http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20160509/saving-story-of-surfmen?start=2

Click the above link to read the full story in the Portsmouth Herald.

Back before President Woodrow Wilson created the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915, stations dotting the nation’s coastlines and the Great Lakes were established to aid mariners in distress.

These stations were operated by the U.S. Life-Saving Service.

The hardy members of this agency were called surfmen, and each station was headed by the keeper. When vessels ran aground or wrecked close to shore, these “storm warriors” would venture out into the sea in lifeboats to rescue crew and passengers.

One such station was located at Wood Island, just off Kittery Point in Maine. Although long-abandoned and now in a state of disrepair, a local nonprofit organization is currently working to preserve this site.

There is a lot more to this story, Click this link.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20160509/saving-story-of-surfmen