When we travel we enjoy learning about the history on the local area and community. We often will seek out the historical sites, memorials and markers to learn everything that we can. While on a trip down to North Wildwood in New Jersey we visited the Coast Guard Station Hereford. This historical site was an important aide in navigation and is part of Cape May County's maritime history.
The building sits right beside the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse. You can park in the little parking lot located right in front of the lighthouse for free. In the lighthouse's parking lot is where you'll actually find the official historical marker on the Coast Guard Station Hereford. You'll want to read all of that information before you walk over to take a look at the actual building.
In 1849 the original Life-Saving Station provided assistance to stranded steamers and coal traders using the coastal waterways. It was moved further inland in 1882 when erosion threatened to cause its demise. Not long afterwards, in 1888, a new structure was built adjoining the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse - Anglesea that marked the entrance to the inlet.
In 1938, the Works Progress Administration funded the construction of a new building for the Coast Guard. The station was closed for a time in 1964, but later reopened by the New Jersey Martime Police.
The Life-saving stations along the Jersey Shore were not much more than shacks stocked with equipment to be used by volunteers for salvaging property and saving lives in the late 1800s. By the turn of the centery, the Life-Saving Service had grown to an organization of fully staffed stations on both the east and west coasts as well as the Crest Lakes. By 1915, approximately 178,000 shipwrecked people owed their lives and heroic rescues to those who staffed them.
You can learn more about the Coast Guard Station Hereford by visiting the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse in North Wildwood, New Jersey.
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