Name: World War II Shipbuilding in Duluth and Superior
Brand: Gerald Sandvick
SKU: 9781467125819
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

World War II Shipbuilding in Duluth and Superior

9781467125819

$24.99

World War II hinged on the Allies having enough ships to both fight the enemy and to carry millions of tons of war goods across the world's oceans. Shipyards on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts built thousands of vessels, but America's sometimes forgotten Fourth Coast, the Great Lakes, built hundreds of ships as well. From 1940 to 1945, warships, cargo haulers, Coast Guard tenders, and fleet service auxiliaries of many types were launched from the two cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, which lie at the far western end of Lake Superior. During the war, half a dozen shipyards in Duluth-Superior produced more than 200 vessels of 10 main types, up to 338 feet long and 5,000 tons, all having to make close to a 2,400-mile journey to the ocean. The shipyards grew from nearly nothing in 1939 to become industries employing thousands of men and women by 1945 and making a major contribution to the story of America in World War II.

World War II Shipbuilding in Duluth and Superior

Chesapeake Bay Shipwrecks

9781467128827

$24.99

North America's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, is fed by more than 150 major rivers and streams from parts of six states and the District of Columbia. Two hundred miles long, with a shoreline that includes more than 11,500 miles of tributaries, the bay has been a major economic lifeline since pre-Columbian times. As such, it is not surprising that the bay has seen its share of shipwrecks over the centuries-from small and large vessels foundering in storms, like the Levin J. Marvel, to naval and merchant ships of all sizes lost to collisions, fires, and wars, such as the US Coast Guard cutter Cuyahoga. The actual number of shipwrecks will never be known, but at least 3,000 in the bay and its tributaries have been documented-either in archives or newspapers or through underwater archaeology. While some wrecks saw great loss of life, others fortunately did not.

The Schuylkill Canal

9781467123440

$24.99

In 1825, the Schuylkill Navigation Company completed a waterway of 108 miles, linking Port Carbon to Philadelphia. The waterway, known as the Schuylkill Navigation but commonly referred to today as the Schuylkill Canal, consisted of a system of interconnected canals (often called reaches), locks, and slack-water pools to transport anthracite coal. Before that time, Philadelphia depended on the import of coal from Europe. The Schuylkill Canal was operational until 1931, around the time of the collapse of commercial traffic in the navigation. Only two watered stretches of the canal remain today: the approximately 2.5 miles of the original 3.5 miles of Oakes Reach between Oaks and Mont Clare and the one-mile reach in Manayunk. While these areas are no longer used for navigation, they are enjoyed recreationally by many in the surrounding communities.

Bethlehem Steel

9781467105521

$23.99

The Lehigh Valley Railroad established the Bethlehem Iron Company in 1860 along the Lehigh River in South Bethlehem. The Bethlehem Iron Company manufactured the largest steel axle to date to support the first Ferris wheel at the 1893 World's Fair.

Coast Guard Cutter Taney

9781467127745

$24.99

Commissioned in 1936, The Taney was one of seven Secretary-class cutters built for the US Coast Guard during the Great Depression.

She served continuously for 50 years, including service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Taney was in Honolulu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and participated in the defense of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. During World War II, she saw service in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. The Taney spent several years on ocean weather station duty in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Later, she patrolled the East Coast of the United States, performing drug interdiction duties. The Taney is the only surviving ship that was present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She was decommissioned in 1986 and has since been a museum ship in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where she hosts an annual Pearl Harbor commemoration on December 7.

New England Shipbuilding

9781467147088

$21.99

For more than four hundred years, New England shipyards have contributed significantly to America's maritime and naval supremacy. This compelling story is presented through the histories of seventy ships built from the colonial era down to modern times. Well-known vessels like the Constitution, the Nautilus, the Flying Cloud and the infamous whaleship Essex are included, but so, too, are lesser-known ships, including the ill-fated Wyoming and the far-ranging voyager Union. Every type of vessel is covered--their building or voyages making nautical news, often in exciting fashion, and their exploits filled with adventure, danger, tragedy and survival. Historian and author Glenn A. Knoblock explores the construction, life and demise of these ships and details their contribution to our nation's maritime heritage.

Cape Cod and the Portland Gale of 1898

9781467151672

$23.99

On the night of November 26, 1898, with a killer storm of historic proportions approaching, the steamer Portland set out from Boston. By the following night, the winter hurricane sent the vessel to the depths of Massachusetts Bay off Cape Cod, claiming nearly two hundred lives. On the Cape, a few dozen victims of the Portland disaster washed ashore, while ships piled up in harbors, high tides swept away railroad tracks, and the landscape and beaches were changed forever. Several Cape Cod mariners went to sea and never returned, caught in the gale's evil clutches. Local author Don Wilding revisits this disaster and the heroic deeds of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the Cape's citizenry in what came to be known as "The Portland Gale."

Cascade Locks and Canal

9781467108164

$23.99

A stretch of tumbling white water five miles long, the Cascades of the Columbia River were the single greatest barrier to inland river trade and travel in the Pacific Northwest. One solution, the Cascade Locks and Canal, took nearly 18 painstaking years to construct. From 1878 to 1896, hundreds of laborers blasted, chipped, and hauled over 800,000 cubic yards of rock and debris from the riverbed, carved and laid masonry, and welded steel to create the locks. After their completion, thousands of trips, millions of dollars in freight, and hundreds of thousands of passengers made their way through the locks. Made redundant in 1938 by the completion of the Bonneville Dam, the remnants of the structure are still visible today in Cascade Locks, Oregon.

Riverboats of Northern California

9780738574967

$24.99

California's mighty rivers served as the state's early superhighways. Riverboats transported countless tons of supplies, workers, and settlers from the coast to inland gold rush colonies and everywhere in between. Majestic sidewheelers and sternwheelers burning coal, wood, and oil plied the waterways of the delta, as well as the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Napa Rivers, and the lesser-known routes of the Sonoma and Petaluma. Starting with the Sitka in 1847, boats such as the Captain Weber, Jacinto, Fort Sutter, T.C. Walker, and J.R. McDonald ruled the rivers, visiting such ports as Courtland, Stockton, Sacramento, San Francisco, Marysville, Firebaugh, Yuba City, and Rio Vista.

New York's Liners

9781467123372

$24.99

For 175 years, passenger ships have crossed the Atlantic, linking the Old World with the New World. Between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants passed through the port of New York. National rivalries caused ships to grow in size, speed, and a comfort that had once been unimaginable. The advent of the passenger jet in 1958 changed how people travel. New York's harbor is now quieter, and there are no longer days with six liners ready to sail to fabled European ports. Happily, one can still sail to Europe, cruise the Caribbean, or take a world cruise from Manhattan aboard a new generation of liners like the Queen Mary 2. New York's Liners captures iconic images of the great ships from the 1890s to the present day.

The California Delta

9780738547879

$24.99

Welcome to the delta--California style! Over 1,000 miles of waterways lure sportsmen, boaters, and outdoor enthusiasts to the largest estuary in the western United States, surpassed nationally only by the Mississippi River Delta. For generations, the promise of lazy summer days has beckoned travelers to cruise the mighty Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Along with vacationers, however, agricultural users and commercial vessels from around the globe share in the California Delta's bounty. Over 23 million Californians rely on the delta watershed for drinking water, and diversions sustain the largest agricultural industry in the nation. The small towns dotting the sloughs from Collinsville to Stockton to Walnut Grove tell of a simpler time, while today's delta faces such challenges as wildlife-habitat restoration, water rights, housing development, and politics. Complicating these issues, aging levees throughout the low-lying region threaten a disaster of national proportions--and with that prospect, the very future of the California Delta.

Electric Boat Corporation

9780738545639

$24.99

Electric Boat Corporation has been a world leader in submarine development, design, and construction for more than a century. In 1900, the company delivered the Holland, the first submarine accepted by the United States Navy. Fifty-five years later, it turned fantasy into fact by sending the world's first nuclear-powered ship, the submarine Nautilus, off on its maiden voyage. It later built the world's first ballistic
missile-firing submarine, the George Washington, and most of the nation's current underseas fleet. Between those years, it pioneered standardized construction of merchant ships, submarine chasers, torpedo boats, and yachts and also produced airplanes, fishing trawlers, diesel engines, and electric motors. This collection of more than 200 archival photographs traces the company's sometimes roller-coaster existence through 10 historic decades when America--and Electric Boat Corporation--grew into an industrial giant. It is an engaging collective portrait of American ingenuity, know-how, and persistence driving technology to new heights.

Historic Shipwrecks and Rescues on Lake Michigan

9781467151962

$23.99

Facing the fury and danger of Lake Michigan

Ever since French explorers first cast their eyes on Lake Michigan, this huge inland sea has been the scene of thousands of shipwreck rescues and tragedies. As mishaps and disasters proliferated, a dedicated service of lifesavers arose. Braving perilous conditions, these servicemen pulled those aboard the merchant schooner Havanna from certain death. The intrepid St Joseph Lifesavers saved the crew and passengers of the City of Duluth. Sadly, not all rescues ended in heroism, as was the case with the doomed Arab that went down along with two other ships.

Author Michael Passwater captures the stories of shipwrecks and the brave men and women that risked their lives against an angry Lake Michigan.

Historic Shipwrecks and Rescues on Lake Michigan

Florida's Shipwrecks

9780738554136

$23.99

The Sunshine State has a rich maritime history spanning more than five centuries. Tragically, part of that history includes thousands of ships that have met their fates in Florida waters.

Potentially more than 5,000 shipwrecks reside off Florida's 1,200 miles of coastline, with hundreds more lost in the state's interior rivers. In and of itself, the Florida Keys archipelago, consisting of approximately 1,700 islands stretching 200 miles, is littered with the remains of close to 1,000 shipwrecks. In fact, many features of the Florida Keys were named after various shipwreck events, such as Fowey Rocks, which earned its name after the 1748 wrecking of the British warship HMS Fowey, and Alligator Reef, where the schooner USS Alligator met her demise in 1822. Florida's Shipwrecks utilizes captivating images to illustrate dramatic stories of danger and peril at sea, introducing readers to a fascinating cross-section of Florida's shipwreck history.

The Steamer Admiral

9781467125086

$24.99

John Streckfus began his small Acme Company in 1889 with one wooden packet boat, the steamer Verne Swain, out of Rock Island, Illinois, carrying people and goods on the Mississippi River. His business grew, but each year brought competition from the growing railroads. He decided that excursion boats were the only way to compete. He built the steamer J.S. in 1901 and "tramped" her from town to town offering excursions and dance cruises. By 1910, the company comprised four boats and an office in St. Louis and offered excursion cruises on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The flagship, the steamer Admiral, was far above the others. She provided excursions, fun, and memories for almost 40 years.

Ghosts of the USS Yorktown

9781609497811

$14.99

More than four decades after the great aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown last served her country, the ghosts of battle are still heard and felt onboard.

Staff members and visitors claim to have experienced disembodied voices, uniformed apparitions, shadowy masses and other unexplainable occurrences since the ""Fighting Lady"" first docked at Patriots Point. Join local author, investigator and "ghostorian'? Bruce Orr as he examines the history, haunting and heritage of the National Historic Landmark and home of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

Maritime Olympia and South Puget Sound

9781467125352

$24.99

This engaging pictorial history traces the evolution of South Puget Sound from the provider of rich resources for the First Nations to Olympia's role as an important international seaport. The estuary was named Puget's Sound after Lt. Peter Puget, of British captain George Vancouver's 1792 exploration of the region. The capital city of Olympia was a frequent stop for Mosquito Fleet steamers a century ago and has evolved into a major port for the worldwide export of timber. Today, people enjoy Olympia as a vibrant, modern seaport with many recreational opportunities.

Maine to Cape Horn

9781467150057

$21.99

Cape Horn conjures up images of wind-whipped waters and desperate mariners in frozen rigging. Long recognized as a maritime touchstone for sailors, it marks the spot where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet in one writhing mass. "Doubling" Cape Horn became the ultimate test, earning a prominent place in Maine maritime history. At the end of South America, it shares longitude 67° west exactly with Cutler, Maine, a direct north-south line of seven thousand miles. Maine Cape Horners were recognized by a golden earring. If they did not survive this most difficult journey in the world, the earring covered the costs of their funeral, should the body ever be found. Maritime historian Charles H. Lagerbom traveled to the end of the world to help research this exciting story of bold Mainers and their exhilarating and oftentimes deadly dance with danger.

Opium Kings of Old Hawaii

9781467147118

$21.99

In 1886, five men met at San Francisco's luxurious Baldwin Hotel to discuss a most profitable business: opium smuggling. The exploits of Will Whaley and his partners became the stuff of legend, with tales of landing contraband on deserted shores by the light of the moon, voyages across the Pacific, typhoons and shipwrecks. Their co-conspirator was the notorious Halcyon, a schooner that novelist Jack London once admiringly wrote "sailed like a witch." Despite the danger, betrayals and mysterious deaths, their success inspired copycats and competitors alike, eager to cash in on the lucrative drug trade. Join author and career law enforcement agent John Madinger as he recounts the incredible story of America's first organized drug trafficking ring.

Virginia Shipwrecks

9781467108096

$23.99

Virginia has more shipwrecks than any other state in the continental United States. With 112 miles of Atlantic coast, Virginia includes almost half of the Chesapeake Bay and many major tributaries: the Lynnhaven River, the Elizabeth River, the James River, the York River, and the Rappahannock River. Since the Jamestown settlement in 1607, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of military and merchant vessels have sailed through "the Capes,'? an important economic lifeline linking the United States to the rest of the world. With 3,315 miles of tidal coastline and natural enemies such as water, fire, wind, age, and human fallibility, countless ships and lives have been lost. Virginia Shipwrecks vividly illustrates their story.

Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island

9781467145213

$21.99

From the North Shore to the South Shore and out to the East End, Long Island is home to a nationally recognized and historic boat building industry. The Steiger Craft boats of Bellport are a local household name, trusted for their ability to navigate the shallow bay waters of the South Shore. Freeport legend Al Grover sold boats around the world for generations, built Verity skiffs for gas-conscious consumers in the 1980s and holds the Guinness World Record for the first outboard motorboat crossing of the Atlantic. The Hanff and Clarke boat yards in Greenport are more than just world-class boat builders--at more than 150 years old, they are historic landmarks. Author and folklorist Nancy Solomon shares the history and stories behind Long Island's traditional boat yards and boat builders.

Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

9781467129763

$23.99

Norfolk Naval Shipyard has a long history that predates the United States of America. Founded in 1767 as the Gosport Shipyard, it has been burned and rebuilt three times, once to prevent it from getting into the hands of the newly independent state of Virginia and twice during the early years of the Civil War. It has been in continuous operation since it was rebuilt after the American Civil War. Specializing in repairing, overhauling, and modernizing ships and submarines, it is the largest industrial facility owned and operated by the US Navy. Historic photographs from the archives of the Navy History and Heritage Command, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Public Affairs Office tell the story of one of the largest shipyards on earth and exemplify what American hands are capable of creating. These images serve as a reminder of the past for those who were stationed or worked at the shipyard, preserving history for future generations.

Battle for the Columbia River

9781467154086

$23.99

A war over riches on the Columbia River.
While the Civil War raged, a group of captains, merchants, bankers and gamblers in the Pacific Northwest formed the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The first capitalistic enterprise in the new state, they aimed to develop the richest and most powerful transportation operation in the region, dominating hundreds of miles of river traffic from the Pacific Coast to Montana. Achieving such status was anything but easy. They battled competitors, lawyers, the river herself, and defectors within their management team. In the unregulated business environment of the nineteenth century, men like John Ainsworth made their own rules, often deploying frontier justice against their enemies.
Join author Mychal Ostler as he recounts the battle for power that shaped an industry.

The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound

9781467150286

$23.99

Originally commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt as he built his maritime empire in New York, the Steamboat Lexington eventually became the most prestigious steamship on the heavily trafficked Long Island Sound... But in 1840 a fire broke out on the ship, igniting poorly placed bales of cotton which destroyed the ship in minutes. Emergency rafts sank and rescue boats were unable to reach the ship in time. Only four among the over one hundred and forty on board survived by clinging to bales of cotton. The incident would be the worst maritime disaster in Long Island history. Author Bill Bleyer presents the harrowing story of a ship's journey from glory to tragedy.

The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound

Maritime Chicago

9780738507613

$24.99

Strategically placed on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago has always been an important transportation and trading hub. Early Native American settlers discovered Chicago's rich resources, French missionaries and trappers found the Chicago River an excellent portage to the Des Plaines, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers, and merchants used it to ship lumber and grain to the rest of the world. Maritime Chicago tells the story of this city situated on a great "inland sea." From the thrill of two lakefront World's Fairs, to the unbelievable sorrow of the Eastland, which went down just a few feet from
the banks of the Chicago River, taking with it 800 souls, Chicago's maritime past bears witness to much triumph and tragedy, victory and defeat. Today, the 29 miles of lakefront, and the revived riverfront are vital parts of the economy and recreation of Chicago.

The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou

9781609495916

$21.99

Many imagine the settlement of the American West as signaled by the dust of the wagon train or the whistle of a locomotive. During the middle decades of the nineteenth century, though, the growth of Texas and points west centered on the seventy-mile water route between Galveston and Houston. This single vital link stood between the agricultural riches of the interior and the mercantile enterprises of the coast, with a round of operations that was as sophisticated and efficient as that of any large transport network today. At the same time, the packets on the overnight Houston-Galveston run earned a reputation as colorful as their Mississippi counterparts, complete with impromptu steamboat races, makeshift naval gunboats during the Civil War, professional gamblers and horrific accidents.

The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou

Long Island and the Sea

9781467138628

$24.99

For more than five centuries, the waterways surrounding Long Island have profoundly shaped its history.

Familiar subjects of lighthouses, shipwrecks and whaling are found alongside oft-forgotten oddities such as Pan-American flying boats landing in Manhasset Bay in the early days of transatlantic flight. From the British blockade and skirmishes during the American Revolution to the sinking of merchant vessels by Germany in World War II, the sea brought wars to these shores. By the later part of the 20th century, Gold Coast millionaires commuted in high-speed yachts to Manhattan offices as the island's wealth grew. Historian Bill Bleyer reveals Long Island's nautical bonds from the Native Americans to current efforts to preserve the region's maritime heritage.

Bath Iron Works

9780738510590

$24.99

Bath Iron Works was established by Gen. Thomas Hyde in 1884 and launched its first ship in 1891. This collection of shipbuilding photographs brings to life the proud history of Bath Iron Works.

Since then, the shipyard on the Kennebec River has built dozens of luxurious yachts, hardworking freighters, tugs, trawlers, lightships, and more than two hundred twenty warships for the U.S. Navy. Today, Bath Iron Works continues a shipbuilding tradition that began nearly four hundred years ago when the first ship built in America was constructed just a few miles downriver from Bath. Bath Iron Works showcases a unique collection of photographs that provides a rare view inside one of the nation's great shipyards. The book shows the yard's origins in a few simple buildings, its expansion into a modern shipbuilding facility, and its rapid growth into an industrial powerhouse during World War II. During these years, Bath Iron Works produced famous ships such as the America's Cup defender Ranger, the yachts Aras and Hi-Esmaro, the record-setting destroyer USS Lamson, and fully one fourth of all destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Bath Iron Works gives an insider's view of these great vessels and many others, as skilled craftspeople turn raw materials into complex ships, each uniquely suited to its purpose.

Hidden History of Islip Town

9781467149617

$21.99

The patchwork of beach towns, villages and hamlets that make up Islip Town represents some of the most historic communities on the whole of Long Island. Local Secatogue Native Americans harrowingly saved the Dutch survivors of one of New York's first shipwrecks in 1657. New York City's infamous Tammany Hall leased an entire summer resort island in Islip Town for decades. In 1912, a young woman from Sayville sacrificed her own life for another on the RMS Titanic. Islip Town's founding father, William Nicoll, owned the largest parcel on Long Island's South Shore but was blocked from owning even a grain of sand on Fire Island. A penniless Dutch immigrant to Islip Town became the world's "Oyster King." Join author and historian Jack Whitehouse as he reveals buried stories from Islip Town's past.

Historic Shipwrecks of Coastside California

9781467155557

$24.99

The stretch of California coast from San Francisco to Monterey has seen its share of disastrous shipwrecks with devastating losses, but there are also stories of courage, innovative rescues and unique salvage operations. Uncover the tale of the adventurous, ill-fated Sir John Franklin, now marked only by a nearly forgotten cemetery, and relive the wreck of the New York, one of the most notorious ships to ever sail. Learn about the Coastside's worst maritime tragedy, when the passenger steamship San Juan was struck by the oil tanker twice her size and sank in minutes, plunging seventy-five men, women and children into the sea. Join author JoAnn Semones as she shares the stories of doomed ships that found their end along Coastside California.

Historic Shipwrecks of Coastside California

Shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank:

9781626198043

$21.99

Beneath the churning surface of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary rest the bones of shipwrecks and sailors alike. Massachusetts' ports connected its citizens to the world, and the number of merchant and fishing vessels grew alongside the nation's development. Hundreds of ships sank on the trade routes and fishing grounds between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. Their stories are waiting to be uncovered--from the ill-fated steamship Portland to collided schooners Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary and the burned dragger Joffre. Join historian John Galluzzo and maritime archaeologists Matthew Lawrence and Deborah Marx as they dive in to investigate the sunken vessels and captivating history of New England's only national marine sanctuary.

A.J. Meerwald and New Jersey’s Oyster Industry, The

9781467147941

$21.99

New Jersey's Roaring Twenties saw mob rumrunning operations, Nucky Johnson's Boardwalk Empire and a new craze for dining on local oysters. Whether it was fancy Oysters Rockefeller or simply on the half shell, nationwide demand for the state's Delaware Bay oysters made boomtowns out of Port Norris and Bivalve. Built in 1928, the A.J. Meerwald was a new type of schooner specifically built for oystering the famed Delaware Bay oysters while under sail. As the Depression arrived and wreaked havoc on the industry, the Meerwald stayed afloat, serving with the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and then taking up clamming until eventually being discarded on a mud bank. Found and restored to glory, the ship now tours the state's coasts as New Jersey's official tall ship. Authors Rachel Dolhanczyk and Constance McCart chart the history of New Jersey oysters and the historic ship that carries on the industry's traditions today.

A.J. Meerwald and New Jersey’s Oyster Industry, The

Maurice River Township

9781467126434

$24.99

The Maurice River Township area was first settled by the Lenni-Lenape along the Maurice River prior to the arrival of European explorers in the 1600s. The Maurice River became important for many industries, including oystering, commercial fishing, and crabbing. Dorchester and Leesburg, especially the Delaware Bay Shipbuilding Company, were well known for shipbuilding, and the area was very active during World War II. The township has been long recognized for agriculture due to its wonderful sandy ground. The soil has played an important role in the glass industry since the late 1800s, with the silica/sand utilized in a thriving glass-manufacturing business, initially in Port Elizabeth. The railroads were first built to ship oysters to large cities in the late 1800s to mid-1900s but were also employed to transport sand for the glass business and wood for the lumber industry. Many of the enterprises from earlier days have vanished in time, and along with them, some villages have entirely disappeared.

San Francisco's Aquatic Park

9780738530840

$24.99

Aquatic Park has long been the place where San Franciscans and tourists alike go to enjoy an authentic maritime experience. Along Hyde Street Pier and the sandy strip of beach near the Maritime Museum, this area was once called Black Point Cove. It now hosts a dramatic array of historic ships such as the Balclutha (formerly Star of Alaska) and a graceful curvilinear pier with a sweeping vista of the Golden Gate. For most of its history, this park has seen recreational use of every stripe. Members of the delightful Dolphin Club have braved the chilly bay waters ever since the club was founded in 1877. Then there is the South End Rowing Club, which for many decades has carried on its graceful traditions in the protected lagoon.

Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes

9781467149952

$21.99

The author of Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses shares tales of disaster and misfortune on the Great Lakes.

Losing one's life while tending to a Great Lakes lighthouse sadly wasn't such an unusual occurrence. Death by murder, suicide or other tragic causes--while rare--were not unheard of. Two keepers on Lake Superior's Grand Island disappeared one early summer day in 1908, their decomposed remains found weeks later. A newly hired and some say depressed keeper on Pilot Island in Wisconsin's Door County slit his own throat after a consultation with a local butcher about the location of the jugular vein. A smallpox outbreak in the late 1890s led to the tragic death of a lighthouse hired hand on South Bass Island in Lake Erie.

Join author Dianna Stampfler as she uncovers the facts (and debunks some fiction) behind some of the Great Lakes' darkest lighthouse tales.