“The book says you have to go out. It don’t say nothing about coming back!”

The Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station was established in 1874, one of the first seven stations on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The buildings on site survive as one of the most complete U.S. Lifesaving Service/Coast Guard Station complexes on the Atlantic Coast.

The board-and-batten station was converted to a boathouse when the new shingle style station and outbuildings were errected in 1911. They remind us today of the daring rescues made off the treacherous shoals and surf of Hatteras Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1978 the property was purchased at auction and donated to the Chicamacomico Historical Association, a group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the station. Extensive work has been done to stabilize the station and outer buildings. With guidance from the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, the restoration of the main building is being done in accordance with the 1911 specifications.