Book of the Week (8/23/2021)

The Light at Fort Point: A History of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Castle, New Hampshire, 1771-2021 by Jeremy Paul D'Entremont (U.S.: Independently Published, 2021).

"Well protected and seldom frozen over, the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, was one of the busiest ports of colonial America. An act to establish a lighthouse “for the Benefit of Vessels arriving or being upon this Coast in the Night Time” was passed by the colonial legislature on April 12, 1771. The first wooden lighthouse went into service on June 8, 1771, at the tip of the finger of land known as Fort Point in the town of New Castle. It was the first lighthouse in the American colonies north of Boston. The 1878 cast-iron lighthouse that stands at Fort Point today remains an active aid to navigation. This book recounts the history of the lighthouse's role in navigation, as well as the stories of its keepers and their families." --Publisher's blurb