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Skeleton ship frames surround Au Sable Point, marking a mile-long sandstone reef that reached out into Lake Superior waiting to grab any and all ships that passed by. In an effort to end this tragic loss of lives, the Au Sable Point Lighthouse was constructed to warn mariners of its hidden reef. At the heart of the famed Shipwreck Coast," Au Sable Point was a beacon of hope and safety. Mikel B. Classen charts the history of the lighthouse and the dangerous reef that waits six feet under the lake's surface and serves as the final resting place for so many sailors."

Shortly after World War II, three Dearborn brothers bought a vacant parcel to build a drive-in theater. Local groups opposed them, fearing such a place would elicit immoral behavior." But the Clark family persevered to see its movie palace become a Metro Detroit mainstay, hosting celebrities, rock stars and a never-ending line of families with kids in footie pajamas. A handshake transferred ownership to movie magnate Charles Shafer and his business partner, Bill Clark, who expanded the theater to a massive nine screens. But blockbusters and hordes of teens couldn't mitigate the effects of Detroit's decline, auto company bankruptcies and Michigan's economic malaise. Despite it all, the mighty Ford-Wyoming kept the movies showing, bringing a bit of Hollywood glamour to the gritty Motor City."

Capitol Park is the only city park in America where a state's first governor is buried. It's the birthplace of democracy in Michigan. Underground Railroad site. Streetcar and transit hub. Urban canyon. A block north of Detroit's iconic Coney Island restaurants. A symbol of the city's late twentieth-century decay, now a key part of its revitalization in a new millennium. Jack Dempsey, award-winning author of "Michigan and the Civil War" and president of the Michigan Historical Commission, uncovers tales of a uniquely inspirational public space that epitomizes the ups and downs of Detroit's three centuries.