We may be land-locked, but our maritime heritage is so close. Join local author, Cathy Taylor, for a book signing of her visual history of Maryland's Lighthouses in Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series. Cathy is a Falls Church resident with a passion for historic structures. She and her husband restored the historic Victorian DePutron-Wollenberg House on Lincoln Avenue where they raise their family. Cathy is also a lighthouse buff, founding a 501(c)3 non-profit, Historical Place Preservation, in order to preserve and promote lighthouse history. The organization acquired and is raising money to restore the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Station, the first caisson lighthouse built in the Chesapeake Bay and 2nd in the United States, in order to open it to the public.

Books will be available for purchase ($20) at the signing.

Proceeds from the sale of books will go to the restoration efforts at the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Lighthouse.

In Colonial times, as the Chesapeake Bay and larger rivers became vital shipping channels, the need arose to mark Maryland's dangerous shoals and waterways. Lighthouses sprang up throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, including wood-framed cottages placed upon screw pile foundations that stood offshore in the unforgiving waters. Most of these unique structures did not survive, lost tragically to ice that also occasionally claimed the lives of the keepers who faithfully tended them and rescued mariners in trouble. With the advent of electricity and GPS, many beacons succumbed to vandalism and neglect, leaving a fraction remaining.

Cathy Taylor, a lifelong lighthouse enthusiast, founded Historical Place Preservation to promote the conservation of lighthouses and their rich histories. A new era began with the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA), which transfers lighthouse structures into public and private ownership. This volume chronicles the history of Maryland beacons: destroyed, decayed, and those lucky enough to receive new life through the NHLPA program.

More infromation can be found on the website http://www.craighillrange.org and "Keeper's Log" at http://www.craighillrange.org/log.