Tiana Life Saving Station
The Tiana Life Saving Station was part of an early network of facilities dedicated to the assistance of shipwrecked mariners. The organization began as a volunteer service which soon became the U.S. Life Saving Service and eventually grew into the U.S. Coast Guard. The original station was erected on Tiana Beach in 1871. This Red House-type station was modified in 1887 and in 1912 a Lorain-type station was added. The station was deactivated June 9, 1937 but was then reactivated from 1942 to 1944. It was during this latter service that it was manned by an all African-American crew, just the second one after Pea Island, N.C. so manned in the history of the Life-Saving Service and Coast Guard. The station was abandoned in 1946 and by the end of the decade had become the Southampton Beach Club. It remained a beach club under a variety of names, the latest being the Neptune Beach Club, until 2014 when it was purchased by the Town of Southampton.
Current plans are to restore the building to its 1912 condition, and for it to house a museum dedicated to the African-American crew that manned the station during World War II.
Current plans are to restore the building to its 1912 condition, and for it to house a museum dedicated to the African-American crew that manned the station during World War II.