The Marblehead Lifeboat Station was created on June 20, 1874. It is located on the shore of Lake Erie in Northern Ohio and officially opened on September 1876 with Lucien M. Clemons being its first keeper. A new station was built by the year 1921 and plans of enlarging the facilities are going on in order to accommodate the growing number of crewmen.
The winters of 1870 – 1871 brought about numerous fatal disasters on the Great Lakes killing 214 people which resulted to a public outrage who could only then stand by the shore and watch the shipwrecks helplessly as they happen. One year before the Life Saving Station was built in 1874, the wind was blowing a storm out of the Northeast when Lucien Clemons and his two brothers saw the schooner Consuelo in distress. The schooner was loaded with stone blocks from the quarry that caused the vessel to capsize when the load shifted. The captain, cook and three crewmen instantly died but two crewmen clung to the mast and rigging for their lives. Seeing the two men, Clemons and his brothers took the only available boat out into the lake leaving their wives and children together with a crowed of fifty people who had seen the heroic rescue from the shore.
The three brothers rowed the skiff for almost an hour before they reached the crewmen. They removed the survivors from the rigging and loaded them on the skiff. The addition of the two men to the small skiff made it difficult for them to control the boat. They have weathered the waves and only after fighting the waves for a period of time when a steam tug from Kelly’s Island finally came to assist them.
The Clemons brothers were awarded the very first Life Saving Medals by the Life Saving Service for their efforts. Lucien received the Gold Life Saving Medal which is presently at the Inland Seas Maritime Museum in Vermillion, Ohio. His brothers on other hand received the Silver Life Saving Medal.
A full size replica of Clemons Gold Medal is found on display at the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society Museum.
In 1876, the U.S. Life Saving Station was inaugurated in Marblehead with Lucien Clemons being its first keeper with a crew of six oarsmen. Its architecture was built similarly with the other stations on the Great Lakes. Its original location is where the present U.S. Coast Guard Station is at now. It houses a rescue boat and equipment and also housing for the crew who are required to live in the station during their shipping season. The Life Saving Station has a tower where a person is posted as a lookout and task to scan the lakes for any boats in distress.
Guardians of the Erie Island challenge coins were created in honor of the brave men who go out of their way to save lives. You can find rare and greatly designed coast guard challenge coins like the USCG Marblehead Ohio as an addition to your coin collection.
The Guardians of the Eerie Islands challenge coin is a 1.75″ round coin that is made of antique brass with 4 cut outs. It has painted designs on both sides of the coin with a 2 dimensional rope edging and no epoxy.