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Located about ninety minutes from three major metro areas - Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia - Gettysburg sits in the fertile crescent, an area brimming with agricultural possibilities.

Founded in the 1700s by James Gettys, the little town became headline material during the Civil War, although area residents never expected to be at the forefront of that controversy. Fate, however, had its way with the town, and Gettysburg found itself on the map permanently. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower retired here, Gettysburg became the place to visit for international tourists as well as Americans. Today, the National Park Service maintains the Gettysburg National Military Park, and the town caters to its visitors. Still imbued with small-country charm, Gettysburg beckons visitors from far and wide and treats them royally.

Philadelphia was once the proud home of Wanamaker's, a department store of many firsts founded by the retail giant John Wanamaker in 1861.

Its name was synonymous with service, and Philadelphians still fondly remember the massive bronze eagle in the Grand Court, concerts from the world's largest pipe organ and the spectacular Christmas festivities. Philadelphia native Michael J. Lisicky takes a nostalgic journey through the history of the store, from its beginnings as a haberdashery to its growth into New York and Delaware and the final poignant closing of its doors. Lisicky brilliantly combines interviews with store insiders, forgotten recipes and memories from local celebrities such as Trudy Haynes and Sally Starr to bring readers back to the soft glow of the marble atrium and the quiet elegance of the Crystal Tea Room that was Wanamaker's

Images of America: Centralia chronicles many of the images and stories from this fascinating and colorful Pennsylvania community.

Centralia is the saga of a Pennsylvania community consumed by an underground mine fire. The town, founded in 1866, has often been embroiled in tragedy and controversy. Beginning with the infamous Molly Maguires, Centralia was confronted with the murder of its founder and an assault upon its Catholic priest, who cursed the town, saying, One day this town will be erased from the face of the earth. Almost one hundred years later, a vein of coal that ran underneath the town caught fire and has burned since 1962. In the 1990s, the state of Pennsylvania declared eminent domain and forced most of the town's sixteen hundred residents to leave. Ten people remain in Centralia today.

Pittsburgh: 1758-2008 surveys the city's evolution from strategic fort in the wilderness to bustling industrial workshop to high-tech center for universities and health care.

A boatbuilding center and gateway to the West at the beginning of the 19th century, Pittsburgh later produced iron and steel used to construct bridges and buildings around the country and provided the cannons, shot, and ships that helped win wars around the world. In the process, Pittsburgh became a magnet for successive waves of immigrants - workers and entrepreneurs who shaped the culture and character of the city with their customs, churches, clubs, food, and an impressive collection of museums. With a roster of notable historical figures and as the birthplace of a slew of world-changing innovations, Pittsburgh is a city that left its mark on the history books.

Illustrating the boroughs, townships and villages of Luzerne County in a rare collection of photographs, advertisements and history dating back to the 18th century.

The Susquehanna River meanders through Luzerne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, passing communities historically known for the mining of anthracite coal. Settlement of the area began in 1769 during the first Yankee-Pennamite War. Historical photographs from the Luzerne County Historical Society depict businesses, churches, coal culture, street scenes, area disasters, entertainment, railroads, steamboats, and veterans, including the last survivor of the Battle of Wyoming in 1778 and the Civil War.

Discover the people and places of Brooklyn from a decade of growth and prosperity in the 1920s.

Now home to approximately 2.5 million people, Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs that make up New York City. It was during the 1920s that Brooklyn experienced some monumental changes in the early motorized world of cars, trucks, buses, and trains. In this decade, Brooklyn saw the construction of the world's largest promenade, the Coney Island Boardwalk, as well as the construction of most of the homes that still exist in Brooklyn. The 1920s also brought Brooklyn's sewers and paved roads. Slowly but surely, farms and gardens began to vanish in the name of progress. Brooklyn became a refuge for many. It offered the opportunity for peaceful living in a growing urban society.

Travel back to the beginnings of a diverse community with a rich ethnic heritage and join author Eric Ierardi in this celebration of a unique American city with a fascinating past.Brooklyn in the 1920sis sure to appeal to both residents and newcomers and will serve as a valuable tool in teaching the history of Brooklyn to future generations.

Travel back in time through the heyday of the old Erie Canal and see how it unleashed the growth of the United States.

The building of the Erie Canal was spearheaded by the vision of Gov. Dewitt Clinton, New York State to build the engineering marvel that opened the West to settlement and made New York City the center of finance and commerce. Opened in 1825, the canal proved so commercially viable that construction of an enlarged Erie Canal began just 11 years later. The success of the canal spawned the growth of cities, towns, businesses, and industries along its route in upstate New York.

Erie Canal takes you on a journey where you can swim with the Volunteer Life Saving Corps as they sharpen their skills, view images of mule-drawn boats wending their way through scenic countryside, and marvel at the engineering of the bridges, aqueducts, and locks that facilitated the functioning of the canal. In addition, Erie Canal travels a step back in time and illuminates the people whose lives were shaped by the canal.

Levittown was created in Bucks County outside of Philadelphia in 1951. As one of the largest planned communities in America, this book's superb collection of history and photographs illustrates the birth and growth of this unique area.

In 1951, Levittown was created in Bucks County outside of Philadelphia by builder pioneers Levitt and Sons. Dubbed the largest and most perfectly planned community in America, it featured single-family homes, schools, churches, shopping centers, and swimming pools. A symbol of the American Dream, Levittown defined the phenomenon of post-World War II suburban developments, which for the first time gave working- and middle-class families the option of affordable, detached houses outside congested urban neighborhoods. Levittown was a melting pot, attracting people from cities, rural areas, and all walks of life, including many World War II veterans with young families. Houses came fully equipped with appliances and landscaping and started at $9,000. Levittown's superb collection of history and photographs illustrates the birth and growth of this unique area, explores the community that resulted, and features residents' personal memories of the golden years.  

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Allentown, Pennsylvania with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Allentown, the Queen City of the Lehigh Valley, is the youngest but largest of the three cities in the valley. Founded in 1762 by William Allen, it was little more than a crossroads and small market town along the Lehigh Riveruntil it became the county seat in 1812. Heavy industries based on iron developed in the mid-eighteenth century along the Lehigh Riverand, by the 1860s, Allentown had become the largest community in the Lehigh Valley. In 1867, Allentown became a city.

In Allentown, readers nostalgic for times past will find photographs showing the places they remember from years ago, the Pennsylvania Power & Lighttower, and the effects of the devastating floods on the Lehigh River. Equally, newcomers who have heard about the great department stores of Hamilton Street, the trolley systems, Central Park, the breweries, and the iron and silk industries will treasure the images in this volume. Many places that still exist are shown in Allentown as they appeared in their earlier days.

Local historian and author Ann Bartholomew has compiled a riveting photographic record of the vibrant city of Allentown. Perusing these pages will evoke memories and will provide opportunities for parents and grandparents to introduce a younger generation to the city as it was in their youth.

Since their creation thousands of years ago, the Niagara Falls have captured the hearts and imaginations of all those who witness their endless power and strength.

As settlers arrived and began to harness the falls as a resource, the population climbed. Small hamlets, including Bellevue, Clarksville, Schlosser, and Manchester, grew to become the villages of Suspension Bridge and Niagara Falls, which were incorporated in March 1892 into the current city of Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls: 1850–2000 depicts the natural beauty of the falls, the emergence of the booming tourism trade, and the advances of electrical technology that have relied on the mighty falls' power. Many hands have crafted and bent steel to span the Niagara Gorge while many others fought to keep industry from turning nature into asphalt. Culled from the archives of the Niagara Falls Public Library's Local History Department, these images represent the people, from those stepping close to the brink in amazement and awe to those who live and work within the roar of Niagara Falls, and places that make up the landscape that is Niagara's past.

Historical photographs, previously unpublished, portray historical Long Beach Island of New Jersey, from beaches to resorts to fishing.

Long Beach Island stretches for eighteen miles alongside the southern New Jersey mainland. A barrier island, it has a vivid history that includes wild game and bountiful fish, early whalers and tragic shipwrecks, paddle-wheel steamboats and grand hotels. With its rare and previously unpublished images, Long Beach Island portrays the unforgettable place that today is known for its white sandy beaches, fresh seafood, and bright red and white lighthouse. Shown are islanders engaged in pound fishing and salt hay harvesting, and, later, visitors crossing Barnegat Bay to the island resorts called Barnegat City and Beach Haven.

Through an extraordinary collection of photographs, Jim Thorpe tells the story of not only the athlete but its famed coal-mining industry.

What was originally named Mauch Chunk, Jim Thorpe was established on the Lehigh River as a shipping depot for anthracite coal in 1818 by Josiah White, a Philadelphia Quaker and brilliant engineer, and his trusted business partner, Erskine Hazard. By 1829, White and Hazard had founded the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company and built an efficient transportation system that moved coal nine miles over the mountains to Mauch Chunk by Switchback Gravity Railroad, and 46 miles along the Lehigh Canal to Easton. With the arrival of the railroads, the Switchback became a major tourist attraction. As rail excursionists descended on Mauch Chunk to experience a hair-raising ride on America's first roller coaster and enjoy the magnificent scenery, the coal shipping town, billed by the railroads as the Switzerland of America, became a tourist destination second in popularity only to Niagara Falls. In a story stranger than fiction, the town exchanged its name for the name of Jim Thorpe when the 1912 Olympic hero was laid to rest there in 1954.  Jim Thorpe (Mauch Chunk) tells the story of the athlete and his burial, the Switchback Gravity Railroad, the Lehigh Canal, the social scene, and the town's Victorian legacy.

How the Adirondack region was first discovered, then explored and eventually maintained- all of which helped shape what it is today.

The East's greatest wilderness, the Adirondack region of New York State, shares its history and lore with Native Americans, early settlers, artists, writers, sportsmen, professors and others. The Adirondacks are known to outdoor lovers, skiers, and year-round visitors for their 46 high peaks, 100-mile canoe route, 133-mile Northville-to-Lake Placid Trail, 30,000 miles of mountain streams, and 3,000 lakes.

In addition to its finding, The Adirondacks: 1830-1930, shows how the six-million-acre Adirondack Park, which is the largest park in the contiguous United States and a patchwork of public and private lands governed by one of the largest regional zoning plans in the country, was preserved. With over 200 stunning photographs and fascinating tales of the region, it traces the development of the hamlets, the great camps, the guides, and the furniture and tanning businesses.

Bordered by the Delaware River and dotted by dozens of delightful 18th-century towns and villages, Bucks County retains a wistful air of long ago.

Covered bridges, colonial homes, classic farmsteads, and a breathtaking countryside are only part of this beautiful county's story. In 1683, Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn, established his manor here and helped build a nation by inviting industrious immigrants to its fertile soil. In 1776, Gen. George Washington launched one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War from its shores. Farmers harnessed the land for centuries, followed by writers, artists, and innovators who weaved its charms into their work for the world. Bucks County features photographs from area historical societies and collectors that capture the spirit of the everyday life, as well as the extraordinary people and events, that helped shape one of the most distinctive places in America.

Discover the rich history of Yonkers as local Joan Jennings walks through the city's neighborhoods, landmarks, and notable characters who called the city home.

A study in contrasts, Yonkers, a sprawling city 20 miles north of midtown Manhattan, traces its roots to early Dutch settlers. Yonkers has a history of retail, boasting one of the first shopping malls in the United States, but prides itself on its backbone of mom-and-pop businesses. Seabiscuit, the legendary racehorse, once stood in the winner's circle at Yonkers Raceway. The city has 38 distinct neighborhoods, each with its own character and identity. Yonkers was home to some of the 19th century's wealthiest industrialists and inventors whose innovations, such as the Otis safety elevator, Armstrong's FM radio, Harvey's elevated railroad, and Smith's carpet looms, shaped the world we know today. Currently, the city with a rough-and-tumble, blue-collar waterfront is undergoing dramatic revitalization.

Altoona is a city built by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Cities usually grow to maturity and then sprout suburbs. With Altoona, it was the opposite. The suburban towns are older than the city and form a larger community.

In 1849, Altoona was farmland, a little hamlet in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. The site was chosen by the railroad for locomotive repair shops. Situated at the eastern base of the Allegheny Mountains, Altoona was destined to become the largest railroad yard in the world. The complex occupied 217 acres and included two huge roundhouses. Centered around the railroad, the city and its population grew. In this historic city were various shops that provided employment to early settlers and the old furnaces of the ironmasters. Also here were the Logan House hotel, where a meeting of governors saved the Union, and Cricket Field, where great athletes from across the country competed. Over the years Altoona has been visited by not only presidents and statesmen but also celebrities of stage and opera. It is home to the world-famous Horseshoe Curve and to Lakemont Park, which has the world's oldest roller coaster.

From a distance, Shenandoah may look like any other small town, quaint and unassuming, and yet there are many more treasures than just the ""black diamonds"" of coal that run in her veins.

Discovery of the Mammoth Vein of anthracite in the 1860s brought tens of thousands of immigrants to work the local mines; in turn, they brought their cultures and dreams of a better life in America. Within a generation, rapidly increasing population created the ""Most Congested Square Mile in the United States."" Later, a shift from coal mine to Main Street fashioned recognition for retail fineries, along with distinction as the ""City of Churches."" At the center of the Molly Maguire troubles of the 1870s and the 1902 coal strike that changed the power of the presidency, Shenandoah has long been recognized for defiance and determination. Mining disasters, financial adversity, and ruinous fires scarred memories of decades of prominence; however, Shenandoah's spirit has endured through the last 150 years.

This photographic history showcases Greene County, which is located between the ""Rhine of America"" and the scenic northern Catskill Mountains.

Greene County has long been a magnet for settlers, artists, writers, and travelers; it all began with Henry Hudson's exploration of the Hudson River and was followed by the arrival of Dutch settlers. Its geographic location between the ""Rhine of America"" and the scenic northern Catskill Mountains contributes to Greene County's allure, as do the Great Algonquin Flint Mines, fascinating remnants of the area's prehistoric inhabitants, the Mohegans. Much of the content in Around Greene County and the Catskills reflects ""everyday living,"" a sampling of its architecture, people, and activities which reflect a sense of history and changing lifestyles. The inclusion of the Dutch Bronck houses of 1663 and 1738, a National Historic Landmark homestead complex, sets the tone of this visual history. From colonial times through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Greene County (like other New York counties) has been affected by national conditions; its economic base has changed and adjusted accordingly. Different ethnic groups who have chosen Greene County as their home have enhanced the area's rich cultural heritage.

Stunning images reveal the beauty and history of New York's Lake George located in the Adirondack Mountains.  

Pioneer photographers Seneca Ray Stoddard and Jesse Sumner Wooley, along with other local professional and amateur photographers, visually recorded life at Lake George around the beginning of the twentieth century. With artistic clarity and astuteness, they created a pictorial diary of this well-known resort area, as our grandparents and great-grandparents would have known it. Many of the nearly two hundred images in Lake George have rarely been seen before and serve as more than a road map through the area's past. They capture life at natural moments. The clothing, the modes of transportation, and the recreation that were once quite common appear in page after page of breathtaking photographs and brilliant narrative. This pictorial history explores the bays and byways of the lake, its year-round residents, and the vacationers who made it their temporary home every summer. Replete with images of moments, hideaways, and people that no longer exist, Lake George is a new experience in an old familiar place.

What do you really know about the Keystone State?

William Penn, the Revolutionary figures of Philadelphia, and the strength of Pittsburgh's steel all loom large in Pennsylvania's history, but author Thomas White brings together a collection of tales that have been cast in the shadows of these giant icons. From the 1869 storm that pelted Chester County with snails to the bloody end of the Cooley gang, White selects events with an eye for the humorous and strange. Mostly true accounts of cannibalistic feats, goat-rescuing lawmen, heroic goldfish, the funeral of a gypsy queen, and a Pittsburgh canine whose obituary was featured in the New York Timesall leap from the lost pages of history.

Ocean City, which calls itself ""America's Greatest Family Resort,"" is best known for its clean beaches and yearly bayfront celebration called the ""Night in Venice.""

Founded in 1879 as a Christian seaside resort, the island community still maintains some of its early traditions including prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages--while striving to continue its long-standing reputation as a family-oriented resort. This remarkable new photographic history features such historic sites as the home of the town's firstresident and famous old-time restaurants like Chris', Hogate's, and Watson's. Several rare pictures of the shipwrecked Sindia and its cargo are also included, as well as photographs of Ocean City's most well-known citizens, Princess Grace Kelly and author Gay Talese.

Did you know a town can vanish? Discover the curious history of five towns nearly lost to history...

This is the story of five towns located in New York's Hudson River Valley that met their demise as quickly as they were established. From the icehouses of Rockland Lake to the Ashokan Reservoir towns to the brick quarries of Roseton, only traces of these once vibrant settlements can now be found. Camp Shanks, one of World War II's most significant military compounds, was erected in 1942 but was quickly abandoned at the war's end. Last Stop USA, as it was known, played host to over one million soldiers and welcomed patriotic visitors like Frank Sinatra and Shirley Temple. In this collection of images, local authors Wesley and Barbara Gottlock revive the spirits of these bygone communities and celebrate a lost way of life.

Ithaca, New York has often been called ""the Hollywood of the East,"" growing from farms to factories to Cornell University--Ithaca's history is an interesting and broad one.

Nestled in the heart of the Finger Lakes, Ithaca was planned by surveyor Simeon DeWitt and incorporated in 1821 when steamboats signaled Cayuga Lake's heyday of commerce and recreation. Spectacular creeks and waterfalls powered grist, plaster, carding, and other mills. From farms, merchants, and mills, Ithaca's industries grew to include the famous Thomas-Morse Aviation Company and Morse Chain Works. By 1914, Wharton Studios was producing silent films in this ""Hollywood of the East."" Such notable residents as actress Irene Castle, the Tremans, and community leader James L. Gibbs called Ithaca home. Ithacans became known for community involvement early on. St. James AME Zion Church served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and Elizabeth Beebe built a mission for needy Rhiners. Ezra Cornell and Andrew D. White realized their ideal of education when Cornell University opened in 1868, followed in 1892 by the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, which became Ithaca College in 1931. Students protested segregation in front of Woolworth's 30 years later, and echoes of this idealism can still be found here today.

Health, history ... and horses! See the Saratoga Springs experience that has been spread out for visitors, year after golden year!

Brilliant afternoons awash in sunshine in Saratoga Springs. Nestled in the foothills of the Adirondacks, it has been the midsummer mecca across two centuries. From the long distant past, the powerful waters from deep in the earth made this place a wellspring of the healing arts. The allure of meeting in the healthy country environment brought society first from the eastern cities and then from all points of the globe. Society itself became an object for summer entertainment, and connecting with living history came to be a recreational pursuit. However, there is more to Saratoga Springs.

While the Spa City opens its arms to all travelers, along with the charms there stands a robust, cheerful, and stalwart core of residents who have over the years transformed a northern wilderness into an oasis of leisure and elegance. Behind the grand hotels of Broadway and America's Monte Carlo are the mansions of Union Avenue and Circular Street, the winter play, and the personalities shaping a place of character, comfort, and culture.Saratoga Springs: A Historical Portraitis their story--the small town at the heart of the City in the Country.

Through vintage photographs, McKeesport documents the history of this once booming steel town from the development and subsequent loss of its major industry to its recent revitalization.

Located at the confluence of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers, McKeesport was settled by David McKee in 1755. In 1769, McKee acquired land from the Colonial government and one of his sons, John, laid out a village that became known as McKee's Port because a ferry was operating there. Early industries included coal mining and the building of flatboats, and in 1851, an iron rolling mill was started. Industry continued to boom as steamboats and railroads soon appeared, and in 1872, National Tube was founded and joined by other steel industries and foundries. The growing industries created an abundance of jobs, and immigrants from throughout Europe flocked to the area. McKeesport still maintains a strong ethnic heritage.

This volume about Fresh Meadows, Queens captures the optimism of the postwar era by illustrating how middle-class families thrived in an environment that combined the best aspects of urban and suburban living.

Located in northeast Queens, Fresh Meadows grew up around a housing development of the same name, built for World War II veterans. The site plan for the development not only provided an array of green open space, but it also enabled residents to enjoy a variety of services within walking distance. The development became the centerpiece of a brand-new neighborhood, which had been the site of a country club and farmland. In 1949, renowned urban and architecture critic Lewis Mumford hailed the Fresh Meadows housing development as ""perhaps the most positive and exhilarating example of large-scale community planning in this country.""

Railroads and steel helped build the towns of Mahoningtown and New Castle, and then became a leading producer of tinplate and fireworks.

Founded in 1798, New Castle was a small borough located at the confluence of the Shenango River and Neshannock Creek. Mahoningtown, a small borough located just south of New Castle, was a thriving community founded in 1836. The two towns boasted flourishing industries, and in 1896, a trolley line was created to run between them. In 1898, Mahoningtown officially became the seventh ward of New Castle. By that time, New Castle was a third-class city, and railroads and steel were the area's major industries. Eventually many important products were manufactured here, including both Castleton and Shenango China, which were used in the White House. New Castle became known first as the tinplate capital of the world and, later, as the fireworks capital of the world. The stunning postcards featured in New Castle and Mahoningtown document the fusion of these two communities. Among the memorable views are the diverse scenery and amusements of Cascade Park and the parade for baseball manager Chuck Tanner, who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to their fifth World Series.

Go beyond the historic Johnstown flood and explore the in-depth history of this quintessential Pennsylvania community that has endured and prospered through generations.

The flood of 1889 has often taken center stage in the history of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but the history of this community is greater than this tragedy. In this first installment of a two-volume set, local author Randy Whittle chronicles this town's past. Beginning with the aftermath of the 1889 flood, Whittle describes the key events and issues that the community's institutions and many of its leading personalities have wrestled with from the mid-1890s. The result is an accessible and entertaining narrative that not only recounts the community history, but also the topical histories of many civic organizations, the local government and leading businesses.

The history of the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is a testament to the strength of the people that call it home.

In the second volume of history for this stalwart Pennsylvania city, Randy Whittle shows how Johnstown pulled together, even after the devastation of a flood in 1936 that wrought massive damage throughout the community. Following World War II, the community struggled to rise above adversity in the economy and to establish civil rights for all. Johnstown is a true American city, as strong as the steel that is forged in its famous mills. From Johnstown's enormous contribution in steel and coal to the war effort to its recovery after the monumental flood of 1977, Whittle's book shows how the people of Johnstown made it the modern city it is today.

Through more than 200 vintage photographs, Pittsburgh's Shadyside chronicles the personalities, places, institutions, and events that transformed a farming community into an affluent industrial-age suburb and diverse city neighborhood.

The suburb of Shadyside was established in the middle of farmland during the late 1860s when the Shadyside train station opened. As Pittsburgh grew into the world's preeminent industrial city, Shadyside became the home of many influential men of the industrial age. Rapid change struck Shadyside early in the 20th century when commerce sprouted up around the perimeter of the neighborhood to cater to the residents' demand for luxury goods and services. Within another decade industry moved in, especially close to the train tracks, and in 1915, the Ford Motor Company assembly plant opened in Shadyside.

With Syracuse, readers can explore the architecture, lifestyles, landscapes, and transportation modes of this city from before the Civil War to the mid-1970s.

As we approach the twenty-first century, many people are seeking to connect with their community's roots in order to better understand their own past and to make thoughtful choices about the future. Within these pages, readers come face-to-face with the nineteenth-century citizens who shaped the city; Syracuse University football and lacrosse legends; and individuals like Colonel Homer Wheaton, who became the first soldier from Syracuse to be struck down in World War I, sacrificing his life to save comrades from an exploding grenade. Other intriguing discoveries include a series of views showcasing the lost mansions of James Street, images of the main line New York Central Railroad tracks that ran though the middle of downtown for one hundred years, and scenes of the former salt manufacturing industry which once defined Syracuse as it is still known today-The Salt City.

Schuylkill County in east central Pennsylvania was built from the rich southern fields of anthracite coal.

The era when coal was king has long since passed, but the story of the development of the anthracite coal industry that fueled the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. has not been lost, and its legacy still influences our modern world. When Broad Mountain was conquered by the railroads and the Mahanoy plane was built, coal could be brought up over the mountain to reach its markets. The transportation that was necessary to get the coal to the rapidly developing markets in Philadelphia, New York, and New England caused the development of the towns in northern Schuylkill County such as Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, and Ashland during the 1850s–1860s. The vivid details and nuances of local community life from the 1850s to the 1920s are brought to light in this wonderful collection by historians Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major.

Through hundreds of scarcely-seen photos and archival materials, the fascinating story of Endicott-Johnson, the company town it built, and the groundbreaking foundations of Square Dealcapitalism come to life.

The Endicott-Johnson Corporation emerged from the modest Lester Brothers Company, manufacturers of boots and shoes, that began in 1854. It was created through the tenacity and vision of great American entrepreneur George F. Johnson. Johnson rose from abject poverty to ownership of one of the largest shoe industries in the world. The village of Endicott was built by Johnson c. 1901, and the Triple Cities of Binghamton, Johnson City, and Endicott made up a classic shoe town USA. At its peak, during the 1920s and 1930s, EJ employed twenty thousand people. The monumental impact of corporate policies on life and the local landscape survived long after company doors closed.

Endicott-Johnson combines nostalgia, insight, stories, and memories from area residents. This volume offers a comprehensive view into the lives of early-twentieth-century factory workers and the men who guided the corporation into the annals of industrial history. The EJ brand of welfare capitalism resulted in a company town where employee benefits nearly overshadowed the making of shoes and where intense loyalty to the company still exists. Revolutionary labor-relation policies and a benevolent relationship between corporation and community made EJ an example of a square deal business.

In the nineteenth century in Pottsville, coal was king, but the town successfully reinvented itself when coal fell out of favor.

FAREWELL 1899! WELCOME 1900! was the headline in the Pottsville Republican on January 1, 1900. The people of Pottsville ushered in the new century in the usual manner with noisy gatherings and crowded churches. Coal was king in Schuylkill County during the nineteenth century, but the demise of the coal industry had already begun by 1900. Bitter strikes between coal operators and miners, especially the great strike of 1902, caused consumers to find other fuels and forced Pottsville to re-create its economy and identity.

However, residents adapted swiftly, and it was not long before Pottsville had seven volunteer fire companies, the second-finest courthouse in the state, a first-class hospital, twenty-three churches, a $100,000 YMCA building, a public mission, a free kindergarten, twelve fine schoolhouses, two parochial schools, and a free public library. Pottsville in the Twentieth Century celebrates the town's changes and accomplishments throughout the 1900s.

Philadelphia Neighborhoods is a compendium of historic views of the major residential sections of Philadelphia.

This book presents a snapshot into the past when old neighborhoods were not so old and when currently established ones were as yet new construction. Through the medium of postcards, readers are invited back to an era before automobiles dominated the streets, before many city roads were paved, and when the local grocery store was not located in a mall. Using chapters divided into subsections that detail the various regions of North, South, Southwest, and West Philadelphia, as well as the ""new"" Northeast Philadelphia, the author chronicles the vibrant, diverse communities that have helped shape the city's rich history.

Around Hornell tells the tale of western New York's Maple City and its neighbors, the rural towns of Canisteo, Dansville, Fremont, Hartsville, Hornellsville, and Howard.

The region is set in the dramatic countryside between the Finger Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains, home to the deep gorges of Stony Brook State Park. Great arks floated down the Canisteo River to markets in Baltimore, and for more than a century, Hornell roared with round-the-clock work in the Erie Railroad shops. Hornell is a musical city of community bands, high-school operettas, and barbershop quartets, and its famous residents include radio star and pioneer pilot Blanche Scott, aspiring major leaguer Don Zimmer, and New York's longest-serving mayor, Shawn Hogan, who has graciously provided the introduction to Around Hornell.

Until the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, Buffalo was a sleepy town. Access to an abundant supply of fresh water led to a thriving farming industry, provided a means of transportation, and powered mills and factories.

Adding to the hustle and bustle of the city's busy new harbor was Joseph Dart's local invention of the grain elevator. Buffalo's location on Lake Erie, and its growth during the second industrial revolution, helped the city become the eighth largest in America and established it as the Queen City. It has been home to future presidents and inventors who have influenced millions. The city's original radial street design, the layout of its parks, and its majestic architecture make Buffalo fascinating and unique.

Kennett Square features vintage photographs which document the history of this Baltimore community.

Kennett Square, the mushroom capital of the world, began its long history as a mere crossroads on the Philadelphia to Baltimore road in the early 18th century. With the arrival of the railroad in 1859, the area grew to become a major agricultural and manufacturing center. It also produced some noteworthy individuals, including author Bayard Taylor, New York Yankee Herb Pennock, and several inventors. Kennett Square highlights many postcard and photographic images from the period 1890 to 1930. Many of the buildings shown are now gone, but thanks to the golden age of postcards, Kennett Square's historic scenes can still be enjoyed.

Veteran journalist Len Barcousky shines a light on the hidden corners of Pittsburgh's history.

When Mark Twain visited in 1884, he claimed to spy a little bit of hell in Pittsburgh's smoky appearance. Twain's observations are among the many riveting firsthand accounts and anecdotes to be found in the archives of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Great War hit home after the sinking of the Lusitania, which carried more than a dozen Pittsburgh residents. A few years later, cheering throngs of black and white residents lined downtown streets to welcome African American soldiers returning home from the conflict. The Ringling Brothers Circus held its last outdoor performance here in 1956 and left eight hundred show workers without jobs in the city.

An interesting cast of characters and stories reveal Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, also known as the center of Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Fiery Patriots, resourceful inventors and brilliant artists have all hailed from Lancaster County. The lives and deeds of such famous and ordinary folk of Pennsylvania Dutch country are chronicled by Jack Brubaker in this collection of fascinating vignettes drawn from his Lancaster New Era column, ""The Scribbler."" From tales of President James Buchanan's youthful antics to the attempted delivery of the nation's first airmail by hot-air balloon, Brubaker creates a compelling and entertaining narrative of the history of Lancaster City and County. Memories of the original Brunswick Hotel's shoofly pie and the Horse Thief Association of Intercourse will transport readers to a Lancaster from days gone by.

Explore the fascinating history of Carbondale, Pennsylvania with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

The first non-native settlers arrived in Ragged Island, as Carbondale was then known, around 1802. Twenty years later, brothers William and Maurice Wurts were exploring the wilderness when they took note of several outcroppings of curious black stones.

These stones turned out to be anthracite coal, and the two Philadelphia businessmen became pioneers in America's Industrial Revolution. Carbondale's journey has taken many twists and turns during the past two centuries.

The colorful and fascinating mosaic of images in Carbondalegives the reader a glimpse into the heart of small-town America and a clear picture of this historic city's past.

The twin river hamlets of Lambertville, New Jersey, and New Hope, Pennsylvania, hold a special place in America's history.

The tiny pocket of land on which they sit borders the Delaware River on the east and west, and it is this famous waterway that has fostered life as far back as the days when the Lenni Lenape fished and hunted here. Much has changed since the land was purchased by representatives of King Charles II in the late seventeenth century, but what continues to make Lambertville and New Hope special are their deep and enduring ties to the past. This intriguing visual history documents the proud heritage of these riverfront communities from the dawn of photography to the early 1900s through two hundred carefully selected images accompanied by detailed and informative text. Photography is perhaps the most remarkable of all our historic records because it brings history to life for so many people. The images collected for this book provide a window into the past that is both intimate and learned. One image tells of the human toil and ingenuity that went into the digging of the canal system, while another takes us into the carefree world of two young lovers setting out with parasol and oars to spend some quiet moments together on the Delaware in the Victorian era.

With images from the Connellsville Historical Area Society's archives and private collections, encounter the hidden history of Connellsville.

Connellsville became the first city in Fayette County when it merged with New Haven in 1909. Connellsville's growth was shaped by the Youghiogheny River, coal mining, and coke production, which fueled the nation's steel industry for nearly 100 years. Known as the ""coke capital of the world,"" Connellsville became an early manufacturing, commercial, and transportation center, attracting a diverse ethnic population. Around Connellsville celebrates this heritage with images of coke ovens, coal patches, railroads, streetcars, and ""Brimstone Corner."" It follows South Pittsburgh Street to Anchor Hocking and the beach, cheers ball teams at Fayette Field in the north end, and admires St. Rita's grotto on the west side. Although recent economic growth shifted from the town center to nearby highways, Connellsville remains the preeminent gateway to the Laurel Highlands Recreational Area, which includes world-class resorts, state parks, historical sites, and the singular beauty of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Located in the Lehigh Valley, the city of Easton was once known as the “Entrance to the Grand Valley.”

Its location at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers made it a prized position for commerce and early settlement. At the dawn of its creation, Easton played a major role in the Walking Purchase of 1737; later, Easton was the location of talks to end both the French and Indian and the Revolutionary Wars. By the early 19th century, Easton had become one of the first industrial centers of the region; when the town was incorporated in 1887, nearly 11,000 people called Easton home.Historic Eastontraces the evolution of a small frontier village to a large industrial center, spanning the years from the earliest settlements to the 1940s.

Jamaica is an astounding visual journey documenting the unique history of this remarkable community over more than 350 years.

Jamaica, Queens, has long occupied a commanding position in the political, social, and industrial life of Queens County. Indigenous people created a trail, used by various tribes to trade furs and other goods, through the woods that later became Jamaica Avenue, the main street of the village. Jamaica was witness to the evolution of change, receiving a charter from Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1656, becoming an English colony in 1664, and winning freedom in the American Revolution with the Jamaica Minutemen. The area is richly steeped in history: George Washington slept here; and Walt Whitman, Susan B. Anthony, Rufus King, Jacob Riis, and many more have left their mark on Jamaica. Jamaica is an astounding visual journey documenting the unique history of this remarkable community over more than 350 years.

Hoboken's history as a link to Manhattan and a town rich in Italian-American and immigrant culture, industry, and families is revealed here in pictures and anecdotes.

Incorporated as a city in 1855, Hoboken's history as a ferry terminus dates back to the eighteenth century, with the first horse-powered ferries to lower Manhattan. The city's history is entwined with that of Col. John Stevens and his family. He was the inventor of the t-rail and a pioneer in steam-generated power and navigation. Prior to the city's growth as a transportation hub, it was a scenic locale favored by city dwellers who could arrive by ferry and enjoy a riverside promenade, partake of water drawn from a natural spring, and watch a cricket or baseball game. Hoboken eventually grew to become a bustling city, with an active waterfront as well as a home and place of work for tens of thousands of immigrants and families. In Hoboken, the pattern of early development is described, giving the reader a sense of the city in the mid-nineteenth century. Landmarks of the terminal area, downtown (Washington Street), and ferry terminals are highlighted in this photographic tour of the city. Chapters are devoted to the great rail, ferry, and trolley terminal at Hudson Place, the commercial center, the waterfront before and after industrialization (including boat and yacht clubs), and the memory of some of Hoboken's residents.

Home to the United States Naval Academy since 1845, Annapolis and its busy harbor attract visitors from around the world.

Since its founding in the 1600s, Annapolis has played an important role in American history. The area became Maryland’s capital in 1694, and its capitol building is the longest in continuous use in the United States. John L. Conley is an Annapolis area writer. The historic images in this book are from his personal collection.

Located in the rich anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County was captured on film as early as the 1860s, when A.M. Allen set up Pottsville's first photography studio.

The Historical Society of Schuylkill County has been collecting and preserving these images for the last 95 years, bringing history to life once again in the companion to their first two volumes. Schuylkill County Volume II includes the work of George M. Bretz, the famous Photographer in the Mines, as well as a collection of postcard images that were popular in the early 20th century. View houses of worship, construction of Route 122/61 during the 1940s and 1950s, railroad stations and crossings that have since given way to the age of the automobile, and familiar county scenes. Dedicated historians Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major have reached deep into the collections of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County to mine this fascinating collection of images. A thoroughly researched and informative text complements the images and evokes a nostalgia for the past.

Chronicling the story of New York's beloved Rockaway Beach community and the efforts to recapture the magical success from an earlier era.

The American frontier did not just consist of a prairie--it also included marshes and windswept sand dunes. When the earliest settlers arrived at Rockaway Beach on steamships in the mid-1800s, it was a narrow strip of land packed with ponds and covered with dunes. Within 30 years, the community had grown into a wildly popular resort served by a thriving rail line. Amusement parks, hotels, taverns, and dance halls abounded, as did bungalow courts and open-air tent colonies. In the 1960s, the area was disrupted by urban development efforts and transportation infrastructure had declined.

Today, Rockaway Beach is being rediscovered by a new generation of visitors and entrepreneurs as longtime residents work simultaneously to reinvigorate it.

Over the course of several centuries, Baltimore evolved from a Colonial-era port city to a thriving and dynamic city of nearly a million people at the conclusion of World War II

As the city grew, a wide variety of industries were established. Railroads, ports, manufacturing sites, and public infrastructure, such as power plants, fundamentally transformed large swaths of Baltimore's landscape. However, the second half of the 20th century saw a dramatic and often traumatic restructuring of the city's economy; individual businesses and entire industrial sectors downsized, relocated, or completely collapsed. Today many such areas of Baltimore have changed radically as abandoned manufacturing sites have been demolished or converted to new uses. Images of America: Industrial Baltimore documents a vital component of the city's working past through historic photographs of the people and sites that made the city an essential economic engine of the Industrial Revolution.

Images of America: Historic Silver Spring celebrates the community's past, beginning with founder Francis Preston Blair's 1840 discovery of the mica-flecked spring and the 1873 arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Vintage photographs document the progressive growth of the ""Main Streets,"" Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road, and the construction of the Silver Spring Armory and National Dry Cleaning Institute in 1927 and the Silver Theatre and Silver Spring Shopping Center in 1938. The volume culminates with modern pictures of downtown Silver Spring's 21st-century revitalization, which continues to preserve the past and secure the future of the area. In a pictorial journey through the community's Central Business District and bordering residential neighborhood, East Silver Spring, Historic Silver Spring honors the people and places that have come before.

Tracing its roots back to 1840 on the banks of Roaring brook, Scranton, Pennsylvania is now considered an important industrial and cultural center in the United States.

In 1840, George and Selden Scranton, with William Henry, established their iron furnaces on the banks of Roaring Brook in the wilderness of northeastern Pennsylvania. Anthracite, locomotives, silk, and lace soon followed. In 1847, they successfully mass-produced iron T rails and later emerged as the nation's third largest steel manufacturer. Scranton traces the growth of Slocum Hollow through its rising industrialization into its emergence as the bustling Electric City. In all its urban complexity, Scranton attracted European immigrants and cosmopolitan investors as well as labor leader John Mitchell and entertainer Buffalo Bill. Joseph Albright Jr., a Scranton-born philanthropist, endowed a public library, and Raymond Hood, the architect of Rockefeller Center, designed the Masonic Temple. The footprints of these achievements remain an enduring testament to this important industrial and cultural center.

Oyster Bay details the rich history of this diverse community.

Settled by the Dutch and English in the mid-17th century, the small hamlet of Oyster Bay has a rich history and retains much of its charm and character. Theodore Roosevelt purchased land at Oyster Bay in 1880 on which he built his home, Sagamore Hill. Oyster Bay became the focus of national attention from 1902 through 1908, when Roosevelt brought the executive branch of the government to Oyster Bay each summer. Many other wealthy New York City families built summer homes at Oyster Bay in the late 19th century, forming the nucleus of what became the gold coast setting for F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Louis Comfort Tiffany built his 110-room mansion at Oyster Bay, and ""Typhoid Mary"" Mallon was identified while working as a cook in the hamlet.

The Albany Post Road was the vital artery between New York City and the state capital in Albany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

It saw a host of interesting events and colorful characters, though these unusual and extraordinary stories, as well as their connection to the thoroughfare, are oft forgotten. Revolutionary War spies marched this path, and anti-rent wars rocked Columbia County. Underground Railroad safe houses in nearby towns like Rhinebeck and Fishkill sheltered slaves seeking freedom in Canada, and Frank Teal's Dutchess County murder remains unsolved. With illustrations by Tatiana Rhinevault, local historian Carney Rhinevault presents these and other hidden stories from the Albany Post Road in New York's mid-Hudson Valley.

A close look at the Oceanside community whose history begins with the history of Long Island.

Captured in these images and words written by author and Oceanside native Richard Woods is the south shore town that was once one of the largest oyster-producing communities in the world. It is a place that, over the years, has attracted farmers, baymen, middle-class families, and millionaires. It has also drawn more than its share of visitors to St. Anthony's underground church, Beall's Zoo, the Roadside Rest, and Nathan's Famous Restaurant.

Founded in 1653, the town of Huntington is situated on what is known as the Gold Coast of Long Island.

The incorporated villages within the town are Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor, Asharoken, and Northport. Huntington has always attracted a population that has created a foundation of diversity. Settlement-era properties, castles of the Victorian period, and main streets still adorn the town as witnesses of the people who lived here and a community that is still thriving. A few of the castles and mansions that once existed in the town have disappeared, some by wear and tear and others through neglect. Still others have been converted into academic institutions and museums. Around Huntington Village shares photographs that give meaning to the events in the lives of the people who lived here.

Glens Falls presents a photographic essay of a community on the Hudson River, midway between Saratoga Springs and Lake George.

The book spans the years from 1860 to 1925, when Glens Falls was reaching its peak in economic, social, political, and cultural growth. Depicted in stunning images are the city's simple beginnings, the days of dirt roads traveled by horse and buggy, and its cultural emergence with opera houses, exquisite mansions, and public transportation. Clearly portrayed are the educational, religious, business, and recreational opportunities of the time.