Endangered Lighthouses: The Plight of 50 American Lights and the Efforts Being Made to Save Them

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opening overview
Review: Like many less noticable forms of architecture, lighthouses are structures that are rarely appreciated until they're no longer around anymore. (The same can be said about Mail Pouch barns and covered bridges.) Tim Harrison and Ray Jones do a great job of raising awareness of the plight of many threatened lighthouses, and of the efforts currently being undertaken to keep them from disappearing forever. This is a nice companion volume to Lost Lighthouses with great pictures and historical data.

Rating:
Summary: A Concise and Pictoral History
Review: Living on the east coast, I guess I always assumed that lighthouses were only built along the ocean coasts. This book corrected that impression as it featured lighthouses throughout the United States in places such as Michigan, Ohio, and the Hudson River area.

The authors/photographers showed endangered lighthouses, ruined ones, and some that have been restored. Time, tide, and erosion have wreaked terrible damage upon these buildings.

I found the concise history of each of the featured lighthouses to be very interesting and informative. The photos were wonderful, especially the ones of the moving of the Hatteras Light in North Carolina.

This book provides a good reminder of how important these structures were to the American way of life, and for this reason, why they should be preserved or rescued.