Station Coney Island, New York
USLSS Station #37, Third District
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Location:
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Manhattan Beach; 40-34' 20"N x 73-55' 30"W
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Date of Conveyance
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1855
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Station Built:
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1856
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Fate:
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Discontinued in 1899 (?)
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Remarks:
See the entry for the Sheep’s Head Bay station. This station is believed to have been built on Manhattan Beach some time in 1856. The 1878 Annual Report describes its rebuilding: "... during the summer a new and commodious station has been erected at Coney Island, in place of the old boat—house which stood there, and is now occupied by the crew. This station was given ampler dimensions than any other in the service, being designed for an experimental station as well as for the habitation of a crew, on account of its favorable location for conducting experiments with life—saving appliances and for testing the value of devices which may be presented for trial."
The station was moved to a new site in 1888; mention is made in the 1878 Annual Report that "ground for the new life-saving station at Coney Island was given by the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway Company." "Necessary repairs and improvements" were made at the station in 1893. In the 1900 Annual Report, the listing for the station is annotated with the comment "not in operation."
Keepers:
The first keeper was Stephen Morris, who was appointed that year. Morris was followed later by Charles Bebensee (appointed August 27, 1880, and resigned June 30, 1885), Richard H. Ryder (August 27, 1885, until being discharged October 22, 1889), John H. Abrams (October 25, 1889, until resignation March 3, 1894) and Wilson Frazier (appointed March 26, 1894, he served until November 19, 1898, when he went to Jones Beach to be a surfman).
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 Unpublished manuscript, compiled circa 1977, CG Historian’s Office collection.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.