The St. Simons Coast Guard Station at East Beach was constructed as one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt ’ s Public Works Administration projects in 1936. Colonial revival in expressive style, the standardize design was used for a number of maritime avail structures along the american coasts .The Station ’ sulfur “ First Watch ” was on April 1, 1937. At that meter, the beach front man was a lot closer to the front of the Station. A companion boathouse was late located on the Frederica River near the causeway to Brunswick. It provided a storage and sustenance facility for the Station ’ s search and rescue vessels .
The original mission for Coast Guard personnel was to rescue swimmers, assist boats in distress, and log the pass of all planes and ships. The mission changed on November 1, 1941. As war in Europe threatened to cross the Atlantic Ocean, President Roosevelt signed an executive order transferring the Coast Guard from the Treasury Department to the War Department, under the auspices of the U.S. Navy. The Coast Guard was charged with establishing a system of land patrols to detect foe activity .
The most meaning life-saving campaign in the Station ’ randomness history took rate on April 8, 1942, when two merchant ships, S.S. Esso Baton Rougeand S.S. Oklahoma, were torpedoed by a german U-boat off the coast of St. Simons Island, killing 22 crew members. The Coast Guard immediately launched a rescue effort to save the survivors, who were brought to the Station for debriefing.
The St. Simons Coast Guard unit continued to organize shore patrols until the war ended in 1945. On January 1, 1946, the Coast Guard was transferred back to the Department of the Treasury. Through advances in communications, the Station began monitoring all Coast Guard assignments by radio, particularly “ ship to shore, ” and by telephone. The men continued to be housed at the Station, though they no longer had sea watch duties. The boats remained at the boathouse on the Frederica River.
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In the spring of 1967, the Coast Guard was transferred to the newly created Department of Transportation. Increasing automobile traffic on St. Simons Island affected travel time between the Station and the Frederica River Boathouse, slowing down boat launches for rescue missions and base hit purposes.
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The Station was decommissioned in 1995, when Coast Guard operations moved to a new localization near the Sidney Lanier Bridge. ownership of the Station was transferred to Glynn County. The Coastal Landmark Preservation Society ( CLPS ), a local non-profit administration, was formed to protect and manage the web site, under a license agreement with the County. Through the efforts of CLPS, the web site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. CLPS merged with the Coastal Georgia Historical Society in 2001. The independent build was rehabilitated and opened as a Maritime Museum by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society in 2006, and is now the World War II Home Front Museum interpreting local home front activities to defend the coast and support the war attempt overseas .
When the stopping point of the Coast Guardsmen left the East Beach Station in 1995, they expressed hope that one day the station would be restored and become a museum. Under the commission of Coastal Georgia Historical Society and with donations from many generous benefactors that dream has come genuine .
To view the list of bricks that were share of the CLPS fund-raise efforts at the Historic Coast Guard Station, please see this link .
