Lighthouses Of The Mid Atlantic Coast

Interest in the history and preservation of lighthouses has never been stronger. Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast details the history of lighthouses and much more, and shows why these structures continue to fascinate us. Discover what life for lighthouse keepers was really like. Learn about the history of U.S. colonial lighthouses and the role lighthouses have played in several wars. Meet the brave, nefarious, and colorful characters who served as lighthouse keepers and government overseers. Learn about lighthouse technology and architecture and find out how these treasures are being preserved.

Light boats, light vessels, lightships—before radar, depth-finders and satellite-guided navigation, mariners relied on floating lighthouses that lingered offshore as warning beacons in perilous waters. Moored near shifting shoals and treacherous reefs, lightships remained on station during all weather conditions and played a vital role in keeping America’s waterways safe for navigation. From 1820 to 1985, light vessels warned of treacherous seas and pointed the way to safe harbors. In Lightships, author Wayne Kirklin chronicles the eighty-five ships that protected the mid-Atlantic coast and the heyday of these special craft. From New York Harbor to the southernmost edge of North Carolina’s notorious Cape Fear, Kirklin details the unsung role this fleet played in keeping America’s merchant marines safe. Read Lightships to discover a forgotten but vital element of American maritime history.

Provides historical background and descriptive information on some of the most significant lighthouses on the coast from New York to Virginia.

Interest in the history and preservation of lighthouses has never been stronger. Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast details the history of lighthouses and much more, and shows why these structures continue to fascinate us. Discover what life for lighthouse keepers was really like. Learn about the history of U.S. colonial lighthouses and the role lighthouses have played in several wars. Meet the brave, nefarious, and colorful characters who served as lighthouse keepers and government overseers. Learn about lighthouse technology and architecture and find out how these treasures are being preserved.

Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast will explore many of the lighthouses and breakwater, pier, and reef lights in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Whether it is Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine or Fenwick Island Lighthouse in Delaware, then as now, people love to visit the lights while on holiday and send postcards back home. Many of these important navigational aids are still in existence and can be visited.

The rapid development of ocean navigation and deep-sea fishing in the nineteenth century led to a dramatic rise in shipwrecks. Tens of thousands of sailors disappeared over the course of the century. The great nations that border the North Atlantic found a technological answer to this human disaster: they developed a spectacular network of lighthouses along their coastlines. These constructions pay homage to those lost at sea and celebrate the genius of modern civilization. Whether on immense cliffs or on reefs submerged at every high tide, man has strived to erect constructions of such resistance that we can only marvel at them today. Built on snow-covered slopes of lava, overlooking spectacular rocks that seem to have sprung only recently from the earth, isolated on small outcrops out to sea, stretched to their limits under the shock of the waves; often festive, dressed in bright colors or pastel shades, magnified by the rays of light between stormy showers, they are always a delight for the eyes. Lighthouses have served humanity for thousands of years. Today's lighthouses, whether old or new, man-powered or electronically operated, are monuments to man's will to challenge the elements. Steeped in history and tales of heroism, theseintriguing edifices have an extraordinary capacity to capture the public imagination. For North Atlantic Lighthouses, acclaimed maritime photographer Jean Guichard has undertaken a series of helicopter flights to take new images of nearly one hundred of the finest lighthouses all over the North Atlantic, from the United States and Canada to Iceland, the British Isles, and France. Guichard perfectly captures the symbolic strength of his subject matter, producing captivating images in all seasons, from the calm summer months when the lighthouses can have a lick of paint, to the wild winter storms that batter them and test their resilience to the utmost. Author Ken Trethewey relates the history of lighthouses along the Atlantic coast, highlighting both their common past but also the characteristics specific to each country or region. The book is completed by a detailed guide giving technical descriptions of all the lighthouses photographed, maps locating the lighthouses, and a brief history of each light.