Life Saving Station 10
Life-saving stations, established by the Life-Saving Service, precursor to today's Coast Guard, were set up by the Federal Government along the western rivers in 1881 to provide aid to endangered river travelers. Louisville was the first locale chosen for a station because the Falls of the Ohio, a treacherous rapids, presented numerous navigation challenges. Louisville's first-life saving station was placed in service November 4, 1881 and was replaced in 1902 and again in 1928 with new ones: all called Life Saving Station No. 10. The vessel was decommissioned by U.S. Coast Guard in 1972 and renamed the Andrew Broaddus in honor of a former Louisville mayor. The present station was built in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1928 based on a design resembling its predecessor. Equipped with two skiffs, a six-oar surf boat, and a motor utility boat, its crew rescued stranded passengers, salvaged cargo, saved drowning swimmers, recovered bodies, and extinguished fires on water and land. It is the only floating life-saving station to survive and one of very few life-saving stations of any kind in the nation. It has been moored at its present location since 1981 and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1989. It serves as offices and wharf boat for the Belle of Louisville.
An Official Kentucky Bicentennial
Celebration Project.
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