The United States Lifesaving Service was founded in 1871 after an alarming number of fatalities occurred along the Atlantic coast during the winters of 1870 and 1871.
The stations were manned by expert surf men and boat handlers who patrolled the coast at night and during foggy and stormy days. The buildings where equipment was stored were painted red so they could be seen from the sea and a sixty foot flagstaff signaled passing ships by International code.
Nine lifesaving stations were built on Cape Cod in 1872. Captain Samuel O. Fisher was one of the Race Point station’s keepers and he had a horse that would help the crew by dragging the heavy boats and equipment across the sand. Postcards that show the work of the early Cape Cod Lifesaving Service are highly desirable. It was a these types of antique postcards that Sonny Carreiro was looking at before…
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provincetown / cape cod, ma / 02657 