Station Cross Island, Maine
USLSS Station #2, First District
Coast Guard Station #2
|
Location:
|
Off Machiasport; 44-37' 28"N x 67-16' 20"W in 1878; 44-36' 45"N x 67-16' 30"W in 1915
|
|
Date of Conveyance
|
1874
|
|
Station Built:
|
1874
|
|
Fate:
|
Turned over to GSA in 1964.
|
Remarks:
This station was built approximately 1874 at a position originally given as the "east end Cross Island, off Machiasport, Maine." By 1934, the site description was "northeast end Cross Island, opposite Mink Island, off Machiasport, Maine. "In the 1882 Annual Report, mention is made that a shed had "been constructed for the reception of apparatus and stores" at the station.
The station was still listed as an active station in 1945. The property was turned over to the GSA in 1964.
Keepers:
The first recorded keeper is Francis M. Thornton, appointed at the age of 37 on October 22, 1874 and serving until an unknown date in 1879. Next was Lyman F. Wright (July 16, 1879 until he resigned on November 1, 1901), and Fred E. Small (October 19, 1901 until July 28, 1925 when he was reassigned to the Great Wass station). The next officer in charge is shown in 1927, when Chief Petty Officer Christopher Hanson is listed; he was promoted to warrant grade on October 13, 1930 and remained here until he retired on November 1, 1934. He was followed by Chief R. N. Watts.
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 Unpublished manuscript, compiled circa 1977, CG Historian’s Office collection.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.