The first Fire Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1826 after numerous shipwrecks along the barrier island. A replacement tower built in 1858 incorporated innovations in lighthouse design such as the Fresnel lens. Vessels anchored offshore, known as lightships, augmented the lighthouse for many years. The Coast Guard shut down the site in 1973. Through the efforts of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society and the National Park Service, the beautiful structure was meticulously restored and the tower relit in 1986. Along with a selection of wonderful color photographs depicting the grandeur of the lighthouse, author Bill Bleyer charts the history of Long Island's cherished Fire Island Lighthouse.

The Cana Island Lighthouse is one of the most picturesque of any lighthouses still operating on the Great Lakes today. The beautiful peninsula of Door County has a long and bountiful tradition of maritime history, including its many lighthouses. Cana Island has illuminated the coastline on the Lake Michigan side of Door County for over 100 years. Cana Island's story involves bricks and mortar, engineering marvels, and, most noteworthy, people. The dedication of Cana's keepers and their families over the years was remarkable. Countless mariners relied on them. Lighthouse life could be challenging, at times tedious, but also extremely rewarding. Most visitors will agree that Cana Island is indeed an extraordinary place. The Cana Island Lighthouse is one of the most picturesque of any lighthouses still operating on the Great Lakes today. The beautiful peninsula of Door County has a long and bountiful tradition of maritime history, including its many lighthouses. Cana Island has illuminated the coastline on the Lake Michigan side of Door County for over 100 years. Cana Island's story involves bricks and mortar, engineering marvels, and, most noteworthy, people. The dedication of Cana's keepers and their families over the years was remarkable. Countless mariners relied on them. Lighthouse life could be challenging, at times tedious, but also extremely rewarding. Most visitors will agree that Cana Island is indeed an extraordinary place.

Douglas Bostick, historian and former director of Save the Light, Inc., recounts the stories of the many lightkeepers and their families who braved meager provisions, low pay and grueling conditions living on a small island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor.

A collection of the histories of Florida's light stations by different authors, each an authority on a particular lighthouse, this book is chock-full of information on dates of construction and operation, foundation materials, lighting equipment, and more. Complete directions to each lighthouse site are included, as well as names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, websites of lighthouse organizations. Preface by Wayne Wheeler, president of the United States Lighthouse Society, as well as a full glossary, bibliography, and index.

No safe harbours for steamboats or sailing vessels could be found along an isolated 70-mile stretch of eastern Lake Ontario, dominated by the irregular-shaped Prince Edward County peninsula. Frequent storms, rocky reefs and sandy shoals were among the many dangers facing 19th century mariners. So many shipwrecks mark one narrow and shallow underwater ridge in the region that it became known as the graveyard of Lake Ontario. It was on these shores, from Presquile Bay to Kingston harbour and along the Bay of Quinte, that a network of more than forty lighthouses and light towers was built between 1828 and 1914. FOR WANT OF A LIGHTHOUSE presents a sweeping look at the social and technological changes which marked the era, and brings to life the people, politics and hardships involved in the construction of these essential aids to navigation. Through the use of extensive archival material and more than 100 maps and photographs, Marc Seguin documents the vital role these lighthouses played in the building of a nation. There is now a race against time to save the few original towers that are still standing. All profits from the sale of this book will be used to preserve these remaining lighthouses.

From Amelia Island to the Keys to Pensacola in the Panhandle, the coast of Florida is dotted with lighthouses of all sizes, shapes, materials, and - best of all – histories. The Florida Lighthouse Trail is a compilation of short histories, written by expert contributors from around the state. Each chapter has fascinating details about these great sentinels. Chock-full of information on dates of construction and operation, changes over time, and Fresnel lenses, this book also serves as a travel guide with directions and contact information for their support organizations. Paul Bradley's beautiful artwork richly illustrates each lighthouse. This new edition features substantially updated information, with the most up-to-date information for history buffs and prospective visitors. The Florida Lighthouse Trail also includes a history of the Florida Lighthouse Association, an extensive glossary, short biographies of the contributors, suggested reading, and an index.

For those looking for guide and reference. Not another coffee table display of lighthouses, but a companion of travel.

"What Moby-Dick is to whales, Brilliant Beacons is to lighthouses—a transformative account of a familiar yet mystical subject." —Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus: The Four Voyages In this "magnificent compendium" (New Republic), best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin presents the definitive history of American lighthouses, and in so doing "illuminate[s] the history of America itself" (Entertainment Weekly). Treating readers to a memorable cast of characters and "fascinating anecdotes" (New York Review of Books), Dolin shows how the story of the nation, from a regional backwater colony to global industrial power, can be illustrated through its lighthouses—from New England to the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, the Pacific Coast, and all the way to Alaska and Hawaii. A Captain and Classic Boat Best Nautical Book of 2016

What is a lighthouse? What does it mean? What does it do? This book shows how exchanging knowledge across disciplinary boundaries can transform our thinking. Adopting an unconventional structure, this book involves the reader in a multivocal conversation between scholars, poets and artists. Seen through their individual perspectives, lighthouses appear as signals of safety, beacons of enlightenment, phallic territorial markers, and memorials of historical relationships with the sea. However, the interdisciplinary conversation also reveals underlying and sometimes unexpected connections. It elucidates the human and non-human evolutionary adaptations that use light for signalling and warning; the visual languages created by regularity and synchronicity in pulses of light; how lighthouses have generated a whole ‘family’ of related material objects and technologies; and the way that light flows between social and material worlds.