and maintenance 

of the structure, the bottoms of sills and joists 

should be no closer than 12” from the ground. 

Wooden piles appear to have always formed the 

building’s foundation and should be used when 

it is returned to its original site. Termite shields 

should be installed on all pilings.

• Reset building on wooden pilings.

• Include termite shields on new pilings.

Structure

Structurally, the building appears to be in excellent condition. Over- structured, even by today’s standards, it was built to withstand 

hurricane- force winds, and in spite of numerous storms, has never suffered more than minor storm damage. However, given its close 

proximity to the ground (which prevented inspection of the sills and floor framing), some 

deterioration from termites and/or rot is to be 

expected. When the building is relocated, sills 

and floor framing should be thoroughly inspected and repaired as necessary.

The front porch is a modern addition, added in 

two phases after 1961. It should be completely 

removed.
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• Inspect and repair sills and joists when 

building is relocated.

• Remove porches.

Windows and Doors

All seven of the original windows remain intact, 

and although some sash may have been replaced, all of the existing sash should be repaired and preserved.

Three window openings have been added to 

the building since it was moved. Located in the 

two bathrooms and over the kitchen sink, all 

three of these openings should be eliminated.

The original doors at the northeast end of the 

building appear to remain at least partially intact, although covered inside and out with 

modern materials. One of these doors has been 

damaged by installation of the window over the 

kitchen sink, but the overall condition of the 

doors cannot be determined until modern materials are removed. The doors in the smaller 

opening where the front door is now located 

were removed when the opening was walled in 

when the building was moved. The original 

opening should be re- opened and new doors 

fabricated that match those at the northeast 

end of the building.

• Repair and preserve seven original 

windows.

• Close three window openings created 

after 1958.

• Re- open boat doors at northeast end 

and repair as necessary.

• Restore opening on southeast side of 

building and replicate original doors.

Exterior Finishes

The existing wood shingles cover the original 

drop siding and should be removed. While the 

siding will have many nail holes, repair and repainting of the original material should be possible. Enough drop siding should remain where 

the southeast door opening was closed in 1958 

to close the bathroom window openings.

The original soffit, window and door casing, 

and window sills remain mostly intact. Only 

minor repairs may be necessary.

Although wood shingles have been used to roof 

the building since it was moved, photographs 

indicate that the historic roof covering may 

have been standing- seam metal, similar to what 

was installed on the Life- Saving Station in 1942. 

Clearer prints of the historic photographs 

might provide conclusive evidence of this assumption, but based upon existing evidence, 

standing- seam metal would be most appropriate for re- roofing the structure when it is 

moved.

The building’s siding, soffit, and trim were historically painted white, but it appears that window sash may have been painted black or dark 

green. Evidence for dark sash should be apparent through a simple scrape test of the existing 

sash; otherwise the sash can be painted white.

• Remove cedar shingles; repair original 

drop siding.
Recommendations for Treatment & Use

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64

• Repair existing soffit, window and 

door casing, and window sills.

• Remove wood- shingle roofing and 

install standing- seam metal roof.

• Paint soffit, siding, and trim white; 

paint window sash black.

Interior

All modern wall partitions and ceilings should 

be removed, leaving only the historic closet, 

now a bath room, in the southwest corner of 

the building. All modern wall and floor coverings should be removed, exposing the original 

wood plank floor and open stud walls.

Station log entries suggest that the interior of 

the building was painted historically. Once 

modern materials are removed, the extent of 

painting, which probably also included the 

floor, can be assessed and replicated.

In addition to its primary use for exhibits, the 

building may need to house handicapped- accessible rest- room facilities. These should be 

designed to utilize the historic window openings on the northwest side of the building and 

should be built in line with the historic closet in 

the western corner of the building. The rooms’ 

ceilings should be set no higher than the top 

plate of the outside wall so as to leave the roof 

structure of the building open and visible.

• Remove all modern walls, ceilings, and 

floor coverings.

• Paint interior white if indicated after 

modern materials are removed.

• Design and install handicapped- accessible rest rooms on the northwest side 

of the building.

Utilities

If rest rooms are installed, entirely new supply 

and waste lines will be necessary. Evidence for 

the historic electrical system may survive above 

the existing ceilings and should be recorded if 

present. The new electrical system should include lighting designed specifically for exhibits, 

but fixtures should be simple and unobtrusive.

If exhibits are limited to interpretive panels, a 

central heating and cooling system will not be 

necessary. If heating is necessary, electrical 

baseboard heaters should be used, since the nature of the building is such that any ducted system would be unacceptably obtrusive.

Smoke/fire detectors should be installed 

throughout the building, including the crawl 

space. A sprinkler system is probably not necessary but could be installed with a minimal impact on the historic structure.

• Install new water supply and waste 

lines if new rest rooms are installed.

• Design electrical system with simple 

lighting to serve exhibits.

• Install smoke/fire detector system.

• If necessary, install electrical baseboard heaters.
PART 2 TREATMENT AND USE

HSR

L. S. S. Boat House

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65

north

Note 3

Note 4

Note 2

Note 4

Note 1

Note 5

Notes: Remove existing cedar shingles and restore original shiplap siding. Install new concrete

 ramps.

1. Remove all modern partitions and adapt space for exhibits.

2. Remove existing window and interior and exterior wall finishes; restore doors and reconstruct ramp.3. Remove existing door and wall and reconstruct original door opening, including ramp.

4. Remove existing window and close opening.

5. Install new handicapped-accessible bathrooms, utilizing existing windows and with wall continuing

 the line of the historic closet.

storage
Recommendations for Treatment & Use

SERO

National Park Service

66
HSR

L. S. S. Boat House

http://crs.sero.nps.gov/historic/hsr/malu/e_summary.htm

67

REFERENCE

Sources of 

Information

Cape Lookout National Seashore, Photographic Collection.

Carteret County Superior Court Record of Deeds and Mortgages, 

New Bern, North Carolina.

Carteret County Death and Marriage Records, New Bern, North 

Carolina.

Cecelski, David S. “The Hidden World of Mullet Camps: 

African- American Architecture on the North Carolina 

Coast,” The North Carolina Historical Review. Vol. LXX, 

#1, 1993.

Dunbar, Gary S. Historical Geography of the North Carolina Outer 

Banks. Louisiana State University Press, 1958.

Erenhard, John E. Cape Lookout National Seashore: Assessment of 

Archaeological and Historical Resources. NPS: Southeast 

Archaeological Center, Tallahassee, FL, 1976.
National Park Service

SERO

National Park Service

68

Holland, F. Ross. A Survey History of Cape 

Lookout National Seashore. NPS: 

Division of History, Office of 

Archaeology and Historic 

Preservation, January 30, 1968.

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.

National Register of Historic Places Report, 

Cape Lookout Village Historic District.

Olds, Fred A. “Cape Lookout Lonesome Place, 

Vol. XLVI, #26. The Orphan’s Friend. 

Oxford, NC: The Grand Lodge of 

Masons of North Carolina.

Rex Quinn. The Gun Mounts at Cape Lookout, 

Historic Resource Study. National Park 

Service, March 1986.

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).

Stick, David. The Outer Banks of North 

Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of 

North Carolina Press, 1958).

United States Coast Guard. “Cape Lookout 

Life- Saving Station, Journals.” January 

1887- 1920. Record Group 26, National 

Archives and Records Administration, 

East Point, Georgia.
The National Park Service cares for special 

places saved by the American people so that all 

may experience our heritage.