Station Little Kinnakeet, North Carolina
USLSS Station #20, Sixth District
Coast Guard Station #181
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Location:
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On beach, 8 7/8 miles north by east of Cape Hatteras light; 35-25' 00"N x 75-29' 10"W in 1915.
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Date of Conveyance:
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Station Built:
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1873
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Fate:
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Turned over to the GSA 1970
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Remarks:
In either 1872 or 1875 land for the location of the original Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station was leased for a period of twenty years. At the expiration of the lease, it was determined that the then site of the station was no longer suitable for life saving purposes and it was recommended that a more desirable site be acquired. A new site was acquired in 1900.
Little Kinnakeet Coast Guard Station was originally established in 1873. It was the southernmost of the seven original lifeboat stations built on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The land area of the station is 17.5 acres as deeded to the government in 1900. The present station was constructed in 1904. Facing Pamlico Sound, the station is 11.5 miles north of Cape Hatteras Light. The nearest town is Avon.
The first keeper of Little Kinnakeet Station was L. Bannister Midgett, believed to be the first man in that famous clan to be a member of the Coast Guard. The normal complement of the station was 22 men.
Little Kinnakeet was operated as a beach patrol and lifesaviung station for 71 years. It was deactivated on June 14, 1954 and turned over to the custody of the National Park Service.
Keepers:
Banister Midgett was appointed on DEC 4, 1874. He left the service in 1876.
L. B. Midgett was appointed on DEC 4, 1876. He left the service in 1877.
John A. Midgett a Gold Life Saving Medal Recipient was appointed on MAR 13, 1879. He was transferred to New Inlet Station.
Edward O. Hooker was appointed on MAY 25, 1883. On MAR 8, 1910 he resigned for physical reasons.
Edward S. Midgett was appointed on MAR 3, 1910. He left the service in 1915.
Baxter B. Miller, a Gold Life Saving Medal Recipient, was appointed in 1915. He was still serving in 1915.
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.