US Coast Guard Station-St. Simons Island
Why it's listed
This Coast Guard station on St. Simons Island, Georgia, occupies about 2.5 acres between St. Simons Beach and East Beach. Built in 1936 and commissioned in April 1937, it centers on a symmetrical, two-and-one-half-story Colonial Revival station house topped by a pyramidal watch tower. Around it stand a garage, two storage sheds, a generator building and a steel signal tower. The site was originally marsh, filled by WPA labor under Coast Guard supervision. Plans came from the Coast Guard Civil Engineer's Office, which produced standardized station designs; the Colonial Revival style gave the service a uniform national appearance. The station is significant for its connection to maritime safety and federal efforts to protect life and property at sea, and for its architecture. Its first crew of eleven men came from Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. The station closed in 1995, and the garage now serves as a nature education center. Its period of significance runs from 1936 to 1948.
Significance in brief: The station is tied to a national effort to make coastal and inland waterways safer and to the federal government's mission to protect life and property at sea. It is also a representative example of the Colonial Revival style that federal agencies used in standardized designs during the 1930s and 1940s.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 98000297, listed April 1, 1998. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 4201 First St., St. Simons Island |
|---|---|
| County | Glynn County |
| Listed | April 1, 1998 |
| Reference number | 98000297 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1936-1948 |
| Architect / builder | U.S. Coast Guard, Civil Engineer's Office |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Maritime History, Politics/Government |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The station ceased operations in 1995; the garage is currently used as a nature education center, and current function is listed as education-related. |
| Acreage | 2.5 |
| Coordinates | 31.14526, -81.37118 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 98000297.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5327837
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.