History of the Property
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Arena Cove was a bustling port. Sailing schooners and later steam ships transported lumber, cheese, and other local products to San Francisco and passengers to and from. Although the Point Arena lighthouse existed further up the coast, ships continued to wreck along the coast, so the U.S. Life Saving Service built a station at Arena Cove in 1902 to provide rescues.
The Station housed eight Surfmen and a Keeper. They manned a wood rescue boat, as well as a small cannon called a "Lyle gun" that launched a line to ships and could be used to hoist passengers back to shore in a "breeches buoy" (a buoy with a sewed-in pair of shorts). Their motto: "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back."
After 1915, the United States Coast Guard took over the property. Here, eight guardsmen stand ready at the Arena Cove station flag pole in 1938.
Today, the Coast Guard House stands as one of only a few remaining Life Saving Stations on the west coast and among only a few dozen preserved stations in the country.
