Station Fletcher's Neck, Maine
Formerly Biddeford Pool
USLSS Station #6, First District
Coast Guard Station #11
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Location:
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Biddeford Pool, Fletcher's Neck; 44-26' 22"N x 70-20' 08" W in 1878; 43-26' 30" N x 70-20' 30"W in 1915
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Date of Conveyance:
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1873
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Station Built:
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1873
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Fate:
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Turned over to GSA in 1955
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Biddeford Pool / Fletchers Neck (#11):
First called the Biddeford Pool station (until June 1, 1883), this station was located on "Biddeford Pool, Fletchers Neck" and was built in 1873. Mention is made in the 1905 Annual Report that the station was being rebuilt. The Work Relief and Public Works Appropriation Act of 1938 provided funds to expand the site, construct an equipment building and lookout tower, construct a boathouse and launchway, reshingle the roof of the main building, and repair the heating pipes. The station was still listed as an active station in 1945. The property was turned over to the GSA in 1955. The records indicate that a station at Fletchers Neck was closed on October 15, 1971.
Keepers:
The first keeper was William M. Hussey, who was appointed at the age of 50 on on October 16, 1874; he is believed to have left some time in 1879. Next came James E. Goldthwait (July 16, 1879 until February 23, 1886), Fitz William Hussey (March 27, 1886 until he was dismissed April 24, 1890), Lewis C. Totman (August 8, 1890 until his resignation on December 22, 1911-he "died from disease contracted in line of duty" on March 10, 1912), Joseph L. Staples (December 15, 1911 until his retirement with thirty years service on September 25, 1922) and Rollo A. Morton (from Damiscove Island station on February 1, 1923, he was reassigned to the Kennebeck River station on May 11, 1933). He was relieved by Chief H. F. Snow.
Sources:
Station History File, CG Historian’s Office
Dennis L. Noble & Michael S. Raynes. “Register of the Stations and Keepers of the U.S. Life-Saving Service.” Unpublished manuscript, compiled circa 1977, CG Historian’s Office collection.
Ralph Shanks, Wick York & Lisa Woo Shanks. The U.S. Life-Saving Service: Heroes, Rescues and Architecture of the Early Coast Guard. Petaluma, CA: Costaño Books, 1996.
U.S. Treasury Department: Coast Guard. Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers and Cadets and Ships and Stations of the United States Coast Guard, July 1, 1941. Washington, DC: USGPO, 1941.