In 1878, the U.S. Life Saving Service opened a small station on Caroline Street in the tiny village of Ocean City. There was no Boardwalk or Inlet in those days and fewer than 50 year-round residents in the whole town. In 1891, the station was replaced with a larger 2 ½-story building that is now located at the Inlet where it was moved in 1977 to become the Ocean City Life Saving Station Museum.
The lifesaving service had the mission of saving the lives of shipwrecked seamen and literally hundreds of lives were saved by these brave men. Rescues were attempted by lifeboat – often after the surfmen, as the rescuers were called – had dragged their boat down several miles of beach. Other rescues were made by “breeches buoy” and in rare cases by the claustrophobic “life-car.” Most shipwrecks occurred in stormy winter weather, so this was a hard and dangerous job.
In 1915, the U.S. Life Saving Service merged with the Revenue Center Service to become the U.S. Coast Guard, which has continued to maintain a station in Ocean City and has played an important role in the history of the town since that time. Postcard from Bunk Mann’s collection