North Manitou Island Lifesaving Station

North Manitou Island Lifesaving Station, also known as North Manitou Coast Guard Station, is a complex of buildings located on North Manitou Island, which is part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan, in the U.S. The complex was constructed as a life-saving station. It is the only remaining station which was in use during all three periods of lifesaving service history, from the early volunteer period through operation by the United States Life-Saving Service and the United States Coast Guard. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1998.HistoryIn 1854, the United States Congress allocated money to establish volunteer life-saving stations on the Great Lakes. The North Manitou Island Lifesaving Station was established that same year. Nicholas Pickard, a resident of North Manitou Island, requested and received from the government a lifesaving boat and the standardized plans to construct the station. The boathouse on North Manitou Island is the only remaining boathouse constructed using the 1854 standard plans.The United States Life-Saving Service was established in 1871, and the previously all-volunteer lifesaving stations were converted to house paid crews. In 1874, they took over operation of the North Manitou Island station. A new station was constructed in 1877, and a paid crew installed the following year. The crew initially boarded with local residents, but in 1887 a crew quarters was built as part of the life-saving station. Additional structures were built at the station as needed. These included private homes, built by crew members; many of these were later moved to other locations on private lots.