Coast Guard lowers flag to half mast in honor of the all men who served at Pea Island
May 2007

Our Story
When four people set out to preserve the history of the Pea Island Lifesaving Station by restoring the cookhouse from the 1930 station, folks said it couldn’t be done.  That no one was interested in African American history, not even one that was so amazing, the U.S. Coast Guard named a Cutter after the station.  We believed they would.  So we continued against the odds.  And we moved the cookhouse, which had sat vacant for more than 25 years, to old Lucy’s Corner in Manteo, and work began.  We approached the Town of Manteo, which owned the property, and which agreed to restore the cookhouse to its original condition.  When we stressed that there were people within the community who wanted to do the work on the interior – so that they could take pride in the fact they had “done their share” restoring the history of their ancestors – the Town eventually bowed out and let us take over. 

Unfortunately, they took the funds with them.  We were not discouraged, though, because we knew that this was meant to be.  So, some of the men in the community began work on cleaning up the inside of the house – something that is taking a lot of muscle to accomplish.  In the meantime, we are in dire needs of funds to pay for an electrician to come in and rewire the house and for materials which we will need to restore the place:  wall paneling, carpet squares, ceiling tiles, and we will need showcases to display all the wonderful artifacts that we have.  With the men supplying the manual labor (all except the electrical work), the cost of restoring the interior is greatly reduced.