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Cape Hatteras, the tallest lighthouse at 198.5 feet, is located on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and protected one of the most hazardous parts of the Atlantic coast. Lighthouses have been integral to the navigational needs of maritime traffic, and today, many are tended by associations and historical societies dedicated to preservation.

Linda Osborne Cynowa has loved lighthouses for years. With a lifelong love of history and a background in photography, she has always enjoyed visiting as well as photographing them. Her previous publications with Arcadia Publishing include Washington Township, Macomb Township, Farming in Northern Macomb County, Lighthouses and Lifesaving on the Great Lakes, Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast, and Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast.

The Brady's Bend Flood of 1980 by Lisa Olszak Zumstein

In a mere forty minutes, the community was annihilated by a catastrophic flash flood. Residents ran for their lives, and nine people drowned. Although rescue and recovery soon followed, the harrowing experience left a mark on the survivors that remains decades later.

Author and Brady’s Bend native Lisa Olszak Zumstein tells this community’s story in full and reveals how this devastating storm mirrors numerous others in the Appalachian corridor.

Around Skaneateles Lake by Julie Clark DiBagio and C.E. Malmgren

As early as the 1830s, Skaneateles Lake and small communities along its shores became popular destinations for boating, recreation, and even restorative health because of the purity of the water. During the second half of the 19th century, a proliferation of elegant mansions and summer homes were built along the lake by wealthy businesspeople and tourists who came to the area to enjoy the benefits of lakeside living. Many of these lakefront homes included boathouses to store their locally built boats and to serve as guesthouses and summer retreats. Long considered a premier destination, Around Skaneateles Lake highlights some of the lake’s unique cultural and geographic features as well as an assortment of lakefront properties, boathouses, and boats of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Julie Clark DiBagio, a native of Skaneateles, has served as a volunteer and board member at the Skaneateles Historical Society for many years and is passionate about the area’s history. C.E. Malmgren has worked and volunteered at both state and local nonprofit historical organizations in upstate New York. Currently, she serves as the director at a town historical society in northern New York. Photographs were acquired primarily from the photographic collections of the Skaneateles Historical Society and from the personal collections of local residents.

Haunted Lincoln County New Mexico by John LeMay

Thanks to its bloody range war, Lincoln County hosts a wide array of restless spirits. La Llorona glides across the Bonito River and stalks the streets of Carrizozo. Old Ruidoso, the ghost steer, bellows from the mountains, sparking tales of ill omens and the relocation of an entire town. The clang of the shackles that restrained Billy the Kid reverberates through the Lincoln County Courthouse. Shadow people inhabit dark corners of Fort Stanton, while the ghosts of Aztec mummies guard a treasure in the Capitan Mountains. And the clear waters of Bonita Lake hide the blood-soaked history of Bonito City.

Author John LeMay explores the dark side of Lincoln County.

New England's Lifesaver by Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.) and Captain Michael A. Cicalese, USGR (Ret.)

During a storied forty-two-year Coast Guard career, John “Jack” Downey, a Rhode Island native, would be credited with saving more than 700 mariners in distress during five thousand rescues in New England waters. Across thousands of missions, Downey and his crews rescued 11 passengers from the ferry Sea Comet and 108 elderly passengers from the Pilgrim Belle, and he participated in search-and-rescue efforts for the air crashes of JFK Jr. and EgyptAir 990.

A natural-born leader, Downey was named the Coast Guard’s first Ancient Keeper for his lifetime commitment to keeping people safe on the seas.

Authors Captain Russ Webster and Captain Michael Cicalese recount the extraordinary career of this lifesaver and how he honored the old ways of the sea while serving in three different government departments.

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