Coast Guard Station Marquette History

In July 1889, two representatives from the U.S. Life Saving Service came to Marquette to locate a site for a life saving station. After surveying the coast between the Chocolay River and Presque Isle, the pair decided that the federal lighthouse reservation land was the best. In September of 1899, Captain Henry J. Cleary and the Marquette crew collaborated with the Lake Shore Engine Works in Marquette and LT C. H. McLellan of the Revenue Cutter Service. They developed and tested the first motorized lifeboat. Captain Cleary was sworn in as the first station keeper on April 1, 1891. The station was officially commissioned on May 9, 1891 and the first lifeboat arrived on May 10, 1891.

Station Marquette conducted operations from the original station until 2009. On August 13, 2009, a modern facility was dedicated and was named Cleary hall - named after Captain Cleary, the founding keeper of the Marquette Life Saving Station.

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