Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Abandoned Life Saving Station, Portsmouth Harbor, NH

Life Saving Station

Taken this morning - Sony A7R, Sony 70-200mm f/4.  this life saving station has been abandoned since the 1950s. While in total disrepair today, there is a grassroots movement to save it for future generations. According to http://www.savewoodisland.com/ - it has served since 1902 in a variety of capacities: 

"In 1908, the current Life Saving Station and a tool shed were built by Sugden Brothers of Portsmouth, N.H. It's a Duluth-style station designed by architect George R. Tolman and it replaced the original Jerry's Point Station #12 across the harbor in New Castle, N.H. which had been requisitioned by the U.S. Navy. Jurisdiction over Wood Island passed to the U.S. Life Saving Service which became the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. Subsequently, many lives were saved by the heroic rescue attempts by those at that terminal.


World War Two required Wood Island to protect submarine manufacturing at the Portsmouth Navel Shipyard. In 1941, the U.S. Navy resumed jurisdiction and Wood Island was integrated into the coastal defense system. As a strategic observation post, the property was also utilized for securing anti-submarine nets, which were strung across the harbor to thwart German U-Boat infiltration. At the end of the war, authority was reverted back to the U.S. Coast Guard. In the early 1950's U.S.C.G. subsequently moved to their present day facility, across the harbor again, to New Castle, N.H. , rendering the Original Life Station Building abandoned, as it still is today."


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