Historic Lifesaving & Other Shore Stations

Collapse All Expand All
 East Coast / Gulf Coast

Maine  

Boothbay Harbor

Burnt Island

Cape Elizabeth

Cranberry Islands

Cross Island

Crumple Island

Damiscove Island Eastport

Fletcher's Neck

Hunniwell's Beach (Kennebec River)

Jonesport

Quoddy Head

Rockland

South Portland

Southwest Harbor

White Head

Wood Island 

 

New Hampshire

Hampton Beach

Isles of Shoals

Jerry's Point

Portsmouth Harbor

Rye Beach

Wallis Sands

 

Vermont

Burlington

 

Massachusetts 

Boston

Brant Point

Brant Rock

Cahoons Hollow

Cape Cod Canal

Castle Hill

Chatham

City Point

Coskata

Cuttyhunk

Fourth Cliff

Gay Head

Gloucester

Gurnet

High Head

Highland

Maddaket

Manomet Point

Menemsha

Merrimac River

Monomoy

Monomoy Point

Muskeget

Nahant

Nauset

Newburyport

North Scituate

Old Harbor

Orleans

Pamet River

Peaked Hill Bars

Plum Island

Point Allerton

Provincetown

Race Point

Salisbury Beach

Scituate

Surfside

Straitsmouth

Wood End

Woods Hole 

 

Rhode Island 

Block Island

Brenton Point

Castle Hill

Green Hill

Narragansett

New Shoreham

Point Judith

Quonocontaug

Sandy Point

Watch Hill 

 

Connecticut

Fishers Island

New Haven

New London

 

New York 

Amagansett

Bellport

Big Sandy

Blue Point

Buffalo

Charlotte

City Island

Coney Island

Ditch Plain

Eatons Neck

Far Rockaway

Fire Island

Forge River

Galloo Island

Georgica

Gilgo

Governors Island

Hither Plain

Jones Beach

Kings Point

Lone Hill

Long Beach

Meadow Island

Mecox

Montauk

Montauk Point

Moriches

Napeague

New York

Niagara

Oak Island

Oswego

Point Lookout

Point of Woods

Potunk

Quogue

Rockaway

Rockaway Point

Rocky Point

Sackett's Harbor

Salmon Creek

Sheep's Head Bay

Shinnecock

Short Beach

Smiths Point

Southampton

Tiana

Zachs Inlet 


New Jersey 

Absecon

Atlantic City

Avalon

Barnegat

Bay Head

Bonds

Brigantine

Cape May

Cedar Creek

Chadwick's

Cold Spring

Corson Inlet

Deal

Forked River

Fortesque

Great Egg

Harvey Cedar

Hereford Inlet

Holly Beach

Island Beach

Little Beach

Little Egg

Long Beach

Long Branch

Loveladies Island

Manasquan

Mantoloking

Monmouth Beach

Ocean City

Peck's Beach

Sandy Hook

Sea Isle City

Seabright

Shark River

Ship Bottom

South Brigantine

Spermaceti Cove

Spring Lake

Squan Beach (also known as Manasquan Beach)

Stone Harbor

Tatham's

Tom's River

Townsend Inlet

Turtle Gut

Wildwood


Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

 

Delaware

Bethany Beach

Cape Henlopen

Fenwick Island

Indian River Inlet

Lewes

Rehoboth Beach

 

Maryland 

Annapolis

Curtis Bay

Crisfield

Green Run Inlet

Isle of Wight

North Beach

Ocean City

Oxford

St. Inigoes

Stillpond

  

Washington, DC

Washington

 

Virginia 

Assateague Beach

Cape Charles

Cape Henry

Chincoteague

Cobb Island

Dam Neck Mills

False Cape

Hog Island

Little Creek

Little Island

Little Machipongo Inlet

Metomkin Inlet

Milford Haven

Parramore Beach

Pope's Island

Portsmouth

Seatack

Smith Island

Wachapreague

Wallop's Beach 

 

North Carolina 

Big Kinnakeet

Bodie Island

Bogue Inlet

Caffey's Inlet

Cape Fear

Cape Hatteras

Cape Lookout

Chicamacomico

Core Bank

Creed's Hill

Currituck Inlet

Durant's

Elizabeth City

Fort Macon

Gull Shoal

Hatteras Inlet

Hobucken

Kill Devil Hills

Kitty Hawk

Little Kinnakeet

Nags Head

New Inlet

Oak Island

Ocracoke

Oregon Inlet

Paul Gamiel Hill

Pea Island

Portsmouth

Poyners Hill

Wash Woods

Whales Head

Wrightsville Beach

 

South Carolina

Charleston

Georgetown

Sullivan's Island

 

Georgia

Brunswick

Tybee Island

 

Florida

Biscayne

Cape Malabar House of Refuge

Chester Shoal House of Refuge

Cortez

Destin

Fort Lauderdale

Fort Myers Beach

Fort Pierce

Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge

Indian River

Indian River Inlet House of Refuge

Islamorada

Jupiter Inlet

Key West

Lake Worth Inlet

Marathon

Marquesas Keys

Mayport

Mosquito Lagoon House of Refuge

Orange Grove House of Refuge

Panama City

Pensacola

Ponce de Leon Inlet

Port Canaveral

St. Petersburg

Sand Key

Santa Rosa

Smith's Creek

Yankeetown

 

Puerto Rico

San Juan

 

Alabama

Dauphin Island

 

Mississippi

Gulfport

Pascagoula

 

Louisiana

Grand Isle

Venice

 

Texas 

Aransas

Brazos

Freeport

Galveston

Grand Isle

Port Aransas

Port O'Connor

Sabine Pass

Saluria

San Luis

South Padre Island

       Velasco
 West Coast / Alaska / Hawaii

California 

Arena Cove

Bodega Bay

Bolinas Bay

Carquinez

Channel Islands Harbor

Fort Point

Golden Gate

Golden Gate Park

Humboldt Bay

Lake Tahoe

Los Angeles/Long Beach

Monterey

Morro Bay

Noyo River

Point Bonita

Point Reyes

Rio Vista

San Diego

San Francisco

Southside 

 

Oregon 

Cape Arago

Chetco River

Coos Bay

Coquille River

Depot Bay

Point Adams

Port Orford

Portland

Siuslaw River

Tillamook Bay

Umpqua River

Yaquina Bay 

 

Washington 

Bellingham

Cape Disappointment

Grays Harbor

Ilwaco Beach

Klipsan Beach

National Motor Lifeboat School, Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco

Neah Bay

Petersons Point

Port Angeles

Quillayute River

Seattle

Shoalwater Bay

Waaddah Island 

 

Alaska

Juneau

Ketchikan

Nome

Valdez

 

Hawaii

Honolulu

      Maui
 Great Lakes Region / Central States

New York

Alexandria Bay

Buffalo

Niagara

Oswego

Rochester

 

Pennsylvania

Erie (Presque Isle)

 

Ohio

Ashtabula

Cleveland (Harbor)

Fairport

Lorain

Marblehead; (Point Marblehead)

Toledo

 

Kentucky

Louisville

 

Michigan 

Alpena

Beaver Island

Belle Isle

Bois Blanc

Charlevoix

Crisps

Eagle Harbor

Frankfort

Grand Haven

Grand Marais

Grand Point Au Sable

Grindstone City

Hammond Bay

Harbor Beach

Holland

Lake View Beach

Ludington

Manistee

Marquette

Middle Island

Muskallonge Lake

Muskegon

North Manitou

Ottawa Point

Pentwater

Pointe Aux Barques

Point Betsie

Port Huron

Portage

Saginaw River

St. Clair (Shores)

Saint Joseph

Saint Ignace

Sand Beach

Sault Ste. Marie

Ship Canal

Sleeping Bear Point

South Haven

South Manitou

Sturgeon Point

Tawas

Thunder Bay Island

Two Heart River

Vermillion Point

White River 

 

Indiana

Michigan City

 

Illinois

Calumet Harbor

Chicago

Evanston

Jackson Park

South Chicago

Wilmette Harbor

 

Wisconsin 

Bayfield

Baileys Harbor

Green Bay

Kenosha

Kewaunee

Milwaukee

Plum Island

Racine

Sheboygan

Sturgeon Bay Canal

Two Rivers

Washington Island 

 

Minnesota

Duluth

Life-Saving Service & Coast Guard Stations

Crew and Motor Life Boat Dreadnaught, Point Adams Life-Saving Station, Oregon

 

Station Belle Isle, Michigan

April 19, 2021
PRINT | E-MAIL

Station Belle Isle, Michigan


Location:

Belle Isle, MI, in the Detroit River

Date of Conveyance:

1881

Station Completed:

1943

Fate:

Still active


Remarks:

Belle Isle Station is primarily a search and rescue unit, operating within the geographic area. This unit has the responsibility of responding in some way to all distressed mariners within these boundaries, Secondary missions include aids to navigation, logistics support to other Law Enforcement Agencies, water pollution checks in assistance to Marine Inspection Office, and Safety Patrols in support of Marine Regatta's, Training of CG Reservists and CG Auxiliarist also fall into the secondary mission's category.

The facilities of Station Belle Isle, formerly known as St. Clair Lifeboat Station, were designed by the Ninth Coast Guard, Civil Engineering Section, Cleveland, Ohio.  The contractors who built the station were: Sheet Piling & Launchway Company; The Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company; Foundation Piledriving; The Candler Dock & Dredge Company; and Building Construction, the Faulkner Construction Company.  

The property (1 1/4 acres) was purchased April 6, 1881 from the City of Detroit for the sum of $1.00. Belle Isle Lighthouse was constructed and a light was first shown on May 15, 1882. The light keeper's dwellings were built the succeeding year along with a surrounding retaining wall and a boathouse. That lighthouse occupied the site continuously until construction of the present facilities.

During those first years, the land was very swampy and the only way to reach the lighthouse was by boat. By 1930, the natural topography coupled with the man-made improvements had extended the utilized position of the island, and in 1930 William Livingston Memorial Light was built east of the Belle Isle Light. This light marks the head of the Detroit River.

Throughout the years of Detroit's development the maritime interests had been served only by the Coast Guard cutters, patrol boats and USLHS tenders. Yachtsman and public-spirited citizens had campaigned for a lifeboat station for many years. Their success came in passage through Congress an enabling act in 1936. Representative Clarence J. McLeod was the author of the bill, and had campaigned vigorously to secure Coast Guard Services for Detroiters. In 1939 an appropriation bill of $100,000.00 was passed by Congress, but due to litigation in connection with the original survey of the swamp land the money was not available for construction until late in 1940.

The station was completed in 1942, and at that time the station was the most modern on the Great Lakes.  The mooring basin, launch ways, and boat handling facilities were the finest obtainable.  The watch tower was unparalled; surveillance of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair being handled by a twenty-four hour watch in the seventy-five foot tower with the most scientific design and instrumentation available.  

The station is named for the island on which the station is located.  Situated in the upper Detroite River, it is the largest island in a U.S. city, covering an area of 985 acres.


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: CostaƱo 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.