Tawas Bay Michigan USA
Weather Station and Webcams

Coast Guard

Click to visit Coast Guard patches website.

 

United States Coast guard
Station Tawas

Phone: (989) 362-4429

Station Tawas

The present Station Tawas is located a 5.9 acre site on Tawas Bay adjacent to the Tawas Bay Yacht Club. The boats currently assigned to the station include a 21 foot Rigid Hull Inflatable boat, a 45 foot Planing Hull and an Ice Skiff. The boathouse shown in the photo below has now been demolished and the boats are kept in slips adjacent to the Tawas Bay Yacht Club. Following is an historical article from the archives of the Iosco County Historical Museum that was written while the present Station Tawas was being built:

HISTORY OF U. S. COAST GUARD TAWAS STATION
 From the Iosco County Historical Museum Archives
(written while new station was being constructed.

"Station Tawas is located 3 miles NE of US 23 on Lakeview Dr. on 2.3 acres. Station was built in 1876 and expanded in 1936. It has been modified several times since it was first built. The over-water boathouse was built in 1939, and was equipped with manual hoist capable of housing a 44 foot motor life boat (MLB) and is 1/2 Mile from the station on 5.9 acres of Coast Guard property. This boathouse is the fourth boathouse. The original boathouse was located at the main building and is the recreation area (Rec Deck) today. The second was the shops at the station and the third was on the bay side. It was built in 1910 and was replaced by the current structure in 1919. The station is the oldest in the District, and the only surviving example of the first series of life saving stations on the Great Lakes.

The station area of responsibility includes 3611 square miles, the largest area assigned to any single station in the district. The station is busy with 140-160 cases annually from 15 May to 15 Sept. The boats assigned to the station are a 44 foot motor lifeboat, a 22 foot utility boat, and a 14 foot ice skiff. The crew at present consists of 17 men and women with a Boatswain Mate Chief (E-7) as officer in charge.

Station Tawas was first called Ottawa Point. The name was changed on July 1, 1902. The station was also nicknamed Near Light Lake Huron. The first keeper of the station was George Haskin and the latest keeper is BMC Robert H. Moore. The new station is being built on 5.9 acres which property is located by the present boat house. The new station will be a modern flat century station. This will cut down on the response time to get to the boat, warm the boat and getting it underway. The new station will be able to take care of many missions including but not limited to Law Enforcement, Marine Safety Support and Search and Rescue, making it a true multi-mission station."

Livesaving Station CrewLifesaving Station CrewLifesaving Station and Crew
Historical photos courtesy of Neil Thornton

The old Station Tawas has been purchased by a private individual. The station has been restored to its original size, refurbished and is being used as a residence.  On the remainder of site, 10 beach cottages have been constructed and sold.

Old Coast Guard Station from Lake Old Coast Guard Station Tawas - Coastguardsville Old Coast Guard Station Tawas
Old Station Tawas Photos
Old Boathouse Old Boats and Slips Coast Guard boat returning to base
Old Boathouse, Old Boats and Slips
Rigid Hull Inflatable 45 Foot Planing  Hull
New Boats

Click to visit Coast Guard patches websiteClick to visit Coast Guard patches website

 

This is a personal website-not affiliated with the
United States Coast Guard