Station Grand Haven, Michigan
USLSS Station #9, Eleventh District
Coast Guard Station #270
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Location:
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North side entrance of Grand Haven Harbor, Mich., 1/3 mile east northeast of Pierhead Rear Light;
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Date of Conveyance
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1874
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Station Built:
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1875
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Fate:
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Still in operation
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Remarks:
The history of the Coast Guard in Grand Haven dates back to at least 1876 when the Eleventh District of the U.S. Life Saving Service established headquarters in town. Following the reorganization of Life Saving and Revenue Cutter services into the Coast Guard in 1915, Grand Haven became headquarters for Tenth Coast Guard District. With the reorganization of 1939, Cleveland succeeded Grand Haven as headquarters of the Ninth District, but Grand Haven remained an important location with a Coast Guard Station, a lighthouse, and the cutter Escanaba, which exploded and sank on June 13, 1943 while on convoy duty in the North Atlantic. All but two men of the 103-man crew died that day.
Group Grand Haven (April 6, 1997)
The Group office moved to its current location in Grand Haven in 1988. Prior to that time it had been located at various sites in Muskegon and Ludington.
Rifle Range
In February 1973, federal surplus property known as Grand Haven Coast Guard Rifle Range, Ferrysburg, Michigan, was assigned to the Department of the Interior for conveyance to the City of Ferrysburg for parks and recreation purposes. It was officially transferred to the city on July 13, 1973.
Fatal Accident
April 28, 1991, William Dale Kozlowsi, a seaman of Grand Haven Station, was fatally injured by the propeller of the Station’s 22-foot small boat after being tossed from the station canoe during a collision with the small boat, 50 feet from the dock. A second crewmember on board the canoe received minor head injuries.
Keepers:
Richard Connell was appointed keeper on 11 July 1876 and left in 1879 (?)
John DeYoung was appointed keeper on 21 February 1879 and was dismissed on 22 November 1884.
James Beauvais was appointed keeper on 29 January 1885 and resigned on 30 June 1888.
John Lysaght was appointed keeper on 9 July 1888 and resigned on 19 April 1910.
William Walker was appointed keeper on 23 May 1910 and was still serving in 1915.
CBM (L) (A) F. Wendel., Jr. was officer-in-charge in 1936.
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.