Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station

The Preservation of an Outer Banks Historic Structure

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“I can’t explain my infatuation with that building. But that was on the beach road 39 years ago. So it was a little more obvious to me that it represented the Outer Banks’ maritime history. And I just loved it.”

-Doug Twiddy

Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station
Photo taken by Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright

Originally built in 1878, the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station is rich with Outer Banks history. The Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station, or Life Saving Station #13, was one of eleven stations built along the Outer Banks around the turn of the century. It was active until 1933 at its location on the oceanfront in Kill Devil Hills, to the east of what is now the Wright Brothers Memorial. By the 1980s, the station was in disrepair, wedged between a complex of motels in Kill Devil Hills. With tourism rising on the Outer Banks, summer visitor numbers soared between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

After Labor Day each year, Doug Twiddy would approach the owner of First Flight Inn and Raleigh Motel with an offer to purchase the aging Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station. He was turned down each year, as the building was being used for employee housing. In 1986, the owner finally said yes, on the condition that the building be moved from its original location before the next tourist season.

Preserving an iconic piece of Outer Banks history

That fall, the process of moving the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station to Corolla began. It had been decided that the building needed to be dismantled to move it. Moving the 100-plus-year-old building in one piece was not an option due to the expensive utility charges required to temporarily drop the power lines.

When preparing to dismantle the building, pieces of the station’s past life began to surface. The original “U.S. Coast Guard” and “U.S. Life Saving Service” signs were found as the Kill Devil Hills Lifesaving Station was prepared for the move.

Julian Bray spearheaded the tedious task of moving the building over 20 miles from Kill Devil Hills to Corolla. Julian backed in his big green army truck and supported the weight of the second floor with steel cribbing as others cut the outside of the building with chainsaws. The building was divided into three pieces: the first story, the second story, and the southside wing. One piece at a time, the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station traveled up the bypass and Duck Road until it reached Historic Corolla Village.

“I’d say the roughest part was moving it down the road and getting it here. That’s the most aggravating part was the road”

-Julian Bray

Once settled and pieced back together, restoration work began. As modern paint was chipped away and 20th-century carpet peeled back, the building began to reveal its original bones, silently guiding the restorative process. As the painstakingly slow restoration process progressed, more historic artifacts were discovered. A 13-foot oar stamped with the letters “USSLSS” was found under the building during the move. Other historic artifacts were found in the eaves of the roof. They included an 1887 Annual Report of the Operation of the US Lifesaving Stations, a 1890s copy of Cosmopolitan magazine, a 1905 Sailor’s Magazine, several old bottles, and the original handwritten document on the wreck of the sailing vessel Josephine. The attic stored a telegraph machine, and a seashell cupping the station’s original red primer paint was also discovered. A collection of relics found during restoration, as well as Lifesaving Service and Wright Brothers mementoes, are currently displayed in the station.

The cedar-shake building combines elements of Carpenter Gothic and Eastlake style. The side shed extension where lifesaving gear was stowed was added in the early 1900s. The front-gable, one-and-a-half-story building still wears its original exterior shingles. Unpainted tongue-and-groove pine walls and ceilings and basic door and window surroundings with bull’s-eye corner blocks represent the interior exactly as it was in its earlier days.

Upon completing the restoration, Twiddy & Company utilized the building as an office. It would later house a retail shop and, for many years, served as Twiddy & Company’s Corolla Real Estate Sales office. The building currently serves as a private office. 

This marked the beginning of many preservation efforts by the Twiddy family. Their commitment to Outer Banks history is evident in their work to protect the integrity of the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station, along with several other historic structures.

Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station Crew Members and the Wright Brothers

Relying on the bravery of local volunteers, the Life Saving Service responded to the frequent shipwrecks off the coast. In addition to the station’s countless lifesaving accomplishments, it also has a close association with man’s first flight.

Situated approximately ½ to ¾ of a mile from the Wright brothers’ camp (which they set up in September of 1903), the station’s crewmen became interested in the work of these brothers who intended to launch their flying machine off the side of “Big Kill Devil Hill.” Surfman Adam D. Etheridge visited the brothers at their campsite, establishing a friendship that would lead to the crewmen’s chance to witness history. Keeper-in-charge Captain Jesse Etheridge Ward granted his crew permission to assist the brothers when they were not on duty. The men also delivered food and supplies to the brothers.

Surfman Etheridge later recollected, “We assisted in every way and I hauled the lumber for the camp. We really helped around there hauling timber and carrying mail out to them each day. It would come from Kitty Hawk by patrol each night. In pretty weather we would be out there while they were gliding, watching them. Then after they began to assemble the machine in the house, they would let us in and we began to become interested in carrying the mail just to look on and see what they were doing.”

wright brothers first flight
Photograph taken by John T. Daniels

As winter fell, the station crew members became more than just helpful, they were practically indispensable. The Wrights began hanging a red flag outside of their workshop to notify any off-duty surfmen willing to lend a hand that they needed assistance. Helping to assemble the aircraft and carry it to the launching rail became their usual contribution. For all intents and purposes, these men were the first aircraft ground crew.

Surfmen William Beacham, Robert Wescott, Benny O’Neal, W.S. Dough, and John T. Daniels helped Orville and Wilbur move their flying machine to the top of Kill Devil Hill on December 14th and witnessed Wilbur’s unsuccessful attempt at flying that day. Daniels, Dough, Adam D. Etheridge, W.C. Brinkley of Manteo, and Johnny Moore of Nags Head were once again beckoned to help move the fragile craft up the hill on the bitterly cold morning of December 17, 1903. At 10:35 am, the flyer teetered down a wooden rail, and twenty-three to twenty-seven mile-per-hour winds lifted the craft to flight. The Wright brothers’ first successful flight was witnessed. Using Orville’s camera, Daniels snapped the well-known photograph documenting this historic flight. It was later awarded the title “The Photograph of the 20th Century.” Daniels, Dough, and Etheridge all signed the official affidavit verifying that the first flight was, indeed, a true story.

kill devil hills life saving station crew

Many descendants of the Surfmen still live on the Outer Banks today. Surfman William Thomas Beacham’s grandson, Stanley Beacham, grew up in Duck and now lives in Manteo. Following in Surfman William Thomas Beacham’s footsteps, Stanley and his father both served in the Coast Guard. Both shared somber stories of the poignant World War II era on the Outer Banks.

Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station
Courtney Wisecarver

Courtney Wisecarver

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