HORSENECK POINT LIFESAVING STATION - RESTORATION UPDATE
It's been a busy year for the WFA project to restore the Horseneck Point Lifesaving Station to its original appearance. As you read this, the first phase of restoration should be underway, with local contractor Shawn Brisson executing a contract funded by Town Meeting approved CPC funds to remove later additions the station structure, board up and stabilize the original station for a future restoration phase. He will remove the interior finishes carefully, hoping to reveal clues and perhaps a little history of the station. Secondly, he will restore the back wall of the triangular building, the future Visitors Center, replace windows, repair the eaves, replace the roof shingles and paint the exterior.
Last fall at about this time, we began in earnest to research the history, find images, develop a resource and information network, and plan the project. The WFA Board quickly approved a plan to remove the additions, restore the station structure properly with a professional contractor and turn the triangular corner building into a Visitors Center. Jeanne Girard negotiated the lease with the Commonwealth DCR and secured insurance for the building. The complex was measured and drawn up - existing and proposed. With plans, pictures, construction estimates and some history, the WFA got the local CPC committee to approve $50,000 for the first phase of the project, now underway.
At about the same time, another effort was launched to research the original lifeboat referred to in the Humane Society Annual Reports and annual inspection documents. To restore the station without a boat seemed incomplete. That trail has led nowhere to date, but we discovered a surfboat that had served the Cuttyhunk Lifesaving Station around 1900 which was in storage at Mystic Seaport. Eventually, we convinced Mystic Seaport, with agreement of the Cuttyhunk Selectmen, to lend us the boat for our project. That boat was delivered to Tripp's Boatyard in June, and after a tour in the 4th of July parade, was stored in a shed at Tripp's. Russ Hart donated a sweep oar and oarlock from about the same period, and we need to oars and thole pins, along with a little restoration work to prepare the boat for display.
Another related project is to build a proper boat carriage to hold the boat in the station boat room. We have pictures and good examples to work from along with a pair of wide-tread wheels donated by Audubon from Gil Fernandes farm. This fall, we plan to take a small group of WFA members to Marblehead to measure and photograph a Humane Society boat carriage from Nantucket which is undergoing some repair work.
Meanwhile, new information, photographs, and contacts turn up almost every week. In the last few days, for example, we received a picture of George Manchester, the first keeper of the station, a 1901 map showing the our lifesaving station at its original location at the harbor mouth, and an old photograph from 1905 showing a winter rescue in the ice on Horseneck Beach. So, the work continues with great enthusiasm. We still have much to learn, much money to raise, and soon some real progress to show for our efforts. Chip Gillespie