American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station - Jacksonville Beach, FL
N 30° 17.321 W 081° 23.336
17R E 462597 N 3350838
The American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station, constructed in 1947, is located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 2014.
Waymark Code: WMTAVM
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/24/2016
Views: 6
"The American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, is a two-story masonry building with an attached five-story watchtower and an attached one-story non-historic addition. The building features a smooth stucco finish, asymmetrical facade, hipped roof, and prominent bay doors along the east and south elevations leading to the boat storage room. Fenestration consists primarily of I/l SHS windows along all four elevations. The interior layout of the building centers around the central staircase that serves as the primary access point to the second floor. It features a boat storage room, first aid room, officer of the day office, and showers and lockers for men and women on the first floor. The second floor features a social lounge and men's and women's dormitories. The five-story watchtower, known as "the peg," best exemplifies the Art Modeme style with its rounded edges, porthole windows near the top, and horizontal balustrade at the top. The one-story non-historic addition, constructed in 2012, serves as a classroom and meeting area for the Corps. It is consistent in appearance with the rest of the building, with a smooth stucco finish and projecting eyebrow similar in style to that found along the tower and east and south elevations of the main building. The interior of the addition is a single open space."
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A historical marker at the site provides the following additional information:
"In 1912, following the drowning of a prominent citizen, Dr. Lyman Haskell and Clarence MacDonald established and trained Florida’s first U.S. Volunteer Life Saving Corps (VLSC) at this location to protect the lives of bathers on Jacksonville Beach (then Pablo Beach). On April 17, 1914, the American National Red Cross chartered this unit of lifeguards as its first American Red Cross VLSC in the U.S., and the unit served as a training model for other beaches around Florida. The VLSC celebrated its 100th anniversary of uninterrupted volunteer service at this station in 2012 after recording more than 1,500 life-saving rescues and 1.3 million volunteer hours at the site. Since 1913, three permanent VLSC stations have stood here. The present station, constructed of concrete block and stucco in the Art Moderne style, was designed by architect Jefferson D. Powell and completed in 1948. Among the traditions of the VLSC is the Annual Ocean Marathon Swim, which has been sponsored continuously by the Meninak Club of Jacksonville since 1934."