The Damariscove Lifesaving Station is located on Damariscove Island

Damariscove Island

Damariscove is an uninhabited island that is part of Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln County, Maine, United States, about off the coast at the mouth of the Damariscotta River. The long, narrow island is approximately long and at its widest point...

 in Boothbay

Boothbay, Maine

Boothbay is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,960 at the 2000 census. It includes the villages of East Boothbay and Trevett. The Boothbay region is a center of summer tourist activity, and a significant part of its population does not live there year...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. The station was built in 1897 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on June 25, 1987.

History

In 1897, the station was built on the southern end of the island in response to the frequent shipwrecks on the ledges and shoals that surround the island. The station was manned by the United States Life-Saving Service

United States Life-Saving Service

The United States Life-Saving Service was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian efforts to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers...

 and then the U.S. Coast Guard until 1959. The station is now privately owned.