Station Oak Island Beach, New York
Originally Oak Island, east end
USLSS Station #26
Coast Guard Station #84
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Location:
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On Oak Island Beach, north side of Fire Island Inlet, and 3 3/4 miles west by north of Fire Island Light; 40-38' 10"N x 73-17' 40"W
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Date of Conveyance:
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1885
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Station Built:
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1861
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Fate:
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See "Remarks" below
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Remarks:
This station was later called Oak Island Beach in 1923 and after to avoid confusion with the station in Virginia. The station was built in 1861, but there may have been one earlier because a keeper was there in 1856. Until 1883, the station is carried in the records as "Oak Island, east end." Notes concerning the station state that the original site was abandoned on an unknown date. The station was occupying land for which the United States had no title until June 7, 1910. The lease of that date gave the government the right to use and occupy a site containing 0.92 acre for fifty years or so much longer as required for life-saving purposes. On January 16, 1918, permission was given by the town board of Babylon, New York to use a portion of the beach near the station for a boathouse. In 1948, the town of Babylon accepted the land back along with such buildings and improvements presently existing. The final portion was turned over to GSA in 1954 and deeded to the town of Babylon. The original description of the site was "east end of Oak Island." This was later changed to "on Oak Island Beach, near entrance Fire Island Inlet, three miles west of Whig Inlet."
The station was extensively repaired and improved in 1888. It was proposed to abandon this station as part of a complicated re-arrangement of station coverage necessitated by a New York State Park Commission project; this was described earlier. In 1937, the station appeared on the list of inactive stations. The boathouse was demolished during the hurricane which swept the Atlantic coast in September of 1938.
Keepers:
The first keeper was John Henrickson, appointed in 1856 for an unknown period of time. He is followed by Ira Oakley, appointed in 1872 and also for an unknown period of time. Henry Oakley was appointed on February 25, 1973 and resigned December 1, 1885. He is followed by Charles E. Arnold (December 21, 1885 until his resignation December 31, 1900), Edgar Frost (reassigned from Zachs Inlet station December 15, 1917 until his resignation November 10, 1923), Joseph D. Meade (reassigned from #91 November 28, 1923 until his resignation May 5, 1924), Cornelius E. Conklin (March 22, 1924 until his reassignment as Assistant to the Superintendent of the Fourth District on June 10, 1925), Harold L. Carter (appointed September 16, 1925 until his reassignment to the Quogue station December 2, 1930) and C. A. Mister (assigned December 2, 1930 until his reassignment to the North Beach, Delaware station January 2, 1935). Then followed Chief Boatswains Mate W. J. Eldridge, who served for one year.
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.