Station Gurnet, Massachusetts
Formerly Gurnett Island
USLSS Station #4, Second District
Coast Guard Station # 30
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Location:
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Lower end of Duxbury Beach, at Gurnet Light, 4 1/2 miles northeast of Plymouth, Mass.; 42-00' 10"N x 70-36' 10"W
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Date of Conveyance
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1873
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Station Built:
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1878
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Fate:
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Turned over to GSA 1957
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Remarks:
Gurnet station was built in the 1873 to 1874 time frame. In 1876, it was referred to as the Gurnett Island station. In the 1878 listing of station it is referred to as Gurnett’s and its position is "8 miles northeast of Plymouth." The final "t" in the name came and went over the years and was finally dropped altogether. The station was still listed after the war but disappears from the records in July 1955. Subsequently, the property was turned over to the GSA in 1957.
Keepers:
The first keeper was George H. Hall, who was appointed at the age of 48, with twenty years as a surfman, on October 14, 1874, and served until he resigned on December 13, 1878. The second keeper was John F. Holmes, who was appointed on December 23, 1878 and resigned due to physical reasons on September 27, 1898. He was followed by Augustus B. Rogers (September 27, 1898 until reassigned to the Manomet station on July 31, 1908), James J. Donovan (July 29, 1908 until dismissed on April 18, 1910), Frank A. Cove (April 25, 1910 until reassigned to the Nahant station on December 16, 1915), Walter I. Hammond (acting until his appointment and reassigned to the Orleans station on August 13, 1917), and John J. Glynn (acting until appointed keeper on September 11, 1918 and reassigned to the North Scituate station on September 8, 1922). Next, Chief Petty Officers S. H. Cobbett (in 1927 until reassigned to the North Scituate station) and E. L. Silva (in 1929) are listed as being in charge of the station.
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 Unpublished manuscript, compiled circa 1977, CG Historian’s Office collection.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.