Nineteenth-Century Lights is one of the most scholarly and refreshing books on the subject to pop out of the lighthouse book presses. Primarily a picture book, it is also filled with excellent and well-researched historical information, thankfully omitting the ghost stories and other tid-bits of fiction that seem to transfer from one lighthouse book to another like a virus.

Following a brief Introduction, Chapter I sets the scene forNineteenth-Century Lights. From this brief but solid starting point, the ladies Clifford touch on three of the few remaining 18th-century lighthouses before embarking on a chronological journey through the 19th century. The book moves always forward; 1802, 1804, 1812. Occasionally a few lighthouses constructed in the same year are covered, but basically the lighthouses visited are chronological. The Cliffords nicely weave the lighthouses from one geographic area to another; New England, Mid-Atlantic, back to New England, over to the Great Lakes, back to the South, and after 1855, out to the West Coast, then back to New England. Some of the text on a particular lighthouse is short, others longer. Some text includes comments from keepers, inspectors or others involved with lighthouse construction and care.

Interspersed throughout the 304-page book are very interesting sidebars: Instructions to Keepers - 1835, fog signals, buoy tenders, depots and comparison charts showing the number of lighthouses in various eras.

The book is filled with interesting and factual information, whether reading the text for each lighthouse or the sidebars. Nothing is too technical; but enough information is included on the various aspects of our country's lighthouses to give you a 'flavor of the bean.'

As the Cliffords bring you forward through the 19th-century, bobbing and weaving from one geographical area to another, they do so in four chapters: Lighthouse in a New Nation, Lighthouses Under the Fifth Auditor, The U.S. Light-House Board Improves the System and the U.S. Light-House Board Achieves Its Goals. A Conclusion, Appendix and detailed End Notes wraps up this successful book.

And, of course, the book is loaded with historical, and mostly, very clear photos and diagrams. You'll want to buy this book for the photos alone, but you'll also find it an easy, intelligent read, which will increase your awareness of the subject.

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Note: The Keeper's Log is a quarterly publication of the U.S. Lighthouse Society headquartered in San Francisco, California.

 

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