The peninsular community of Hull, Massachusetts, reaches a total of seven thin, sandy miles into Boston Harbor, forming a protective barrier against intruding navies and pounding waves. Unfortunately for those residents who choose to live here for the three miles of crescent-shaped beach and its attendant summer advantages, exposure to the sea during the winter months can be, at times, trying, to say the least. When Hull Freezes Over, by lifelong Hull resident and columnist John Galluzzo, ...

From Plymouth Rock to Quincy granite, the South Shore of Boston has been a place of revolution, relaxation and revelation. Artists have gained inspiration from the meeting of sea and shore, enemy navies have targeted its strategic ports and, in better days, merrymakers have sought its warming sun, cooling breezes, amusement parks and historic and natural landmarks. The Toll House Cookie, the song "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" and the U.S. Navy's rallying cry "Do...

Millville had always been known for its glassmaking, but with the outbreak of World War II, the community�s identity was primed to change forever. A private civilian airfield gave way to the creation of America�s first defense airport, the training ground for the U.S. Army�s Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilots. Bright and brave young men from across the country converged on Millville in the early 1940s to learn to fly and fight for freedom. Some died in training; othe...

Monhegan Island, Maine has historically attracted a number of different visitors and workers, each with their own unique reasons for being there.The natural beauty of Monhegan Island has continuously attracted generations of artists, day-trippers, and summer sojourners. White Head, Pulpit Rock, and Cathedral Woods are names that resonate throughout New England and beyond. Long before the first ferry full of seasonal visitors arrived, the Monhegan Island fishermen had established a permanen...

The history of the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor agencies dates from 1790, with missions in both domestic and international waters. The service has provided aids to navigation, enforcement of maritime laws, environmental protection, search and rescue, immigration and narcotics interdiction, maritime safety assistance, port security, natural disaster response and national defense missions, including overseas with other U.S. armed forces and federal and state public safety agencies.

Beneath the churning surface of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary rest the bones of shipwrecks and sailors alike. Massachusetts' ports connected its citizens to the world, and the number of merchant and fishing vessels grew alongside the nation's development. Hundreds of ships sank on the trade routes and fishing grounds between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. Their stories are waiting to be uncovered--from the ill-fated steamship Portland to collided schooners Frank A. Palmer and Louise B....

There is no one way to see the North River. Its characteristic meandering cuts a twenty-three-mile path through the South Shore to Massachusetts Bay. Flowing through six towns Pembroke, Hanover, Norwell, Scituate, Marshfield and Hanson the river has played a prominent, if not definitive, role in shaping the identity of the region.John Galluzzo, who leads cultural and natural history tours of the river for Mass Audubon's South Shore Sanctuaries, traces this natural landmark's multifaceted h...

Shortly after the Wright brothers took to the air, aviation fever gripped Massachusetts. The biggest names in the industry, including Wilbur Wright, Glenn Curtiss, and Claude Graham-White, among others, flew in for the first major air shows, further exciting the people of the Bay State about the potential of manned flight in the realms of military tactics, the expansion of commerce, and even personal transportation. By the 1920s, Massachusetts had become home to the first Naval Air Reserve...

Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies. Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the "Greatest Show on Earth" quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, ...

In 1877, the U.S. Navy purchased the fast steam yacht Stiletto from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island, for "automobile" torpedo experiments in Narragansett Bay. The submarine service was in its infancy, and interest in the self-propelled torpedo as an undersea weapon flourished. Herreshoff's fast, steam-powered boats were the first of the delivery platforms accepted by the U.S. Navy Department for experiments at the Newport Naval Torpedo Station and service duri...

Narrow Margins – a laugh-out-loud book which proves that lean times can sometimes be a very positive thing.Faced with the loss of everything following the collapse of the Rover Group, Marie Browne moved her long-suffering husband Geoff, chaotic children and smelly, narcoleptic dog on to a houseboat in search of a less stressful, healthier, alternative way of life.Strapped for cash, the family buy a decrepit 70ft barge called Happy Go lucky which had been run as a floating h...

Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring surf, one of them said later. Like a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence, said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window-"Oh my God!" he shouted to the other men, "Run!"A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston's waterfront, disgor...