News RSS

On this day 196 years ago, President Andrew Jackson signed one of the most consequential and devastating pieces of legislation in American history. The Indian Removal Act, signed into law on May 28, 1830, authorized the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. What followed was not a peaceful exchange. It was the forced uprooting of entire nations.

If you have been searching for new regional history books, deeply researched community histories, or titles that fill the gaps left by mainstream publishing, your search ends here.

May 21 belongs to the sky. On this date, separated by exactly five years, two pioneering aviators accomplished what many believed was impossible, crossing the Atlantic Ocean alone and changing the course of aviation history in the process. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis in Paris after a grueling solo flight from New York. In 1932, Amelia Earhart touched down near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the first woman to make the same journey alone. Together, their stories form one of the most remarkable coincidences in the history of flight.

Few things connect us to a place quite like its history and its food. Today is a great day for readers who love both, as a new collection of titles arrives from one of the most dedicated local publishers in the country (surprise, it's us, Arcadia Publishing).

Every election in which a woman casts a vote carries a thread back to that day in 1869. It is a reminder that rights often have to be demanded before they are granted, and that the work of demanding them requires people willing to build something lasting.

Local history is not just about the past. It is about understanding who we are, how our communities were shaped, and what has been carried forward across generations. Each new title published today adds another layer to that ongoing conversation, giving readers the chance to see familiar places through unfamiliar eyes.

Today's new local history book releases represent a continued commitment to telling the stories that matter most at the community level. From the personal insights shared by our authors to the meticulous research woven through every chapter, each new title is a testament to the richness of local and regional history waiting to be discovered.

Tuesday means new books, and that means somewhere in America today, a community is about to see its story on a shelf for the very first time.

There's a particular kind of person who writes local history. They're usually the one at the dinner table who knows the real story behind every street name, can't drive past an old building without wondering who built it, and has been meaning to write all of this down for years before they finally just did it. Today, a few more of those people officially have their names on the spine of a book — and we couldn't be more proud to publish them.

Every Tuesday, Arcadia adds fresh titles to a catalog that has spent decades doing what national publishers don't bother with: preserving the histories of small towns, overlooked industries, complicated communities, and the people who built them. This week's lineup is no exception

There is something a little magical about the day a new book officially exists in the world. After years of research, interviews, photo archives, and late nights spent chasing down the details that make a story worth telling, today is that day for a fresh batch of local history books from Arcadia Publishing. These are books about places you may have driven through a hundred times without knowing their full story, the kind of reads that make the familiar feel brand new.

On April 3, 1860, (166 years ago to the day), the Pony Express made its inaugural run, sending riders simultaneously east from Sacramento, California and west from St. Joseph, Missouri. What followed was one of the most audacious logistical experiments in American history: a relay system of horse and rider teams that would carry letters nearly 2,000 miles across prairies, deserts, and mountains in approximately ten days, cutting the previous mail delivery time nearly in half. It was thrilling, dangerous, expensive, and short-lived. And it captured the American imagination in a way that few endeavors ever have, before or since.

Every year on April 1st, the internet erupts in fake announcements, friends short-sheet each other's beds, and news organizations publish stories that are just plausible enough to make you pause. April Fools' Day is one of the most universally observed unofficial holidays in the world. And yet, for all its ubiquity, no one can quite agree on where it came from.

This Women's History Month, few names deserve more recognition than Susan B. Anthony. A pivotal force in the women's suffrage movement, Anthony played a central role in the decades-long fight that eventually secured American women the right to vote. Her story is one of extraordinary persistence: a woman who spent more than half a century fighting a battle she would not live to see won, and who kept going anyway.

You've probably heard the word "bloomers" but do you know the woman behind it? Amelia Jenks Bloomer was an early suffragist, newspaper editor, and social activist who worked to change not only women's clothing styles, but the very fabric of American society. Her name became forever linked to a pair of trousers, but her true legacy runs far deeper than fashion, she was a trailblazing journalist, a tireless reformer, and one of the quiet architects of the women's rights movement.

As a local history publisher, we believe that the most powerful stories are not always the ones found in national textbooks. They are the ones found in your town, your county, and your neighborhood, told by the people who lived them. Whether you are a lifelong history lover or someone who just discovered a passion for the past, today's new releases were made with you in mind. Keep reading to discover what we are publishing today and why these books belong in your collection.

Every community has a story worth telling, and today, some of those stories are finding their way into print for the very first time. We are thrilled to share our newest local history books publishing today, titles that have been years in the making and are finally ready to find their way into your hands.

March is the perfect time to pick up a great read and honor the remarkable women who have shaped our world. If you have been searching for the best books to read for Women's History Month, you have come to the right place.