Spermaceti Cove Life Saving Station

Spermaceti Cove Life Saving Station At A Glance...

• Built in 1894 and still standing, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• In 1907 its crew pulled a beach cart two and a half miles through a gale to help rescue seven sailors from the wrecked Edmund J. Phinney.
• The 1849 lifeboat station that came before it is the only known survivor of New Jersey's first eight, and it is on display at Twin Lights in Highlands.
• It is an official Lighthouse Challenge stop, and official Challenge t-shirts, hats and pins are sold here.
• Todays Sunrise: ,   Sunset:  
• New Jersey Shore Region Monmouth County
• Spermaceti Cove Life Saving Station is part of  Sandy Hook

• Amenities:

  • Restrooms/Bathrooms
  • Beach
  • Parking Lot(s)

  Park Type:

  • Historic Area

  Attractions:

  • Museum / Gallery

Contact / Location

A Brief History

New Jersey lost so many ships in the 1800s that it helped start the U.S. Life-Saving Service. The first lifeboat stations went up in 1849, spaced ten miles apart from Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook south to Long Beach Island. The 1849 Spermaceti Cove building is the only known survivor of those first eight stations, and it is on display at Twin Lights Historic Site in Highlands.

In 1871 the system was reorganized, and paid six-man crews led by a keeper replaced volunteers. The Sandy Hook station near the tip became Station No. 1 and Spermaceti Cove became Station No. 2. Jonathan "Captain Jack" Edwards was keeper at Spermaceti Cove from 1879 to 1899, and Edmund Price served here as Surfman No. 1 from 1880 to 1910. The station standing today was built near the cove in 1894, and Joel R. Woolley became keeper in 1899.

On December 17, 1907, the sailing ship Edmund J. Phinney broke up in a gale 300 yards off the Hook's North Beach. Keeper Woolley's crew pulled their beach apparatus cart two and a half miles against the wind and over flooded beaches to join Keeper Patterson's crew from the other station, and together they saved all seven sailors by breeches buoy. The ship fell apart just as the last two men reached shore.

The Life-Saving Service merged with the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to form the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Coast Guard used the station until the late 1940s. The National Park Service turned it into a visitor center, open from 1974, when Sandy Hook became part of Gateway National Recreation Area, until Hurricane Sandy damaged it.

Special / Seasonal Events

The station is one of the official stops on the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey, held every year on the third weekend of October. The Challenge is to visit 11 lighthouse sites, 4 lifesaving stations and 1 museum over the two days, and all sites are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. Registration is $10 and lets you collect a souvenir at each site. Official Challenge t-shirts, hats and pins are sold here.

The Sandy Hook Foundation also holds free yoga on the beach, guided bird walks, author talks and history programs at the station, and a free holiday photography and art show each December. The Foundation's events page has the current dates.

Admission & Guidelines

Gateway National Recreation Area has no entrance fee. The park charges for beach parking only, $20 per day from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, collected from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Toll booths take credit, debit and contactless payment only, not cash.

Parking

The station has its own lot on Hartshorne Drive between Beach Lots D and E. The park follows a carry in, carry out policy.

Directions

The park entrance is at 128 South Hartshorne Drive, Highlands, NJ 07732. From North Jersey and New York, take the Garden State Parkway south to Exit 117, bear left after the toll onto Route 36 East, and follow it 12 miles, across the Highlands Bridge, to the park entrance. Stay right to enter. From South Jersey, take the Parkway north to Exit 105 and follow Route 36 East to the park. From the entrance, follow Hartshorne Drive to the station, between Beach Lots D and E. Please drive 10 mph through the entrance booths.

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is the other official Lighthouse Challenge stop on the Hook. Twin Lights Historic Site in Highlands is a natural next stop, and it has a night climb on Challenge Saturday. For another restored station, the Tatham Life Saving Station and Museum is in Stone Harbor.

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