The Pea Island Cookhouse Museum, located in Manteo on historic Roanoke Island, preserves the original cookhouse from the Pea Island Lifesaving Station. The building stands as a rare surviving structure connected to the only all-African American lifesaving crew in U.S. history and serves as a powerful place to learn about the men who served from 1880 to 1947.
After its relocation to Sir Walter Raleigh Street and careful restoration, the Cookhouse Museum opened in 2008. Today, it offers visitors a close look at the lifesaving legacy shaped by Keeper Richard Etheridge and the generations of African American surfmen who followed him.
A Legacy of Leadership and Service
Richard Etheridge, born enslaved on Roanoke Island and later a Civil War veteran, became the first African American Keeper in the U.S. Life-Saving Service in 1880. Under his leadership, the Pea Island crew earned a reputation for discipline, skill, and unwavering commitment to saving lives along one of the most treacherous stretches of the Atlantic coast, known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
The station’s most celebrated rescue occurred on October 11, 1896, when Etheridge’s crew saved all nine people aboard the schooner E.S. Newman during a violent storm. One hundred years later, in 1996, the U.S. Coast Guard awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal to Etheridge and his crew, recognizing the rescue as one of the most heroic in its history.
Honoring the Surfmen Who Followed
After Etheridge’s death in 1900, the Pea Island Station continued to be manned by African American Keepers and surfmen until its decommissioning in 1947. The museum honors these men as well, including Keepers Benjamin Bowser, Lewis Wescott, William Irving, George Pruden, Maxie Berry Sr., and Surfman Herbert Collins, the last to serve at the station.
Artifacts and Exhibits
The museum houses a growing collection of artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia that illuminate the daily life and extraordinary service of the Pea Island surfmen. Highlights include:
The original signboard of the E.S. Newman, the vessel rescued in 1896
A Lyle gun, used by lifesavers to fire rescue lines to distressed ships
Historic photographs and documents related to the station and its crew
Personal and community artifacts connected to the African American heritage of Roanoke Island
The Richard Etheridge Statue
Photography courtesy of Stephen H. Smith, Sculptor of Richard Etheridge Statue
At Collins Park, in the center of a roundabout just steps from the Cookhouse Museum, stands the life-sized bronze statue of Keeper Richard Etheridge, created by sculptor Steven Smith. Etheridge was born enslaved on Roanoke Island in 1842, served with distinction in the 36th U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War, and returned home as a respected waterman and community leader. In 1880, he became the first African American Keeper in the U.S. Life-Saving Service, commanding the Pea Island Station with a level of discipline and professionalism that became legendary along the Outer Banks. The statue depicts Etheridge holding an oar—a symbol of the strength, skill, and leadership that defined his service and the generations of surfmen who followed him. It stands as a tribute not only to Etheridge himself, but to the men he trained and the legacy he built.
The Herbert M. Collins Boathouse
Surfman Herbert M. Collins - Photography courtesy of USCG
Nearby, the Herbert M. Collins Boathouse honors Lieutenant Herbert M. Collins, the last surfman to serve at the Pea Island Lifesaving Station before its decommissioning in 1947. Born on Roanoke Island in 1921, Collins was a proud member of the Berry/Collins family—an African American Roanoke Island lineage with more than 400 years of continuous service in the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard, one of the longest documented service records in Coast Guard history. Collins enlisted in 1939, served at Pea Island throughout World War II, and went on to complete a distinguished 34-year Coast Guard career, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. The boathouse houses a restored early-1900s Monomoy-type surfboat on loan from the National Park Service—the same style of boat used by Collins and generations of Pea Island surfmen. Together, the boathouse and surfboat preserve the tools, traditions, and family legacy that shaped Collins’s remarkable life of service.
