Lighthouses & Lifesaving

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 Author James Claflin combines an extensively researched text with this exquisite collection of many previously unpublished images to tell the story of a state dependent upon its coastal commerce.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