Last visited: 2022
We stayed at Barrier Island Station
This was a long time fascination for me...what in the world is it? All along this area for as long as there has been colonization, ships have been falling prey to the shifting shoals of the "graveyard of the Atlantic". First volunteers, and then paid staff watched this area of the shore 24/7 for shipwrecks and sailors needing rescued. With its two stations and five outbuildings, Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station (pronounced chi-ka-ma-COM-i-co) is the most complete site of all remaining life-saving stations in North Carolina and one of the most complete sites in the nation. There is a small entrance fee. Find more information here: https://chicamacomico.org/
Over the years, there have been many stories of heroism ranging from the rescue of 42 British sailors who were saved after their ship was attacked by a German U-boat, to a surfman that single-handedly saved 10 men in the dead of night by calling out to them one by one every time the tide pulled out, having them jump from their ship, and then catching and pulling them to shore by hand.
They put on a recreation of the lifesaving that would have been employed if a ship was sinking twice a day. Make sure that you plan to visit at this time because it really is interesting to see what happened. The cannon shoots a line over the mast of the "sinking ship" as seen on the horizon (second picture), and then survivors are zip lined down to ground. Volunteers from the audience are used as the survivors, and the kids enjoyed being part of the show.
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