Mission
Mission Statement
It is the mission of The Amagansett U.S. Life-Saving and Coast Guard Society to preserve and protect the history of the Amagansett Station, its surfmen, and America’s fast-vanishing Life-Saving and early Coast Guard stations and watercraft. The U.S Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station museum is dedicated to the historical preservation and honor of all who served at the Amagansett U.S. Life-Saving & Coast Guard Station from 1902 to 1944, as well as to education for future generations. Restored to its original appearance and situated in the same footprint where it was first commissioned in 1902, the Station is a significant piece of the Town of East Hampton’s maritime history.
In 2018, the Amagansett Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its historical and architectural importance.
East Hampton Town Lifeguard Administrative Office Mission
The Amagansett Life-Saving Station, in addition, is home to the East Hampton Town Lifeguard Administrative Office. The East Hampton Town Lifeguards are tasked with the seasonal supervision of the town’s eight ocean beaches and three bay beaches in the hamlets of Amagansett, Springs, and Montauk.
From its headquarters in the historical Amagansett Life-Saving Station and 12 towers around the South Fork of Long Island, this staff of approximately 100 lifeguards is dispatched to respond to waterborne emergencies all along the district’s coastline using trucks, ATVs, and PWCs. Aside from its primary, first-responder, mission, the agency takes a leading role in promoting water safety and world-class lifeguarding.
Preserving the Station
The Amagansett Station was abandoned after World War II and in 1966 was auctioned by the Coast Guard. Joel Carmichael purchased the station and moved it to Bluff Road where it had a new life as a residence. In 2007 the Carmichael family donated the Amagansett Life-Saving Station to the Town of East Hampton and it was moved back to its exact original location on Atlantic Avenue.
On May 17, 2007, the East Hampton Town Board designated the Amagansett Life-Saving Station a historic landmark by resolution 2007-43. The board appointed an advisory committee of residents, which then became the nonprofit U.S. Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station Society, overseeing the six-year restoration of the Station to its original 1902 design, an undertaking guided by the comprehensive Historic Structure Report commissioned from Historic Services Director Robert Hefner.
Restoration of the Station. Photograph by Alana Leland.
Who We Are
Board of Trustees
David B. Lys, President
Michael N. Cinque, Vice President
Stephen M. Marzo, Treasurer
Nina D. Gillman, Secretary
Gary Adamek
Britton P.D. Bistrian
James S. Bradley
Dakota Arkin Cafourek
Isabel S. Carmichael
David Cataletto
Elena P. Glinn
Carl A. Irace
Edward S. Michels
John Ryan, Jr.
Charles Savage
Dominick Stanzione
James D. Weber
Connect With Us
160 Atlantic Avenue
P.O. Box 51
Amagansett, New York 11930
e: amagansettuslss@gmail.com
t: 631-527-7317
Museum Hours:
Summer Hours
Saturday 12 noon to 2 p.m.
Sunday 12 noon to 2 p.m.