United States Coast Guard Station Menemsha is a
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
station located in
Menemsha, Massachusetts, within the town of
Chilmark. Primarily a Search and Rescue unit, other activities include Law Enforcement in commercial fisheries and recreational boating safety. The unit is classified as a Heavy Weather Station, capable of operating in up to 20 foot seas and 50 knots wind.
The
United States Life-Saving Service
The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a Federal government of the United States, United States government agency that grew out ...
(a forerunner to the Coast Guard) established a station at
Gay Head
Aquinnah ( wam, Âhqunah) is a town located on the western end of Martha's Vineyard island, Massachusetts. From 1870 to 1997, the town was incorporated as Gay Head. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 439. Aquinnah is known for its beau ...
in 1895. In 1952, the Coast Guard station located at
Cuttyhunk
Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. A small outpost for the harvesting of sassafras was occupied for a few weeks in 1602, arguably making it the first English settlement in New England. Cuttyhunk is loc ...
was moved by barge to Menemsha, replacing the Gay Head station. The station was not renamed Menemsha, however, until 1974.
In July 2010, a fire destroyed the boat house as well as damaged other buildings and the dock at the station.
In April 2015 a new boathouse was opened on the footprint of the one destroyed in July 2010.
See also
*
List of military installations in Massachusetts
This is a list of current and former military installations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Current military installations in Massachusetts Joint facilities
;Bases
* Joint Base Cape Cod (state designation, not federally recognized)
References
External links
*
1952 establishments in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Chilmark, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Dukes County, Massachusetts
Military installations in Massachusetts
United States Coast Guard stations
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