Mission

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. Local resident Joel Carmichael bought the station and moved it to nearby Bluff Road where it had a new life as his family’s 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 U.S. Life-Saving Station a historic landmark by resolution 2007-43. The board appointed an advisory committee of residents, which then became the nonprofit Amagansett U.S. Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station Society, overseeing the multi-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.

In May 2017, after its dutiful historic restoration, the Amagansett Station opened its doors as a museum for public education and enjoyment. Through special programs, visiting exhibitions, tending to our one-of-a-kind permanent collection, and a dedicated group of docents and volunteers, we strive to preserve its story for generations to come.

To learn more about how you can support continued preservation efforts including restoring the last surviving World War II-era phone booth used by the Coast Guard and commissioning our own seaworthy Beebe boat replica, the original of which is the only surviving example in the U.S. and on loan to the Amagansett Station from the National Park Service, contact us or visit our donation page.