Once beckoning to ocean-weary sailors, the lighthouses of the Pacific Coast still stand as beacons to adventurous travelers. Let this beautifully illustrated book conduct you to these classic lighthouses and treat you the fascinating stories behind these picturesque structures and the keepers who served in them. Along with the history of the lighthouses’ development and service, the book also delves into their technological evolution, with special attention to the architecture, the actual lights and lenses, and today’s movement to preserve and restore them. A breathtaking and edifying tour page by page, the book is also an ideal, informative guide for those who wish to venture into the living history of these coastal lighthouses.

From deserts to ghost towns, from national forests to California bungalows, many of the features of the western American landscape are well known to residents and travelers alike. But in How to Read the American West, William Wyckoff introduces readers anew to these familiar landscapes. A geographer and an accomplished photographer, Wyckoff offers a fresh perspective on the natural and human history of the American West and encourages readers to discover that history has shaped the places where people live, work, and visit. This innovative field guide includes stories, photographs, maps, and diagrams on a hundred landscape features across the American West. Features are grouped according to type, such as natural landscapes, farms and ranches, places of special cultural identity, and cities and suburbs. Unlike the geographic organization of a traditional guidebook, Wyckoff's field guide draws attention to the connections and the differences between and among places. Emphasizing features that recur from one part of the region to another, the guide takes readers on an exploration of the eleven western states with trips into their natural and cultural character. How to Read the American West is an ideal traveling companion on the main roads and byways in the West, providing unexpected insights into the landscapes you see out your car window. It is also a wonderful source for armchair travelers and people who live in the West who want to learn more about the modern West, how it came to be, and how it may change in the years to come. Showcasing the everyday alongside the exceptional, Wyckoff demonstrates how asking new questions about the landscapes of the West can let us see our surroundings more clearly, helping us make informed and thoughtful decisions about their stewardship in the twenty-first century. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYSmp5gZ4-I

Washington's storm-ridden outer coast stretches from Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the Columbia River, to Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a distance of about 150 miles. Historians have labeled these waters "the Graveyard of the Pacific" and "the Unforgiving Coast." Despite their hazards, sea routes to, from, and along the coast have been busy. Maritime fur traders and explorers, warships, Gold Rush shipping, passenger vessels, lumber carriers, break-bulk freighters, container ships, and tankers have plied these waters. Concurrently, fisheries developed along the coast, adding to the number of vessels at risk. To assist mariners sailing these waters, the United States built its first lighthouse on the Washington coast at Cape Disappointment in 1856. Additional lighthouses, lightships, and lifesaving stations soon followed. With more than 180 images from archives throughout the Pacific Northwest, this collection documents their history.

The immense Pacific Ocean, rife with islands and rimmed by huge continents, has been a liquid highway for trade and travel for centuries. Its peaceful name masks a fickle character though-serene and idyllic at times but also turbulent and merciless. . Marking the shores of this largest ocean with lights and buoys presented enormous challenges. The DeWire Guide to Lighthouses of Alaska, Hawai'i and Pacific Territories details that struggle and offers travelers and armchair tourists a glimpse of some little-known sentinels in distant places. The U. S. territories of the Pacific are detailed, including two that eventually became our 49th and 50th states in 1959, along with Guam and the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, and a sprinkling of small, far-flung islands made famous by World War II battles and celebrities like Amelia Earhart. Profiles of the lighthouses are complemented by travel information and archival and contemporary images. Also included are the stories of lightkeepers, lighthouse optics, and the fleet of vessels that built and maintained the lights. A bonus section tells the little-known history of buoys-those faithful and colorful markers of waterways worldwide.

The perfect companion for lighthouse buffs, this comprehensible and travel-friendly full-color field guide covers over 150 lighthouses on the West Coast, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada! For centuries the lighthouses of the West Coast have played a key role in the maritime history and lore of the nation. From majestic structures to the smallest treasure, these beacons have guided ships safely for countless years and endeared themselves to lighthouse fans everywhere. This definitive handbook features beautiful full-color photographs, highly regarded directions and contact information for each light, and complete articles on every existing lighthouse on the West Coast! This ultimate travel guide features: - stories of colorful keepers - true tales of daring rescues at sea - efforts undertaken for lighthouse preservation - then-and-now photographs - dates of establishment - tower height and accessibility - fun and surprising side-trips at each light - and so much more!

From the East Coast to the West Coast, the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaiian Islands, this handsome book helps explain the lure of lighthouses in the United States. Among the most recognized structures of the maritime world, these lonely sentinels by the sea have long been the subject of paintings and photographs. Today they continue to capture public imagination as Americans flock to their sites for visits and volunteer to help preserve these endangered structures. This book covers all aspects of the subject, not only lighthouses and lightships but buoys, buoy tenders, fog signals, and their keepers. The work is as rich in historical information as it is in rarely seen photographs, and fourteen maps guide readers to the exact locations of the lighthouses. Readers are also treated to stories of shipwrecks and rescues, including the extraordinary story of Ida Lewis, head keeper of the light at Lime Rock, Rhode Island, who rescued eighteen people from the sea.