Built 1936 (1936) Opened 1936 Added to NRHP 1 April 1998 | NRHP Reference # 98000297 Area 1 ha | |
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Location 4201 First St., St. Simons Island, Georgia Architectural style Colonial Revival architecture | ||
East Beach Station (or US Coast Guard Station-St. Simons Island or Historic Coast Guard Station) is a station of the U.S. Coast Guard in St. Simons, Georgia, located at 4201 1st Street. It was built in 1936 as a part of the Works Progress Administration initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Coast Guard Station played a part in World War II when it helped save the crew of two merchant ships, the SS Oklahoma and the Esso Baton Rouge, both tankers. These two ships were torpedoed by a German submarine U-123. The station is one of the forty-five originally built by President Roosevelt, and is one of the few that have survived to this day.
East Beach Station is now operated by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society as the Maritime Center at the Historic Coast Guard Station, with exhibits about the military history of St. Simons Island and the ecology of the islands off the coast of Georgia.
The Coastal Georgia Historical Society also operates the St. Simons Island Lighthouse and adjacent A. W. Jones Heritage Center on St. Simons Island.
The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.