''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'' is a lifesaving station built by the

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian eff ...

located in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, off the corner of River Road and Fourth Street. She is named in honor of Andrew Broaddus (1900–1972), a former mayor of Louisville (1953–1957). Her historic purpose was to protect travelers on the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

from the

Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Indiana Department ...

, with rescue crews for those who fell victim to the rapids. Louisville was the first place where a lifesaving station was placed in western waters. The first lifestation in Louisville was in 1881, with ''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'' as the third. A

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, she is the only surviving floating lifesaving station of the

, a predecessor of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Predecessor

On 22 October 1881, Life Saving Station#10 was placed in service at the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Kentucky, the most dangerous place on the entire Ohio River. Skilled rivermen, who had served here as volunteers, became personnel of the Service. Built at the Howard Shipyards (later part of

Jeffboat Jeffboat was a shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana founded by James Howard in 1834, a builder of steamboats. The company was owned by the Howard family until it was sold leading up to World War II. Following the war, it became known as the Jef ...

, closed in 2018) at

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...

, the station boat was the first on America's Western Rivers system. It served until being replaced in 1902 by another wooden hull boat. The second vessel was replaced in 1929 with the present steel-hulled boat with its distinctive watchtower. In addition to her primary role in providing aid and rescue to river travelers, LSS#10 also served notably during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

Reservists ran patrols from the station to guard against possible acts of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

sabotage. Earlier, Station personnel also assisted in the enforcement of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

by transporting Federal agents to remote islands in the Ohio River to search for illicit alcohol operations. From 1881 to 1972, the Life Saving Service, and later the

, patrolled the Falls area, rescuing rivermen and passengers, saving stranded boast and cargoes, recovering victims of drowning, and performing heroic action during

floods. Station records reveal that between 1881 and 1915, 7000 lives and property worth $6 million were saved by the crews of LSS#10.

History

''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'' was built in 1929 in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

. She has a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, and is long, a beam of , a Hold Depth of , at 623 Net Tons. She has two decks, and a lookout tower. She is considered in good condition. ''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'' is the only floating lifestation and the last inland waterway lifestation for the

still in existence, and one of the few reminders that the U.S. Life-Saving Service ever existed. ''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'' currently serves as an adjunct to '' Belle of Louisville'', also a National Historic Landmark. ''Mayor Andrew Broaddus'' provides office space for ''Belle of Louisville''. In the Spring of 2007, ''Mayor Andrew Broaddus''s hull was damaged by a commercial ship. In November, she was towed to Jeffboat for repairs. A museum within the boat was planned for the future in 2007.

Citations

References

* **

External links

Mayor Andrew Broaddus, ex. Life-Saving Station No. 10
{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Government buildings completed in 1928 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Historic Landmarks in Kentucky 1928 establishments in Kentucky Individual watercraft Life-Saving Service stations on the National Register of Historic Places Ohio River