The Kitty Hawk station has been moved twice and now sits 

 across the road as the Black Pelican restaurant. The building has its 

 own footnote in history — it is where the Wright Brothers came to 

 send a telegram announcing their first flight. 



And the building, which now has an addition, may have a ghost. 

 "I have seen a wine glass move two feet down the bar," says Tommy 

 Matthews, general manager of the restaurant. 



The original Caffey's Inlet station, built in 1 874, burned. But its 

 replacement, built in 1899, still stands in its original location in Duck. 

 Now it serves as the restaurant at the Sanderling Inn. 



A TOWN'S LIFEBLOOD 



For generations, the Chicamacomico facilities were the heart of 

 the community. Town leaders were those who made lifesaving their 

 career, such as Zion S. Midgett, who was in the service for 30 years. 



"He had five sons, four were in the Coast Guard," says his 

 granddaughter, Jackie Wenberg. "Most everybody was in the Coast 

 Guard." 



In particular, the Chicamacomico lifesavers were known for 

 daring rescues. In 1891, they were credited with saving seven 

 members of the Strathairly, which had been lost in wind, fog and 

 high surf. In 1 898, they rescued the crew of the schooner Fessenden. 



In 1 899, they were able to save the entire crew of the Mini 

 Bergen by using the Lyle gun and "breeches buoys." 



"If the surf was dangerously high or the vessel wrecked close to 

 shore, a Lyle gun was used," explains a history prepared by the 

 Chicamacomico association. 



The gun was actually a bronze cannon mounted on a wooden 

 carriage. It could fire a projectile and line 450 yards. "The surfmen on 

 shore fired the projectile over the wreck, where the crew secured it to 

 the wreck," the report adds. Once the crew was able to secure a rope, 

 known as a hawser, the rescue could begin. 



"Underneath the hawser rode the rescue device known as the 

 breeches buoy, a life ring with trouser legs. One victim at a time 

 could be pulled ashore in the breeches buoy by the rescuers on the 

 beach." 



Such rescues are recreated on Thursdays throughout the 

 summer as members of the historical association demonstrate the 

 lifesaving drills. The rescues are a delight to tourists, who also view 

 artifacts including a ship's door, a life car, uniforms and the boat used 

 in the station's most famous rescue — the Mirlo in 191 8. 



Legends honor the surfmen who, led by Captain John Allen 

 Midgett, saved the 42 members of the Mirlo, a British tanker that had 

 hit a World War I German mine. 



The rescue, which came in the face of fire and turbulent seas, 

 brought honors from the British and United States governments. 

 "They received the American Grand Cross of Honor — six of the 1 1 

 ever presented," Ken Wenberg says. 



When Jackie Wenberg was young, the focus of the 

 Chicamacomico station was the shingled building built in 191 1 . 

 "When I was a child, this building was the boathouse out on the 

 beach," she says of the original station. Continued 



TOP: 



This east view of the old station in 1983 also shows the 1911 station. 



BOTTOM: 



Restoration work progresses. 



COASTWATCH 15 



