With five outbuildings, Chicamacomico (pronounced chi-ka-ma-COM-i-co) Life-Saving Station Historic Site and Museum is a small-town museum in Rodanthe, North Carolina. Here you’ll find the most complete site of all remaining life-saving stations in North Carolina and learn about the Mirlo Rescue, which the U.S. Coast Guard recognizes as one of the top rescues in history. While visiting Hatteras Island, learn about this wonderful story of heroism.

This may seem like a small gathering of rustic, weathered buildings - look a little closer.
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As part of your paid admission, a staff member gives a brief history of the U.S. Life Saving Service.
Late in World War I after the British Tanker Mirlo was hit with a torpedo by German U-boat 117, brave servicemen, led by the station’s Keeper John Allen Midgett, saved 42 sailors from the fire that followed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site & Museum/Facebook
This important space houses original equipment, replicas, and photographs of the heroes from the 1918 Mirlo rescue.
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The structures give an idea of a day in the life of the well-trained Chicamacomico surfmen.

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The displays eloquently tell the Coast Guard story, where these service people lived and rescued ships that wrecked along the shore in the surging sea waves.
Erica B/TripAdvisor
We love the kitchen where some good conversation and enthralling story-telling took place as you can imagine.
jlgood50/TripAdvisor
The original building at Chicamacomico was commissioned Dec. 4, 1874, and was the first Life-Saving Service staffed in North Carolina.
Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station
In here you'll find the actual surfboat No. 1046 used in the Mirlo rescue.
And for some living history, volunteers reenact the Beach Apparatus Drill, a means of land-based rescue from the 18th century.
Laticia G/TripAdvisor
See this realistic performance every Thursday at 2 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Plan a visit to the Outer Banks and make time for this unforgettable, small-town museum in Rodanthe North Carolina. For more information, visit Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site and Museum’s website.

And while you’re in Rodanthe, consider staying at the most epic resort campground in North Carolina.

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Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site, 23645 North Carolina Hwy 12, Rodanthe, NC 27968, USA