In the New Jersey shore community of Sea Girt, where Commodore Robert Stockton’s oceanfront mansion had a porch as long as a ship’s deck from which he surveyed the waters, a lighthouse was built in 1896. Sea Girt Lighthouse illuminated a dark space, providing a crucial guiding light to passing ships. The station would become a lighthouse of distinction and innovation. In 1920, it was the first land-based lighthouse with a radio beacon transmitter, enabling ships to navigate through fog. During World War II, the Coast Guard extinguished the light, stood watch in the tower, and patrolled the beaches. No matter the mission, the lighthouse met every challenge. In 1956, the town acquired the decommissioned lighthouse, making it the library and recreation center. By 1981, however, the building needed extensive repairs and was at risk of being sold. Concerned residents formed the Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee to “save our lighthouse.” And they did, restoring it, preserving its history, and keeping it busy with community events.

From the thunder of National Guard rifle practice squads to the applause of FDR's presidential campaign kickoff, Sea Girt sparkles with a dynamic history that belies its mystique as a quiet seaside resort. In the place that was once called the Summer Capital of New Jersey, a governor's parade could send a parachutist through the window and a beachside stroll could lead to an encounter with Woodrow Wilson or Frank Hague. Joe Bilby's thorough chronicle of this square mile of history is as joyous as a Jersey farmer plunging into the surf on Salt Water Day.

Summer visitors and year-round residents alike are sure to discover Jersey Shore lore that captures their fancy in this entertaining account of the people, places, and events that have shaped New Jersey's famous shoreline. From ghost stories and the comic misadventures of the early Miss America Pageant to the dynamics of the changing coastline and poignant portraits of traditional crafts workers, Russell Roberts and Rich Youmans have chronicled the fascinating history and heritage of the New Jersey Shore. In this book you'll meet the luminaries who've frequented the Shore--from President Ulysses Grant strolling through Long Branch to Grace Kelly learning to surf at Ocean City. You'll find out why the boardwalk was invented, and also why early ones were removable. Join the authors as they pay tribute to the Shore's forgotten inventors, including Simon Lake, who some consider the true father of the modern submarine. Relive the Jersey Shore's role in wartime and learn the story of the mysterious Nazi submarine sunken off of Point Pleasant Beach. Read about Lucy the Margate Elephant, as a well as her two long-gone "cousins." Discover all this and more as Roberts and Youmans explore the vast uncharted heritage of the New Jersey Shore.

A celebration of the great American lighthouses, their keepers, their histories, and their ongoing stories For more than two centuries, lighthouses have helped sailors find their way through treacherous waters, guiding them home or taking them safely through passages on their way to adventure. These historic towers and houses form a sparkling chain of lights along our coasts, a reminder of the past echoing with adventure and mystery, a lure for travelers looking for a glimpse into a romantic past. Completely revised and updated, American Lighthouses offers more than just a tour of 450 beautiful and historic navigational beacons dotting the coasts and lakes of the United States. This fully illustrated, one-of-a-kind handbook details their history and architecture and provides full information on visiting or viewing them. Included are many endangered lights, threatened by erosion or lack of funding, as well as “ghost lights,” which are no longer standing.

Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast will explore many of the lighthouses and breakwater, pier, and reef lights in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Whether it is Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine or Fenwick Island Lighthouse in Delaware, then as now, people love to visit the lights while on holiday and send postcards back home. Many of these important navigational aids are still in existence and can be visited.

For more than two centuries, lighthouses have helped sailors find their way through treacherous waters, guiding them home or taking them safely through passages on their way to adventure. These historic towers and houses form a sparkling chain of lights along our coasts, a reminder of the past echoing with adventure and mystery, a lure for travelers looking for a glimpse into a romantic past. American Lighthouses offers more than just a tour of over 450 beautiful and historic navigational beacons dotting the coasts and lakes of the United States. This fully illustrated, one-of-a-kind handbook details their history and architecture and provides full information on visiting or viewing them.