Paul St Germain Books

Just off the coast of Rockport, Straitsmouth Island has enjoyed a noteworthy history that belies the island's small size. From the Pawtucket Indians who summered there more than one thousand years ago to its discovery by famous explorers Samuel de Champlain and Captain John Smith in the seventeenth century, it has seen fishermen, shipwrecks and piracy. From 1835 to 1935, three lighthouses were built, all with fascinating stories of the keepers and their families. Thanks to tireless restoration efforts by the Thacher Island Association and Massachusetts Audubon Society, the island was opened to the public for the first time in 180 years. Local historian Paul St. Germain details the rich history of this unique New England treasure and the efforts to preserve both its structures and natural beauty.

A pictorial history of the granite industry on Cape Ann in Massachusetts.

In 1885, construction began on the second-largest deepwater harbor in the world--second only to Cherbourg, France--to be called the Sandy Bay National Harbor of Refuge. It would consist of a giant 9,000-foot granite breakwater that would offer safe harbor to over 5,000 vessels and enclose an area of 1,600 acres. As it was being built, the US North Atlantic Fleet began making annual visits to Rockport with its newest and largest warships, including most of Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet. These visits were designed to facilitate the fleet's training maneuvers in the waters of Cape Ann as well as demonstrate the need for a protected harbor for national defense and security. Over a 30-year period, 21 annual visits occurred with more than 100 naval vessels, including battleships, cruisers, torpedo destroyers, submarines, dispatch yachts, and other support craft, anchoring in Sandy Bay Harbor.

Since 1907, one Rockport family have continued to make their timeless soda pop the old-fashioned way. Twin Lights Soda--or tonic, as it's still known locally--was started by second-generation Portuguese immigrants in the back of a small-town family grocer and named after the iconic pair of lighthouses just off the coast of Cape Ann. The bottling industry was one of America's great entrepreneurial endeavors, and at its peak, Twin Lights outsold even the two largest national cola brands in the region. But today, while soft drinks are a $45 billion industry, few independents remain. Authors Paul St. Germain and Dev Sherlock trace the fascinating story of one of the last family bottlers still in operation.