Today’s entry focuses on the coast of New England, in the form of two books (available online freely at the present time) by the late maritime historian (and flying Santa Claus) Edward Rowe Snow.

The first of these works – The Islands of Boston Harbor – was originally published in 1935, with a revised edition in 1971. The version linked to here was published in 2002, using the text of the 1971 version with additional comments by Jeremy D’Etremont. Within are covered all of the islands within Boston harbor – major, minor, and even those no longer extant. There is a mix of history and folktales, including piracy, plague, and several ghosts; plenty of material to spark your imagination.

Our second work is The Lighthouses of New England, which delivers what it says, covering every light from Maine to Connecticut (and including remarkably Vermont). This work was originally published in 1945, revised in 1973, and reprinted in 2002, also with notes from D’Etremont. Within are all manner of shipwrecks, storms, technical talk about lens, and of course ghosts.