Name: Lighthouses of the Ventura Coast
Brand: Rose Castro-Bran
SKU: 9780738581866
Price: 18.74 USD
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Lighthouses of the Ventura Coast

9780738581866

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The Ventura County coast has been illuminated for more than a century by three distinctive lighthouses, united in their mission of warning mariners of coastal hazards and guiding ships to safe passage. Port Hueneme's original 1874 Victorian Stick Style lighthouse stood sentry until it was replaced in 1940 by the still-standing art moderne structure, which guards the only deepwater port on the California coast between San Francisco and San Pedro. The Anacapa Island Light, a cylindrical brick structure in the Channel Islands lit in 1932, was the last new lighthouse on the West Coast. Ventura, originally dubbed San Buenaventura by Fr. Junipero Serra in 1782, extends its "good fortune" to the steamers, warships, tankers, and other craft guided to safety by these navigation beacons.

Mansions of Morris County

9780738500645

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This pictorial record of Morris County, New Jersey, traces the dramatic rise of America's least-known colony of millionaires during the Gilded Age. The area became a country retreat for the upper class. Families such as the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Kountzes, Wolffs, Dodges, and Claflins built impressive estates in the area referred to as the
inland Newport. By the 1920s, the prominence of Morris County was eclipsed by the lure of Long Island, and its economy was being threatened by the Depression. Faced with high taxes from the newly established income tax, skyrocketing maintenance costs, and a dwindling reservoir of help, the wealthy residents began razing their mansions. Although many of these vast estates have been long gone and forgotten, author John W. Rae's collection of early Morris County photographs recaptures the area's palatial homes in their full grandeur. Within the pages of Morris County Mansions, Rae invites you to join him on a visual tour of the magnificent architecture of the Gilded Age. Meet the area's
prominent families and discover little-known facts about the homes in which they resided.

Cover image for Mansions of Morris County, isbn: 9780738500645

Maryland's Lighthouses

9780738553450

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In Colonial times, as the Chesapeake Bay and larger rivers became vital shipping channels, the need arose to mark Maryland's dangerous shoals and waterways. Lighthouses sprang up throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, including wood-framed cottages placed upon screw pile foundations that stood offshore in the unforgiving waters. Most of these unique structures did not survive, lost tragically to ice that also occasionally claimed the lives of the keepers who faithfully tended them and rescued mariners in trouble. With the advent of electricity and GPS, many beacons succumbed to vandalism and neglect, leaving a fraction remaining.

Meteor Crater

9781467116183

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There have been numerous books and periodicals written about Meteor Crater, the meteorites, and the crater's scientific value, but this book, with supporting images, is more about people. The story covers some history of the crater's founding and the many people who have been, and presently are, associated with the custody and maintenance of the site, preserving it for future scientific study and generations of visitors. These people include geologists, astrophysicists, astronauts, generations of families named Barringer and Tremaine, and local ranchers named Chilson-Prosser. All have, and continue to, influence and shape what the site has become, each adding their signature to the famous landmark. Today, these families, supported by Meteor Crater Enterprises management and staff of dedicated people, continue the legacy of sharing the history and science with 250,000 annual visitors from around the globe while they continue to focus on preserving the scientific integrity of the crater for future generations.

Missions of Central California

9780738596808

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After the discovery of Alta California, the Spanish Crown charged the first Franciscan friars to enter into the New World through Lower Baja, with a succession of conquistadors, explorers, and soldiers, on a trail called El Camino Real or "The Royal Road." The settlement began in 1769 at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, a new port and military presidio with buildings of mud, brushwood, and tule grass. Fr. Junípero Serra, the legendary mission presidente and founding father of nine missions, traveled along a worn path lined today by symbolic bell markers leading to many remarkable, modern cities. After 1772, settlements were spread to California's central coast region, filling with native neophytes who became the residents and builders of all mission settlements. The Spanish missions had brought dramatic changes to California's landscape and forged the underpinnings of its earliest history, founded serendipitously with the American Revolution and birth of the United States.

Missions of Monterey

9780738596822

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The storm-tossed caravel ship San Salvador passed the coastline of Point Pinos in 1542 and propelled Portuguese shipwright and sailor Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo into history with the discovery of Alta California for the Spanish crown. An enduring legacy followed with Fr. Junipero Serra's landing in San Diego and the founding of his first mission in 1769. Into Alta California entered explorers, soldiers, and Franciscan missionaries bringing their culture, faith, and intent to colonize the New World. Father Serra's 1770 journey to Monterey, carefully planned in Mexico City, involved the arrival of a few hundred intrepid travelers over land and sea to secure Alta California's new capital. A small group consecrated Mission San Carlos de Borromeo in the pine-forested flat of New Spain's presidio. The momentum of the missions over the next 80 years resulted in California's statehood and in the raising of the American flag in Monterey by 1850.

Missions of San Diego

9780738596839

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California's first settlement began on a trail called El Camino Real, or "The Royal Road," that was traveled by missionary pathfinders, soldiers, and conquistadors on a dramatic journey into a mysterious land. Monterey was discovered in 1603, leading to the quest. Explorers Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Bautista de Anza, along with ambitious Franciscan missionaries, founded 21 monumental Spanish missions and several asistencias and chapels for native neophytes, travelers, and visitors to Alta California. Following the initial landing in 1769 at San Diego's seaport, Fr. Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, California's first landmark, at the original presidio site. The mission stands today exactly where it was moved, rebuilt, and completed in 1813. The native populations of California witnessed years of change from a sleepy province to the status of US statehood. The Spanish missions forged the powerful underpinnings of the Golden State's earliest settlements 80 years prior to the world's largest migration to California, the 1849 Gold Rush.

North Point Milwaukee Lighthouse

9780738582641

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The North Point Milwaukee Lighthouse, neatly nestled in beautifully landscaped Lake Park on Milwaukee's east side, is a local maritime jewel. Incorporated as part of legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's grand design for this scenic urban park, North Point rests far atop a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, making it one of the highest light stations on the Great Lakes. Three distinctly different lighthouses have been located here, each with its own unique story. Notable keepers include Georgia Stebbins, who came to North Point as a sickly young woman and was transformed by fresh air and hard work into a feisty, dedicated lightkeeper and served with distinction for over 30 years. Abandoned and boarded up for many years, North Point has been resurrected from near ruin. Today, the North Point Lighthouse Friends see to it that this historic sentinel is preserved for future generations.

Ocean City

9780738524474

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What was once a whale-processing center in the 1700s emerged as a destination for sun and fun by drawing the biggest names and the classic American families of the early twentieth century.

Nestled along the New Jersey coastline and built to be one of the original seaside tourist destinations, Ocean City still sets the standard for resort living along the mid-Atlantic. As our country's search for the ideal vacation grew, this 7-mile stretch of beach cultivated a rich history and a reputation as one of the most alluring communities on the East Coast.

Ocean City’s Historic Hotels

9781467121965

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Ocean City, New Jersey, was founded as a "Christian seaside resort" in 1879. Soon thereafter, it became a vibrant year-round community and a highly desirable summer retreat. Hotels were integral to the city's success. The most famous of these was the Flanders Hotel, which opened to much fanfare in 1923. It was built in the Spanish Mission Revival style and named after Belgium's Flanders Field; today, it is in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to other stately hotels, such as the Brighton, the Biscayne, and the Bellevue, many smaller hotels and guesthouses, like Jernee Manor, the Castle Inn, Locksley Hall, and the Scarborough Inn, were also established. Ocean City's Historic Hotels features the rich architectural and recreational history of this New Jersey coastal town and its many hotels.

Ohio Lighthouses

9780738583327

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Ohio Lighthouses reveals a multitude of stories about the structures along Lake Erie. It chronicles make overs, such as the transformation of the 1821 Marblehead Lighthouse from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. It also documents heartbreaking tales, like the story of the fire at the Green Island Lighthouse that started during a New Year's dinner while the lighthouse keeper's son watched from a mile away on South Bass Island; he, along with friends, unable to come to the rescue in a snowstorm. It touches on the strength of Mother Nature, such as late one fall when a blizzard struck as two lighthouse keepers were preparing to leave the Ashtabula Lighthouse for the winter. For three days, waves washed over the lighthouse in sub-zero temperatures, and water froze as it fell. The sun came out on the fourth day, but the men found themselves unable to open the door. Other interesting histories include those of the lost lighthouse, a disappearing lighthouse sinking into Lake Erie, a Romanesque lighthouse 8 miles from shore, the wood lighthouse on a slightly sinful island, the lighthouse built to last forever but slated for the wrecking ball, and more.

Pittsburgh's Mansions

9781467120159

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A collection of images celebrating the extravagant and historic mansions of Pittsburgh, PA.

In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city's East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside. Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area's prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

Point Cabrillo Light Station

9780738559506

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Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, on the rugged coast of Mendocino County in Northern California, was first lit as an aid to navigation on June 10, 1909. The light station continues to serve mariners and is regarded as one of the crown jewels of lighthouses on the West Coast. In July 1850, just north of the future site of the lighthouse, the clipper brig Frolic wrecked in its journey from China to Gold Rush-era San Francisco. European settlers in search of salvage from the cargo found instead Mendocino's vast strands of virgin redwood timber stretching inland from the coast. Getting this valuable lumber to market in the mid-19th century required ships, and ships needed lighthouses to guide them. In 1909, the light known today as Point Cabrillo was built on a windswept promontory two miles north of the village of Mendocino.

Point Piedras Blancas

9780738558196

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For thousands of years, Point Piedras Blancas, located along the central coast of California, has attracted people to its rocky, windswept shores. In ancient times, it was used by Native American cultures. Since 1875, it has been the site of a First Order Lighthouse, warning ships to steer clear of its rocky shoals, a duty it continues to fulfill. Although the years have not been kind to this stunning area nor to the lighthouse, new life is being breathed into it by a partnership of enthusiastic community volunteers and government agencies. Their common goal is to restore this magnificent site to its original state while reintroducing the natural environment that was almost obliterated during the past four decades.

Resorts of Lake County

9780738547985

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Beginning in the 1860s, the first vestiges of the resorts of Lake County appeared around the sparkling pools of the region's many hot springs and upon the shores of Clear Lake. Lured by the supposed medicinal qualities of the water, people flocked to rustic campgrounds and cabins to "take the cure" for their ailments, drink, and bathe, staying for long periods each summer. Within a few years, ambitious
entrepreneurs bottled the springs' mineral waters and built more luxurious accommodations and amenities. Although the claims of curative waters lost sway over time, resorts equipped with extensive
recreational facilities, dance floors, live music, bountiful food, hunting, fishing, and children's entertainment continued to draw visitors in droves. Families filled the resorts in summers, and by the 1940s, large group and society meetings as well as conventions began to utilize the resorts on spring and fall weekends. Though few original resorts remain, today, in 2007, the region's business directory lists 51 Lake County resorts.

Resorts of Riverside County

9780738530789

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For all the faults attributed to the San Andreas, its one very soothing aspect has been an enormous spiderweb of cracks spreading throughout the geologic formations of what became Riverside County. These fissures yielded springs and grottos of warm waters to which thankful pioneers and snake-oil salesmen alike attributed curative powers. In the 20th century, vacationers seeking relaxation, together with those afflicted with a myriad of maladies, came to Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Glen Ivy, Murrieta Hot Springs, and a dozen other wide places in the road to bathe in the balmy waters beneath desert breezes.

Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon

9780738599953

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In the spring of 1916, Ruby and Minnie Syrett packed up their children and belongings and traveled to their new homestead at the gateway of what would one day become Bryce Canyon National Park. In the early 20th century, Southern Utah was still pioneer country. Hardy descendants of Mormon converts worked to tame the land and create productive farms. Little time was left to marvel at the scenery that surrounded their small communities. By 1919, the Syretts found themselves providing food and lodging for visitors who had learned of the canyon's scenic wonder. A tourist lodge was constructed and opened in the spring of 1920. By 1923, Bryce's Canyon was well known throughout the country and was proclaimed a national monument. From the beginning, Ruby and Minnie were committed to providing the very best in heartfelt Western hospitality. This small community continues to provide the facilities and amenities required to take care of the 1.5 million annual visitors from around the world who come to enjoy Bryce Canyon National Park.

Santa Fe's Historic Hotels

9781467130097

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It is unknown when the earliest commercial lodging establishment came to Santa Fe. However, the first clear identification of a hotel at a specific site in Santa Fe dates to 1833, when Mary and James Donoho operated an inn on the site of what is now La Fonda on the Plaza, the Inn at the End of the Trail. This book presents an overview of Santa Fe hotels from the past and highlights the city's important remaining historic hotels. The chapters include key establishments that had their start in the early 20th century and continue in operation today. Most of them are still in buildings with considerable historic and architectural significance, such as Bishop's Lodge, La Fonda, and the St. Francis. A chapter on an iconic Route 66 motor court, which is now known as the lovingly preserved El Rey Inn, is also included.

Sea Bright

9780738557625

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In the mid-1800s, a quaint fishing village, called Nauvoo at the time, was the largest fishery on the New Jersey seacoast. By the end of the 19th century, this fishing village had grown into the flourishing seaside resort of Sea Bright. Luxurious hotels like the Normandie-by-the-Sea, Sea Bright Inn, and the Octagon House were built, transforming the town into a haven for the wealthy, who built elegant cottages along its coast. The famous Pannaci Hotel and Restaurant became known as the "Delmonico of Sea Bright." Today Sea Bright continues to draw vacationers and residents alike with its glistening water and beautiful sandy beaches.

Sea Girt Lighthouse

9781467115810

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In the New Jersey shore community of Sea Girt, where Commodore Robert Stockton's oceanfront mansion had a porch as long as a ship's deck from which he surveyed the waters, a lighthouse was built in 1896. Sea Girt Lighthouse illuminated a dark space, providing a crucial guiding light to passing ships. The station would become a lighthouse of distinction and innovation. In 1920, it was the first land-based lighthouse with a radio beacon transmitter, enabling ships to navigate through fog. During World War II, the Coast Guard extinguished the light, stood watch in the tower, and patrolled the beaches. No matter the mission, the lighthouse met every challenge. In 1956, the town acquired the decommissioned lighthouse, making it the library and recreation center. By 1981, however, the building needed extensive repairs and was at risk of being sold. Concerned residents formed the Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee to "save our lighthouse." And they did, restoring it, preserving its history, and keeping it busy with community events.

South Carolina Lighthouses

9780738554006

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Boasting one of the oldest lighthouses in North America and the most working lighthouses today, South Carolina has a long seafaring history. In 1767, the Morris Island Lighthouse was built at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, and before 1860, there were lighthouses in Georgetown, Cape Romain, Bull's Bay, and Hunting Island. During the Civil War, all lighthouses on the eastern coast were darkened. Many were destroyed. After the war, towers that had been damaged were repaired, and additional lights were erected on Daufuskie and Hilton Head Islands. In 1962, the new Charleston Light on Sullivan's Island replaced the Morris Island Lighthouse, which was suffering from erosion by the ever-encroaching sea. The new light contained an elevator and two rotating beacons capable of producing 28 million candlepower, a light that can be seen 26 miles out to sea. At that time, it was considered one of the most powerful lights in the Western Hemisphere.

The Berkshires

9780738536606

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A beautiful vacation destination today, the Berkshires has been the chosen enclave for many influential and artistic notables since the 18th century.

Those hustling to find lodging in the Berkshires today may not know they are repeating a two-hundred fifty- year-old ritual. In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, the Berkshires played host to some of the most fascinating characters in American literature, politics, business, and the arts. They came with the warm breezes and left when they felt the first cold snap in the autumnal air. The Berkshires: Coach Inns to Cottages is a photographic record of Berkshire dwelling places from the rough simplicity of stagecoach inns to the glittering luxury of Gilded Age cottages. Come inside the Berkshire coach inns where ""one might be subjected to disagreeable exposures,"" as Timothy Dwight noted in 1823. Come inside the Berkshire cottages where the rich and powerful were entertained according to the precepts of fashionable society. Use this volume as a guide to the many structures that have been preserved.

The Blaine House

9781467120579

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The Blaine House in Augusta is one of Maine's most notable homes. In 1862, three decades after the house was built by Capt. James Hall in the early 1830s, James and Harriet Blaine moved in. The home became the setting for one of the most meteoric careers in American politics, during which James Blaine served as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, US senator, secretary of state, and Republican candidate for president in 1884. After the deaths of her parents, the Blaines' daughter Harriet Blaine Beale gave the house to the state in 1919. Since 1920, it has served as the official residence of the state's governors and their families. As a symbol of state government, it ranks with the Maine State House. The house has been a National Historic Landmark since 1964. Architecturally, it reflects a combination of Federal, Victorian, and Colonial Revival styles. Today, the Blaine House functions as a social showcase for Maine, a working office, and family living quarters.

Cover image for The Blaine House, isbn: 9781467120579

Twin Lights of Thacher Island, Cape Ann

9780738572284

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Thacher Island was named for Anthony Thacher who, in 1635, lost his four children and other family members in a shipwreck during the most severe storm to ever hit the Massachusetts coast. Only Anthony and his wife Elizabeth survived. The lighthouses have played an important role in several wars, including the Revolutionary War and World Wars I and II, when the navy established a radio compass station to protect the coast from enemy submarines. A ship bearing a U.S. president almost wrecked on Thacher Island, and the island was used as a witness protection site for a Mafia criminal. Twin Lights of Thacher Island, Cape Ann captures the history, adventures, and intimate stories from over 200 years of lighthouse keepers living on the island, including how the two towers were built and how scientific discoveries were applied to improve the lights over the years.

United States Life-Saving Service in Michigan

9780738507781

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Michigan, the Great Lakes State, is full of rich maritime traditions and with these traditions comes the danger and risk of shipwreck. Author William D. Peterson has compiled in this new book a photographic history of the United States Life-Saving Service in the Great Lakes region, and immortalizes in it the men who paved the way for the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. In 1854, the U.S. Government provided funds for lighthouses, boats, and life-saving equipment along the Atlantic seaboard to alleviate shipping disasters. These early efforts greatly reduced the number of lives and property lost to shipwrecks. In the heart of the Midwest, however, the Great Lakes alone claimed 4,500 vessels, 1,300 people, and more than 27 million dollars in monetary damages between 1855 and 1876. These staggering losses prompted Congress to pass legislation putting the United States Life-Saving Service (USLSS) into operation in Michigan and other Great Lakes States. Pictured here in almost 200 images and detailed captions are Michigan's 38 USLSS stations and their crews along the Great Lakes, including Ottawa Point, Grand Haven, Holland, and South Manitou Island.

United States Life-Saving Service in Michigan

US Life-Saving Service

9781467124188

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Ten houses of refuge, unique to Florida's east coast, were constructed by the US Life-Saving Service between 1876 and 1886. When ships traveling along the almost uninhabited coast were grounded or wrecked on reefs, survivors often made it to land but had no way to reach civilization. House of refuge keepers and their families provided food and shelter to victims of shipwrecks. The keepers' lives were monotonous but punctuated with the excitement of an occasional shipwreck. The US Life-Saving Service provided the framework on which the east coast of Florida developed. With the establishment of the US Coast Guard in 1915, the Life-Saving Service houses of refuge became Coast Guard stations.

White Mountain

9780738563770

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The White Mountains attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, all fascinated by the natural beauty of the area and awestruck each season anew by what the region has to offer. Adventurous city-dwellers began arriving almost as soon as carriages and dirt roads could carry them. As the number of visitors has increased with each passing year, one of the most telling barometers of change in the White Mountains has been the hostelry. This wonderful visual history reveals the history of the hotels, inns, and taverns in the White Mountains, and explains their impact on the area from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth. Travel was an adventure in the mid-nineteenth century--not for the weak of heart--and travelers would generally find
accommodations in taverns on stage routes or in local farmhouses. The arrival of "steel roads" made the region much more accessible, and large, opulent hotels were built to cater to the rich and famous
while more modest country inns provided a quieter environment for artists and writers seeking sanctuary from the cities. Some of the most fascinating images here portray the opulent lifestyle that was enjoyed amidst the forests and falls of the mountains and capture a sense of serenity that was not to last.

White Sands National Monument

9781467130646

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The world's largest gypsum dune field, the 275-square-mile dunes of White Sands National Monument are a geologic oddity more than 250 million years in the making. Located in Southern New Mexico, the popularity of the monument draws nearly half a million visitors each year to the National Park Service's southwestern region. The area is protected from encroachment by the boundaries of the US Army's White Sands Missile Range and houses no less than 144 species of birds, 20 unique mammals, and 371 types of insects. The gypsum's beauty has been captured by photographers and filmmakers for more than a century. Both Hollywood and scientists alike have sought after the monument's stunning otherworldly visuals to mimic other countries and worlds. The deserts of Qatar were recreated for Transformers (2007), and the monument has been identified as a potential analog site for Mars.

Wind Point Lighthouse

9780738550633

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Several lighthouses have called Racine home, but none is more synonymous with the nautical heritage of the "Belle City" than Wind Point. Always a beehive of activity, the Wind Point Lighthouse is one of the larger lighthouse complexes on the Great Lakes, and a hardworking keeper, two assistants, and their families made their livelihood here. For over 125 years, the tall stately tower has faithfully stood guard, shining its bright beam out over Lake Michigan nightly. Countless mariners relied on the Wind Point Lighthouse, along with a booming trademark foghorn for safe passage. Today the Wind Point Lighthouse is the most well-known symbol of Racine and is a success story among Great Lakes lights. A devoted friends group, in partnership with the Village of Wind Point, sees that the legacy and history of the Wind Point Lighthouse is preserved for future generations.