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Coast Guard Station Logs 1878
Community Outlook March-April 1976

Logs at U.S. Archives Explain Much About the Point

When Jerry Boyle and Albert Thompson visited the U.S. Archives last summer, they learned much, namely that:

The early logs of the Point Lookout Station were very brief and generally routine. They covered weather and sea conditions, patrols maintained, ships sighted, life-boat drills and unusual incidents. The weather seems to have been rather bad during the winter months of the 1870's (probably similar to what we have had this past January-February 1976). An interesting and rather amusing excerpt from the log of November 27, 1878 states that-

"A very heavy storm commences this day at 2. p.m. It rained and blowed a perfect gale with very full tide.
Charles Smith, the 6 p.m. watch did not make signal; his lamp blew out when half way to Station 28. He tried "to light his lamp, but it blew so hard and rained so fast that his wick got all wet and he could not light it - so he went the rest of the way without signal. "

The passing ships were mostly schooners, barks, sloops, fishing smacks and the like. Steamships are mentioned but are very much in the minority. The materials contained in the Station inventory included many items which are not generally used today such as stove grates, signal oil, lanterns and, lantern globes, blacking brush, a wagon, a shooting carriage and an iron boat (not the surf boat).

The Station is not fully described but from bits and pieces, it can be determined that the main building was a rather substantial affair. It included a number of sleeping rooms a living room, a kitchen and a "water closet." Five tons of coal were burned during the winter and the Station was manned by seven men. Six were lifesavers (also called surfmen) and the seventh was in charge and had the title of Keeper. Quincy Rayner was Keeper during the 1870's and the others assigned to the Station then were Daniel Bedel, William Herbert, Andrew Rhodes, George Rayner, John Edwards and Daniel W. Smith.

During those years, the Station was manned only from the middle of 0ctober until March 31. During the remainder of the year the men returned to their homes on the mainland. After March 31, 1876 only occasional entries were made in the log by the Keeper and they were quite informal. He described how he had visited the Station, swept it, aired it out, oiled some of the equipment to keep it from rusting, then locked the Station and returned home.

This is an excerpt from the logs being explained to the community by the Historical Committee of the Civic Association.