This station was designed by Cleveland architect J. Milton Dyer and built in 1940. It was designed to resemble a lake vessel and create the experience of being on board a ship. The United States Coast Guard was stationed here for over 30 years when they left in 1976 and moved to the East 9th street pier.

Image borrowed from Cleveland Memory.

The coast guard left for three reasons: poor access to the island, no connection to municipal sewage treatment facilities, and the fact that water lines ran through exposed pipes along the side of the pier. If they turned the water off in the winter, the pipes would freeze.

In the 1984 a disco/night club and bar occupied the building, but due to it’s location at the end of a federally owned pier and on the tip of privately owned land, customers arrived at the club by water taxi.

The remoteness was part of its charm, but also its downfall. The Island, as it was called, was removed from the foot traffic and excitement of the other clubs, and not enough people were willing to take the ferry trip. The water and sewer issues also remained a problem and The Island closed after one season of operation.

There are talks of making the station into a park-related facility or the end of the towpath for the Ohio and Erie Canal towpath. It is currently under renovations.

Past Pictures and Postcards

All old photos and postcards are from Cleveland Memory.

Sources and Related Links

• Abandoned Ohio: Coast Guard Station # 219
• Illicit Ohio: Whisky Island Coast Guard
• Ohio Tresspassers: coast guard station
• Cleveland Memory: Search “Coast Guard Station”