Last updated: October 10, 2024
Place
The U.S. Life-Saving Service Cemetery at Point Reyes National Seashore
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Point Reyes National Seashore's U.S. Life-Saving Service Cemetery is located near the head of Schooner Bay, Inverness, California. Geographic Coordinates: 38.0937, -122.9315
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot
Charles Webb Howard, who owned this part of the Point Reyes peninsula by 1870, hired a Swedish immigrant carpenter/dairyman named Hinrik Claussen to oversee the completion of a number of his dairies on the peninsula. Claussen lived at G Ranch, one of the first two to be completed. Hinrik's son, Captain Peter Henry Claussen, arrived at the ranch in 1871 after a short career at sea, and became an active dairyman, served on the school board, and, after 1890, was very active assisting United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) personnel during many maritime emergencies. Hinrik died at age 56 in September 1872 and was buried in a small cemetery he had set aside on a knoll east of the ranch house.
In 1890, the United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) established a station at Point Reyes with a keeper and a crew of seven surfmen on a lonely stretch of the Point Reyes Beach, which was notorious for its pounding surf and bad weather. The surfmen assigned to the Point Reyes Life-Saving Service Station patrolled the Point Reyes Beach (aka, the Great Beach and Ten-Mile Beach) and Drakes Beach with an ever-vigilant eye, looking for shipwrecks and their desperate crews. But it was dangerous work. During the first few years of operation, four surfmen died and were ultimately buried at this cemetery, where they continue their watch over Point Reyes.
Visit our Lifeboat Station History at Point Reyes page to learn more.
Visiting the Cemetery
Park in the tiny dirt parking area on the east side of the narrow access road 0.2-miles (0.3 km) from Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Cross the access road and follow the narrow dirt path up the small hill into the dense copse of eucalyptus where you will find the tiny cemetery surrounded by a white picket fence.
Directions
Directions from Bear Valley to the Historic Life-saving Service and G Ranch Cemetery