Icons of the American shoreline, the lighthouses of the Atlantic coast stand in eloquent witness to the nation's rich seafaring history. The longest-standing of them all are in New England, tribute to the settlers, whale hunters, trappers, and traders that built this area up.This engaging handbook takes you on a fascinating fact-filled tour of these historic lighthouses. As informative as it is easy-to-use, and written by a noted lighthouse historian, this covers a wealth of detail: historical and architectural importance and details, anecdotes about deadly storms, life as a keeper, haunting, and directions to over 150 lighthouses form Cape Neddick in Maine to Boston Light, America's first, true lighthouse. here are the towers of limestone, granite and iron gracing the shipwrecked islands, aptly named "The Miseries" and "The Gravers", as well as the beacons once fuelled by kerosene, whale, and seal oil still standing at picturesquely named points like Burnt Coat harbor and Deer Island Thorofare. Complete with eye-catching photographs, vintage postcards, historic black-and-white images, this filed guide is the ideal companion for travelers, tourists, architects and history buffs alike.