Name: Ghosts of Concord's Colonial Inn
Brand: Sam Baltrusis
SKU: 9781467153980
Price: 16.49 USD
Availability: InStock

Ghosts of Concord's Colonial Inn

9781467153980

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Nestled in the town square of Concord, Massachusetts, the windows of the Colonial Inn have gazed upon more than three centuries of bloodstained history.

Known for its role in the American Revolution, the Inn was originally built as three separate buildings with the oldest section of the property dating back to 1716. A stone's throw from Old North Bridge, the Inn is notoriously haunted by the ghosts from its Revolutionary War past. Guests report phantom footsteps, disembodied voices, and spirited soldiers lurking in the shadows of the labyrinthine hallways and empty rooms of this infamous inn.

Local author Sam Baltrusis has worked the graveyard shift at Concord's Colonial Inn trying to unravel the chilling mysteries and lingering legends associated with one of the country's oldest and most haunted hotels.

Waldorf Astoria

9781467121286

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The name Waldorf Astoria conjures images of Gilded Age opulence for the elite and the personalities that illuminated the Gilded Age in New York. Visit the old location on Fifth and 33rd and the current day incarnation on Park Avenue.

Famed throughout the world, New York's Waldorf Astoria is quite simply the grandest of all grand hotels. Host to emperors, rajahs, potentates, and plutocrats--not to mention every US president since Grover Cleveland--its name has become synonymous with the epitome of glamour, luxury, and sophistication. The name Waldorf Astoria applied to two different but equally magnificent hotels. The first was the connecting Hotel Waldorf and Astoria Hotel operating at the corner of Fifth Avenue and West Thirty-third Street. It was a Gilded Age pleasure dome created by the Astor family for New York's social elite. The second and present Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue is the ultimate expression of Gotham's Jazz Age extravagance. Vintage photographs herein record the architecture, decoration, and history of these two extraordinary establishments as well as the outsized personalities who created and dwelt within them.

Catskill Hotels

9780738511610

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Travel through a history of accomodations where Catskills tourists lodged during their excursions through one of America's most famed resort areas.

According to the Catskill Institute, there were over 1,000 hotels spread across the mountains of Greene, Ulster, Delaware, and Sullivan Counties at one time. The Catskills were an exciting world full of pleasures to be enjoyed, with summer and winter activities characterized by entertainment, food, sports, card playing, and food again. Catskill Hotels, with a collection of some 200 images, tells the story of this world, which began with America's first resort hotel, the Catskill Mountain House, continued with places such as the world-famous Grossinger's, and can still be found today at Kutsher's Country Club, the Mountain House at Lake Mohonk, and a few other hardy resorts.

French Lick and West Baden Springs

9781467102445

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Generations of visitors have found health and prosperity in the French Lick-West Baden region of Indiana. The history of these communities is filled with tales of exploration, ambition, philanthropy, and promised miracles from a foul-smelling water that magically seeped from the ground. The French Lick Hotel, founded by William Bowles in 1845, and the West Baden Hotel, founded by John Lane in 1855, both grew to set the standards for elegance and luxury across the country. Tycoons and gangsters found comfortable refuge here in this secluded corner of Indiana, but the challenges of the Great Depression and the war years set the community back on its heels. The once posh hotels fell into a period of decline and disrepair, only to come bounding back again in the 1990s. Today, the resort is filled with visitors who come seeking the perfect round of golf, a day at the spa, or a winning hand at the poker table, in two lavishly restored hotels that are reminiscent of another era.

Idlewild

9780738518909

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Once considered the most famous African-American resort community in the country, Idlewild was referred to as the Black Eden of Michigan in the 1920s and '30s, and as the Summer Apollo of Michigan in the 1950s and '60s.

Showcasing classy revues and interactive performances of some of the leading black entertainers of the period, Idlewild was an oasis in the shadows of legal segregation. Idlewild: Black Eden of Michigan focuses on this illustrative history, as well as the decline and the community's contemporary renaissance, in over 200 rare photographs. The lively legacy of Lela G. and Herman O. Wilson, and Paradise Path is included, featuring images of the Paradise Club and Wilson's Grocery. Idlewild continued its role as a distinctive American resort throughout the 1950s, with photographs ranging from Phil Giles' Flamingo Club and Arthur Braggs's Idlewild Revue.

Haunted Hotels of the California Gold Country

9781626194380

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Step across the threshold of a haunted hotel in California's renowned Gold Country and encounter phantom figures of yesteryear. Wispy apparitions of gentleman guests in Victorian coats and ladies in fashionable flapper gowns glide through the walls, while unexplained sobs and choking gasps disturb the night. There's Stan, the Cary House's eternal desk clerk, and bachelor ghost Lyle, who tidies the Groveland Hotel. Flo tosses pots and pans in the National's kitchen, while the once-scorned spirit of Isabella ties the Sierra Nevada House's curtains in knots. From suicidal gamblers to murdered miners, the Mother Lode's one-time boomtowns are crowded with characters of centuries past. Book your stay with author Nancy Williams as she explores the history and haunts of the Gold Country's iconic hotels.

Haunted Hotels of the California Gold Country

The Palace Hotel

9780738559698

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When it opened in 1875, the Palace Hotel was the largest and most luxurious hotel in the world, a perfect symbol of one of the most remarkable eras in San Francisco history. Built at a time when Nevada's fabulously rich silver mines were pouring millions of dollars each month into San Francisco, it typified the color and grandiose extravagances of the whole bonanza period. After the original hotel was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire, a successor Palace Hotel took its place and remains one of the most prestigious hotels in San Francisco today.

The Jefferson Hotel: The History of a Richmond Landmark

9781625859020

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Designed by Richmond visionary Lewis Ginter, The Jefferson Hotel has been an icon in the community since 1895. From the alligators that used to roam the elegant lobby to the speakeasy housed within during Prohibition, the hotel has a fascinating and unparalleled history. Playing host to cultural icons like Charles Lindbergh and F. Scott Fitzgerald and surviving the Great Depression and catastrophic fires, the hotel has remained an important landmark throughout Richmond's history. Join local historian Paul Herbert as he recounts stories of heiresses, actors, musicians and celebrities in this all-encompassing history of The Jefferson, a volume bound to delight anyone who has ever stayed within its treasured walls.

The Jefferson Hotel: The History of a Richmond Landmark

Dearborn Inn

9780738582702

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Henry Ford innovated the American automobile and the assembly line, but few know that Ford also applied his ingenuity to creating his ideal of a modern hotel. That vision, combined with a touch of grandeur, became the Dearborn Inn. Designed by noted architect Albert Kahn, with meticulous oversight by Henry Ford and his son Edsel, the inn opened in 1931 in Dearborn, Michigan. The famous landmark, with the charming appointments of a New England inn, originally accommodated pilots and passengers from the Ford Airport as well as visitors to Dearborn. Designated as both a national and Michigan state historic site, the Georgian-style Dearborn Inn includes five historic cottages replicating homes of famous Americans. As renovations have brought updates to the facility, great care has been taken to preserve the original character and integrity Ford envisioned. Follow the exciting journey from vacant land to airport hotel to world-class inn that still offers today's visitors charming and hospitable lodgings as well as outstanding, memorable meals.

Furnace Creek Resort

9781467134705

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Since opening on February 1, 1927, with just 12 guest rooms, Furnace Creek Resort has achieved preeminence among US National Park lodges and hotels. Conceived by the Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1926, the inn was the answer to the declining mining industry, which had left the Death Valley Railroad with nothing to haul. The construction of Furnace Creek Inn helped to shift Death Valley's draw from mining to tourism, bringing a new industry to the Old West. Steeped in history and tradition, the inn and the ranch have become as much a destination as the park itself. With naturally heated swimming pools, the world's lowest golf course, four-diamond hospitality, and surroundings of unsurpassed natural beauty, Furnace Creek offers experiences that are long remembered by its guests.

South Pasadena's Raymond Hotel

9780738559193

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Built in lavish Victorian style in 1886 atop Bacon Hill, the Raymond Hotel was the most regal feature on the skyline in the San Gabriel River Valley--a sundown silhouette of the wealth and prominence that had coalesced in the Pasadena area. It became the base of activities for Eastern tycoons' families enjoying the balmy Southern California climate, even fostering the development of the winter mansions on Orange Grove Avenue. After the original 200-room hotel with 80 chimneys burned down on Easter Sunday in 1895, the second 300-room Raymond Hotel opened in 1901. The pioneering orange groves on the sprawling grounds gave way to a golf course. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Chaplin are just two examples of the early-20th-century celebrities who stayed there. This visually stunning collection of images is a mere sample of the vintage professional photography that exists of South Pasadena's iconic landmark.

New Orleans Historic Hotels

9781626196872

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The hotels of New Orleans have welcomed countless visitors in a history stretching back to the eighteenth century. From humble boardinghouse beginnings to the grand hotels of the nineteenth century and through to the modern properties that stand today, hotel life in New Orleans has reflected the city's own story. From political scandal and celebrity intrigue to events that shaped the landscape of the entire country, the story of New Orleans's hotels is an endlessly engaging one. Travel writer Paul Oswell checks into the great hotels of the past and the present, telling the story of the properties that stood the test of time, as well as those that didn't. Using city records, newspaper archives, vintage travel guides and anecdotal stories in the best New Orleans tradition, he brings each one to life and in the process fleshes out the story of the city's hospitality industry and, by extension, its lively, fascinating history.

Galveston's Tremont House Hotel

9781467152266

$24.99

Step into the historic grandeur of a Texas icon - The Tremont House.

The storied history of the Tremont House began when Texas was still an independent Republic. Since then a series of hotels bearing that illustrious name have operated as a hub of Galveston high society. Buffalo Bill, Stephen Crane, Clara Barton walked the corridors of The Tremont House, along with presidents, millionaires, actors and countless other celebrities. Having witnessed the Gilded Age, the Jazz Era and every decade in between, the hotel was reborn in the 1980s to continue its legacy of hospitality and luxury. Join author Kathleen Maca as she explores the captivating secrets and remarkable heritage of the Tremont House.

Cover image for Galveston's Tremont House Hotel, isbn: 9781467152266

The Peabody Hotel

9780738514536

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The South's finest and one of America's best-these words have always defined the world-famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The Peabody emerged from the war-torn, post-Civil War South in 1869 to become one of the finest hotels in America. Its reputation for comfort, service, and fine dining grew along with Memphis's stature as "the river city, cotton capital, and birthplace of the blues." The most famous and infamous citizens of the era stayed at the original Peabody in its day. There, plantations were won or lost on a roll of the dice. After more than 50 years, the original hotel was replaced by a new 12-story, 615-room hotel in 1925. It was then that the hotel's name became synonymous with elegance. It also became the social center of Memphis and the mid-South, and a haunt for the rich and famous. The celebrated ducks swimming in the marble lobby fountain, parties in the skyway, or dancing on the open plantation roof to the music of the most renowned bands and orchestras of the day have all been part of this fabulous hotel's history. Today, the fully restored Peabody retains its reputation for legendary Southern hospitality and tasteful elegance. The hotel continues to serve as an anchor for the restoration and revitalization of the downtown area of one of America's most important cities.

Skytop Lodge

9781467123464

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Surrounded by the natural beauty of mountain lakes, streams, and cascading waterfalls, the historic Skytop Lodge resort sits on 5,500 pristine acres in the heart of the Poconos. Developers of the estate cultivated this aesthetic when they hired the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm to site the main building and design Skytop's gardens. Planned during the Roaring Twenties, Skytop first opened its doors in June 1928, just one year before the stock market crash that began the Great Depression. Despite that challenge and others, the classic silhouette of the Dutch Colonial Revival lodge has continued to greet guests for almost 90 years. Founder and general manager Samuel H. Packer laid the foundation for Skytop's success through his tireless efforts in organizing talent, such as golf pro Harold Calloway, and arranging endless events to build Skytop's reputation as a premiere destination "High in the Poconos."

Seattle's Mayflower Park Hotel

9781467131346

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The Mayflower Park Hotel started life as the Bergonian Hotel on July 16, 1927. One of Seattle's first uptown hotels, it was designed by architect B. Dudley Stuart and built by Stephen Berg at a cost of $750,000. In the midst of the Great Depression, the hotel was sold and renamed Hotel Mayflower. In 1948, Washington State legalized cocktail lounges, and the Hotel Mayflower became Seattle's first hotel to open one. In the ensuing decades, Seattle prospered, and it hosted the 1962 World's Fair with its symbolic Space Needle. By the 1970s, Seattle was in a deep recession, and the hotel had become sadly neglected. In 1974, Birney and Marie Dempcy formed a limited partnership to purchase the hotel and renamed it the Mayflower Park Hotel. Restoration started immediately, and after 40 years, the Dempcys remain dedicated to the tradition of making the Mayflower Park Hotel "Quite Simply, One of a Kind."

A History of Longfellow's Wayside Inn

9781609493967

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, is the most venerable of all the old historic taverns still operating in America. Built three hundred years ago by the How family, it has witnessed Indian affairs, colonial wars and the coming of the stagecoach, railroad and automobile. The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized it in verse with his 1863 collection Tales of a Wayside Inn, suddenly making it a desired destination for travelers. Longfellow's romanticized description of the inn later so inspired Henry Ford that he purchased and restored the building and its surrounding three thousand acres. Join author Brian Plumb as he traverses the highways of New England's history to discover the stories of Longfellow's Wayside Inn.

Harvey Houses of Arizona

9781625858566

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Valuing food quality as much as quality service, Harvey Houses changed the culture of western railroad towns. After Fred Harvey's death in 1901, sons Ford and Byron expanded the family business along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail lines. El Tovar opened in 1905 on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, signaling the arrival of the iconic brand to Arizona. New railroad depots and Harvey establishments reminiscent of the Spanish Colonial-Indian pueblo style of architecture followed. Well-paid European chefs trained every kitchen, and waitresses hailed from every walk of life. Author Rosa Walston Latimer celebrates hospitality the "Fred Harvey way" through the personal stories of the famous Harvey Girls and staff of luxury Harvey hotels in Ash Fork, Seligman, Williams, Winslow and beyond.

Wardman Park Hotel

9781467127820

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For a century, the Wardman Park Hotel has been the choice hotel destination for everyone from politicians to celebrities and tourists enjoying a visit to our nation's capital. Built in 1918 by developer Harry Wardman on the site of his expansive mansion, the hotel's architect designed the hotel to take advantage of the bucolic park-like setting. Wardman Park Hotel was both an upscale hotel and a residence, with US presidents, vice presidents, congressmen, Supreme Court justices, and celebrities residing there. Life at Wardman Park Hotel was like living at a resort, as guests relaxed in the hotel's enormous pool and attended lavish galas. Over the years, Wardman Park Hotel has undergone many expansions; however, a portion of Harry Wardman's original structure remains. Today, the hotel includes well-appointed rooms, luxurious suites, and condominiums and is regarded as a prime convention and meeting space destination.

Hotel Roanoke

9781467144834

$29.99 $22.49 Save 25%

The Hotel Roanoke is as old as the city of Roanoke itself. It opened in 1882, when the city became the headquarters for the Norfolk & Western Railway, and signaled the city's progress. It has since survived a devastating fire, the Depression and closure after a century of operation. Thanks to the determination of the leaders of Virginia Tech and the Roanoke Valley, the hotel reopened in 1995. Today, the reimagined Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center is once again a symbol of the region's economic vitality. This revised and updated version of Donlan Piedmont's Peanut Soup and Spoonbread: An Informal History of the Hotel Roanoke captures the amazing history of not only a hotel but also the personalities and stories that have made the Hotel Roanoke what it is today--a remarkable blend of century-old tradition and state-of-the-art hospitality.

Monterey's Hotel del Monte

9780738530321

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California's "Big Four" railroad tycoons built the Hotel del Monte to be the most elegant seaside resort in the world. Although it boasted 126 landscaped acres when it was constructed in 1880, pampered guests, including presidents and kings, stars and magnates, needed a larger playground. Owners added the 7,000-acre Del Monte Forest and 17-Mile Drive, planned to optimize picturesque spots along the Monterey coast, like Cypress Point and Pebble Beach. Burned to the ground in 1887 and 1924, the Del Monte became more luxurious with each incarnation, at one time incorporating a glass-roofed swimming pavilion, racetrack, lake, tennis courts, and Del Monte Golf Course, now the oldest continuously operating golf course in the West. The third hotel became the Naval Postgraduate School in 1952.

Rhinebeck's Historic Beekman Arms

9781626190368

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Nestled in the picturesque Hudson Valley town of Rhinebeck, the Beekman Arms began humbly as a stagecoach and mail stop on the Old Albany Post Road at the end of the eighteenth century. Of more than forty stage stops that operated along that path, it is the only one still in existence. Through the tenure of many landlords and several notable renovations, it has evolved into the stately inn it is today. Proclaimed the oldest hotel in America" since the early 1900s, it stands proudly as a symbol of the area's Dutch and English heritage and a reminder of the history that made this area famous. Join authors Matthew and Brian Plumb to explore the storied past of this historic Rhinebeck institution."

The Milders Inn of Fairfield, Ohio: Gangsters, Baseball & Fried Chicken

9781467119184

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Mom Milders's "Best in the Middle West" fried chicken drew crowds of regular and famous folk alike to her Fairfield establishment for decades until it closed after World War II. Notorious gangster John Dillinger stopped in for a bite while on the lam, but Mom made sure he removed his hat inside the building just like everyone else. Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds was a regular, mingling with fans at the inn. Today, the family still serves up the original fried chicken recipe every week at Ryan's Tavern in Hamilton. Author Teri Horsley explores the nostalgia and beloved recipes of the former inn that served up delectable home cooking with a side of history.

The Milders Inn of Fairfield, Ohio: Gangsters, Baseball & Fried Chicken

The Lido Club Hotel

9781467104449

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The Lido Club Hotel officially opened in June 1928 as a swanky oceanfront resort adjacent to the world-class Lido Golf Course. Built by Sen. William H. Reynolds, who previously bought and developed nearby Long Beach, the Lido Club Hotel featured a striking architectural design with twin cupolas and became a playground for socialites, industrialists, and politicians. In 1942, the US Navy requisitioned the hotel as a naval training and separation center. After the war, the Lido Club Hotel was leased to the newly formed United Nations and housed over 500 of its personnel. The hotel returned to civilian hands in 1947 and was once again a fashionable seaside resort with a wealthy clientele. Over the next 30 years, many well-known entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbra Streisand performed in Lido's Starlight Room. In 1980, the Lido Club Hotel was sold to developers and converted into a luxury oceanfront condominium, Lido Beach Towers, that remains a local landmark with a fascinating past.

Linden Row Inn

9781467122559

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Included in the National Register of Historic Places, the collection of Greek Revival row houses that make up the Linden Row Inn have played a significant role in the history of Richmond, Virginia, for two centuries. As a child, Edgar Allan Poe played in the private garden that occupied this site, and he later courted his first love, Elmira Royster, among the roses and linden trees. During the Civil War, Linden Row was a meeting place for leaders and supporters of the Confederacy; later, it was home to a prestigious girls' school, whose pupils included Irene and Nancy Langhorne, known in later years as the Gibson Girl and Lady Nancy Astor. In 1922, two of the original ten houses were torn down and replaced by the Medical Arts Building. In 1950, local preservationist Mary Wingfield Scott purchased the remaining houses to save them from the wrecking ball, donating them in 1980 to the Historic Richmond Foundation. In 1988, under the supervision of the foundation, seven of the eight remaining houses were renovated and restored to become the Linden Row Inn, which still welcomes travelers today.