America in the Twentieth Century

Proudly printed in America, this beautiful gift edition contains the Declaration of Independence along with illustrations and biographies of the signers. It is a treasure for Americans of any age.

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence summarizes America's founding political philosophy. At once a cherished symbol of liberty and an expression of Jefferson's monumental talents as a writer, the document captures in unforgettable phrases the ideals of individual liberty and formed the backbone of American's Revolutionary movement. In setting forth these self-evident truths alongside a list of grievances against King George's Brittain, the Declaration of Independence justified the breaking of ties with Mother England and the formation of a new country.

Author Foxx Nolte gives readers a glimpse behind the curtain of the most magical place on earth. Millions of people a year visit Walt Disney World, but few would consider it to be a place with any real history. But hidden just below the surface, past the blanket of pixie dust, is a story as vivid and bizarre as any. It is a history of corporate politics, urban planning, crazy ambitions, and failed schemes. The Hidden History of Walt Disney World takes you on a journey that stretches from “Old Florida” to the events that made Walt Disney World what it is today. There’s birds made of citrus, horizontal elevators, a ghost town, and tennis ball factories. And that’s just the start. Whether you’ve visited one or one hundred times, your vacation will never be the same again. Yep, the castle is fake. But the stories are not.

Teddy Roosevelt's Historic Guide to Living Life to the Fullest

In 1899 Theodore Roosevelt was Governor of New York and gave a stirring speech on his philosophy of living a most productive life. Based on his own experiences, Roosevelt defined the American ethos of overcoming hardship and hard work in a compelling speech only Teddy could produce. Part of Applewood's "Books of American Wisdom" series, this elegant hardback is a perfect gift for any occasion.

In Yaphank, New York, hid the greatest threat to the United States war effort during World War II: the American Nazi.

Building on racial and ethnic biases, lack of trust in government and a dose of conspiracies, the German American Bund was able to contribute to a growing American fascist movement. Fueled partially by Nazi Germany’s financing of propaganda, thousands of New Yorkers embraced the ideals of an American Reich through retreats such as Yaphank’s Camp Siegfried, which groomed Nazi sympathizers to be ready for the fascist overthrow of the American republic. In opposition to Nazism, multiple local citizen groups fought to combat the Bund’s organized efforts to undermine America. Author Christopher Verga brings to life the often-overlooked history of New York’s World War II era through a story of Nazi sedition, espionage and citizen resistance to preserve the American republic.

Newton Falls was founded in 1806 and named after Newtown, Connecticut, a homage to the Connecticut Land Company, and the waterfalls on the East and West Branches of the Mahoning River. The small community was a transportation town with access to the Mahoning River, eventually the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal, and a myriad of railroads that crisscrossed throughout Newton Falls. As the industrial revolution took hold of Newton Falls, factories came and provided locals with jobs. Eventually, the Ravenna Ordnance Plant, often referred to as the Ravenna Arsenal, opened in 1942 and provided many jobs for those in Newton Falls during World War II and on. Today, Newton Falls is known for its infamous zip code, 44444; the F5 tornado that hit the city in 1985; and one of the oldest covered bridges to remain in the state of Ohio. 

“With previously unknown details, The West Virginia University Co-Ed Murders is a page-turning murder mystery.” --Hoppy Kercheval, Host, Talkline

Some said the killer couldn’t be a local. Others claimed he was the wealthy son of a prominent Morgantown family. Whispers spread that Mared and Karen were sacrificed by a Satanic cult or had been victims of a madman poised to strike again. Then the handwritten letters began to arrive: “You will locate the bodies of the girls covered over with brush--look carefully. The animals are now on the move.” Investigators didn’t find too few suspects, they had far too many. There was the campus janitor with a fur fetish, the “harmless” delivery man who beat a woman nearly to death, the nursing home orderly with the bloody broomstick and the bouncer with the “girlish” laugh who threatened to cut off people’s heads.

Local authors Geoff Fuller and S. James McLaughlin tell the complete story of the WVU co-ed murders for the first time.

A Cubs dynasty founded on fastballs and fisticuffs.  Unlike today's Chicago Cubs, the Cubs of 1906-1910 were not at all lovable, and certainly did not always display traits customarily linked with a winning team. Their manager would brawl with his own players, and the players brawled with each other. Their second baseman and shortstop hated each other and didn't speak for years. Their best pitcher pitched with a mutilated hand. Their star catcher got into a spat with management and left the team for a year to play professional billiards. Their manager over time grew to despise the team owner. Yet, this group of brawlers, bickerers, and battlers dominated the National League and established a baseball dynasty, winning four National League pennants and two world championships in 5 years. Author Gary D. Santella follows the story of a team whose toughness and tenacity was a fitting reflection of early twentieth-century Chicago.

Located within the Des Plaines River valley in Illinois, Lemont became a village in 1873. The Illinois and Michigan Canal opened transportation opportunities and led to the discovery of dolomite limestone (known locally as Athens marble). Quarrying limestone became Lemont’s leading industry, and it was used for buildings throughout the region, including Chicago’s famous Water Tower. Canal workers made Lemont a capital of vice in the 1890s with bars and brothels located in the area known as Smokey Row. Downtown Lemont boasts well-preserved commercial buildings from this period. Historic homes and church steeples are nestled into the valley bluff, reflecting the community’s devotion to faith, civic pride, and traditions such as the Keepataw Parade. Today, the area’s industrial past is being rediscovered and repurposed for recreational uses in its quarries and along miles of trails that connect Lemont to the rest of the region.

Walk in the footsteps of Virginia’s earliest hikers.

For more than two decades hikers on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia walked through some of the most beautiful landscapes of the southern mountains. Then, in 1952, the Appalachian Trail Conference moved the trail more than 50 miles to the west. Lost in that move were opportunities to scramble over the Pinnacles of Dan, to sit on Fisher’s Peak and gaze out over the North Carolina Piedmont, or to cross the New River on a flat-bottomed boat called Redbud for a nickel.

Historian and lifelong hiker Mills Kelly tells the story of a 300-mile section of the Appalachian Trail that is all but forgotten by hikers, but not by the residents of the Southwestern Virginia counties that the trail used to cross.

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

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

One of the most memorable speeches in American history, Frederick Douglass’s What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? is now available in an elegant hardcover edition.

Douglass first delivered the famous speech on July 5, 1852, to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. After paying respect to the patriotic architects of America’s independence, Douglass exposed the hypocrisy of a nation that enshrined the inalienable rights of man yet enslaved millions. The signing of the Declaration of Independence was meaningless to slaves, Douglass argued, and the annual celebration of a freedom not afforded to them was the worst possible insult.

Throughout the speech, Douglass directly quoted passages from the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bible to support his argument that slavery must be abolished in the United States. Douglass was especially critical of the faith leaders in America that used the church to justify slavery rather than to spearhead positive societal change.

Despite Douglass’s condemnation of the institutions that protected slavery, the speech also emphasized America’s young age and her potential to change for the better. In keeping with this belief in an America that would one day guarantee freedom for all, Douglass delivered “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” to audiences nationwide in the decade preceding the Civil War.

Famous figures such as James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, and Douglass’s descendants have performed small sections of the hour-long speech. Abridged editions of the speech are also disseminated for educational purposes. Because “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is an incredibly nuanced speech, it is often misrepresented or shared out of context. Now you can read the speech as it was meant to be experienced, in its entirety.

Frederick Douglass’s most famous speech is as relevant today as when it was first delivered in 1852. A defining document of the United States, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? is essential reading for all Americans.

Dig into a treasure trove of nearly forgotten Sunshine State Civil War history.

At the outset of the Civil War, Florida’s entire population was only a bit larger than present-day Gainesville. Still, the state played an outsized role in the conflict. Floridians fought for the Union and Confederate armies. Sunshine State farmers provided beef and other foodstuffs for the Confederacy, rations that proved increasingly consequential as the years wore on. The battles of Olustee and Natural Bridge, where boys from the West Florida Seminary entered the fray, helped keep Tallahassee as the only Confederate-held capital east of the Mississippi River. Even the conspirators involved in Lincoln’s assassination wove a trail that led to Florida. Join author Robert Redd on a tour of the lesser-known aspects of Florida in the Civil War.

Former Delaware journalists Rachel Kipp and Dan Shortridge document the past, present, and sometimes the future of Delaware’s landmarks and legends.

Originally part of Pennsylvania and called “the three lower counties on the Delaware,” the First State’s present has been shaped by both colonial culture and modern industry. Many landmarks of its past, including the Greenbaum Cannery, the Rosedale Beach Hotel, the Nanticoke Queen restaurant, the Ross Point School and the Kahunaville nightclub now live solely in memory. The tales of airplanes and auto plants, breweries and bridges, cows and churches provide insight into the state’s many communities, including its Black heritage. Read about fallen hospitals, long-ago lighthouses, crumbling mansions, demolished prisons and theaters that no longer hold shows.

During World War II, Michigan became a temporary home to six thousand German and Italian POWs.

At a time of homefront labor shortages, they picked fruit in Berrien County, harvested sugar beets in the Thumb, cut pulpwood in the Upper Peninsula and maintained parks and other public spaces in Detroit. The work programs were not flawless and not all of the prisoners were cooperative, but many of the men established enduring friendships with their captors. Author Gregory Sumner tells the story of these detainees and the ordinary Americans who embodied our highest ideals, even amid a global war.

Author Joshua Womack tells the story of those who lived, breathed and sweated in one of Cleveland’s most iconic landmarks. In Cleveland, there’s a place where sweat, steak and friendship collide. Tucked away on a dead-end road in the once-bustling area of Kinsman, the Schvitz is where men have come for decades to let it all hang out. Wrapped in towels and mystery, this nondescript, utilitarian building has captured the hearts and pores of many. There’s a lot of questions around the Schvitz. Is it just a Jewish thing? Why is it where it is? Why do men (and now, more recently, women) love this place?

A pictoral history of Willow Run - a relative unknown location that became the world's most famous bomber factory during World War II.

In May 1940, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the production of 50,000 military airplanes. He then drafted the president of General Motors, William Knudsen, to mobilize industry in the United States. The automotive companies were called upon to produce a massive fleet of bombers, as well as tanks, trucks, guns, and engines. By the Willow Run, a sleepy little creek near Ypsilanti, Michigan, Ford Motor Company built the world's most famous bomber factory, which was the ultimate manifestation of the automotive industry's role in building armaments during World War II. By the spring of 1944, Willow Run was producing a four-engine B-24 bomber each hour on an assembly line.

This handsome three-book set, elegantly stamped in celebration of America 250 and proudly made in the USA, features the three most historic founding documents of the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America, and The Bill of Rights.

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence summarizes America's founding political philosophy. At once a cherished symbol of liberty and an expression of Jefferson's monumental talents as a writer, the document captures in unforgettable phrases the ideals of individual liberty that formed the backbone of American's Revolutionary movement. In setting forth these "self-evident truths" alongside a list of grievances against King George's Britain, the Declaration of Independence justified the breaking of ties with "Mother England" and the formation of a new country. This gift edition contains illustrations and biographies of the signers alongside the document itself.

The landmark legal document of the United States, the Constitution of the United States of America, comprises the primary law of the Federal Government. Signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, the Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three chief branches of the Federal Government, as well as the basic rights of the citizens of the United States. This beautiful gift edition contains the complete text of the United States Constitution, as well as all of its amendments. It is a treasure for people of all ages.

Collectively known as the United States Bill of Rights, these first ten amendments to the United States Constitution limit the powers of the federal government and protect the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors on United States territory. Introduced in 1789 in the First United States Congress by James Madison, these amendments came into effect on December 15, 1791, when ratified by three-fourths of the states. This document plays a central role in American law and remains to this day a symbol of the freedoms and culture of this nation. In this beautiful gift edition, the text of the Bill of Rights is set alongside a history of the amendments, thus placing the document in its historical context.

The America250™️ word mark and logo are trademarks owned by the United States Semiquincentennial Commission and any use of such marks by Applewood Books is under license.

"Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country" —John F. Kennedy

This pocket sized hardcover book contains nearly one hundred quotations from one of America's best-loved presidents, John F. Kennedy. War hero, politician, and 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy embodied the hopes and dreams of an age.

Chicago’s Uptown arose in the early 20th century due to advances in public transportation. In less than 20 years, what had been a hamlet transformed into a bustling district. Thanks to the array of elevated rail and streetcar lines, commuters could travel between downtown Chicago and Uptown, encouraging growth in the latter. Boosterism helped entice developers and business owners to put down roots, spearheaded by former Marshall Field’s executive Loren Miller. Within a few years, the blocks surrounding the Lawrence elevated train station were alive with some of the city’s largest entertainment venues such as the Uptown Theater and Aragon Ballroom. In addition to shops and restaurants, Uptown eventually usurped the Loop as the city’s preeminent entertainment district. Eventually, Uptown grew into its own community area, comprised of Buena Park, Sheridan Park, Margate Park, Uptown Square, and Asia on Argyle.

Jacob Lewis-Hall moved to Chicago in 2010, but it was years before he visited Uptown. After relocating to Uptown, he became obsessed with the district’s architecture and character and began the journey to learn about its history. He decided to put together this book in conjunction with the Chicago History Museum and Northside History Collection at the Sulzer Regional Library. Additional thanks goes to the Commission of Chicago Landmarks, whose comprehensive study of the Uptown Square district proved invaluable in this venture. 

In the 1970s, there were around 450 local meat lockers throughout the state of Iowa. Today, there are little more than 100 left. History is finally back on their side with a wave of consumers wanting to support small businesses, shop small and buy local. Consumers now also have an increased urge to take more day trips and explore regions they don't see much in the headlines and bring these meats home for their own culinary creations. This is the story of heritage from the old country being passed down by generations of Iowans, and the future of an industry that has endured through decades of decline. Jay Goodvin details the history of Iowa Meat Lockers and their future.

Proudly printed in America, this beautiful gift edition is stamped in celebration of America 250 and contains the Declaration of Independence along with illustrations and biographies of the signers. It is a treasure for Americans of any age.

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence summarizes America's founding political philosophy. At once a cherished symbol of liberty and an expression of Jefferson's monumental talents as a writer, the document captures in unforgettable phrases the ideals of individual liberty and formed the backbone of American's Revolutionary movement. In setting forth these self-evident truths alongside a list of grievances against King George's Brittain, the Declaration of Independence justified the breaking of ties with Mother England and the formation of a new country.

The America250™️ word mark and logo are trademarks owned by the United States Semiquincentennial Commission and any use of such marks by Applewood Books is under license.

From January to July 1942, more than seventy-five ships sank to North Carolina's Graveyard of the Atlantic off the coast of the Outer Banks. A Standard oil tanker sank just sixty miles from Cape Hatteras.

German U-boats sank ships in some of the most harrowing sea fighting close to America's shore. Germany's Operation Drumbeat, led by Admiral Karl Donitz, brought fear to the local communities. The U-85 was the first U-boat sunk by American surface forces, and local divers later discovered a rare Enigma machine aboard. Author Jim Bunch traces the destructive history of world war on the shores of the Outer Banks.

The effort to win the war began at home--and for the researchers at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, enhancing America's military aviation arsenal was the key to victory.

Formed in 1915, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics established itself over the next 25 years as one of the world's finest research organizations. When World War II began in 1939, the NACA employed a mere 500 workers and maintained a budget slightly in excess of $4 million. To meet the demands of the war, a special partnership was quickly forged between NACA researchers, industry designers, and military planners. The Langley laboratory possessed world class aeronautical research facilities and flight research operations, making it ideally suited to help America win the war.

Military historian Mark Chambers tells the story of the monumental task of developing the planes that spurred Allied victory in World War II.

Travel to the past and enjoy a string quartet and an eight-course dinner in an elegant wilderness.

Beginning in the 1880s, the beauty of Lake Tahoe enticed entrepreneurs to build the most opulent resort hotels in America catering to the wealthiest from California and Nevada. Baldwin’s Tallac House, the Tahoe Tavern and Brockway Hot Springs Hotel fought to outdo one another as they took luxury to new heights with musical entertainment, movies, horseback excursions and five-star dining. Tahoe Tavern even featured its own private railway, while Brockway spawned America’s first gambling casino resort, the Cal-Neva Lodge, where celebrities mingled with mobsters. By the 1960s, the golden era had begun to fade as the tourist demographic shifted, but a splendid legacy endures.

Author Paul Nelson brings to life the intrigue and opulence of Lake Tahoe’s earliest resorts.

Faith, family and food.

Between 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States. Tens of thousands flocked to Newark and reshaped a city. Many settled in the Old First Ward, which once claimed the title of largest Little Italy in New Jersey. Clubs like the Spilingese Social Club sprang up to provide support and camaraderie and dishes like giambotta made their way into everyone’s kitchens. 

Author Andrea Lyn Cammarato-Van Benschoten traces the roots of Newark’s Italian communities.

"I'd like to see any man do better than we did on this trip." - Alice Burke

In 1916, Alice Burke and Nell Richardson embarked on a daring and unprecedented cross-country journey advocating for women’s suffrage. Before the nineteenth amendment enshrined American women’s right to vote in 1920, it was legal only in a few states. So trailblazing suffragists Alice and Nell loaded a Saxon automobile and embarked on a state-by-state campaign for women’s voting rights. Long before the modern highway system streamlined car travel, Alice and Nell drove a grueling 10,700 miles over twenty-six weeks, traversing some of the roughest roads in America. Backed by the Saxon Motor Car Company—one of the original Detroit automakers—and fueled by their own unwavering spirits, Alice and Nell advocated for women’s suffrage in every town along the way. Author Jeryl R. Schriever shares the remarkable story of the first women to ever drive across the country and back, paving the way for generations of women to follow.

From the Wabash and Erie Canal to the Faultless Caster Factory, Evansville has seen much of its history disappear.

In the early twentieth century, vestiges of old Evansville like the B'nai Israel temple and Coal Mine Hill gave way to a modern city. Numerous changes in the thirty years following World War II altered the physical appearance of the city, including the removal of the old Central High School, Assumption Cathedral, Gear Town, and more. Less physical but nevertheless vital history like the struggle over Civil Rights in Evansville has been overlooked and, until now, lost.

Weaving together a captivating fast-paced account illustrated with over eighty images, award-winning Evansville historian Dr James MacLeod tells the fascinating story of what was lost, what came in its place, and what was preserved against the odds.

Author Mark Neaves guides readers on an incredible tale through the life of one of America's greatest adventurers.

Born into slavery in the Mississippi Delta in 1847, Holt Collier was taught to hunt at an early age, killing his first bear at age 10, the first of 3,000 bears he killed during his lifetime, more than Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone combined. The number sounds impossible, until considered in the context of a life that reads like the stuff of fiction. When war erupted in the South, he remained loyal to the Confederacy, a teenager off to war. By the turn of the century, he'd become such a legendary hunter he was tapped to lead Teddy Roosevelt on a hunt that gave birth to the "Teddy Bear." As a former slave, Confederate soldier, and professional hunting guide, Holt goes down as an American legend.

On July 26, 1981, eight-year-old Cheryl Ziemba and her four-year-old brother, Christopher, disappeared from their backyard in Old Forge, Pennsylvania.

Within hours, hundreds of neighbors, police and firefighters were engaged in a frantic search, praying that they were not a town “snakebitten,” or cursed to misfortune. Two days later, all hope was lost when firefighters discovered the bodies of the children in an abandoned strip-mining pit. Pennsylvania State Police arrested their fifteen-year-old neighbor, Joey Aulisio, who was tried as an adult and sentenced to death by electric chair. Forty-three years later, Joey Aulisio still sits in prison.

Author Brian W. Kincaid presents a definitive account of one of the most infamous crimes and sensational trials in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Longtime Midwest City resident and author Malana Bracht joins efforts with key historical leaders of Midwest City and institutions such as the Midwest City High School History Center, Rose State College Foundation, and Atkinson Heritage Center to deliver this city’s rich story to the new generation of Midwest City residents looking to understand the heart behind the model city and its founders.

In the early 1940s, a visionary developer named W.P. “Bill” Atkinson set out to find the perfect location for an incoming air depot to be built in Oklahoma by the US War Department. With a hunch and a wink, he purchased a large plot of land and later incorporated Midwest City in 1943 with the purpose of attracting and supporting Midwestern families and businesses relocating to work at the new plant. The plant later became the iconic Tinker Air Force Base. Awarded as the “Model City of the Midwest,” Midwest City became a city of hope for families looking to have a better life while supporting the nation’s military efforts. Using creative marketing strategies such as selling ponies with homes, intentional city planning for family living, and cultivating Norman Rockwellian culture, Midwest City grew and positioned itself as an innovative leader in the region. 

Having many familial ties to Midwest City and Tinker Air Force Base, Bracht tells the story of Midwest City from its founding, continuing its legacy for generations to come.

Trace the monumental story of a transatlantic flight to the Century of Progress Exposition.

In an era when transatlantic travel was still dangerous, Italy caused a sensation by announcing its participation in the upcoming Century of Progress World's Fair would be highlighted by an unprecedented formation flight from Rome to Chicago. Led by renowned aviator Italo Balbo, the squadron of two dozen seaplanes accomplished a daring navigational feat that was commemorated by a number of civic monuments that stand in Chicago to this day. Since the United States fought Italy in World War II, the monuments have weathered decades of intermittent controversy. Don Fiore provides a fascinating account of the complex legacy of Balbo's flight.

In the summer of 1967, 19 year old Brenda Joyce Holland disappeared.

A mountain girl who had come to Manteo to work on The Lost Colony, Brenda’s body was found three days later, floating in the Sound. This riveting narrative, built on unique access to state investigative files and multiple interviews with insiders, searches for the truth of the unsolved murder. This island odyssey of discovery includes séances, a suicide, and a supposed shallow grave.

Journalist John Railey cuts through the myths and misdirections to finally arrive at the long-hidden truth of what happened to Brenda Holland that summer on Roanoke Island.

Powerful: this single word aptly describes a naval vessel known as a battleship. The USS Alabama (BB-60) was the last of four South Dakota-class battleships built for World War II.

She is well armored and designed to survive an attack while continuing to fight. Her main battery, known as Big Guns, consisted of nine 16-inch guns; each could launch a projectile weighing as much as a small car that could hit a target 21 miles away. Her crew numbered 2,332 men, none of whom were lost to enemy fire, earning her the nickname Lucky A. She served as more than just a battleship: she carried troops, supplies, and seaplanes and served in the Pacific and Atlantic; her doctors treated patients from other ships; she was the wartime home for a major-league ballplayer; the movie setting for Hollywood films; and she traveled home to the state of Alabama with the help of schoolchildren.

Discover what made Whalom Park a beloved institution for generations through historic photographs.

Whalom Park’s name is derived from adjoining Lake Whalom. Native Americans originally called the lake Unketchewhalom, meaning “the lake of the magician,” based on a legend. They also considered it to be magical since there is no inlet. The Fitchburg & Leominster Street Railway acquired the land in 1892 and installed trolley lines and amusements, opening the park the following year. A deer park, an open-air theater, and an inn were followed in subsequent years by food concessions, a variety of games of skill, and amusement rides. A succession of natural disasters, fires, modernization, and expansion shaped the park into an iconic memory for so many area citizens and visitors. At the time of its closing in 2000, Whalom—at 108 years of age—held the distinction of being the oldest amusement park in America.

Authors C. William Lakso, William E. Tyler, and Edwin G. Ollikkala thoroughly researched the history of the park and utilized donated photographs to augment those at the Lunenburg Historical Society. Their goal was to prepare a volume that would enable readers to quickly recall and visualize many pleasant memories and the happy times spent with their families at Whalom Park.

Tour the camps, learn stories of the daily lives of the POWs, and discover the impact they had on the Old Dominion.

During World War II, Virginians watched as German and Italian prisoners invaded the Old Dominion. At least 17,000 Germans and countless Italians lived in over twenty camps across the state and worked on five military installations. Farmers hired POWs to pick apples. Fertilizer companies, lumber yards, and hospitals hired them. At first a phenomenon of war in Virginia’s backyard, these former enemy combatants became familiar to many--often developing a rapport with their employers. Among them were die-hired Nazis and Fascists, but they benefited from double standards that placed them in better jobs and conditions than African Americans.

Historians Kathryn Coker and Jason Wetzel tell a different story of the Old Dominion at War.

Join author Carol Matthews on a galloping romp through the long history of Florida's cracker horses and cattle.

The first horses and cattle to set foot on the North American continent stepped onto Florida land, brought by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521 just south of present day Fort Myers. The animals were abandoned, formed wild herds and would be used by different groups for food, work, trade and transportation for the next 500 years. Cattle ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars, also known as missionaries, set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. The largest ranch was Rancho de la Chua, located on what is now Paynes Prairie in Alachua County. As a result of this increase in cattle production, Florida rancheros began to sell cattle to Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and would continue for the next three hundred years. By the 1960s there were only a handful of pure cracker cattle and horses left. But herds were established on state lands, preserving a living link to Florida's past.

Nothing epitomized the glamour and excitement of Chicago’s jazz age and war years like the fabled Edgewater Beach Hotel.

Much more than a hotel, the Edgewater Beach was a world unto itself—the only urban resort of its kind in the nation. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan on Chicago’s North Side, it offered swimming, golf, tennis, dancing, theater, fine dining, exclusive shopping, fabulous floor shows, unique watering holes, and, of course, some of the best jazz and swing music of its era. It even had its own pioneering radio station, which broadcasted across the nation and burnished its fame. Many of the legends of the big band era played its stages, and many of Hollywood’s leading stars crossed its footlights. It was a stomping ground for both the rich and famous as well as ordinary people who wanted a small taste of the high life. The Edgewater Beach Hotel was world renowned. But the social upheaval of the 1960s, the ascendance of automobile culture, and rapid urban change led to its demise.

Authors John Holden and Kathryn Gemperle are longtime students of Chicago history and board members of the Edgewater Historical Society. The society’s vast collection of materials on the Edgewater Beach Hotel provided the foundation for this unprecedented look back at one of the crowning glories of Chicago’s halcyon days of the 20th century.

Schuylkill County is no stranger to disaster.

Schuylkill County is no stranger to disaster. Protected by volunteers since 1811, residents have faced block-burning conflagrations like the Great Memorial Day Fire of 1945, which consumed sixty-seven buildings in the Mahanoy City Business District, and commercial airplane crashes like United Flight 624 near Ashland, with no survivors. The Red Church propane truck explosion near Orwigsburg caused twelve fatalities, and the Reading Railroad passenger train collision with a gasoline truck in Port Carbon sparked death and destruction, as well as a frantic search for burning money.

Telling these stories with the help of rare and many never-before-seen images, authors and veteran firefighters Michael R. Glore and Michael J. Kitsock revisit some of the region’s most harrowing catastrophes.

Notable Quotations from Malcolm X

This pocketsized hardcover book contains nearly one hundred quotations from African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist, Malcolm X.

“It’s freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody.” —Malcolm X

Founded in 1884 as the company town of the United States Rolling Stock Company, Hegewisch became Chicago’s most remote and isolated neighborhood in 1889. Surrounded by waterways and railroads, the community even today is mistakenly considered an independent town. In order to gain amenities that other neighborhoods seemed to take for granted, Hegewisch often went toe to toe with bureaucrats who in some instances claimed it was not even a part of Chicago due to its remote location. In the 1970s, the city allowed landfills to burgeon on Hegewisch’s outskirts and then threatened to replace the entire neighborhood with an airport in 1989. The resilience of Hegewisch in the face of big business and politics has given it a history unique in the annals of Chicago and the Calumet Region.

Truly a frontier town when it was founded in 1839, Iowa City was created to become the new capital of Iowa Territory.

With the arrival of the railroad in 1855, growth was rapid, and the establishment of the University of Iowa in 1847 meant that town and gown literally grew up together. Industry thrived in the late 1800s. Included were the manufacture of linseed oil, corn glucose, and vanilla extracts; the production of glassware, gloves, and jewelry; and the assembly of small farm machinery. A resurgence took place in the 1950s, beginning with the establishment of a Procter and Gamble plant. Meanwhile, artists and innovators flourished. Variously called an “Athens of the West,” a UNESCO City of Literature, and the “Greatest Small City for the Arts,” Iowa City continues to attract new families, university faculty and researchers, business people, entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, and retirees who find world-class medical care and enough sports, arts, and entertainment for all to enjoy.

The broad valley of Jackson Hole and the ridges and slopes around what would become Jackson, Wyoming, had long been a crossroads to the region’s Indigenous peoples when fur trappers arrived in the early decades of the 19th century and made Jackson Hole a lynchpin of their continental commerce. Many came and went, but some stayed, with a settlement taking form near the banks of Flat Creek at the base of East Gros Ventre Butte. Small-scale cattle ranching formed the first economic base of this frontier town, but before long, the valley’s incomparable elk herds drew market hunters, game wardens, and hunting guides. Jackson became a ski town with turn-of-the-20th-century cross-country skiing, the 1920s and 1930s development of Mount Snow King, and the 1960s opening of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. These years saw the development of an authentic Western skiing culture and demonstrated Jackson’s pivot from sleepy frontier town to major logistical hub for recreational visitors. Two beloved national parks just to the north added to the flow of visitors as postwar prosperity funded new road trips and mountain vacations. 

Serene one moment and destructive the next, Lake Erie’s moods mirror its tumultuous role in history .

As the site of Cleveland’s Great Lakes Exposition, the lake offered visitors a respite from the Great Depression, and Hotel Victory, once considered the world’s largest summer resort, drew thousands to Put-In-Bay. Daring postal workers dangerously crossed the ice-covered surface on hybrid “boats” and by foot. Canal Street, at the Buffalo Wharf, was once called “the Wickedest Street in America.” The Erie/ is one of thousands of ships that lie in a solemn graveyard below the surface. And rum runners turned the lake into a watery highway for illegal booze during Prohibition.

Author Jennifer Boresz Engelking reveals entertaining, heartbreaking, and nostalgic stories of the lost sites, businesses and industries of Lake Erie.

Join author Lisa M. Russell on a tour through these icons of Georgia backroads.  At one time, Georgia had over 250 covered bridges. By 1955, that number had shrunk to 75. By the 1970s, only 25 remained. But thanks to preservationists and Georgia's Department of Transportation, sixteen historic bridges have endured. Meet the bridge builders—including an enslaved apprentice who out-built his “master,” and travel back in time underneath the elegance of these simple yet masterfully crafted structures.

Chicago’s Motor Row earned a spot in the National Register of Historic Places by pioneering a new way to market an invention that was remaking America—the automobile.

John F. Hogan is a veteran broadcast journalist and corporate executive. He was a reporter and editor for WGN Radio and Television in Chicago and director of communications for one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. John S. Maxson, a lifelong antique car enthusiast, retired as president of the advocacy organization for businesses on Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue. Jay Leno, who contributed the foreword, was host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show from 1992 until 2014. One of the country’s most respected authorities on automobiles old and new, he currently hosts Jay Leno’s Garage.

Few people know the story of how the Invisible Empire once invaded the Heart of America.

The Ku Klux Klan kicked off a nationwide revival in 1921 and took Kansas City, Kansas, by storm. The majority white population—alarmed by the influx of immigrants, Catholics and Jews—joined the Klan in thousands. The Klan held picnics drawing crowds of twenty-five thousand and parades up Minnesota Avenue with thousands of Klansmen, electric lights and robed horses. They also intimidated African Americans, vandalized Catholic cemeteries and censored “offensive” books from public library shelves. Its members fed a political machine, electing more than one hundred Klansmen to local offices, from district attorney to mayor. Author Tim Rives shares this troubled and little-known story, where the men of the Klan’s inner circle ruled the city for nearly thirty years.

Take a juicy foray into the all-but-forgotten history of Chilton County, Alabama.

This is the story of the USS Wolverine and the USS Sable, two Great Lakes excursion ships converted for aircraft carrier training during WWII.

Through the duration of the war, the United States Navy qualified 17,800 pilots for aircraft carrier operation. Training the pilots on either the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean would have exposed the training ships to the danger of submarine attack, while requiring the escort of fighting ships that were needed elsewhere. It would also have involved arming and armoring the ships used for training. Commander R.F. Whitehead came up with an idea that solved all of these problems. He suggested doing the training on the protected waters of the Great Lakes.

The USS Wolverine and the USS Sable were chosen and became the only fresh water, paddle-wheeled, coal-fired aircraft carriers in the history of the world. Author Paul M. Somers shares his collection of vintage photos and a lifetime of research to detail the history of these two great vessels-from their life as cruise ships to their contributions to the war effort and then to their eventual scrapping.

On March 14, 1940, a train heading west along Highway 83 from Donna to Alamo struck a truck driver turning north from the highway onto Tower Road. The horrific crash killed twenty-nine of about forty-five farmworkers who were on the truck. A one-day investigation faulted the truck driver and led to meager court settlements for the devastated families. In the wake of these events, several of the victims’ children and grandchildren became lawyers and some of the first Mexican American judges in South Texas. Juan Carmona and Taylor Seaver De La Fuente revisit the deadliest traffic accident in Texas history, while seeking to preserve the stories of Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers and their relatives whose backbreaking contributions continue to feed our country to this day.

Author Gretchen Knapp brings to life the challenges and contributions of daily life in World War II Buffalo.

When President Roosevelt visited Buffalo in November 1940, he found a hardworking city with a large immigrant population manufacturing aircraft for the Allies. Nearby Fort Niagara inducted over 100,000 young men, resulting in an acute labor shortage. American Brass, Bell Aircraft, Chevrolet, Curtiss-Wright, Houde Engineering and Republic Steel reluctantly, then gladly, hired women. More than 300,000 defense workers toiled in hot factories for high wages despite transportation, housing and food shortages. The aircraft plants alone employed 85,000 on forty-eight-hour workweeks. Buffalonians watched the flag raising at Iwo Jima, participated in the Manhattan Project and observed the formal surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay. Author Gretchen Knapp brings to life the challenges and contributions of daily life during wartime.

In just over a decade, a tiny, do-it-yourself stand-up scene on the North Side of Chicago produced some of the most successful and influential stand-up comedians of their generation. Hannibal Buress, T.J. Miller, Kyle Kinane, Cameron Esposito, Pete Holmes, Beth Stelling, Matt Braunger and Kumail Nanjiani make up a partial list of names of comics who emerged from a scene that had very little industry attention—or even a home club.

It was also a scene that took a backseat to the city’s vaunted improv institution, and if we’re being completely honest, it was a scene where comics mostly performed to drunks in the backs of dingy bars on their off nights. None of it was glamorous. None of it should have worked at all. But somehow, some way, the comedians from this scene have managed to etch their own names into the Chicago comedy pantheon. The Perfect Amount of Wrong is the story of that scene, as told by its veterans.

The steel facility that helped advance the modern American West.

Through his record-busting construction career, Henry J. Kaiser continuously pulled off the impossible. When he announced his plans to enter the wartime shipbuilding business and to mass-produce steel in the small, agricultural town of Fontana, experts were shocked, but his determination made him a national figure. "Miracle Man Kaiser" built a steel plant in record time, and it churned out over a million tons of the invaluable metal for the 1940s war effort. In an industry rocked by disharmony, his company adopted the slogan 'Together We Build', and his skill in navigating labor relations made it a powerhouse.

Join author and historian Ric A. Dias as he highlights the successes, failures, and limits of this trailblazer's dreams.

Join author and comedian Mike Bridenstine for a show business story unlike any other. In 2001, an aspiring comedian in Kansas City named Kyle Parris performed what can be described as the most infamous open mic set of all time. And it took place at one of the most infamous clubs in the history of stand-up—Stanford & Sons—which was owned by one of the most notorious and colorful families in comedy history. This book tells the story of that set, as well as the story of the Kansas City comedy scene, from the boom times of the ’80s, when comics like Sinbad and Eddie Griffin got their starts, to the 2000s, when Nikki Glaser got hers. There are a lot of twists, turns and wild characters along the way, including some recent headlines in the Hollywood trades.

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

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

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

Ballrooms were at the center of social life in the Midwest for over a century, with some dance halls dating back to the late 1800s. Throughout Nebraska, these iconic structures hosted a number of community events and musical performances, bringing together friends, families, and neighbors to socialize, celebrate, and, most importantly, dance. Nebraska’s ballrooms and dance halls brought people together, and these facilities were long the heartbeats of their towns. Pla Mor Ballroom in Lincoln, King’s Ballroom in Norfolk, States Ballroom in Bee, and Howells Ballroom are only some of the legendary dance halls featured among these historic photographs. Although many ballrooms have since burned down, been repurposed, or been demolished, some of the dance halls remain active today, a reminder of a more magical, musical, bygone era.

Journey down one of the most important roadways in the annals of Illinois transportation history.

Stretching from Chicago to Cairo, the Egyptian Trail was one of the earliest "improved" roadways in Illinois. Dating to 1915, it was the longest road in the state, running four hundred miles through 20 counties and over 60 towns. The project was the brainchild of two Mattoon men, Dr. Iverson Lumpkin and Ernest B. Tucker, who realized the southern reaches of the state should be linked with Chicago along the same path as the Illinois Central Railroad. Though long forgotten today, the trail also served as the basic template for the route of Interstate 57. Author James R. Wright takes a road trip through the fascinating heritage of the Egyptian Trail.

A full menu of unforgettable events and historical milestones.

Delve into the Rose City's colorful and sometimes tumultuous past through the memories, meals and recipes that put these bygone restaurants on the map. From The Quality Pie, a favorite of Portlanders from all walks of life, to the River Queen, which enjoyed a long and storied life as a working vessel before becoming a stationary restaurant on the Willamette River, visitors and locals alike have enjoyed a unique variety of eateries. Celebrities once enjoyed steak dinners in the Barbary Coast's Roaring 20's Room while Café Lena offered simpler fare to poets and dreamers in search of a relaxed atmosphere.

Join author Theresa Griffin Kennedy for a sumptuous tour of Portland's shuttered cafés, diners and grand dining rooms.

Before there was Route 66, there was the iconic Lincoln Highway. A symbol of limitless potential, America’s first coast-to-coast highway spanned Iowa from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River. When you travel U.S. 30 across Iowa today, you’re never far from the historic Lincoln Highway, if not right on top of it. Learn the history of an Iowa landmark.

A significant site of United States industrial and economic history, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a birthplace and powerhouse of iron, steel, coal, and transportation.

From its early start as a small community on the fringes of the frontier, the town became an important terminus for the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and an early site for coal and ore mining. It also grew into a major steel and iron producer renowned around the world for its output, know-how, and quality. At one time, Johnstown's industry helped spur the national drive to become an economic and industrial superpower.

From missile launch sites to Soviet espionage, experience the Cold War deep in the heart of Texas.

In an era when miscalculation or a mistake could lead to global annihilation, Texas operated 12 Atlas F intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites near Abilene's Dyess Air Force Base. Nuclear-capable Nike Hercules surface-to-air antiaircraft missiles protected Austin and the Metroplex from a Soviet bomber attack. An American pilot stationed at Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio was the only fatality of the Cuban Missile Crisis. After he was accused of spying for the Soviet Union, former Ranger College professor Maurice Halperin fled the country. Amarillo's Pantex plant, where three employees died in a 1977 explosion, maintains the security and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. Landry Brewer explores how the Lone Star State shaped American Cold War policy.

Preserve the rights of all Americans with this hardback gift edition of the Bill of Rights, elegantly stamped in celebration of America 250 and proudly made in the USA.

Collectively known as the United States Bill of Rights, these first ten amendments to the United States Constitution limit the powers of the federal government and protect the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors on United States territory. Introduced in 1789 in the First United States Congress by James Madison, these amendments came into effect on December 15, 1791, when ratified by three-fourths of the states. This document plays a central role in American law and remains to this day a symbol of the freedoms and culture of the nation. In this beautiful gift edition, the text of the Bill of Rights is presented alongside a history of the amendments. 

The America250™️ word mark and logo are trademarks owned by the United States Semiquincentennial Commission and any use of such marks by Applewood Books is under license.

Bomber Mountain's Namesake Tragedy

June 1943 saw forty-one heavy bombers lost within the continental United States, including a B-17 that went missing over Wyoming late during the night of June 28. That aircraft had ten young men on board destined for World War II. They had been ordered overseas to participate in the intense and constant bombing raids being conducted in Europe, but they never made it out of America. Two years later, area cowboys discovered the wreckage strewn across an otherwise picturesque landscape. U.S. Air Corps Captain Kenneth G. Hamm noted in his personal diary, “The plane was so completely demolished that we were almost on top of it before we saw it.” Author Sylvia A. Bruner shares the stories of the men who lost their lives deep in the Bighorn Mountains and recounts the events of the crash, search and U.S. Air Corps accident investigation.

The Hawaiian island chain has long been a crossroads of cultures. Oahu’s name is sometimes translated as “the gathering place,” and its appeal is undeniable. Even before the arrival of Western powers, Hawaiian chiefs struggled for control of the island. As far back as the 1700s, many would-be colonizers had their eyes on Pearl Harbor—the United States, the British, the Russians, and the Japanese. For decades, only one thing was certain. The Hawaiian monarchy would not be left alone to rule their own people. More than a hundred years before “the day of infamy,” December 7, 1941, the story of the United States’ military occupation of Hawaii begins with the Western world’s discovery of what was at the time called Wai Momi, the beautiful and, unfortunately, strategically located “waters of pearl.”

Sarah Bellian is a historian and curator of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum at Pearl Harbor. She previously worked in museums and public history in Texas and Idaho. During the pandemic, she began a deep dive into Hawaii’s often difficult relationship with the US military. In addition to telling stories, she enjoys craft beers, historical swordsmanship, and playing roller derby.

The legacy of Arcadia University began in 1853, when Sylvania (Jones) Stevens and Juliet A. (Poundstone) Avery, along with several other students, left their family homes and accompanied Rev. Sheridan Baker to the Beaver Female Seminary in Beaver, Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1856, they were the first students to receive diplomas from the seminary. This book concentrates on the Glenside, Pennsylvania, campus up until the school’s name and status change to Arcadia University in 2001 and covers the many shifts in the school’s name and location.

Kenneth Samen graduated in 1992 with a bachelor of arts degree in communications from Beaver College/Arcadia University. For the past 27 years, Samen has worked for Prudential Insurance Company of America. This is Samen’s third title with Arcadia Publishing. His research for this book led him into his personal postcard collection and the university’s archives and, externally, to historical societies and institutional collections to locate images and items that have not been seen in years. Dr. Ajay Nair is a nationally recognized expert in student affairs and an accomplished scholar of social justice, race, and ethnicity. Dr. Nair was appointed president of Arcadia University in April 2018 and inaugurated in October 2018.

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt changed America with a government on the side of the people that put Americans back to work and inspired confidence that the nation could overcome the Great Depression.  This is the story of their progressive legacy when FDR was Governor during the era of Prohibition and the advent of radio in the Roaring Twenties, a decade that ended with the Great Depression upending life for most Americans. This is the story of how as Governor of New York he tried the programs that became the New Deal that transformed America. It was the place where his warm, easily relatable voice heard on the radio for the first time created a bond of trust with the public that inspired confidence at a time of great fear.Author Michael J. Burgess reveals the often overlooked history of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Albany at the helm of the Empire State.