by Marly Logue and Dominique Meola
Ocean City’s life-saving station 30, originally called “Beesley’s Station”, is the only US Life Saving Station left in that maintains the original design. Station 30 is the last of the three other stations left on the island. After a multi-year battle between developers and the city, the station ended up in the hands of nonprofit US life saving station 30. After the renovations, it will provide a cultural and historical tourism opportunity for the city. Here is Ocean City high’s own Mr. Bryan Chojnacki, a United States History Teacher, on the historical value of the station:
“The United States Life Saving Service was established in 1871 as a result of a lot of shipwrecks just off the coast; off the eastern seaboard. A series of life saving stations were established throughout towns in southern New Jersey and the rest of the East Coast to respond to ships in distress off of our coast. The current life-saving station in Ocean City was built in the 1880s and was actually in the dunes at the time; the north end of Ocean City has grown a great deal since the 1880s, but the current position at Fourth Street would have been a great spot to respond to ship in distress off our coast. The crew that staffed out station would take out wooden boats into storms, into hurricanes, and basically attempt to take survivors off the ships that would be going down in our inlets or off the coast that were caught in Nor’ Easters, hurricanes, and other major storms. They were pretty effective at getting out, but it did take a lot of skill and bravery to be able to get out through large surf and cast lines to ships that has a 20 to 30 foot shore break.”