Newburyport: Birthplace of the U.S. Coast Guard
5-Part Video Series: Creation of the Coast Guard
Created by Bob Pokress & Ali Donohue
History of the U.S. Coast Guard
The modern U.S. Coast Guard was founded in the merging of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1915, as well as the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1939. Newburyport is said to be the birthplace of the Coast Guard because the first Revenue Cutter put into service (the Massachusetts) was built and launched in Newburyport in 1791.
U.S. REVENUE CUTTER SERVICE
Established by an Act of Congress on August 4, 1790, authorizing the construction and equipment of cutters to enforce the collection of customs and tonnage duties, the Revenue Cutter Service was supervised by Collectors of Customs from 1791-1871, and was under the administrative control of the Department of the Treasury. Between 10 and 20 cutters at a time were in commission during the Revenue Marine’s first half-century.
The responsibilities of the service went beyond its customs and tonnage duties to include suppression of smuggling, piracy, and the slave trade, the assistance of ships, removal of navigation hazards, enforcement of quarantine regulations, neutrality laws, laws prohibiting the importation of Chinese coolie labor, and after 1867, enforced regulations in Alaska concerning the unauthorized killing of fur-bearing animals, protection of fisheries, as well as firearms, ammunition, and liquor trafficking.
A new Revenue Marine Division, established 1871, became the Revenue Cutter Service by act of July 31, 1894. In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life Saving Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard.
U.S. LIFESAVING SERVICE
Founded in 1786, The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was established to aid ships in distress, and rescue survivors of shipwrecks. The Society maintained lifeboats and rescue stations along the Massachusetts seashore and provided instruction in lifesaving techniques. The first lifeboat station was established at Cohasset, Massachusetts in 1807.
The stations were small shed-like structures, which held rescue equipment used by volunteers in case of a wreck, like a volunteer fire department. By mid-century some of these stations were manned by the U.S. Revenue Marine. In 1841 there were 81 stations along the coastline, and by 1914 there were 279 from Maine to Washington State.
In 1878 the growing network of lifesaving stations was organized as a separate agency of the Treasury Department and named the U.S. Life-Saving Service. In 1915 the Life-saving Service was merged with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in the creation of the modern U.S. Coast Guard.
U.S. LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE
On August 7, 1789 the first U.S. Congress passed an Act for the establishment and support of Lighthouses, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers. The Act provided “that all expenses which shall accrue… in the necessary support, maintenance and repairs of all lighthouses, beacons, buoys and public piers erected, placed, or sunk before the passing of this act, at the entrance of, or within any bay, inlet, harbor, or port of the United States, for rendering the navigation thereof easy and safe, shall be defrayed out of the treasury of the United States.”
The act stipulated that it fell to the Secretary of the Treasury to provide contracts, rebuild, when necessary, provide supplies, and keep in good repair the lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public piers of the several states. In 1789 the Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, also the intellectual architect of the U.S. Customs Service.
The local control and responsibility for lighthouses of a given port was assigned to the Collector of Customs.
The United States Light House Establishment (USLHE) became the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1910 and was integrated into the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939.
ADMIRAL RICHARD I. RYBACKI AWARD
To honor the memory of Admiral Richard I. Rybacki and his dedication to public and community service, the Rybacki family established the Admiral Richard I. Rybacki Award, to be presented annually to the crew member of Station Merrimack River who best exemplifies the spirit of respect, honor, and devotion to duty both in service to the Coast Guard and to the community in which they serve.
Admiral Rybacki began his career aboard the USCG Cutter Storis during its historic transit of the Northwest Passage in 1957. He saw sea duty in Cutter’s home ported in Alaska, California and Massachusetts and held a variety of engineering and technical billets. He was commander of Group Portland in Maine. After service as the deputy chief of personnel and as comptroller of the Coast Guard, Admiral Rybacki commanded the 1st Coast Guard District from 1988 to 1991. During his career, Admiral Rybacki received the Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals and the Coast Guard Research and Development Center’s Commanding Officer/Technical Director Award. He retired in 1991 after 35 years of distinguished service and moved to Falmouth, Maine, before settling in Newburyport in 2007.
Post-retirement, Admiral Rybacki continued to be active in public service. In 1997 he was nominated by the governor of Maine and appointed by the secretary of transportation as the chairman of the Maine Lighthouse Selection Committee. He was the president and chief executive officer of OpSail Maine 2000, commissioner of the Ellis Island Restoration Commission, president of the Military Coalition of Maine, and an advisory board member of the Portland Harbor Museum. He held a number of positions on the board of directors for the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) for six years including chairman of the Government Relations Committee. The Admiral’s interests further included the Boy Scouts and a church youth group, as well as the Custom House Maritime Museum. He led an impressive life of service to his country and to his community.
ADMIRAL RICHARD I. RYBACKI AWARD
To honor the memory of Admiral Richard I. Rybacki and his dedication to public and community service, the Rybacki family established the Admiral Richard I. Rybacki Award, to be presented annually to the crew member of Station Merrimack River who best exemplifies the spirit of respect, honor, and devotion to duty both in service to the Coast Guard and to the community in which they serve.
Admiral Rybacki began his career aboard the USCG Cutter Storis during its historic transit of the Northwest Passage in 1957. He saw sea duty in Cutter’s home ported in Alaska, California and Massachusetts and held a variety of engineering and technical billets. He was commander of Group Portland in Maine. After service as the deputy chief of personnel and as comptroller of the Coast Guard, Admiral Rybacki commanded the 1st Coast Guard District from 1988 to 1991. During his career, Admiral Rybacki received the Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals and the Coast Guard Research and Development Center’s Commanding Officer/Technical Director Award. He retired in 1991 after 35 years of distinguished service and moved to Falmouth, Maine, before settling in Newburyport in 2007.
Post-retirement, Admiral Rybacki continued to be active in public service. In 1997 he was nominated by the governor of Maine and appointed by the secretary of transportation as the chairman of the Maine Lighthouse Selection Committee. He was the president and chief executive officer of OpSail Maine 2000, commissioner of the Ellis Island Restoration Commission, president of the Military Coalition of Maine, and an advisory board member of the Portland Harbor Museum. He held a number of positions on the board of directors for the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) for six years including chairman of the Government Relations Committee. The Admiral’s interests further included the Boy Scouts and a church youth group, as well as the Custom House Maritime Museum. He led an impressive life of service to his country and to his community.
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Sun: 12PM-5PM
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