Lighthouses and Life Saving Along the Connecticut and Rhode Island Coast

Book excerpt: Lighthouses and Life Saving along the Connecticut and Rhode Island Coast is the third in a series of titles offering a unique tribute to the men and women who protected the mariners as they traveled along New England's rocky coastline. Thousands of vessels faced the dangers of the rugged sea which caused hundreds of shipwrecks off the coast with devastating losses. Author James Claflin combines a thoroughly descriptive text with this diverse collection of over two hundred vintage images, from private as well as museum collections, to create an illustrated history of an area strongly reliant on its coastal trade. The U.S. Light-House Establishment and the U.S. Life-Saving Service, which later merged to become the U.S. Coast Guard, assumed the responsibility of lighting and protecting the coasts. Inside, you will see the lighthouse keeper at Bullock's Point Light as he surveys the damage from the Hurricane of 1938, witness the life savers at Block Island's Sandy Point Station where first word of the wreck of the steamer Larchmont was received, and experience life on an offshore lightship. The book guides you through the days of the life savers-the work they performed, their rescues, and the evolution of their architecture through the years.