{"nrhp_refnum":"75000159","name":"Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station","other_names":["USCG Station"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Chatham on Nauset Beach","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chatham","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.697924933000024,"lon":-69.92902400299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Conservation","Military","Architecture","Communications","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A shingled life saving station built about 1897 on Nauset Beach (North Beach), northeast of Chatham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, later used as a U.S. Coast Guard station and located within Cape Cod National Seashore.","why_significant":"It is the oldest remaining life saving or Coast Guard station on the shores of Cape Cod National Seashore, between Monomoy and Provincetown. It is a rare reminder of the age of sail and of the Life Saving Service crews who rescued shipwreck victims by surfboat and breeches buoy. It also represents a later station design with a jerkin-head gable and off-center tower.","narrative":"Built about 1897 on Nauset Beach northeast of Chatham, the Old Harbor Life Saving Station later served as a Coast Guard station. It is a shingled, one-and-a-half-story frame building with jerkin-head gables and an off-center tower, a design that replaced the simple pitched-roof stations of 1872. Between Monomoy and Provincetown, about forty miles of coast where more than 2,000 shipwrecks occurred, it is the oldest such station still standing within Cape Cod National Seashore. In its first five years, its crews rescued 21 people by surfboat and removed 13 by breeches buoy. The station was abandoned in 1947 and sold as surplus, and some exterior changes followed under private ownership. Two small storage sheds on the site have been used as dwellings. The sea is eroding the beach quickly, and the nomination warned that the building would be lost unless it was moved. It was listed for its age, design and link to Cape Cod's maritime rescue history.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Shingle Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Sold as surplus in 1947 and later privately owned, now federal property. Some exterior alterations were made, and the interior is little changed. The site is threatened by rapid erosion, and relocation is suggested.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.360994-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/7939/63793978/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000159.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000159/9cbd878fde-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000159/9cbd878fde-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JCefaly","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Harbor_Life_Saving_Station.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">JCefaly</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Harbor_Life_Saving_Station.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793978","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Harbor_U.S._Life_Saving_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15263794"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/old-harbor-u-s-life-saving-station-75000159/"}