Indian River Life Saving Station always fun

Paul W. Ross
Special to the Coastal Point

	Coastal Point • PAUL W. ROSS A view of the station from inside the compound.

This is a trip back in time to the restored Indian River Life Saving Station, just north of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

The Indian River Life Saving Station was built around the turn of the last century, as part of a series of life-saving stations up and down the eastern seaboard. The station is a beautiful example of Victorian building style, with the original colors restored to those of that period.

There is a spectacular bright red roof and observation cupola that is visible from the top of the Indian River Bridge, as you drive north along the Coastal Highway. The walls of the station have been restored to their original mustard yellow color, as well. The original paint colors were discovered under numerous coats of white paint during the building restoration in the 1990s.

As you turn into the parking lot, you will see the fully-restored station next to a more modern building. This modern building houses a great gift shop and offices for the museum staff.

The museum is now under the management of the Delaware Department of Parks and Recreation, and is staffed by Americorps volunteers. Americorps is the “domestic” Peace Corps organization.

Pay your admission and proceed to the station across the sandy courtyard, where you will be greeted by a guide for your tour of the building.

As you enter, you will be in the kitchen and eating area of the station, where the station personnel took their meals around a wood stove. Upstairs, via a narrow staircase, you enter the private bedroom of the station keeper, and adjacent to this, the dormitory for the surfmen.

The dormitory is a bit on the sparse side by modern standards, with only a bed that looks pretty hard, a chair and a locker for their clothes and assorted gear. To one side of the dormitory area is a small room used to provide a sleeping area for any sick or rescued shipwreck survivors.

You can’t go up there any more, but up another narrow staircase is an observation cupola that provides a view of the shore. Originally, this was an open catwalk, but some where along the way, it was replaced by the current cupola for protection from the elements.

The drill was to send surfmen on patrol up and down the shore at night, keeping a sharp eye open for ships in distress. With any luck, the ship could be warned off of the ever-present shoals by flares.

In the unlucky event of an actual shipwreck, the station personnel were prepared to shoot a line out to the distressed ship with a small cannon, known as a Lyle gun. This line was then used to pull a heavier line to the ship, and a breeches buoy was then used to rescue the stranded sailors.

I don’t know about you, but doing this during the night, during the winter, and in stormy weather was barely worth the $10 per month that the surfmen were paid in the heyday of the station.

Many lives were saved, under the most terrible of conditions. The station still has a working Lyle gun and the associated implements. I’ve had the pleasure as a museum volunteer of shooting it once — nice “boom” — and the not-so-nice pleasure of cleaning up the black powder residue after the shot. Speak about 19th century technology…

The Life Saving Service, Lighthouse Service and the Revenue Cutter Service were merged around 1915 to form the modern-day Coast Guard. The station was run as a Coast Guard station until 1962, after a devastating storm.

The building was then used as a storage building by the highway department and eventually turned over to the state of Delaware. In 1997, the station was renovated to its current appearance, to the period of 1905. Various kind individuals have contributed furniture and other artifacts to restore the internal décor.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week during the summer season.

Admission to the station costs $3.50 for adults, $1 for children or $2.50 for senior citizens.