Historic Designation For Amagansett Life-Guarding Station

AMAGANSETT, NY — An iconic structure in East Hampton has earned historic designation.

According to New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, the Amagansett U.S. Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station was recently listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places; it has also been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

State and national register listings can assist property owners in revitalizing buildings, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, Thiele said.

This station is a significant part of East Hampton Town's maritime history and is dedicated to the historical preservation of the building and to all who served at the Amagansett U.S. Life-Saving & Coast Guard Station from 1902 to 1944. Now a museum, it was restored to its original appearance and situated in the same spot it was built in 1902, Thiele added.

The structure has a rich and stories history: The Amagansett Station was constructed on Atlantic Avenue and was one of a network of 30 life-saving stations on the South Shore of Long Island.

The crew at the stations kept watch from the lookout tower and by patrolling the beach, Thiele said. Discovering a ship in distress, the life-savers would perform a rescue by launching their surfboat or by firing a line to the ship and taking people off with a breeches buoy. From 1902 to 1937, the crew of the Amagansett Life-Saving Station, most of who were experienced local fishermen and shore whalers, kept watch over this beach and rescued sailors and passengers from several shipwrecks, the assemblyman said.

The station is also associated with an incident in World War II when coastguardsmen discovered four boxes of explosives buried in the sand by Nazi agents who had landed on the beach from a U-boat; the agents were later apprehended and tried, Thiele said. The incident led to the establishment of the Coast Guard beach patrol, which grew to consist of 24,000 men and played an important role in coastal defense during the war.

According to the U.S. Life-Saving Heritage Association, the Quonchontaug-type station was not the first on this site; the original station was one of the first wave of stations erected on Long Island in 1849, and was replaced by an 1876-type station in 1876. The 1902 station remained in service until 1944, when it was decommissioned.

The station house remained abandoned until 1966, the Association said.

"The town wanted it removed from the beach, so Joel Carmichael purchased the station for one dollar and moved it up onto the bluff above. There it remained a family residence until the death of Mr. Carmichael in 2006. The family then decided to give the station back to the town, and in 2007 it was moved back to the original location, in the dunes below the bluff off Atlantic Avenue," the Association wrote on its website.

The move is the subject of Eileen Torpey’s documentary film, Ocean Keeper.

"Although placed in the original site, due to shifting sands it is farther from the ocean than previously, thus better protected from the surf," the Association said.

Restoration of the building's exterior was completed in 2014; the interior was finished in 2017, the Association said.

"The station will house a museum dedicated to the history of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard in East Hampton, including the Nazi saboteur landing off Amagansett during World War II," the Association said.

Patch courtesy photo.