American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station is a national historic site located at 2 Ocean Front North,

Jacksonville Beach, Florida Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities col ...

in Duval County. The building, constructed in 1947, is an example in the Art Modeme Style of local architect Jefferson Davis Powell. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on May 5, 2014.

Background

In Jacksonville, the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps (ARCVLSC) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

made up of volunteer lifeguards. It is a division of the American Red Cross, which provides volunteer lifeguards to Jacksonville beaches and internationally through Lifeguards Without Borders. In the summer of 1912, Lyman G. Haskell, a medical doctor in Jacksonville who also worked as the Physical Director of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

, and Clarence H. MacDonald, Playground Director for the City of Jacksonville, conceptualized and founded a corps affiliated with the United States Volunteer Life Saving Corps at what was then called

Pablo Beach, Florida Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities coll ...

. These men became the first Medical Officer and Captain, respectively. In 1914, the seventeen charter members of the Corps became part of the American Red Cross's national water safety program as the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps,

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

Division #1. The ARCVLSC volunteer ranks include more than 120 active members and hundreds of alumni of the Corps. In its 106 years of service, members of the Corps have recorded 1,430 lifesaving rescues, 1,753 assists to swimmers in distress, and more than 25,000

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

cases ranging from

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...

stings to broken limbs. This service to the community has been accomplished through almost 1,300,000 hours of volunteer service by the 4,000 members and alumni of the Volunteer Life Saving Corps. However, 102 years after its founding, the Jacksonville Beach volunteer corps is the last of its kind in the country. The Life Saving Corps Station is listed in the National Register of Historic Places Program.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Florida National Register of Historic Places in Duval County, Florida Art Moderne architecture American Red Cross Buildings and structures completed in 1947 Life-Saving Service stations on the National Register of Historic Places Non-profit organizations based in Florida