New Book Releases

The maritime history of Cape Ann, on the northern coast of Massachusetts, is filled with stories of heroism, adventure, and human endeavor.

The lighthouses and lifesaving stations surrounding Cape Ann since the late 18th century have served to protect and safeguard the area's mariners and major industries. Fishing, shipbuilding, and granite quarrying businesses all flourished under their watchful eyes. They provided artists with spectacular subject matter and attracted tourists from around the world to visit them. This book highlights the heroism and dedication of the lighthouse keepers and lifesaving surfmen who served. Cape Ann is famous for being the home of America's oldest seaport in Gloucester and America's most painted building, Motif No. 1, in Rockport.

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.

The Topsfield Fair is the oldest agricultural fair in America. In 1818, men of Essex County formed the Essex Agricultural Society in Topsfield, Massachusetts, with Col. Timothy Pickering of Salem, a Revolutionary War hero, agriculturist, and elder statesman as president. The mission was to promote and share new and progressive methods of agriculture and to show cattle at an annual outing. For nearly a century, the fair was moved to various towns within the county until 1910, when it settled into its permanent home in Topsfield. For nearly two hundred years, the Topsfield Fair has attracted millions of people to witness a spectacular fall event rooted in agriculture but also filled with thrills and family entertainment. Many forms of horse, dog, motorcycle, and automobile racing over the years have garnered gate receipts to pay for premiums and permanent display buildings for the agricultural exhibitions. Exhibits range from home and farm products to horses, poultry, oxen, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, rabbits, bees, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and trees. Vaudeville, water follies, pageants, rodeos, thrilling acts and rides, singing stars, horse hitches, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the commercial and food establishments have always added to the atmosphere of the fair.

Author James Claflin combines an extensively researched text with this exquisite collection of many previously unpublished images to tell the story of a state dependent upon its coastal commerce.

Lighthouses and Life Saving along the Massachusetts Coast is a unique tribute to the men and women who protected mariners from shipping disasters. With a variety of vintage images from private as well as museum collections,this rare glimpse into the lives of the dedicated workers who protected thousands of vessels plying the dangerous waters of Massachusetts Bay and Nantucket Sound is a visual journey to an earlier era in our nation's history. From Cape Ann to New Bedford, residents of Massachusetts have relied heavily on the sea for employment, trade, and nourishment. The task of lighting and protecting the coasts was taken on by the U. S. Lighthouse Establishment and the U. S. Life-Saving Service. Within these pages, see the Cape Ann lighthouse keeper proudly posed in his uniform, the Cape Cod life savers launching their surf-boat through the breakers toward the shipwreck, and the Boston Bay lighthouse keeper's family returning by skiff from their brief excursion to town.

For centuries, heroic men and women have guarded the treacherous yet beloved Cape Cod coastlines. From Provincetown to Chatham, Sandwich to Cuttyhunk, and many towns in between, residents have relied on the Atlantic for employment and nourishment. But Cape Cod has always been plagued with a shifting coastline that consistently defies mariners' efforts to pass through Massachusetts waters. In 1792, as shipping increased, mariners petitioned for a sorely needed lighthouse. It was not until 1797 that the first lighthouse on Cape Cod was built at the Highlands in North Truro. More lights and rescue stations would follow as the seas claimed their toll. Many lightship stations were also established from Chatham through Nantucket Sound to mark the constantly changing sandbars submerged offshore--more than in any other spot along the US coastline. Today, as sea levels change and sands continue to shift, some of these historic stations have been lost or moved, while still others are preserved only in such photographs as these.