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USLSS OAK BEACH

Program
NYS Historic
Subject
Site
Location
108 Oak Beach Road, Babylon, NY
Lat/Long
40.638883, -73.298442
Grant Recipient
Town of Babylon History Museum
Historic Marker

USLSS OAK BEACH

Inscription

USLSS OAK BEACH
U.S. LIFE-SAVING STATION
BUILT 1872 FOR SHIPWRECK
RESCUE. BECAME COAST GUARD
STATION 1915. ACTIVE DURING
PROHIBITION, WWI AND WWII.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2018

This United States Life Saving Station, formally located at Oak Beach, was built in 1872 for shipwreck rescue and in 1915 it became a Coast Guard Station. This station was active during prohibition, stopping bootleggers and rum runners as well as serving as lookout post during both World War I and World War II. It was decommissioned after 1945, and as of 2019 served as a local community center. It is the only surviving station of its kind on Long Island.

The other notable fact about the Station is that it has been moved twice. A Sanborn map shows the approximate locations of the Station during its subsequent moves. The original site which it occupied for shipwreck rescue from 1872-1898, is now in the middle of the islet. The second site, on the north side of the island, when it became a Coast Guard Station, was occupied from 1899-1932. Its third location, on the south side of the island, where it was later decommissioned and converted to a visitor center.