140P2020R0019-0001_Att04a_HistStructureReport-Pt01of03_081125.pdf

SPERMACETI COVE

LIFE-SAVING STATION

Fort Hancock, New Jersey Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area

Historic Structure Report

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Historic Architecture Program Northeast Region

SPERMACETI COVE

LIFE-SAVING STATION

HISTORIC STRUCTURE REPORT

Sandy Hook Unit Gateway National Recreation Area

Fort Hancock, New Jersey

By

James J. Lee III Architectural Conservator

Historic Architecture Program Northeast Region, National Park Service

U.S. Department of Interior Lowell, Massachusetts iii

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES AND CREDITS .............................................................................. viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. xiii

INTRODUCTION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose and Scope

Brief Description

Statement of Significance

Research Conducted

Research Findings

ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

Location of Site

National Register of Historic Places

National Historic Landmark

List of Classified Structures (LCS) Information

Proposed Treatment & Use

Related Studies

DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Introduction

U.S. Life-Saving Service and Sandy Hook

Duluth-type Station iv

CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND USE

Construction

Original Appearance

Introduction

Exterior Elements Design Foundation Walls Doorways Window Openings Porches Roof and Related Elements Chimney Finishes

Structural Elements

Interior Elements First Story Second Story Third Story Fourth Story

Alterations

U.S. Life-Saving Service and U.S. Coast Guard Years, 1894 through 1945 Brief Chronology 1894 through 1945

Sandy Hook State Park and National Park Service Years, 1962 to 2008 Brief Chronology 1962 through 2008

CURRENT PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Introduction

Exterior Elements

Design Main Block Boat Room Tower

Foundation Main Block Cistern Boat Room Tower v

Walls Main Block Boat Room Tower

Doorways Main Block Boat Room Tower

Window Openings First Story Exterior Window Elements Second Story Exterior Window Elements Third Story Exterior Window Elements Fourth Story Exterior Window Elements

Porches Front (East) Porch Back (West) Porch

Roofs and Related Elements Main Block Boat Room Tower

Finishes

Interior Elements

Plan

Basement

First Story Room 101 Room 102 Room 103 Room 104 Room 104a Room 105 Room 106 Room 107 Room 108 Room 109

Second Story Room 201 Room 202 Room 203 vi

Room 204 Room 205 Room 206

Third Story Room 301 Room 302

Fourth Story Room 401

CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES AND

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES

INTRODUCTION

Exterior Elements Design and Context Porches Doorways Window Openings Roof and Related Elements Materials

Interior Elements

Plan Floors Walls Ceilings Doorways Window Openings Staircases and Related Elements Utilities

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Exterior Elements

Interior Elements Plan Floors Walls Ceilings Doorways Window Openings Staircases and Related Elements vii

Accessibility

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A Duluth-type Life-Saving Station, George R. Tolman, 1893

APPENDIX B Original Specifications, Old Harbor Life-Saving Station, 1897

APPENDIX C. Field Notes: Measurements, Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway NRA, NPS, Richard Wells & Peter Dessauer, 1988

APPENDIX D Specifications for work of repairs and improvements at the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Fifth District, December 1908

APPENDIX E Paint Analysis viii

LIST OF FIGURES

AND CREDITS

Figures

Historic maps, drawings, and photographs were reproduced from the Gateway National Recreation Area (GATE) Museum Collection at Sandy Hook, unless otherwise noted. All photographs from 2007 & 2008 are by the author, unless otherwise noted.

1. Location map for Gateway NRA and the Sandy Hook Unit.

http://data2.itc.nps.gov/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=GATE#

2. Map of Gateway NRA, Sandy Hook Unit.

http://data2.itc.nps.gov/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=GATE#

3. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station east elevation, 2007

4. 1849 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station (GATE 782.52)

5. 4th District, Station No. 2, Spermaceti Cove, Sandy Hook, New Jersey;

1872 red house-type station. Demolished in 1929 (GATE 7481)

6. 4th District, Station No. 1, Sandy Hook, New Jersey;

1872 red house-type station (GATE 7480)

7. The Bibb #2-type building at U.S. Life-Saving Station No. 1, Sandy Hook, New Jersey (GATE 701.2)

8. The 1849 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station after rehabilitation, U.S. Coast Guard 1930 (GATE 2752)

9. Front elevation of the Duluth-type life-saving station designed by George R. Tolman (George R. Tolman, drawing No. 2, Appendix A)

10. Cyma recta molding profile (http://www.traditionalbuilding.com)

11. Cyma reversa molding profile (http://www.traditionalbuilding.com)

12. Plot plan of Spermaceti Cove, June 1903, depicting 200 square foot lot with 1849 station near north lot line and 1872 station east of lot (Cory Herrala. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Historic Landscape Report, 1848 – 1974) ix

13. 4th District, Station No. 2, Spermaceti Cove, Sandy Hook, New Jersey;

after 1909 alterations (GATE 13353)

14. Old Harbor Life-Saving Station, Chatham, Massachusetts, 1914 (Peggy Albee, Old Harbor Life-Saving Station, Provincetown, Massachusetts, Cape Cod National Seashore, S. Wellfleet, MA)

15. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, ca. 1900 (GATE 606.5)

16. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, east and north elevations, circa 1916 (GATE 7443)

17. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, east and south elevations, circa 1916 (GATE 7444)

18. Framing of typical interior bent in Duluth-type station Boat Room (George R. Tolman, drawing No. 6, Appendix A)

19. Duluth-type life-saving station, south elevation framing of Main Block and Tower (George R. Tolman, drawing No. 7, Appendix A)

20. Duluth-type life-saving station first story plan (George R. Tolman, drawing No. 1, Appendix A)

21. Detail drawing of Pantry china cupboard (George R. Tolman, drawing No. 3, Appendix A)

22. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, first story plan (Field Notes: Measurements, Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway NRA, NPS, Richard Wells & Peter Dessauer, 1988)

23. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, second story plan (Field Notes: Measurements, Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway NRA, NPS, Richard Wells & Peter Dessauer, 1988)

24. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, third and fourth story plans (George R. Tolman, drawing No. 1, Appendix A)

25. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station circa 1910 (GATE 7437)

26. Plan of Spermaceti Cove Station, Fifth District, U.S. Coast Guard, April 24, 1928 (Bearss p. 305)

27. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, east elevation Boat Room doorways Capt. Joel Wolley and crew circa 1912 (GATE 13355) x

28. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, east elevation porch Capt. Joel Wolley and crew circa 1912 (GATE 13354)

29. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, during use by U.S. Ordnance Dept. circa 1918 (GATE 8230)

30. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, circa 1930, east elevation exterior paint and steel tower north of station (GATE 7471)

31. Plot plan of Spermaceti Cove, after 1920, depicting 500 by 520 foot lot (Bearss p. 302)

32. U.S. Coast Guard, Spermaceti Cove Station, 1930, east elevation porch (http://www.uscg.mil/history/stations/ SPERMACETI%20COVE.html)

33. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station circa 1974 (GATE 5712)

34. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, circa 1974 (GATE 5577)

35. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, west elevation exterior of enclosed back porch, 2007

36. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, circa 1975, interior of Boat Room looking west (GATE 6403)

37. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, circa 1975, interior of Boat Room north wall enclosing wide doorway (GATE 6406)

38. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, circa 1976, south and east elevations after re-shingling of Tower (GATE 5620)

39. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, circa 1976, south and east elevations of Tower and connector (GATE 5722)

40. 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station east elevation, 2007

41. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, south and east elevations, 2007

42. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, west elevation, 2007

43. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, north and west elevations, 2007

44. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, north and east elevations, 2008

45. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, cornice below cantilevered section of Tower, 2008

46. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, east elevation Boat Room doorways (D105 and D106), 2007 xi

47. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, east elevation Tower window opening (W201), 2008

48. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, west elevation dormer window openings (W207 and W208), 2007

49. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 101 looking east, W101, 2007

50. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 101, D101, 2007

51. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 102 looking south, D110, 2007

52. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 104 looking south, 2007

53. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 104a ceiling, 2007

54. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 105 looking south into former Pantry and W108, 2007

55. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Boat Room/Room 109 looking southeast, 2007

56. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Boat Room/Room 109 looking northeast, 2007

57. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 205 D204, Thomas Hoffman, 2008

58. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 201 W212, 2008

59. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 205 W209, 2008

60. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 206 interior view of clipped-gable roof framing looking south, 2008

61. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 206 D205, 2007

62. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 206 interior view of west dormer (W207 & W208), 2007

63. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Room 301 W304, Thomas Hoffman, 2008

64. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Tower Watch Room/Room 401 looking southwest, 2008 xii

65. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, sample P087, 2008

66. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, sample P089, 2008

67. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, sample P002, 2008

68. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, sample P006, 2008

69. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, sample P014, 2008

70. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, sample P039, 2008 xiii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The preparation of this report would not have been possible with out the assistance of the staff members of the Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area. Lou Venuto, Chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources, provided direction and coordinated the efforts of his staff. Thomas Hoffman, Park Historian, provided copies of existing records and documents, and access to the station as well as oral histories of the Life-Saving Service in New Jersey and at the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station. Tom also assisted in getting access to the Squan Beach Life-Saving Station, Manasquan, NJ. Mike Thomas provided copies of Section 106 compliance records and The Sandy Hook Historic Structures Paint Plan. Mary Rasa, Curator, provided copies of historic photographs, plans, and maps in the Gateway NRA Museum Collection at Sandy Hook.

The current report relied upon previous research preformed by Edwin Bearss on the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station. Peggy Albee Vance and Wick York shared their knowledge of life-saving stations and the history of the Old Harbor Life-Saving Station.

Gordon Twaddell of the Manasquan Citizens Group conducted a tour of the Squan Beach Life-Saving Station and shared his knowledge of that station. Tom Laverty, N.J. Division of Parks and Forestry, answered requests about available resources at the State Archives.

James J. Lee III xiv

INTRODUCTION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose and Scope

The Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Historic Structure Report (HSR) was produced by the Historic Architecture Program of the National Park Service’s Northeast Region. The purpose of the report is to document the development and use of the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station. Furthermore, it is intended to inform and guide the rehabilitation of that historic structure.

The scope of the HSR includes the “thorough” 1 research and investigation of the existing Spermaceti Cove station, which is a Duluth-type life-saving station. The HSR includes the development of the Duluth-type station and documents the original appearance of the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station. The HSR records alterations to the structure, the building’s existing architectural elements, identifies the character-defining features of the structure, and makes general recommendations for treatment. The HSR contains “Chronology of Development and Use,” “Current Physical Description,” and “Character- Defining Features and Recommendations” for the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, as well as an appendix on paint analysis, in accordance with National Park Service (NPS) standards and as outlined in Director’s Order - 28.

The developmental history of the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station was documented in a 1983 report by Edwin Bearss entitled Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station Historic Resources Study and Historic Structure Report. In that report Mr. Bearss records the history of the Life- Saving Service at Spermaceti Cove including the social history and the history of the life-saving structures on the site from 1849 through 1941. Mr. Bearss also records the history of the U.S. Life-Saving Service from inception through the formation of the U.S. Coast Guard.

So as not to duplicate his research and report, the current Historic Structure Report (HSR) does not include a history of the Life-Saving Service but does discuss events and developments that had a direct relation to the life-saving structures at Spermaceti Cove.

In addition to Mr. Bearss’ report, the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station HSR draws upon previous research of U.S. Life-Saving Service and Stations including the, The U.S. Life-Saving Service by Ralph Shanks, Wick York, and Lisa Woo Shanks and the Old Harbor Life-Saving Station, Historic Structure Report, Provincetown, Massachusetts, by Peggy Albee, which was also a Duluth-type life-saving station.2

1 Director’s Order - 28, Cultural Resource Management Guideline, 1997, Chapter 2, pg. 18:

Thorough Investigation: For Historical studies this means research in selected published and documentary sources of known or presumed relevance that are readily accessible without extensive travel and that promise expeditious extraction of relevant data, interviewing all knowledgeable persons who are readily available, and presenting findings in no greater detail than required by the task directive.

2 Peggy Albee, Old Harbor Life-Saving Station, Provincetown, Massachusetts, Cape Cod National Seashore, S. Wellfleet, MA. (Boston, MA: U.S. DOI, NPS, NAR, CRC, BCB, June 1988).

Brief Description

Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook was among the sites where the first U.S. Life-Saving Stations were constructed in the mid-nineteenth century. As the U.S. Life-Saving Service expanded in the nineteenth century a new station was constructed at Spermaceti Cove. The present Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is a Duluth-type station constructed in 1894 that was based on the 1893 station design by George R. Tolman. It was one of at least twenty-eight Duluth type stations constructed for the U.S. Life-Saving Service3 and the extant structure survives as an example of that station type.

The Duluth-type life-saving station consists of three building sections that form the station; a one-and-a-half story Main Block; a one-story Boat Room; and a four-story Watch Tower. At the Spermaceti Cove station the Main Block is the southern section, the Boat Room is to the north and the Tower is positioned on the east side of the building at the corner where the Main Block and the Boat Room meet. All three sections of the station are adjoined on the first story and at the second story a Tower connector extends between the Main Block and the Tower (see the subsequent section “Developmental History”).

The Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station currently serves as the Sandy Hook Visitor Center providing area visitors with information on Sandy Hook and Gateway NRA. It also houses exhibits on the U.S. Life Saving Service and the natural environs of Sandy Hook, and includes a merchandising area and public restrooms. However the Park General Management Plan (GMP) recommends relocating the visitors’ services to a building at Fort Hancock. That would allow for the rehabilitation of the life-saving station and the continued use of the building as a public museum.

Statement of Significance

The 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Fort Hancock U.S. Life-Saving Station in November 1981 and has national significance. The station and is considered significant within Criteria A as reflecting the history of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard and within Criteria C as embodying distinctive characteristics of a particular period and type of construction. The station is part of the Fort Hancock and Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District (April 24, 1980) and was also listed as a contributing structure to the Fort Hancock and Sandy Hook Proving Ground National Historic Landmark in 1982.

3 Ralph Shanks, Wick York, and Lisa Woo Shanks. The U.S. Life-Saving Service, Heroes, Rescues and

Architecture of the Early Coast Guard. (Petaluma, CA: Costaño Books, 1996) p. 236.

Research Conducted

This HSR documents the evolution of the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station relying on physical investigation of extant materials and documentary research using both primary and secondary sources. Repositories consulted and utilized for materials pertaining to the subject are as follows:

Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA;

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Manteo, NC;

Gateway NRA Museum Collection, Gateway National Recreation Area, Sandy Hook Unit, Fort Hancock, NJ;

Monmouth County Historical Association, Freehold, NJ;

Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT;

National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region, New York, NY;

NPS, Historic Architecture Program Library, Lowell, MA;

New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ;

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Library, New London, CT;

U.S. Coast Guard Historians Office, Washington, DC;

U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Association, Hull, MA.

Research Findings

As previously described, the report by Mr. Bearss, Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station Historic Resources Study and Historic Structure Report, included a comprehensive compilation of the history of the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station through 1941. This HSR includes chronologies of building alterations for that same period and expands the building history through the present. Review of the reports, photographs, maps and drawings available in the Gateway NRA Museum Collection provided background for further research and physical investigation of the life-saving station.

The current research determined that although the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station has had numerous alterations over the past one-hundred fourteen years the building retains its historic appearance. The exterior of the building retains the original massing of the station and there are some extant historic exterior elements. In addition, some of the alterations over the years, including painting the exterior wall shingles, enclosing the porches, and adding the Tower catwalk, have been reversed in an effort to restore the station’s historic appearance.

The interior of the station was most significantly altered on the first story. Many interior walls, ceilings, doorways, and window openings were altered in some manner. However, the Boat Room has had fewer changes and there are extant historic materials throughout that section of the station. This was also true of the second story of the Main Block of the station, as well as the upper stories of the Tower. The physical evidence coupled with documentary and photographic evidence provided a better understanding of the original structure and the alterations that have taken place.

ADMINISTRATIVE

DATA

Location of Site

The Sandy Hook Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area is composed of 26,000 acres.

Sandy Hook consists of approximately 2,044 acres located in Monmouth County, Middletown, New Jersey, on a peninsula that begins east of the town of Highlands and extends north to the Sandy Hook Channel. Spermaceti Cove is located in Sandy Hook Bay at the southern end of the peninsula. The 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is situated adjacent to the cove on the Atlantic Ocean side of Sandy Hook.

National Register of Historic Places

The 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is part of the Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1980. The life-saving station was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places November 30, 1981 as the Fort Hancock U.S. Life-Saving Station. The station is considered to have national significance under Criteria A and Criteria C.

National Historic Landmark

The Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District was listed as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) on December 17, 1982. As part of the historic district the NHL nomination acknowledges the significance of the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station as one of the earliest sites of the Federally-sponsored efforts to save the lives and property of coastal shipwrecks.

Figure 1. Location map for Gateway NRA and the Sandy Hook Unit.

Figure 2. Map of Gateway NRA, Sandy Hook Unit. The Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is marked as the Sandy Hook Visitor Center.

List of Classified Structures (LCS) Information

The following is selected LCS information for the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station:4

Preferred Structure Name:

Spermaceti Cove - #2 Life Saving Station

Structure Number: SH - 436

Other Structure Names: Fort Hancock, U.S. Life Saving Station Spermaceti Cove No. 2 Life Saving Service Station

LSC ID: 008624

National Register Status: Entered – Documented

National Register Date: 11/30/1981

Significance Level: National

4 List of Classified Structures-Gateway National Recreation Area, Sandy Hook Unit (National Park

Service website http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov).

Figure 3. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station east elevation.

LCS information for the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station Continued:

Long Significance Description:

The waters off the New Jersey coast & Long Island proved consistently hazardous to mariners despite the presence of lighthouses, and continued appalling loss of life compelled the creation in the 1840s of the first unit of what was to become the U.S. Life Saving Service in the 1870s. The Spermaceti Cove LS Station was built in 1894, and in 1962 its porch was enclosed and main entrance moved.

The building is significant under National Register Criteria A as reflecting the history of the U.S. Life Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard and under National Register Criteria C as embodying distinctive characteristics of a particular period and type of construction.

Long Physical Description:

Shingle-style building comprised of a 1 1/2 story main section w/ a jerkin-head roof, a 1-story, 2-bay gable-roof boathouse set on piers on W end, a 4-story hip-roof tower, and an enclosed porch. The second floor of the tower is accessed from the main house via a gable-roof connector.

The tower's 4th floor has a cantilevered balcony on 4 sides.

Management Category: Must Be Preserved and Maintained

Proposed Treatment & Use

As previously described, the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is currently used as the Sandy Hook Visitors Center and contact station that includes a museum, merchandising area and bathroom facilities. The NPS also has offices and restrooms on the second story of the station.

The 1979 General Management Plan (GMP) and 1990 GMP Amendment for Gateway NRA define two management zones at Sandy Hook. The zones are delineated as the north area, dominated by Fort Hancock, and the south area, which focuses more on natural resources and has more recreational use.5 The Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is at the southern end of Sandy Hook and falls within the management of the recreational area.

The plans for the northern area of Sandy Hook include the creation of the Fort Hancock Gateway Village within that section of the Fort Hancock Historic District. Included in that plan is the establishment of visitor services at Fort Hancock, Building #25. The creation of that facility will move that function from the Sandy Hook Visitors Center at Spermaceti Cove and allow for the rehabilitation and reinterpretation of the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station.

The overall treatment plan for historic structures in the Fort Hancock Historic District is rehabilitation according to The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Under

5 General Management Plan Amendment. (Department of the Interior, NPS, Jan. 1990) p. 8.

this treatment the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station will be rehabilitated, which mandates the overall preservation of the station and will include the restoration of some historic elements. This treatment will permit the continued use of the station as a museum and the retention of modern facilities while allowing for a more in depth interpretation of the building as a U.S. Life-Saving Station.

This HSR does not contain a section on landscape characteristics. However, they are important to the history and context of the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station. The information regarding the landscape presented in the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Historic Landscape Report, 1848 - 1974 should be consulted prior to any work on the site.6

Related Studies

Michael Adlerstein, Kay Roush, David Turello et al, General Management Plan, Gateway National Recreation Area, New York / New Jersey (U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Aug. 1979).

Peggy Albee, Old Harbor Life-Saving Station, Historic Structure Report, Provincetown, Massachusetts, Cape Cod National Seashore, S. Wellfleet, MA. (Boston, MA: NPS, NAR, CRC, BCB, June 1988).

Edwin C. Bearss, Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station Historic Resources Study and Historic Structure Report (Denver: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, January 1983).

J.W. Dalton, The Life Savers of Cape Cod. (Boston, MA: The Barta Press, 1902; reprinted by The Chatham Press, Old Greenwich, CT).

Richard E. Greenwood, National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, “Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District,” June 28, 1976, revised November 9, 1982.

Cory Herrala, edited by Thomas J. Hoffman. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Historic Landscape Report, 1848 – 1974. Unpublished draft copy, Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway NRA, August 2004.

Ralph Shanks, Wick York and Lisa Woo Shanks, The U.S. Life-Saving Service, Heros, Rescues and Architecture of the Early Coast Guard. (Petaluma, CA: Costaño Books, 1996).

Richardo Torres-Reyes & Jonathan Fricker, National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, “Fort Hancock Life-Saving Station/ The Spermaceti Cove No. 2 Life-Saving Station,” April 1975, updated March 1980.

6 Cory Herrala, edited by Thomas J. Hoffman. Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, Historic

Landscape Report, 1848 – 1974 (unpublished draft copy, Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway NRA, August 2004).

DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND

CONTEXT

Introduction

The history of Sandy Hook has been documented in several previous publications including Historic Resource Studies by Edwin Bearss and Historic Structure Reports by Historic Architecture Program staff. The contextual information that is important to understanding the history of the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station is the early history of the United States Life-Saving Service and the Life-Saving Stations at Sandy Hook, particularly the stations at Spermaceti Cove. The history of the U.S. Life-Saving Service is the subject of other scholarly publications including: Ralph Shanks and Wick York, The U.S. Life-Saving Service; J.W. Dalton, The Life Savers of Cape Cod; Dennis L. Noble, That Others Might Live:

The U.S. Life-Saving Service, 1878-1915. Though the U.S. Life-Saving Service was not officially formed until 1878, the terms life-saving establishment, life-saving service, and life-saving station are commonly used in reference to the earliest rescue organizations in this report and others. The history of the U.S. Life-Saving Service at Sandy Hook was aptly documented and described in Edwin Bearss’ Historic Resource Study and Historic Structure Report, Historical Data Section, Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station, published in 1983. The following sections will summarize the pertinent points regarding the history of the U.S. Life- Saving Service and the life-saving activities at Sandy Hook and will also elaborate on the history of the Duluth-type life-saving station, which was the type of station constructed at Spermaceti Cove in 1894.

U.S. Life-Saving Service and Sandy Hook

The first organized life-saving efforts in the United States was the Massachusetts Humane Society founded in 1785, which became the model and impetus for the creation of a larger service dedicated to saving the lives and property from shipwrecks.7 Congressman William A. Newell of New Jersey advocated for government involvement in life-saving and in 1848 he proposed the government provide $10,000 for “surfboats, rockets, carronades (line throwing mortars), and other necessary apparatus for the better preservation of life and property from shipwrecks on the coast of New Jersey lying between Sandy Hook and Little Egg Harbor.”

Upon government approval of the appropriation, the fledgling service was placed in the command of the Revenue Marine Bureau under the U.S. Treasury Department. Captain

7 Shanks and York, pp. 2 – 7.

Douglass Ottinger was in charge of establishing the stations in New Jersey including Sandy Hook. 8

The first station constructed at Sandy Hook by the Revenue Marine Bureau was completed in 1849 (fig.

4). The building was a rectangular structure with a gable roof. It was a wood framed building that would have housed a surfboat, life-car, boat-wagon, and requisite supplies for life-saving. The life-saving station would have also served as a temporary refuge for shipwreck survivors. This structure was built near Spermaceti Cove and the key to the building was turned over to the Board of New York Underwriters on August 4th.9

Over the next twenty years the federal life-saving establishment was expanded and more rescue stations were constructed. However, the stations were manned with volunteer crews;

there were no regulations or standards of practice, and no mandated reports. The stations functioned like this until 1871, which became a critical year for the service. In April of that year Congress approved a $200,000 bill to create a life-saving system that included paid surfmen and the construction of additional stations. The Secretary of the Treasury appointed Sumner Increase Kimball to implement and manage the new system, and ordered Captain John Faunce to survey the existing life-saving stations. Captain Faunce reported that many of the stations were in poor repair; the crews were unfit for service; and the stations were spaced too far apart.10 On Faunce’s recommendations Sumner Kimball had several new stations constructed and some existing stations repaired in 1872.11

The 1849 Spermaceti Cove station was among the existing stations that were to be repaired and improved. The plan was to move the building 160 yards southeast of its original location, make a 12-foot addition to the structure and raise the roof 3½ feet. However, the bids for this project were considered too high and it was determined to replace the 1849 station with a new building.12

A new station at Spermaceti Cove was part of a contract for the construction of twenty-five life-saving stations on the New Jersey coast. The Spermaceti Cove station was completed by December 1872 (fig. 5) and was based on the plans and specifications recommended by Captain Faunce.13 The new stations were described in the 1872 Annual Report of the Revenue Marine Bureau:

All these houses have been constructed under plans and specifications carefully prepared with a view to durability, and affording proper

8 Shanks and York, p. 7.

9 Bearss, p. 12. Note: Treasury Secretary Robert Walker solicited the assistance of the Board of

New York Underwriters in establishing the first rescue stations (Bearss, p. 7). Insurance underwriters and shipping companies paid for the loss of cargo and vessels after a shipwreck and therefore had an interest in establishing the first life-saving stations (Shanks and York, p. 7).

10 Shanks and York, pp. 7 – 8.

11 Bearss, pp. 35 – 38.

12 Ibid, p. 37.

13 Ibid.

Figure 4. 1849 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station.

accommodations for the apparatus and means of providing comfortable protection to the crews and relief to those who may be rescued from shipwreck. They are 42 feet long by 18 wide, and each contains a lower and an attic story. Each story is divided into two apartments. The boats, wagon, and other heavy apparatus occupy the large apartment below, while the smaller one is a living room for the crew, provided with conveniences for cooking. Above, one room is for the small articles of apparatus, and the other is provided with several cot-beds and suitable bedding.14

The 1872-type stations were constructed with wood shingle exterior walls and wood shingle roofs and were often referred to as red houses since many were painted that color. 15

When the construction of the new stations was contracted it was stipulated that the contractor would be deeded the existing stations to use for materials in the new structures.

However, upon the completion of the new station at Spermaceti Cove it was decided to retain the 1849 building. The structure was in good condition and could be adapted for use as a horse stable. The Secretary of the Treasury approved the purchase of the old building back from the contractor and the Keeper at Spermaceti Cove brokered the deal.16

When Sumner Kimball took over the Revenue Marine Bureau in 1872 he organized it into districts and increased the number of stations within each district. Each station was in turn assigned a numerical designation. At the time the New Jersey stations formed the Fourth District; a new 1872 life-saving station at the tip of Sandy Hook was designated station No. 1 and the 1872 Spermaceti Cove station became station No. 2.17 Sandy Hook station No. 1 was also constructed under the contract for multiple stations in New Jersey and followed the plans previously described (fig. 6). Sandy Hook now had two red house-type stations serving the Revenue Marine Bureau’s life-saving mission.

Over the next several years the service was expanded along the Atlantic coastline and the Great Lakes. On June 18, 1878 legislation was signed by President Rutherford Hayes to “Organize the Life-Saving Service into a Separate Bureau.” This was the official formation of the United States Life-Saving Service that had essentially been started in 1848. Sumner Increase Kimball was unanimously confirmed as the General Superintendent of the U.S. Life- Saving Service.18

Red house stations No. 1 and No. 2 were in active service at Sandy Hook in 1872 (figs. 5 & 6).

The practice drills, patrols, rescues, shipwrecks, and other activities at the stations were documented by the log books and journals, which became required under the reforms by Sumner Kimball. The log books for the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station began on January 16, 1872 and recorded the activity at the station during the life-saving season that generally extended from mid - November through mid - April.19

14 Shanks and York, p. 215; also York, p. 14. Copied from: Annual Report of the Chief of the Revenue Marine Bureau (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1872), p. 28.

15 Shanks and York, p. 215.

16 Bearss, p. 39.

17 Hoffman, p. 2. Note: The U.S. Life-Saving Service was eventually divided into thirteen districts and by 1914 New Jersey had been designated as the Fifth District (Shanks and York, p. 13).

18 Bearss, pp. 57 – 59; Shanks and York, p. 13.

19 Bearss, p. 41. Bearss documents that the crews usually reported for duty in November or

December and were relieved from duty at the end of March or in early April.

Figure 5. 4th District, Station No. 2, Spermaceti Cove, Sandy Hook, New Jersey; 1872 red house-type station. Demolished in 1929.

Figure 6. 4th District, Station No. 1, Sandy Hook, New Jersey; 1872 red house-type station.

The red house stations served as the Life-Saving Stations at Sandy Hook for two decades.

However station No. 1 was interfering with the activities at the Sandy Hook Proving Ground and later the construction of the gun-lift battery (Battery Potter). The station was initially moved to a site 500 feet east of the Ordinance Officers’ Quarters (Officers Club/ Building No.

114) in 1886 but it was determined in 1890 that it should be moved to the bay side of the tip of Sandy Hook. The red house station was deemed structurally unfit for such a move and it was decided to construct a new building for station No. 1. The new station was completed near the tip of Sandy Hook in the summer of 1891.20 It was a Bibb #2-type station designed by Albert B. Bibb in ca. 1886 (fig. 7). The Bibb #2-type U.S. Life-Saving Station No. 1, Sandy Hook, New Jersey would serve the U.S. Life-Saving Service through 1914 and the U.S. Coast Guard after that.21

The No. 2 Life-Saving Station at Spermaceti Cove was also confronted with issues concerning the Sandy Hook Proving Ground. As the Proving Ground started testing large caliber rifled-guns the range of fire drew closer to the 1872 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station. In December of 1890 the station was evacuated during proof testing of the guns and in 1891 when the firing range was moved farther south it became common practice to evacuate the life-saving station during every proof test. The situation became unendurable for both the Life-Saving Service and the Ordnance Department.22

As with station No. 1, it was determined to move station No. 2 out of the range of the Proving Ground. A 200 square foot tract of land situated 232 yards west of the 1872 station was staked out and plans were made to move the existing station. In January 1892 the Secretary of War approved Secretary of the Treasury’s request to relocate the Spermaceti Cove Life-

20 Bearss, pp. 116 – 120.

21 Shanks and York, pp. 231 & 246.

22 Bearss, pp. 135 – 136.

Figure 7. The Bibb #2-type building at U.S. Life-Saving Station No. 1, Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

Saving Station to the 200 square foot tract of land. The only caveat was that in time of war the building might have to be demolished or moved. However, the cost of relocating the 1872 life-saving station was considerable and it was decidedly more economical to construct a new building to serve as station No. 2.23

Subsequently plans were made for the construction of a new life-saving station at Spermaceti Cove that would be based on the Duluth-type station plan (see the subsequent section “Chronology of Development and Use, Construction”). The Duluth-type station was designed by George R. Tolman in 1893 (see the subsequent section “Duluth-type Station”). It was his second plan that was widely used by the U.S. Life-Saving Service.24

After the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station was constructed both the 1849 and the 1872 stations remained in use by the U.S. Life-Saving Service and later the U.S. Coast Guard.

In 1929 the 1849 station was rehabilitated by the Coast Guard and honored as “The Original Life Saving Station, Erected By The Government 1848” (fig. 8). At that time the 1872 was demolished.25 The Twin Lights Historical Society arranged for the 1849 station to be moved to Twin Lights Historic Site, Highlands, New Jersey in circa 1954. That site became a New Jersey State Park in 1962 and the 1849 station is preserved there as the only known survivor of the early federal life-saving stations.26

23 Ibid, pp. 136 – 139.

24 Shanks and York, pp. 236 & 247.

25 Bearss, pp. 294 – 295.

26 Telephone interview with Thomas Laverty, NJ State Parks Chief of Interpretation.

Thomas Hoffman. Sandy Hook’s Lifesavers. Gateway NRA, Sandy Hook Unit.

Figure 8. The 1849 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station after rehabilitation, U.S. Coast Guard 1930. The plaque reads “The Original Life Saving Station, Erected By The Government 1848.”

Duluth-type Station

George Russell Tolman came from a Boston architectural firm where he and his partner George F. Moffette designed both residences and commercial buildings during the 1870s.

George Tolman briefly worked for the Treasury Department as a draftsman where he gained experience designing maritime structures. He began his career with the U.S. Life-Saving Service on January 2, 1891 succeeding Albert B. Bibb. Tolman’s first design for the Life- Saving Service was the station for Quonochontaug at Charlestown, Rhode Island and became known as the Quonochontaug-type station. The station plan was characteristically similar to the Bibb #2-type station. It was a one-and-a-half story building with steep roofs, second story dormers, a one-story tower over the boat room, and was a combination of both Shingles Style massing and Queen Anne details. The exterior walls of both station types were typically clad with wood shingles and the roofs were also wood shingled. The Quonochontaug-type station was widely employed by the Life-Saving Service with at least twenty-one stations using that design through 1908. Included among those was a modified plan of the Quonochontaug-type station built for the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.27

George Tolman designed two more station types for the U.S. Life-Saving Service and a one-of-a-kind station in Ashtabula, OH. The Niagara-type station was designed in ca. 1892 but only two such stations were constructed. The Ashtabula Life-Saving Station was designed and built around the same time but was not duplicated. Tolman’s next design in 1893 was the Duluth-type station (fig. 9) that became the most prolific of his designs with at least twenty-

27 Shanks and York, pp. 234 – 235.

Figure 9. Front elevation of the Duluth-type life-saving station, designed by George R. Tolman (not to scale).

eight built between 1894 and 1908.28 The group included the Duluth, MN station constructed in 1894 from which the type derives its name.29

The Duluth-type station shared some characteristics of Tolman’s previous designs. The exterior walls and roofs were usually covered with wood shingles and the overall massing was Shingle Style. However, aspects of the Duluth-type station incorporated Colonial Revival-style details that were gaining greater recognition at the time. This was reflected in the use of small paned sashes and a semi-circular window opening with a fanlight sash on the gable end of the Boat Room, as well as the use of cyma recta and cyma reversa trim on the exterior and interior elements (figs. 10 & 11).

As Shanks and York point out, the interior floor plan of the Duluth-type station was divided into sections like the Quonochontaug and Bibb #2-type stations.30 It was one-and-a-half stories high with a large clipped-gable roof and second story dormers. Tolman had used a similar clipped-gable roof on the Niagara-type station.31 One side of the building housed the keeper, surfmen, kitchen, and mess room. The other side of the building was a one-story, two-bay boat room with a shallow gable roof. The Duluth-type station incorporated a tower that was unlike Tolman’s previous designs and was a prominent feature of that station type.

The tower was positioned at the front of the station between the two sections. It was a four-story hip-roofed lookout tower with a cantilevered section of windows at the top story that was supported by molded brackets.

George R. Tolman served as the architect for the U.S. Life-Saving Service until he was dismissed for personal reasons on July 16, 1896. Tolman’s six-and-one-half year term as the services architect was the shortest tenure of all U.S. Life-Saving Service architects but his influence was important.32 As previously discussed, his station designs were built through 1908 and the Duluth-type life-saving station at Spermaceti Cove remains as an example of his design and his legacy with the U.S. Life-Saving Service.

28 Shanks and York, p. 236, 247 & 248.

29 Shanks and York, p. 247.

30 Shanks and York, p. 236.

31 Shanks and York p. 177 for an illustration of the Niagara-type life-saving station.

32 Shanks and York, pp. 236 & 237.

Figure 10. Cyma recta molding profile.

Figure 11. Cyma reversa molding profile.

CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT

AND USE

Construction

Prior to the decision to relocate the Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station in 1892, Lieutenant McLellan, Assistant Inspector U.S. Life-Saving Service, notified Sumner Kimball that the service had no clear title to the land that the 1872 station was sited on. After investigating the situation further McLellan determined that the Life-Saving service should secure authorization from the War Department when relocating the station. To that end he surveyed and staked out a 200 square foot tract of land situated 232 yards west of the 1872 station. The Secretary of War approved the new location for the Spermaceti Cove Life- Saving Station and McLellan proceeded with plans for the new station.33 A plan of the 200 square foot lot dated 1903 shows the 1894 station, as well as the locations of the earlier life-saving stations and related outbuildings in relation to the new station (fig. 12).

General Superintendent Kimball secured an appropriation from Congress during Fiscal Year 1894 for new life-saving stations at Spermaceti Cove and Avalon, New Jersey; Cahoons Hallow, Massachusetts and Portsmouth, North Carolina. Initially the Brant Rock Life- Saving Station plans were considered for Spermaceti Cove.34 Brant Rock was near Marshfield, Massachusetts and was a Quonochontaug-type station designed by architect George R. Tolman in 1891 and constructed in 1892 - 1893.35 However, Lieutenant McLellan felt it would expedite the bidding process to employ the Duluth-type station plans.

After getting permission from Superintendent Kimball, McLellan advertised for proposals to build the new station in April 1894:

Sealed proposals will be received at this office until 2 P.M. of Thursday, May 10, 1894, for rebuilding the Spermaceti Cove Life- Saving Station, near Seabright, New Jersey. Forms of proposals, together with plans and specifications, can be obtained on application to this office, the Supts. of Construction, Life-Saving Stations, 24 State Street, New York City, to the Supt., Fifth Life-Saving District, Point Pleasant, New Jersey, or to the Keeper of the Spermaceti Cove Station, Seabright, New Jersey.36

33 Ibid, pp. 136 – 139.

34 Bearss, pp. 140 – 142.

35 Shanks and York, pp. 57 & 246.

36 Bearss, p. 142.

Of the ten proposals received for constructing the station that of S.S. Hunt and William H.

McCary was the low bid at $5,375. Their proposal to erect “a frame Building and outhouse for a life-saving station at Spermaceti Cove, New Jersey”37 was based on the general plans and specifications for the Duluth-type life-saving station designed by George R. Tolman (Appendix A). The only modification to that plan recommended by Lt. McLellan was the construction of a cellar under the kitchen.38 Whether that addition was made is not known since a full cellar was constructed under the building at a later date (see the subsequent section “Alterations”).

Construction of the station began in June 1894 and was scheduled for completion by September 10, 1894. On the 19th of June a change order was submitted for the construction of a brick cistern with necessary gutters and drain spouts. The cistern was designed by a service architect and proposals for its construction were sought. Hunt and McCary were the only contractors to submit a bid for this work and were given the job of constructing the cistern for $385.39

The construction of the Duluth-type station went well. The building was near completion on September 7th and the keys were handed over to Captain Edwards, Spermaceti Cove Life- Saving Station Keeper, on the 15th. Although this was five days past the deadline, the contractors were allowed to go beyond the contract date due to the added construction of the cistern.40

Despite the fact that the new building was completed the life-saving crew continued to live at the 1872 station until May 1895. In the interim to keep the building safe in case of fire two surfmen were ordered to spend their nights there and the keeper was on site during the day.

Furnishings and supplies for the new life-saving station were received at the Highlands railroad station on April 4, 1895 and the crew spent the day moving the shipment into the new station. Some of the crew spent May 2nd applying a coat of raw linseed oil to the floors of the Kitchen, Mess Room, Storm Clothes Room, and Pantry (Appendix A. drawing No. 1).

With all the supplies and furnishings in place the life-saving crew finally moved into the 1894 Spermaceti Cove Life-Saving Station on May 28, 1895.41

37 Bearss, p. 142.

38 Ibid.

39 Ibid, pp. 145 – 146.

40 Ibid, pp. 146 – 147.

41 Ibid, pp. 148 – 152.

F ig ur e

. P lo t p la n of S pe rm ac et i C ov e, Ju ne

3, d ep ic ti ng s qu ar e fo ot lo t w it h s ta ti on n ea r no rt h lo t lin e an d s ta ti on e as t o f l ot

Original Appearance

Introduction

The following description of original appearance is based on both historic photographs and plans of the Duluth-type life-saving station drawn by George R. Tolman in 1893 (Appendix A).