Mayor Andrew Broaddus

MAYOR ANDREW BROADDUS
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Mayor Andrew Broaddus, a two story structure with elevated lookout tower
Location:	Louisville, Kentucky
Coordinates:	38°15′34.35″N 85°45′15.16″W / 38.2595417°N 85.7542111°W / 38.2595417; -85.7542111Coordinates: 38°15′34.35″N 85°45′15.16″W / 38.2595417°N 85.7542111°W / 38.2595417; -85.7542111
Built:	1928
Architect:	Unknown
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	89001446[1]
Added to NRHP:	June 30, 1989

The Mayor Andrew Broaddus is a lifesaving station built by the United States Life-Saving Service located in Louisville, Kentucky, off the corner of River Road and Fourth Street. It is named in honor of Andrew Broaddus, a former mayor of Louisville. Its historic purpose was to protect travelers of the Ohio River from the Falls of the Ohio, with rescue crews for those that 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 Broaddus as the second.

Predecessor

On October 22, 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 at Jeffersonville, Indiana, 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 its primary role in providing aid and rescue to river travelers, LSS#10 also served notably during World War II, when Coast Guard Reservists ran patrols from the station to guard against possible acts of German saboteurs.

Earlier, Station personnel also assisted in the enforcement of Prohibition 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 Coast Guard, patrolled the Falls area, rescuing rivermen and passengers, saving stranded boast and cargoes, recovering victims of drowning, and performing heroic action during Ohio River 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

The Broaddus was built in 1929 in Dubuque, Iowa. It has a steel hull, and is 98 feet (30 m) long, a beam of 38 feet (12 m), a Hold Depth of 5 feet (1.5 m), and has 623 Net Tons. It has two decks, and a 15-foot-tall (4.6 m) lookout tower. It has much of its original interior fabric, and is considered in good condition.^[2]

It is the only floating lifestation and the last inland waterway lifestation for the United States Coast Guard still in existence, and one of the few reminders that the U.S. Life-Saving Service ever existed.^[3]

It currently serves as an adjunct for the Belle of Louisville, which is also a National Historic Landmark. It provides the offices for the Belle.

In the Spring of 2007, the Broaddus was damaged by a commercial ship, damaging its hull. In November 2007 it was towed to Jeffboat for repairs, the successor to the shipyards that built the earlier Life Saving Station #10. A museum within the boat is planned for the future.^[4]

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Ships To Visit Listed By Name - M.V. Plover - Osprey
3. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070928174906/http://www.tourismcares.org/Grantee_2006_Friends_of_the_Waterfront.aspx
4. ^ Belle's wharf boat taken to dry dock in S. Indiana^{[dead link]}

External links

• MAYOR ANDREW BROADDUS (Lifesaving Station)
• Mayor Andrew Broaddus, ex. Life-Saving Station No. 10, National Historic Landmark Study, by Kevin Foster, 1989, Designated June 30, 1989