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Symbols of safety, reassurance, and guidance, lighthouses hold a special fascination for many people. On the Great Lakes, lighthouses-"northern lights"-helped to open the region to settlement and supported the growth of commercial trade. To this day, the continue to light the way for thousands of recreational boaters.
In this definitive guide to the lighthouses of the Great Lakes, Charles Hyde describes the histories of more than one hundred and sixty individual lighthouses that still exist in Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, and the straits of Mackinac.
Featuring more than two hundred color photographs, The Northern Lightscaptures the beauty, history, and significance of lighthouses on the Great Lakes, and illuminates the rich maritime history of the region.
About the author
Charles K. Hyde is a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1966 and his Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971. He is a retired professor of history at Wayne State University, where he had been on the faculty since 1974. His main areas of interest are the history of technology, industrial history, and industrial archaeology. He resides in Royal Oak, Michigan. Professor Hyde's publications include a two-volume inventory of historic engineering and industrial sites and structures in Michigan; Old Reliable, An Illustrated History of the Quincy Mining Company (Four Corners Press, 1982), with Larry Lankton; and Historic Highway Bridges of Michigan (Wayne State University Press, 1993). He has also written on the history of the Detroit automobile industry and is currently working on a history of the American copper mining industry.
Summary
This is a guide to the lighthouses of the Great Lakes. Discussing Michigan maritime history, the book also provides a more general history of the United States Lighthouse Service and its descendants, and how these organisations functioned on the Great Lakes.
