All Non-Digital Titles

New York is a city of superlatives. It has the largest population, greatest wealth, broadest diversity and most elegant museums in the nation. With that comes an amazing history.

This tour of the Big Apple goes beyond the traditional guidebook to offer visitors and residents alike a chance to walk back in time along the streets of Manhattan. George Washington took his first oath of office on the steps of Federal Hall. Visitors can still dine at the famed Fraunces Tavern and worship at historic St. Paul's Chapel. From the Brooklyn Bridge to stunning skyscrapers, the city celebrates its own history and that of the nation. Join author Alison Fortier as she traces the history and heritage of America's largest metropolis.

Long known for its Dutch heritage associated with windmills, tulip festivals, and distinct surnames, there is more to share about the town of Clymer. Traveling country roads through the rolling hills of southern Chautauqua County, a fertile valley with a village at the center that features a lone flashing red traffic light can be found. Established in 1821, Clymer has a rich history and a proud tradition of both individual and community accomplishment. Self-reliance and an entrepreneurial spirit led to the creation of public utilities, flourishing businesses, and schools that educated future professionals and farmers alike. Its small-town charm remains today, with an amazing one-stop general store, an all-you-could-need hardware store, and a widely known and popular restaurant with delicious sweet rolls.

As a retired teacher who grew up in Clymer, Rod Beckerink shares photographs and stories that act like individual pieces of a puzzle that, when put together, give a better understanding of what shaped the Clymer of today. With images primarily collected from the Clymer Area Historical Society, readers can take a trip down the nostalgic memory lane of Clymer’s past to catch a glimpse of the people, places, and events of the area’s interesting history.

Since 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer’s field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home.

From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity.

Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state’s Adirondack Park. She has a master’s degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.

Bannerman Castle of the Hudson River was an island arsenal built to resemble a Scottish castle. Follow along with this recanting of the history of this awe-inspiring work of architecture.

For generations, boaters and train passengers have been mystified and intrigued by the sight of a castle like structure looming in the Hudson River, near Fishkill. Bannerman Castle unveils the history of this site: an island arsenal, built to resemble a Scottish castle. The story begins in 1900, when Francis Bannerman VI purchased the island--officially Pollepel but later called Bannerman's Island--for storing used military goods purchased from the government. A native of Scotland, Bannerman designed his arsenal to resemble a Scottish castle.

The village of Clinton and town of Kirkland are neighboring communities in central New York. Clinton was founded in 1787 and has served as an educational hub anchored by Hamilton College. Clara Barton, Grover Cleveland, and Leland Stanford were educated here, along with Elihu Root, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912. The natural resources of Clinton and Kirkland, including Oriskany Creek and hematite ore, facilitated local prosperity.

Clinton native Zach Lewis, an educator, journalist, and photographer, explores the area’s heritage, highlighting the evolving landscape and why he believes that “all roads lead to Clinton.”

Author John Howard-Fusco traces the roots of Cape May's delectable dishes and recipes from long ago to the modern day.

Cape May is America's first seaside resort, and with that comes a mouthwatering food history. The New York Times even proclaimed the city Restaurant Capital of New Jersey. The first settlers, the Kechemeche of the Lenape tribe, feasted on the fish and wild game in the area. The whaling industry briefly brought attention to the island, but Ellis Hughes's 1801 advertisement offering seashore entertainment with fish, oysters, crabs, and good liquors gave birth to a beachside haven. From the mint juleps to the Sunny Hall Café and the Chalfonte, culinary creativity thrives on the shore. Modern chefs like Lucas Manteca at the Red Store and Brooke Dodds's Empanada Mamas help keep the unique flair alive.

In Currents in the Electric City, an installment of Belt’s City Anthologies series,  the story of Scranton gets told by the people who know it best.

Scranton, PA,  is more than just the setting for The Office. It's a living city, one with a rich industrial and labor history, that also has a small-town feel. Who is considered “from Scranton” is fiercely guarded even as the city sees immigration from around the world. Neighborhood talk can reveal your family secrets before you even know them yourself, as Barbara J. Taylor writes. Pieces in this anthology talk about desires to leave, ties that bind, and decisions to stay, as well as impressions from newcomers to the Northeastern Pennsylvania hub. As coeditor Joe Kraus notes in his foreword, Scranton was once a prominent stop on the vaudeville circuit—vaudeville translating literally into “the voice of the city.” The chorus of voices that fill the poems and essays in this anthology tell a complicated story of the Electric city that many have heard of, but few know.

  A tiny hamlet on the Hudson River, Garrison has deep roots in our nation's history.

Author George Carroll Whipple III has compiled beautiful images of this tiny hamlet and made efforts toward restoring to its former grandeur the iconic 1881 Castle Rock, the estate of William Henry Osborn, a visibly prominent and renowned landmark for all who reside in or visit Garrison. Many wealthy New Yorkers such as William Henry Osborn, Edwards Pierrepont, and Hamilton Fish built their impressive summer estates here and many of those manors still stand today.

Read the remarkable story of one of the most unique and picturesque places in the Adirondacks, written by Sagamore's director, Beverly Bridger.

Great Camp Sagamore was built by renowned American architect William West Durant and bought by Alfred Vanderbilt in 1901 to be his family's Adirondack retreat. Vanderbilt and his wife, Margaret, welcomed family and friends, who enjoyed its sprawling grounds and elegant yet rustic buildings for decades. After Margaret's death, the camp changed hands and began to decline until it was rescued by preservationists, finally became a National Historic Landmark in 2000 after attentive restoration efforts. Today, visitors to the camp participate in maintaining its grandeur, learning about and preserving the past.

Bucks County was an original county in William Penn’s newly formed Pennsylvania province and has carried the weight of history ever since. Join author Jennifer Rogers as she recounts the lesser-known history of Bucks County.

Industrial power in the region expanded in the late 1700s as Irish laborers sacrificed life and limb to construct a section of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Durham Furnace. In 1921, a gruesome train wreck claimed the lives of twenty-seven people, forever leaving its tragic mark on the busy rail lines emerging from Philadelphia. Raised a Quaker in Doylestown, James A. Michener went from local English teacher to Pulitzer Prize–winning author, leaving his philanthropic mark at the art museum named for him.

Discover the hidden history of the Hudson Valley's Columbia County with local author Allison Guertin Marchese.

Bordered by the Hudson River and the Berkshire Mountains, Columbia County is part of the famously picturesque Hudson Valley region, but these rolling hills hold secrets most have long forgotten. A mastodon tooth rolling down a farmer's hill in Claverack, changing the world's understanding of prehistoric times; the site of New York's last hanging at Hudson's gallows, as hundreds of ticketholders looked on; outcasts called Pondshiners who hid in the hills of Taghkanic, the only sign of their existence being the fantastic handwove baskets made from strips of hardwood. Join author Allison Guertin Marchese as she explores these little-known stories of people and places that create the history of Columbia County, New York.

Visit the alleys of Philadelphia's Kensington and Fishtown neighborhoods for stories from the Speakeasy War and more.

The docks and alleys of Philadelphia's riverward neighborhoods teem with forgotten stories and strange histories. In the overlooked corners of Kensington and Fishtown are the launching of the Industrial Revolution, the bizarre double suicide of the Rusk twins and the violent Cramp Shipyard strike. With a collection of his "The Rest Is History" columns from the Fishtown Star, local historian Kenneth Milano chronicles little-known tales from the Speakeasy War of 1890 to stories of seldom-recognized hometown hero Eddie Stanky, who went on to play for the 1951 New York Giants. Join Milano as he journeys into the secret history of two of the city's oldest neighborhoods.

Lake Champlain is one of America’s most historic waterways, but much of its history has remained hidden. With the arrival of Europeans, the lake became a vital route between the English in New England and the French in Quebec.

Its isolated beauty contrasted sharply with the bloody military campaigns that unfolded there. While enormous forts were erected, colonial villages blossomed, and 18th century naturalist Peter Kalm spread the word of its bucolic charm. William Miller attracted large audiences as he preached that the world would end in the 1840s. Valcour Island developed its own commune, and when Prohibition took effect, the towns near the Canadian border became a hotbed of bootlegging.

From presidential visits to shipwrecks, local authors Jason Barney and Christine Eldred chronicle some of the lake’s lesser-known contributions to American history.  

Explore the lesser-known stories that make up New Jersey's compelling hidden history.

Explore the lesser-known stories that make up New Jersey's compelling hidden history. Uncover the meaning of Jersey Blues, celebrate some of the state's bravest Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers and investigate Jersey City's most infamous ghost. From the inferno that engulfed Asbury Park, to the benevolent side of Frank Hague, to the equestrienne who plunged forty feet into a pool of water on horseback in Atlantic City, rediscover these and many other events from New Jersey's storied past.

Take the ferry to this New York City borough and discover its colorful secrets, in a quirky history packed with facts and photos.

Staten Island has a rich and fascinating cultural legacy that few people outside New York City's greenest borough know about. Chewing gum was invented on the island with the help of Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. Country music legend Roy Clark got his start as a virtuoso guitar player on the Staten Island Ferry. Anna Leonowens, who worked with the king's children in the Court of Siam and was the basis for The King and I, came back to Staten Island to write about her experiences and run a school for children.

Join native Staten Islanders Theresa Anarumo and Maureen Seaberg as they document the hidden history of the borough with these stories, and many more

New York's Finger Lakes region is filled with compelling characters, tragic disasters and fascinating mysteries.

Famed daredevil Sam Patch, known as the Yankee Leaper, thrilled audiences at Niagara Falls but took his last jump into the Genesee River with his pet black bear, plummeting to his death. The first ever Memorial Day was celebrated in Waterloo in 1866 and inspired a nation to adopt the holiday. Seneca Lake claims its fair share of ships, including the Onondaga, which was blown up with dynamite as part of a spectacle to commemorate the sinking of the USS Maine. Author Patti Unvericht reveals the forgotten history of the Finger Lakes region.

High Point State Park and the Civilian Conservation Corps explores the history of the fascinating landmark, which was a gift of Colonel Anthony and Susie Kuser to the people of New Jersey in 1923. The famed landscape firm Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, was retained to design the park's facilities. The job of carrying out many of the proposals in the plan fell to the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era federal agency that combined work relief efforts with conservation work. The laborers, known as the CCC boys, developed the layout of the park from 1933 to 1941. Much of their work remains and is still used by visitors today.

Hudson Valley is steeped in mysteries, from Celtic chambers resting in the deep woods of Putnam to Millbrook's abandoned Bennett College.

The beautiful, tree-spotted landscape of the Hudson Valley hides the strange and sometimes frightening stories of the region. In the Highlands, Iroquois chief Daniel Nimham gave his life for the cause of American independence. The great passenger steamship Swallow sank near the shores of Athens. And there is even one strange night in the Catskills where a legendary playwright miraculously survived a midnight plunge off the suspended Schoharie Bridge. Author Allison Guertin Marchese reveals a treasure-trove of curious tales recounting the most uncommon history of bad guys, bold girls, creepy colleges, missing mastodons and more in this wondrous region of New York.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary of incorporation, Jenkintown captures many familiar sites and organizations as well as those that helped define the area but no longer remain. Marion K. Rosenbaum and the Old York Historical Society utilize images from the historical society’s collection to trace the rise of Jenkintown as a stop on the coaching lines to New York City along the Old York Road to a shopping, transportation, and cultural hub.

Originally part of Abington Township, Jenkintown became an independent municipality on December 4, 1874, with its own school district forming shortly thereafter. Jenkintown has also been the center for numerous social, civic, fraternal, patriotic, and religious organizations, commencing with the founding of the Abington Library Society (known today as the Jenkintown Library) in 1803.

Marion K. Rosenbaum, Jenkintown resident, graduated from Jenkintown High School (1964) and Beaver College (1968). She is a retired librarian, archivist, and genealogist with extensive experience researching history in local depositories in the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania areas. She collaborated with the Old York Road Historical Society, which was founded in 1936 to preserve and promote the history of the communities along and adjacent to the Old York Road. The society’s collections contain over 250,000 photographic images, of which a few were selected for this book, supplemented by photographs in private and institutional collections.

New York's Long Island is long on history from land to sea! Ralph Brady covers well known and unknown sites, events, homes, places and people.

Everyone lucky enough to live on Long Island already knows that it's like nowhere else in the world. From lighthouses and a one-hundred-year-old carousel to World War II camps and missile sites, Long Island native Ralph Brady reveals the secrets to what makes this little-big island so special with a tour of some of Nassau and Suffolk's most historic locations. Walt Whitman, William Vanderbilt, Theodore Roosevelt and many others occupied remarkable homes around the island. Charles Lindbergh made his historic flight to France from what is now a shopping mall. For many years, a Long Island factory gave the world the game of Scrabble. Even the waters teem with history, with the modern submarine making its start off the coast. Come explore these and other settings from Long Island's past.

In 1906, Cord Meyer Development Company purchased 600 acres in Whitepot and renamed it Forest Hills after its high elevation of rolling hills and proximity to Forest Park.

After the Russell Sage Foundation acquired 142 acres and Grosvenor Atterbury and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. partnered, the Forest Hills Gardens, founded in 1909, became America's earliest planned garden community. When Henry Schloh and Charles Hausmann of the Rego Construction Company came upon farmland in Forest Hills West, they renamed it Rego Park in 1923 after their slogan, REal GOod Homes. Between the Tudor and Colonial landmarks, one can sense the footsteps of a few hundred notables who granted soul to the community and society. At the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, imagine the Beatles landing in a helicopter in front of screaming fans in 1964, or when Althea Gibson became the first African American to win a US national tennis title in 1957. Forest Hills High School was a cornerstone for notable alumni, such as composer Burt Bacharach; musical duo Simon & Garfunkel; Bob Keeshan, who portrayed Captain Kangaroo; and the first space tourist, Dennis Tito.

Lithuanians came to America to find what they were denied in Eastern Europe: freedom from tyranny, freedom to worship and to live as they chose.

Through centuries of bloody invasions and cruel oppression, their land was denied to them, yet in the anthracite coalfields of Pennsylvania, these immigrants worked to build communities of proud American citizens who continued to celebrate Kucios as well as Kaledos, eat blynai and šaltibaršcia, decorate marguciai, and pray the rosary in their native language. In Schuylkill County, they built the first churches, first schools, and first communities established by Lithuanians in the United States. No matter the hardships - grueling work in coalmines, contempt and violence against recent immigrants, prejudice, or condescension toward foreign names and accents - they believed in their country, the United States. Their stories are essential America.

Author David M. Griffin uncovers the lost history and harrowing stories of Long Island's British forts.

When the Revolutionary War broke out and New York City had fallen in 1776, the forces of the king of Great Britain developed a network of forts along the length of Long Island to defend the New York area and create a front to Patriot forces across the Sound in Connecticut. Fort Franklin on Lloyd's Neck became a refugee camp for Loyalists and saw frequent rebel attacks. In Huntington, a sacred burial ground was desecrated, and Fort Golgotha was erected in its place, using tombstones as baking hearths. In Setauket along the northern shore, the Presbyterian church was commandeered and made the central fortified structure of the town.

Lost Coal Country of Northeastern Pennsylvania documents the region's disappearing anthracite history, which shaped the legacy of the United States of America and the industrial revolution.

The coal mines, breakers, coal miners' homes, and railroads have all steadily disappeared. With only one coal breaker left in the entire state, it was time to record what would soon be lost. Unfortunately, one piece of history that persists is underground fires that ravage communities like Centralia. Blazing for over 50 years, the flames of Centralia will not be doused anytime soon. Images featured in the book include the St. Nicholas coal breaker, Huber coal breaker, Steamtown National Historic Site, Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, Eckley Miners' Village, Centralia, and the Knox Mine disaster. A hybrid history book and travel guide, Lost Coal Country of Northeastern Pennsylvania is one final recounting of what is gone and what still remains.

As automobile transportation exploded in the first half of the 20th century, the service station became a part of everyday life for a growing number of Americans in Central Pennsylvania.

These roadside stops provided necessary goods and services for the motoring public while featuring diverse aesthetics and promoting brand loyalty. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, motorists passing through central Pennsylvania had an ever-increasing number of service stations from which to choose. With the state capital Harrisburg at its core, this area has experienced marked growth while managing to preserve much of the historic beauty for which it is known. Lost Service Stations of Central Pennsylvania is a showcase of those stations and the people who owned them and a tribute to the beauty of a bygone era.

The revolutionary Battle of Monmouth signaled the end of major combat in the North. Centuries later, reminders of the conflict remain. The Covenhoven House, the Village Inn, Marlpit Hall, the Craig House and the homes of Thomas Seabrook and the murdered Joseph Murray stand open to the public today. Visitors can also behold safehouses for the wounded—such as Old Tennent Church, St. Peter’s and Old First Church—and tread along the same ground as George Washington, General Sir Henry Clinton, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette. Devoting attention to these sites and to the Battle Monument in Freehold, the Revolution’s most prominent and enduring symbol, historian Randall Gabrielan leads a tour through Monmouth County’s revolutionary heritage.

Venture into flora and fauna of Pennsylvania's Moraine State Park and uncover the hidden histories behind its natural treasures.

About 20,000 years ago, the late Wisconsinan glaciation reached its maximum extent. Glacial deposits identify the moraine, or farthest area covered by the glacier. Muddy Creek was a north-flowing stream that was blocked by the south-advancing glacier, forming a huge lake that lasted until the glacier dam began to retreat. The lake rapidly drained, eventually exposing the vast Muddy Creek basin. Dr. Frank Preston envisioned recreating the ancient glacial lake and worked with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to begin the project that became 16,725-acre Moraine State Park. Its centerpiece, man-made Lake Arthur and the surrounds, provide outstanding outdoor recreation and relaxation opportunities.

Over 200 images bring Niagara Falls' past to life and documents the people and places as they were in the 1860s-mid-1960s.

The photographs presented here contain views of the city of Niagara Falls and trace the community's roots in the villages of Suspension Bridge, Niagara Falls, and LaSalle. Many different faces of Niagara are depicted in this rare glimpse of the past. Residents and tourists alike will enjoy viewing the never-before published images gracing the pages of this volume. Images of industry, tourism, the development of hydroelectric power, business districts, streets, homes, and even daredevils all appear in this excellent collection of images.

Here we find the story of the Love Canal's origins in the 1890s, when this project's ultimate goal was to create an almost utopian city. Also included are several photographs of President William McKinley in Niagara Falls, only hours before his assassination. Other famous visitors mentioned include Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Lord Kelvin, Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, the Prince of Wales, Mikhail Gorbachev, Thomas Edison, Princess Diana, George Westinghouse, and John F. Kennedy.

Pittsburgh is synonymous with winning. From the Penguins and Steelers to the Pirates and Panthers, the Steel City knows championships.

There must be something special in the water to make Pittsburgh so particularly gifted with its sports teams. The most famous teams in the city’s history would most likely be the 1970s Steelers, known as the Steel Curtain for obvious reasons, and the Penguins who raised the Stanley Cup five times. Names such as Lemieux, Crosby, Roethlisberger, Bradshaw, Clemente and Stargell are legends of American sport and members of Pittsburgh's most cherished franchises, but for every sports legend and multi-million dollar franchise, there are a dozen more talented players and long-past teams that have been forgotten to history; the Negro League's Crawford and Homestead Grays are too often overlooked in the city's sports history but were as talented as any team that has played there. Author Dave Finoli ranks the fifty greatest teams that won trophies, brought glory and lifted the hearts of Pittsburgh’s devoted sports fans.