Ocean City's Life-Saving Station was built in 1878 at what is now the corner of Caroline Street and the Boardwalk, then the town's northern edge. It was part of a coastal system established by the United States Treasury Department to save vessels in distress and lives in peril on the water. The surfmen stationed there became an integral part of the developing town, and their rescues earned the community's respect. So much activity passed through the station that the federal government built a new larger facility in 1891. On the Eastern Shore of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, the United States Life-Saving Service saved more than 4,500 lives from the perils of the sea in its first forty years of service. In January 1915, the U.S. Life-Saving Service merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the modern United States Coast Guard, which actively used the building until 1964. A new station was built closer to the inlet and has been maintained in Ocean City to the present day. The original station later fell into disrepair and was scheduled for demolition in 1977, but concerned citizens formed the Ocean City Museum Society, and with support from the Mayor and City Council, funds were provided to save the building and move it to its present location on the southern end of the Boardwalk, where the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum welcomes visitors with self-guided tours and special programs for all ages.