Since 1893, a light has been shining from Patos Island, the northernmost island in Puget Sound. Built to guide ships through treacherous waters, the lighthouse was also a happy home for many, including Edward Durgan and his family in the early 1900s. Boundary waters smugglers and rumrunners once visited the island to stash their contraband, and it was a front-line guard for the nation during World War II. Manned for eighty-one years by the U.S. government, the light was automated in 1974 and is now maintained by the Coast Guard. Join authors Edrie Vinson and Terri Vinson, members of the Keepers of the Patos Light, as they explore the history of this unique Washington landmark.

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The First Peoples: The Coast Salish and the Early Explorers The First Keepers: Mahler, Morgan, Durgan and Lonholt The Nineteen Twenties and Thirties: Patos Visitation and the Great Depression The Nineteen Forties: World War II The Nineteen Fifties: The Revitalization of Patos Light Station The Nineteen Sixties and Early Seventies: Modern Amenities, Old-Time Storms and Automation Keepers of the Patos Light: Thresher's Vision of Hope