It covers lighthouses from all parts of the United States from the late eighteenth century to the 1940s, when control of the lighthouses was transferred to the Coast Guard and after which few new ones were constructed. Images of lighthouses from coast to coast provide examples of striking design and setting as well as celebrating technological achievement and the work of important engineers include associated structures such as keepers' quarters, fog signal buildings, boathouses and boat railroads, cistern buildings, barns, and workshops, as well as interiors and working details of the light mechanisms.