Landmarks

The only comprehensive history of one of America's most infamous prisons, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA.

Looming on the horizon like a storm cloud made of stone, the Eastern State Penitentiary spent more than a century as the fortress that both the law-abiding and criminal feared. In this superbly balanced and thoroughly researched volume, Paul Kahan presents the history of this revolutionary penitentiary, from its inception as a model of the revolutionary Pennsylvania System of incarceration in 1829 to the demands for its closure in the wake of ever-increasing violence in 1971. Through tales of spectacular escapes, official corruption, reformation and retribution, Kahan chronicles the tensions that plagued Eastern State since the arrival of its first prisoners.

Dig into a first-hand account of excavations at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

A small earthen fort on Roanoke Island, traditionally known as Old Fort Raleigh, was the site of the first English colony in the Americas. Previous archaeological discoveries at the site left many questions unanswered by the 1990s. Where was the main fort and town founded by Raleigh's lieutenant, Ralph Lane, the first governor? Was the small log structure outside the fort really a defensive outwork? And why did the colonists go to the effort of making bricks from the local clay? These are the questions that scholars hoped to answer in an extensive, professional dig funded by National Geographic from 1991 to 1993. This skilled team of excavators-with a little luck-revealed America's first scientific laboratory, where the Elizabethan scientist Thomas Harriot analyzed North American natural resources and Joachim Gans assayed ores for valuable metals.

Famed archaeologist of Colonial America Ivor Noël Hume describes the labor-intensive process of discoveries at Fort Raleigh.

Take a comprehensive tour of Fort Clark, Texas, one of best-preserved districts on the National Register of Historic Places. Thomas Jefferson recognized that a morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable. The Fort Clark Historic District, in Kinney County, Texas, is far more than a morsel. It is a full-course buffet of U.S. Army architecture, with more than one hundred well-preserved structures from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, some built to Quartermaster model plans, and many the only remaining examples in the nation. While most other Texas Indian War–era forts are long abandoned and reduced to nothing more than stark chimneys on the prairie, Fort Clark’s wide-ranging military architecture has survived virtually unchanged. Author William Haenn surveys the landmark site that represents nearly a century of active service to Texas and the nation.

Just off the coast of the Bronx in Long Island Sound sits Hart Island, where more than one million bodies are buried in unmarked graves.

Beginning as a Civil War prison and training site and later a psychiatric hospital, the location became the repository for New York City's unclaimed dead. The island's mass graves are a microcosm of New York history, from the 1822 burial crisis to casualties of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and victims of the AIDS epidemic. Important artists who died in poverty have been discovered, including Disney star Bobby Driscoll and playwright Leo Birinski. Author Michael T. Keene reveals the history of New York's potter's field and the stories of some of its lost souls.

Join author M. Patrick Hendrix as he follows the tumultuous lives of the men who fought to control the most revered monuments to the war.

In 1829, construction began on a fort atop a rock formation in the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Decades later, Fort Sumter was near completion on December 26, 1860, when Major Robert Anderson occupied it in response to the growing hostilities between the North and South. As a symbol of sedition for the North and holy ground for the South, possession of Fort Sumter was deemed essential to both sides when the Civil War began. By 1864, the fort, heavily bombarded by Union artillery, was a shapeless mass of ruins, mostly bermed rubble and sand with a garrison of Confederate soldiers holding its ground.

From watch catalog to international retail empire, revisit Sears's Windy City history with author Val Rendel and remember how good the "Good Life" once was.

In 1887, Richard W. Sears started a Chicago mail-order house that quickly outpaced its competitors, including Montgomery Ward. For millions of rural Americans over the next hundred years, Chicago was the place where dreams came from. Here, the "World's Largest Store" opened its first retail buildings, debuted its WLS radio station and transformed the global marketplace from the Great Works headquarters complex. Today, Sears has faded from the city of its birth, but many marks of the once-great business remain, from repurposed iconic department store buildings to the Sears kit homes still scattered across the suburbs. The 110-story skyscraper that dominates the skyline will forever be known to locals as the Sears Tower. Sears greatest legacy, however, was the role it played in shaping the lives of generations of Chicagoans.

At the height of America's Arts and Crafts movement, Detroit neighbors Horace J. Caulkins and Mary Chase Perry pooled their talents together to found Pewabic Pottery.

With modest beginnings in 1903, Pewabic transformed from a rented stable in Brush Park to an English Tudor building on East Jefferson Avenue, where it has operated since 1907. Today, the iconic enterprise continues Perry's dedication to handcrafted ceramics and remains known for its iridescent glaze on everything from vessels and architectural tiles to ecclesiastical installations in churches across the country, including the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Author Cara Catallo illuminates the story behind one of the oldest American handcrafted pottery traditions.

What's the real meaning of "juke joint"? Explore these special places for a special brand of the blues.

Juke joint - two words often used, often abused. They convey an inherent promise of something real, edgy, from another time. All juke joints are blues clubs, but not all blues clubs are jukes. Here, artist recollections and insights delve below the murky surface to tell the tales, canonize the characters and explain the special brand of blues bottled in these quasi-legal establishments. Author Roger Stolle works from the inside to educate and entertain with a mix of history, anecdote and discovery. It's a wild ride.

Rediscover the magic of the Enchanted Forest in this history of Maryland's Storybook Park, the first children's theme park on the East Coast.

The history of the Enchanted Forest is one of magical beginnings. When it first opened in 1955, Ellicott City's storybook land became the first children's theme park on the East Coast. Young visitors could climb aboard rides like the Little Toot tugboat, Mother Goose and Ali Baba or encounter animals like peacocks and burros. Upon its closing in 1989, Marylanders who cherished memories of the Enchanted Forest were deeply disappointed. However, many of the park's beloved figures were moved to nearby Clark's Elioak Farm, where they were restored and displayed to the delight of new generations. Even today, the farm is a popular destination that evokes the whimsical spirit of the iconic park. Local author Janet Kusterer and Martha Anne Clark of Elioak Farm trace the park's history through vintage images and interviews with the Harrison family, former employees and visitors. Join Kusterer and Clark to rediscover the magic of the Enchanted Forest.

Summer at the Cottage/

By the 1890s, a newly rising middle class found itself having time, money, and access to begin taking vacations. Church denominations began creating summer cottage communities that combined natural settings and intellectual and spiritual pursuits. The first communities were the Chautauquas, where lectures on philosophy, science or politics were offered. For the devout, there were Camp Meetings where one attended purely for religious instruction. Spiritualist camps were among the rarest and incorporated séances to talk to your dead ancestors./While attending programs, families could engage in outdoor recreation and craft classes. Tents were first used for accommodations but were quickly replaced by wooden frame cottages in Victorian, Arts and Crafts and Adirondack styles. By 1900, more than 300 cottage communities existed and were found throughout the United States with the majority in the Mid-Atlantic.Join author Peter Seibert as he reveals the beauty, history and influence of summer cottage communities of the Mid-Atlantic. 

Discover Chester County's Lost Landmarks

Chester County has a deep and enriching history, from sites of the Underground Railroad to great moments of Women's Suffrage and incredible remnants of Native American culture. The stories of the county's past can be experienced in many of its historic landmarks. Author Mark DeWitt Lanyon charts Chester County's lost history and the places that defined it.

Unbeknownst to most of the city’s inhabitants, a rural community of garbage workers once existed on a now-vanished island in New York City.

Barren Island was a swampy speck in Jamaica Bay where a motley group of new immigrants and African Americans quietly processed mountains of garbage and dead animals starting in the 1850s. They turned the waste into useful industrial products until their eviction by Robert Moses in 1936, all in the name of progress. Barren Islanders built businesses, fought fires, demanded a public school and worshipped at churches as they created a quintessentially American community from scratch. Author Miriam Sicherman tells the story of a Brooklyn neighborhood lost in the annals of New York City history.

Join author J.P. Webster as he explores the fascinating and complex history of the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry.

The Quaker City and its hospitals were pioneers in the field of mental health. Yet by the end of the nineteenth century, its institutions were crowded and patients lived in shocking conditions. The mentally ill were quartered with the dangerously criminal. By 1906, the city had purchased a vast acreage of farmland incorporated into the city, and the Philadelphia Hospital dubbed its new venture Byberry City Farms. From the start, its history was riddled with corruption and committees, investigations and inquests, appropriations and abuse. Yet it is also a story of reform and redemption, of heroes and human dignity--many dedicated staff members did their best to help patients whose mental illnesses were little understood and were stigmatized by society.

Minnesota is often called the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but it could also be called the Land of 20,000 Bridges. /

During the early days of the state, the Mississippi River and its many tributaries barred and disrupted transportation and commerce. To span these obstacles, communities battled to build and maintain bridges. Their efforts created a variety of bridge designs and purposes—from small hiking and biking bridges to concrete beams across rural rivers. Across the area, one can behold wonders like the beautiful Stone Arch Bridge, the La Crescent Swing Bridge, the Point Douglas Drawbridge, the elegant Winona Main Channel Bridge as well as other massive structures crossing the Mississippi.

Studying and photographing these amazing structures, local author Steve Gardiner celebrates the innovation and determination of Southeast Minnesota./      

Make a reservation at the Hotel Galvez and enjoy the storied hospitality that has marked the Queen of the Gulf’s reign for over a century.

Come walk the timeless halls of the Hotel Galvez. No expense was spared in the creation of this beautiful statement of Galveston’s resilience, which stands as the only historic beachfront hotel in the state of Texas. Perched on the city’s famed seawall, the building has weathered a century of hurricanes and even “served” in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. Presidents, beauty pageant contestants, gamblers, movie stars, military heroes, newsmen, and countless other guests have gazed out at the Gulf through its gracefully arched windows. Kathleen Maca recounts the legends and shares the secrets of this extraordinary hotel.

Idlewild and SoakZone has charmed people across Western Pennsylvania and beyond since the late 1800s.

The park was developed by Pittsburgh's Mellon family as a picnic grove to boost traffic on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. When C.C. Macdonald took the helm in 1931, rides, entertainment and other attractions came to Idlewild over the next half century, along with the adjacent Story Book Forest. After joining the Kennywood family of amusement parks, Idlewild added a Wild West town, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a water slide complex. Author Jennifer Sopko tells the heartwarming history of a Pennsylvania amusement park that continues to delight generations of families.

Thomas Jefferson developed the idea for the Virginia State Penitentiary and set the standard for the future of the American prison system. The prison endured severe overcrowding, three fires, an earthquake and numerous riots.

Vice President Aaron Burr was incarcerated there in 1807 as he awaited trial for treason. More than 240 prisoners were executed there by electric chair. At one time, the ACLU called it the "most shameful prison in America." The institution was plagued by racial injustice, eugenics experiments and the presence of children imprisoned among adults. Join author Dale Brumfield as he charts the 190-year history of the iconic prison.

During his career as an actor, William Gillette portrayed world-renowned character Sherlock Holmes in more than 1,300 performances.

His career as a playwright and actor afforded him the opportunity to purchase a 184-acre estate, where he also built a twenty-four-room medieval-style castle. Overlooking the Connecticut River, Gillette's castle was complete with spy mirrors, sliding furniture, hidden rooms and a three-mile quarter-scale railroad. Since becoming a state park in 1943, it has evolved into one of Connecticut's most popular tourist attractions. Writer and award-winning journalist Erik Ofgang examines the history of an iconic structure and Gillette's life and role in the evolution of Sherlock Holmes.

From 1837 to 1900 the tiny borough of Stonington, Connecticut was a major transportation hub on the route between New York and Boston. Steamboats leaving Manhattan followed Long Island Sound to Stonington Harbor where passengers boarded trains for the rest of the journey to Providence or Boston.

Stonington's Steamboat Hotel, built in 1838 near the piers and railroad yard, was home to saloons, restaurants, a pool hall, a cigar shop, a tailor and a barber shop. Merchants, hotel keepers and saloon workers passed through the building, each with their own unique story. Many of them were immigrants or first-generation Americans, and they are a window onto a late 19th-century class of merchants and service workers.

Join local author Stuart Vyse as he reveals a lively portrait of remarkable harmony in a small village that was far more diverse than it is today.