Name: The Great Salem Fire of 1914
Brand: Barbara Pero Kampas
SKU: 9781596294714
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

The Great Salem Fire of 1914

9781596294714

$24.99

On a hot day in June 1914, a fire broke out in a leather factory a mile away from the heart of downtown Salem. Despite the efforts of local firefighters and volunteers from communities as far away as Boston, residents watched helplessly as flames leapt from rooftop to rooftop. By the time the fire finally extinguished itself in the Atlantic Ocean, it had destroyed hundreds of acres of property, damaged over a thousand buildings and left more than twenty thousand people homeless. Makeshift tent cities sprung up on Salem Common and in Forest River Park. This collection of historic photos from the Phillips Library depicts the city before the fire, the conflagration itself and the people of Salem's united effort to rebuild and rise triumphant from the ashes.

The Great Tri-State Tornado

9781467157391

$24.99

The Deadliest Twister in U.S. History

The weather forecast for much of the Midwest on March 18, 1925, predicted “Wind and rain.” This prediction was right, but lethally inadequate. Around 1 p.m., a tornado touched down near Ellington, Missouri, and charged relentlessly for three and a half hours across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The destructive storm left schools and workplaces leveled, over 600 dead and 1,600 injured in its two-hundred-nineteen-mile wake—earning it the name, the Great American Tornado. A nation united, doctors and nurses rushed aboard express trains. The Red Cross orchestrated an enduring six-month relief campaign, and people contributed funds and condolences from around the world. Amidst the staggering ruin, volunteers, the Red Cross, and ordinary heroes like Isaac Levy spearheaded awe-inspiring recovery efforts that rivaled the powerful storm.

The Great Virginia Flood of 1870

9781467147279

$24.99

In the fall of 1870, a massive flood engulfed parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. What began near Charlottesville as welcome rain at the end of a drought-plagued summer quickly turned into a downpour as it moved west and then north through the Shenandoah Valley. The James, Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers rose, and flooding washed out fields, farms and entire towns. The impact was immense in terms of destruction, casualties and depth of water. The only warning that Richmond, downriver from the worst of the storm, had of the wall of water bearing down on it was a telegram. In this account, public historian Paula Green details not only the flood but also the process of recovery in an era before modern relief programs.

The Millfield Mine Disaster

9781467155410

$24.99

On Wednesday, November 5, 1930, Sunday Creek Coal Company Mine #6 at Millfield became the unenviable site of Ohio's worst coal mining disaster. Negligence caused an electrical spark to ignite accumulated methane and detonated untreated explosive dust. Within minutes 82 men were dead, 56 women became widows and 137 dependents found themselves fatherless. Approximately 120 men not in the direct line of blast and flame escaped. Miraculously, 19 others were found barely alive many hours after all were presumed dead. The tragedy could have been prevented if proper procedures had been followed and profit not put before worker safety. Author Ron Luce brings all of the facts together for the first time to tell the story of the Millfield Mine Disaster in full detail.

The New York City Triangle Factory Fire

9780738574035

$24.99

On March 25, 1911, flames rapidly consumed everything within the Triangle Waist Company factory, killing 146 workers. Until September 11, 2001, the Triangle fire was the deadliest workplace disaster in New York City history.

The victims, mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women, died needlessly due to unsafe working conditions, such as locked or blocked doors, narrow stairways, faulty fire escapes, and a lack of sprinklers. Mass grief and outrage spread from New York's Lower East Side across the country. Garment union membership swelled, and New York politics shifted dramatically toward reform, paving the way for the New Deal and, ultimately, the workplace standards expected today. Through historic images, The New York City Triangle Factory Fire honors the victims' sacrifice and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for the dignity of all working people.

The New York State Capitol and the Great Fire of 1911

9780738574004

$24.99

In the early morning hours of March 29, 1911, a fire broke out in the New York State Capitol at Albany. By sunset, the entire western portion of the building had sustained extensive structural damage. Within lay the entire collection of the New York State Library, almost completely reduced to ashes. Founded in 1818, this had been one of the finest research libraries in the country and home to innumerable manuscript and printed rarities. In a particularly bitter irony, the fire struck as the overcrowded library was four months away from moving into new, spacious quarters under construction across the street. Miraculously there was only one fatality, an elderly watchman, Samuel Abbott, whose body was not recovered until several days later. Images of America: The New York State Capitol and the Great Fire of 1911 includes recently discovered photographs documenting the construction of the building, beginning in 1867, as well as eyewitness accounts of its destruction.

The New York State Capitol and the Great Fire of 1911

The Queen Isabella Causeway Collapse

9781467156813

$24.99

In the days after 9/11, the country was on high alert. So when an alarming incident occurred just off the Texas coast on the early morning hours of September 15th, authorities immediately assumed another terrorist attack had taken place. A towing vessel collided into a support pillar of the Queen Isabella Causeway, causing an 80-foot section of the bridge to tumble into the ocean. Unfortunately, the gaping hole left in the bridge was not visible to cars traveling to and from South Padre Island to the mainland city of Port Isabel, Texas. Robert Espericueta, along with his cousins, happened to be in the only other boat on the waters that night. Espericueta collaborates with author Juan Carmona to track the extraordinary events of a bewildering catastrophe and a heroic rescue.

The Strand Theatre Fire

9781467135276

$21.99

Chronicling the devastating Strand Theatre Fire of 1941 and celebrating the community's heroes and resilience in the face of adversity.

On March 10, 1941, at 12:38 a.m., the Brockton Fire Department responded to Fire Alarm Box 1311, which was pulled for a fire at the Strand Theatre. Fire Alarm dispatched the deputy chief, three engine companies, a ladder company and Squad A. Within six minutes, a second alarm was struck. Less than one hour after the first alarm, the roof of the Strand collapsed, and what appeared to be a routine fire turned into a disaster that killed 13 firefighters and injured more than 20 others. The disaster marks one of the largest losses of life to firefighters from a burning building collapse in the United States.

The Teton Dam Disaster

9780738548616

$24.99

While cameras rolled, the newly completed Teton Dam collapsed shortly before noon on June 5, 1976. The resulting wall of water, 80 billion gallons strong, battered town after town during its three-day rampage through the Upper Snake River Valley in eastern Idaho. Impounding the flood-prone Teton River, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation dam failed during the reservoir's initial fill, ripping homes from foundations, drowning thousands of livestock, and stripping acres of valuable topsoil. Amazingly only 11 lives were lost during the disaster, as most residents heeded the flood warnings. Presenting photographs from local newspapers, archives, museums, historical societies, and witnesses, this book documents the dam's spectacular failure, the tremendous damage, and the Herculean cleanup and rebuilding process following one of the worst engineering disasters of the last 50 years. Today the investigation into why the 305-foot-tall earth-fill dam crumbled-ironically a dam built for flood control-still prompts debate.

The West Plains Dance Hall Explosion

9781609491161

$21.99

The 1928 explosion that transformed a West Plains dance hall into a raging inferno sparked feverish national media attention and decades of bitterness in the Missouri town it tore apart. And while the story inspired a popular country song, the firestorm that claimed thirty-nine lives remains an unsolved mystery. In this first book on the notorious catastrophe, Lin Waterhouse presents a clear account of the event and its aftermath that judiciously weighs conflicting testimony and deeply respects the personal anguish experienced by parents forced to identify their children by their clothing and personal trinkets.

The Whiskey Row Fire of 1900

9781467143158

$23.99

A fire of frightening magnitude was not a question of "if" but "when" in young Prescott, and on July 14, 1900, the feared conflagration found its spark. After several years of drought, a candle slipping from its holder was all it took to utterly destroy Prescott's business district, red-light district and famous Whiskey Row. People grabbed what they could to rescue it from the flames, but the party didn't stop. Even the piano from one saloon was moved to a new location, and people continued to play. Author Bradley Courtney explores the conditions leading up to the disaster, the surprising details of its effects and the amazing recovery that shapes the town today.

The Wyoming Blizzard of 1949

9781625859358

$23.99

Snow, wind and frigid temperatures devastated parts of Wyoming and neighboring states in 1949. For nearly two months, towns and ranches were marooned by enormous drifts, some reportedly eighty feet tall. The storm stranded hundreds of motorists on the highways and stalled nearly two dozen trains at depots throughout the state. Communities pulled together to assist not only their neighbors but also anyone unable to escape the snowstorm. The deaths of motorists and livestock weighed heavily on the minds of Americans as news spread nationwide. Author and historian James Fuller recounts these harrowing stories of tenacity and fortitude.

Three Mile Island

9781467102858

$24.99

Construction of the Unit 1 reactor began on Three Mile Island in May 1968, with the production of commercial electricity beginning in 1974. Approval for the construction of the Unit 2 reactor was granted in November 1969, and it was only producing commercial electricity for less than 90 days when on March 28, 1979, a loud roar erupted from the nuclear power plant that shook windows and awakened residents in the communities on both sides of the Susquehanna River. This loud warning was the result of a series of mechanical and human errors that contributed towards a partial meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor and the most severe nuclear power accident in the history of the United States. In the days that followed, many residents of the surrounding communities left their homes and possessions out of fear of radioactive plumes, meltdowns, and exploding hydrogen bubbles. Those who remained behind faced anxiety and uncertainty, as information flowing from the power plant circumvented the truth and lacked credibility. As the Unit 2 reactor cooled, protests and court battles ensued as attempts were made to restart the power plant's dormant Unit 1 reactor. The Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station symbolized the fight over nuclear power as a safe and viable energy source in the late 20th century.

Tippecanoe County and the 1913 Flood

9781467147583

$21.99

These untold stories and never-before-seen images explore the human drama of the 1913 Flood as it unfolded in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Heralding the coming spring, the weather forecast promised a warm and sunny Easter in 1913. Little did the citizens of Tippecanoe County realize that a furious deluge would cause the Wabash River to swell to an ungovernable and lethal height. Bridges collapsed, whole buildings came unmoored from their foundations and washed away, and heroic rescue attempts saved lives and cost others.

Authors and retired Purdue professors Pete Bill and Arnold Sweet describe the travails of communities suddenly cut off from the rest of the world and facing a natural disaster that gripped twenty states.

Train Crash at Crush, Texas

9781467139342

$24.99

On September 15, 1896, Crush boasted the highest population in Texas. Built near Waco, the town provided the staging ground for a publicity stunt ramming two trains together at top speed. Showrunner and Katy Railroad official William Crush thought he had planned for every contingency. But when elephant-sized chunks of steam locomotive began raining down into the packed stands, the extravaganza quickly unraveled into one of the Lone Star State's most confounding tragedies. The soon-to-be famous Scott Joplin commemorated the debacle in "The Great Crush Collision March,'? and entrepreneurs like "Head-On Joe'? Connolly of Iowa continued the tradition of the staged locomotive duel for decades. But the stupefying incident still slipped into the back pages of Texas lore. In the first-ever book on the subject, writer-historian Mike Cox finally tells the full story of the Crash at Crush.

Tropical Storm Agnes in Greater Harrisburg

9780738598239

$24.99

Tropical Storm Agnes, along with the unprecedented flooding which resulted from it, is arguably the most significant event to have transpired in the Harrisburg area in the last 150 years. Over the course of June 21 and June 22, 1972, Agnes drenched the region with more than a foot of rain. As a result, the Susquehanna River rose to record-breaking levels and backed into the already overwhelmed feeding creeks and streams. In Harrisburg, armed National Guardsmen patrolled the vacant streets and set up checkpoints to enforce a curfew and deter looting. Surrounded by floodwaters, row homes near the governor's mansion burned, and firefighters waded through chest-high water as they attempted to reach the blaze. Entire neighborhoods in both Shipoke and Steelton were ultimately lost due to the high waters entering homes. To this day, Agnes continues to serve as the measuring stick by which all storms since have been judged.

Tropical Storm Agnes in Greater Harrisburg

Troy and the Great Flood of 1913

9780738590592

$24.99

The rain began to fall on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913. In Troy, 15 people lost their lives during the flood due to drowning, and in the weeks and months that followed an unknown number died from flood-related diseases. The story of what happened in Troy has often been overlooked, but in 1976 the Troy Historical Society Oral History Committee interviewed Troy flood survivors as a project for the bicentennial of the United States. These interviews, preserved on audiotapes, provide researchers firsthand accounts of what happened in the town. The late Mrs. Lois Shilling Davies, a past president of the Troy Historical Society who lived in Troy during the flood, deserves much of the credit for this invaluable resource, for it is she who conducted many of the interviews. Images of America: Troy and the Great Flood of 1913 relates how residents endured without having any instruction or experience in emergency preparedness. This is a celebration of human bravery, kindness, and ingenuity--of people who triumphed over tragedy.

When Hull Freezes Over

9781596290990

$21.99

The peninsular community of Hull, Massachusetts, reaches a total of seven thin, sandy miles into Boston Harbor, forming a protective barrier against intruding navies and pounding waves. Unfortunately for those residents who choose to live here for the three miles of crescent-shaped beach and its attendant summer advantages, exposure to the sea during the winter months can be, at times, trying, to say the least. When Hull Freezes Over, by lifelong Hull resident and columnist John Galluzzo, is a collection of historic tales that look beyond the sunny days of summer and remember the other nine months of life along this scenic shore. From shipwrecks and drownings, to subzero temperatures and frigid arctic gales, locals have learned to enjoy their seasonal solitude, and especially enjoy the holiday season in ways only New England peninsula dwellers can.

Woodward

9781467105972

$24.99

The horrific 1947 Woodward tornado, the unpredictability of agriculture, and the vagaries of oil and gas--Woodward, Oklahoma, has endured its share of tragedy and triumph. Standing as tenacious as its citizens are many of the city's buildings repurposed through the decades for new generations.