In a charming blend of history and human interest, this book paints a colorful portrait of the lives of a vanished breed the lighthouse keepers from the year 1716, when the first lighthouse was established in America, to the early 1980s when automation replaced the last human guardian of the light. A wealth of material from the archives of the 19th and 20th centuriesss primarily letters, diaries, and newspaper accounts provides vivid stories about lighthouse keeping in this country: the daily work; coping with fog, storms and other catastrophes; legends and ghosts; women s and families'...

Who invented the best lighthouse lens? What do the colors mean on lighthouses? Which Florida lighthouse is sometimes is mistaken for a rocket? Why did Seminoles set fire to Cape Florida Lighthouse? Why did a cat parachute off St. Augustine Lighthouse? Which Florida lighthouse wears colorful holiday lights? Where do Florida's skeleton lighthouses and spider lighthouses stand? When is Florida Lighthouse Day celebrated? How do Florida lighthouses run automatically? Florida Lighthouses for Kids answers these questions and more. A lively text, rich in pictures, details the history and lore...

Elinor De Wire has been writing about lighthouses and their keepers since 1972. During that time she found that hundreds of lighthouse animals wandered into her research notes and photo collection. This book is the story of all these cold-nosed, whiskered, wooly, hoofed, horned, slithery, buzzing, feathered, and finned keepers of the lights. Where else would a dog learn to ring a fogbell; a cat go swimming and catch a fish for its supper; or a parrot cuss the storm winds rattling its cage? Who other than a lightkeeper would swim a cow home, tame a baby seal, adopt an orphan alligator, send...