The group of men shown in the postcard above were members of the crew at the Amagansett Life-Saving Station in the early 20th century. From left to right: Russell Miller, Capt. Jesse B. Edwards, Samuel Loper, Samuel Lester, George Mulford, and Edward Lester. Behind them is a beach apparatus cart, which was used to assist in a breeches buoy rescue when a rescue by boat appeared too dangerous. For over 100 years this station stood careful watch and saved many lives. It was near the landing site of the Nazi saboteurs who were later reported by the Coast Guardsman John Cullen.
The building shown in this image is the third structure built in Amagansett for ocean rescues. The first was built in 1849 when the federal government stepped in to aid volunteers with a shelter to observe the shoreline and to house rescue equipment. Twenty-four stations were erected on the coast of New Jersey and Long Island to aid ships coming in and out of New York Harbor.
Come 1878, Congress passed an act officially establishing the Life-Saving Service, which mandated funds for a keeper and crew for each station. This made way for a new station to be built in 1880 on the north side of Bluff Road. In 1902, the Life-Saving Service built another, larger station, much closer to the shore, on Atlantic Avenue.
The building was abandoned after World War II and auctioned by the Coast Guard in 1966. Joel Carmichael, a local author and editor, purchased the station for just one dollar. He had it moved up on Bluff Road, where it served as his residence until his death. The family donated the historical building to the town in 2007 and it was moved back to Atlantic Avenue and completely restored by 2016.
This postcard is part of the Carleton Kelsey Photo Collection, owned by the Amagansett Historical Association and digitized by the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
Mayra Scanlon is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
