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Love Lighthouses? New Map Details Every Lighthouse In U.S.

DETROIT (WWJ) - If you love lighthouses then you're in luck. The newly published "United States Lighthouses Illustrated Map & Guide" locates nearly 800 standing lighthouses across the 50 states.

The detailed cartography and comprehensive directory are complemented by 46 original watercolor illustrations, most of them specially commissioned.

Lighthouse buffs can engage in armchair travel, plan future trips, or simply enjoy the evocative paintings - from Portland Head, Maine, to Kilauea Point, Hawaii.

The directory includes the operating status of each lighthouse, its official name, alternate names, year of first lighting, year of current structure, location description, plus latitude and longitude.

And it can be used to stump friends with trivia questions. For example: Which state has the most lighthouses? YOUR STATE! Michigan is home to 130 lighthouses.

Keeping the map up to date isn't easy, according to the map's publisher, Bella Stander.

"Some lighthouses disappear. Over the past decade, hurricanes destroyed six just in Louisiana. Some are rebuilt, such as Cape St. George in Florida, which toppled into the sea in 2005 and was reconstructed using the original bricks. Some reappear as replicas, such as Roanoke Marshes, North Carolina. And new ones are still being built, such as Clover Island, Washington," Stander said.

While there are many so-called lighthouses, the map includes only those accepted as official aids to navigation by the Coast Guard or local authorities.

United States Lighthouses Illustrated Map & Guide is available as a folded map ($9.95) and rolled laminated poster ($14.95) at lighthouse and maritime museum stores, gift shops and bookstores. You can also purchase the maps online. Click here for more information.

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