Arcadia Bestsellers

Picturesque Richmond Hill evolved after the Civil War on land where orchards once blossomed and cattle once grazed.

Nestled in the shadow of New York City, it is one of the city's first planned communities. The Victorian era saw the construction of Queen Anne-style mansions, and the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 brought expansion and increased traffic. Soon, newspapers began boasting about the many parks, grassy lawns, tasteful homes, and proud residents heralding a promising future. Richmond Hill contains more than two hundred vintage photographs to illustrate the unique history of the community. The oldest eatery in Queens, the Hofbrau Restaurant, was the favorite hangout of Mae West, Babe Ruth, and many others. Baseball great Phil Rizzuto made Richmond Hill his home, as did the Marx Brothers, author Amelia Edith Barr, and photojournalist Jacob Riis. Important political events took place in Richmond Hill, such as the newly rediscovered address made in 1903 by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, as well as cultural milestones, such as the composition of ""When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"" at the Hofbrau Restaurant. Richmond Hill includes these and countless other stories that make up its rich, unique history.

From a strategic location in the American Revolution to a resort town for New York City elite, this collection highlights the successes and daily life of Mahopac's bygone eras.

Mahopac's first known colonial settlement was founded near the large lake bearing the Algonquian name ""Macookpack"" around 1740. During the American Revolution, the area served as an important logistical center and supply depot for the American cause, despite not seeing any battles. Following the war, the hamlet developed into an early kind of farmer's market, supplying goods and produce¬--especially dairy items--region-wide. By the mid-19th century, Mahopac became a resort destination with many large hotels and boardinghouses, largely thanks to its beautiful lakes. Arrival of the railroad to Mahopac in 1872 further supported tourism in the lakeside resorts as travelers from New York City could now reach Lake Mahopac within a few hours. Drawing from the archives of the Carmel Historical Society, Putnam County Historian's Office, and the collections of the authors and others, Mahopacisn't just a history of a small town in New York State, but a history of the value that the United States is able to produce.

Fires were a scourge in nineteenth-century New York, destroying personal property, prominent buildings and, in many cases, a sense of community. In Madison County, fires changed the community, included the mysterious burning of the Madison County Courthouse, the complete loss of business districts in both Canastota and Hamilton and the arsonist who terrorized Cazenovia for nearly five years. Fires destroyed the historic Gerrit Smith Mansion in Peterboro, the Munnsville Plow Company and Duffy-Mott in Bouckville, drastically affecting the future of the county. Madison County historian Matthew Urtz examines the fires, their causes and the economic and psychological impact they had on this peaceful community.

Join author Joseph Buga on an exploration of this working-class and indefatigable city. Passaic has a history that stretches the imagination. Back when the place was called Acquackanonk, it played a crucial role in the American Revolution. Later, its hospitable attitude toward immigrants established Passaic as a beacon of both stability and innovation. By the late 1800s, the city was becoming a national leader in all things textile and rubber—Edison used Passaic wire to electrify Lower Manhattan. Allen B. Dumont established WABD in Passaic, the fourth national TV network alongside ABC, CBS and NBC. The Passaic High School “Wonder Team” boasted the longest high school winning streak in any sport, and a Passaic athlete became the “world’s fastest man.” Passaic pop legends the Shirelles and Joey Dee and the Starlighters made it big and influenced an upstart British group, the Beatles.

Guardian Dams. Today, most people remember Johnstown for a cataclysmic flood, but the city was also once known for steel.

From the early 1900s through much of the 1970s, millions of gallons of water per day were necessary to keep the city’s main industry alive. This is the story of the dams that didn’t fail, safely keeping the people of Johnstown and its steel industry prosperous for decades. It is also the story of transformation, for the dams built by an extinct steel company still stand and now safeguard areas of great natural resources and ecological importance in the highlands of Northern Appalachia. Surveying more than a century of wars, labor strife and economic catastrophe, author Joshua Penrod interweaves the story of these dams with the history of Johnstown itself.

Freedomland opened on June 19, 1960, in the Baychester section of the Bronx, New York. Historically themed attractions and costumed cast members were located throughout the seven sections.

Designed by Marco Engineering of Los Angeles for International Recreation Corporation, it was the third and largest innovative theme park built across America to mimic Disneyland. Constructed in the shape of the United States and presenting 200 years of American history, Freedomland was intended to be both exciting and educational. In addition, Freedomland offered national and local stars, big bands, and daily entertainment events. Professional character actors also worked throughout the park. Through photographs, Freedomland: 1960-1964 takes a tour of all seven sections of Freedomland and more. Although it was open for just five seasons, the park's guests and cast members were fortunate to have their very own "Disneyland of the East."

They Didn’t Need to be There

It was a calm, moonless night in late April 1865. Robert E. Lee had surrendered. Abraham Lincoln was dead. Assassin John Wilkes Booth and accomplice David Herold, previously hiding in the swamps of Southern Maryland, had crossed the Potomac River to safety. The barge Black Diamond was anchored with the Potomac Flotilla near Blackistone Lighthouse, hoping to prevent that crossing and catch the perpetrators. All onboard were unaware that they were too late. The steamer Massachusetts was running downriver carrying U.S. soldiers back to their regiments. By dawn, the Black Diamond was on the bottom of the river, the Massachusetts was crippled and eighty-seven men were dead. Author Karen E. Stone reveals the story of a heroic pursuit turned tragic.

Ever since Rev. Abraham Pierson of Bradford, Connecticut, brought his collection of 400 books to Newark in 1666, the city has had libraries. First attached to churches and schools, these private libraries catered to audiences for specific purposes; they were not open to all. In 1887, the citizens of Newark voted to establish a free public library, the Newark Public Library, which became the seventh in the state of New Jersey. Since then, trustees, directors, and staff members have contributed to the overall success of the library through their dedication to its services and collections. They have done so at the main library on Washington Street, built in 1901, and at the various branches constructed across the city in the 1920s. A legacy, consisting of dedicated librarians and clerks who provide excellent services and inspiring programs based on unique collections, has been maintained with community support for over a century.

William A. Peniston was the librarian and archivist at the Newark Museum of Art for 25 years (from 1995 to 2021). He was also the archival consultant for the Librariana Collection (the institutional archives) at the Newark Public Library from 2013 to 2014. He is the author of Images of America: Newark Museum of Art (2023).

Author Jim Cullen shares tales of the ruddy trailblazers who grappled and persevered during nation-shaping moments in the Garden State. New Jersey sits at the intersection of the most important developments in American history, from the fight for freedom to the rise of the United States as a global power. At each critical moment, key figures came forward. These profiles of important Americans—some natives of the Garden State, some not—focus on key episodes that took place here but echoed broadly. From George Washington to Thomas Edison and Whitney Houston, these men and women crisscross politics, business, religion, social activism, science and entertainment, and their critical encounters took place in cities and towns across the state.

True Blue for Union

In the middle of the nineteenth century, Cape May County was an isolated and lightly populated peninsula at the southernmost tip of New Jersey. Nevertheless, its citizens answered the call for the Union effort during the Civil War. The 7th U.S. Infantry regiment recruited substantially from the region, and the entire community came out to usher the gallant troops to war, departing from Cape Island. On the homefront, supporting rallies were staged, food drives enacted and medical supplies shipped to the front. Railroad tycoons eyeing the underdeveloped beaches of Cape May began developing the county’s resorts beyond Cape Island even before troops returned home. Author Ray Rebmann presents the valiant efforts and changing times of Cape May County in the Civil War era.

The Town of Olive has long been a sought-after place known for its beauty and natural resources. From the late 1600s, pioneers explored the area and established homes in the majestic Blue Hills and along the Esopus River. These early pioneers made a living in agriculture, tanneries, and mills. Later, when visitors wanted to escape the heat of New York City, residents hosted boarders, and a booming industry was born. The community drastically changed in the early 1900s, when New York City came not just to visit but to look for a new source of water. This book offers a glimpse at how the Town of Olive began and how it has been affected by its proximity to the Esopus River through tourism and by industry. These images transport readers from the early 1700s to the mid-1900s and encapsulate how the various citizens of the Town of Olive through the years earned a living and spent their time and leisure. 

Melissa McHugh is an educator, a businesswoman, an archivist, and the director for the Olive Free Library in West Shokan, New York. She tells the story of the Town of Olive through photographs, many of which are from her curated exhibit about the history of the Ashokan Reservoir. 

Discover the history of the development of Long Island and its intimate relationship with New York City. /

Beginning in the Roaring Twenties, Wall Street money looked eastward to Nassau and Suffolk counties looking generate wealth from a land boom. After the Great Depression and World War II, Long Island was the site of the creation of the quintessential postwar American suburb, Levittown. Levittown and its spinoff suburban communities served as a primary symbol of the American dream through affordable home ownership for the predominately White middle class and established a core attribute of the national mythology. Starting in the 1960s, the dream began to dissolve, as the postwar economic engine ran out of steam and Long Island became as much urban as suburban. Author Lawrence R. Samuel charts how the island evolved over the decades and largely detached itself from New York City to become a self-sustaining entity with its own challenges, exclusions and triumphs.

Discover the Black pioneers who shaped St. Lawrence County through grit and determination.

From its origins as part of New France through the Civil War and eventual industrialization of the region, St. Lawrence County has been shapped by all too often overlooked Black families and individuals. Author Bryan S. Thompson reveals the history of the African American community in New York's North Country.

Captivating and entertaining, this new collection of historic images brings to life the past of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, focusing on the period between the mid-1800s to the 1940s.

Captivating and entertaining, this new collection of historic images brings to life the past of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, focusing on the period between the mid-1800s to the 1940s. With insightful captions and breathtaking images, readers are introduced to many of the early residents who shaped the future of this area of Shaler Township, and we are transported back in time to see early homes and places of work, play, worship, and education. In 1800, John Shaw Sr. purchased 600 acres of land just 8 miles north of the city of Pittsburgh. He built a log sawmill to prepare lumber for his home, and later built a log gristmill which stood until 1845 when his son replaced it with a larger mill. The new mill stood on property across from the local school, and the area became known as "Shaw's Glen. During the period covered in this book, Shaler Township, incorporated in 1837, grew from a quiet milltown of just 2,000 residents to a bustling suburb of the Steel City. Today, over 33,000 people call this area home.

Beyond the world famous artists, singers, actors and more from Pittsburgh are the city's celebrities known locally for their quirky style, unique mannerisms, and outlandish behavior.

From Joe Barker, the violent "street preacher" who was elected mayor in 1850--while in prison!--to Curt Wootton, the comedian whose celebrity status comes from being "Pittsburgh Dad," on Youtube, the Steel City has had a number of colorful characters throughout its history that defy category.

Perkasie, named after William Penn's country manor in Upper Bucks County, was a boomtown that sprang up along the North Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 1870s.

From the 1880s to the 1920s, Perkasie grew rapidly, becoming a transportation and cultural center and drawing crowds with commerce, industry, summer retreats, and even an amusement park. Through nearly 200 vintage postcards, Perkasie chronicles the expansion of this once small town as well as its impact on neighboring rural communities such as Rockhill, Bedminster, and Silverdale. The postcards in this book re-create a visual memory of the economic and social changes that worked to shape this dynamic community.

Vintage images document the historical transformations of Crown Heights and Weeksville.

The communities of Crown Heights and Weeksville are historically significant Brooklyn neighborhoods with foundations that trace back to New York's early founding. Revolutionary War skirmishes took place there, and following the emancipation of slaves in 1827, Weeksville became the site of one of New York's earliest independent African American townships. The hills of Brooklyn's Green Mountains hindered early settlement, and as a result a plethora of community institutions instead abounded in this far-flung outpost, including a penitentiary, hospitals, almshouses, old-age homes, convents, and monasteries. Traces of some of these early structures still remain. Using vintage images, Crown Heights and Weeksville chronicles the dynamic evolution of this area from rural township to the desirable center of culture, urban convenience, and architectural beauty.

Images of America: Swedesboro and Woolwich Township is an educational and entertaining volume that will delight residents, visitors, and lovers of history everywhere.

In the mid-1600s, a group of Swedes from Delaware and Pennsylvania sailed up the Raccoon Creek  and began a settlement on prime farmland in southern New Jersey.

Initially known as Raccoon, the town at the center of Woolwich Township was renamed Swedesboro in 1765. Transportation links to Swedesboro by creek, highway, and railroad made the town an attractive location for mills, shops, and farms. Today many residents are descended from the area's original Swedish settlers.

Swedesboro and Woolwich Township presents a diverse collection of photographs from the 1800s to the 1970s, illustrating daily life for residents of the community.

Join Michele S. Davidson as she documents Nether Providence's fascinating growth and development over the last three centuries.

In 1682, John Sharpless settled in Nether Providence Township on a 1,000-acre tract of land along Ridley Creek that had been granted to him by William Penn. Other settlers soon followed, establishing Nether Providence as a small, successful, farming community. Over the next two centuries, Nether Providence grew into a thriving manufacturing center with 14 operating mills along the township's two creeks. At the turn of the 19th century, Nether Providence became a summer resort area rivaling the Main Line of Philadelphia, with such famous residents as Dr. Horace Howard Furness, a well-regarded Shakespearean scholar and the brother of architect Frank Furness, and Alexander Kelly McClure, the owner of the Philadelphia Times and an assistant adjunct general appointed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. In 2007, Wallingford, the largest community in Nether Providence, was named by Money Magazine as the ninth best place to live in the United States.

Hightstown Borough and East Windsor Township are two neighboring New Jersey communities steeped in history.

Over the years, the two towns have seen numerous important developments in agriculture and the area has served as a hub for small-town commerce and railroad travel. Several notable historic figures made their way through the region over the years as well, including Clara Barton, the Marquis de Lafayette, Horace Greeley, Phineas T. Barnum, and Woodrow Wilson.

Visit the spectacular scenery and history of the settlers, borders and tourists who populated the Eastern Poconos.

Eastern Poconos: Delaware Water Gap to Bushkill provides a visual history of one of the most picturesque areas of the Northeast. With rare insight, a vast amount of knowledge, and a great deal of research, the evolution of the region from the arrival of the first European settlers throughthe golden age of tourism and beyond is depicted. Grand old hotels and modest boarding houses that have long sincedisappeared are featured, along with spectacular scenery. Also showcased are images of ordinary and extraordinary people, from farmers who tilled the land to celebrities whose meteoric rise to stardom began in the summer stock theaters and resorts of this area.

Rare and vintage images act as postcards, telling the fascinating stories of Monmouth County, New Jersey.

From the 1890s through the 1930s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced were works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photos of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of local children only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history. This fascinating new history of Monmouth County showcases more than two hundred of the best postcards available of this region of New Jersey.

Established in 1688, Evesham Township was settled by members of the Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, as a place where they could worship freely.

Despite being a sizeable suburb of Philadelphia, Evesham's past has been well-preserved, and many homes of the original settlers as well as Quaker meetinghouses still stand today. Historically, Evesham's residents supported themselves with agriculture and the mining of marl--a greensand clay that was used as a fertilizer. The vintage photographs in this collection illustrate how the early settlers and those who followed lived and explores the township's transformation from a rural community into the suburban hub it is today. The township has seen tremendous growth but is still only about one quarter of its original size. Images and captions show fertile farmland becoming neighborhoods, attracting many people to Evesham and stimulating growth.

Four communities along Deal Island Road in Somerset County form the area known as Deal Island.

Legend says the island was originally called Devils Island and was settled by pirates. Deal Island served as a prominent landmark as Capt. John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay. For generations, the area has been mostly a watermen's community, but now it is also home to many retirees.

Around Bronxville brings to life more than one hundred years of carefully planned community and architectural development, including fine homes, apartments, houses of worship, and the once famous Hotel Gramatan that was demolished in 1972.

By the time the railroad arrived in 1844, the small rural community of Underhill's Crossing--soon to be renamed Bronxville--was already attracting prominent New York City families. Some came seeking permanent homes; others a summer retreat. Half a century later, believing that the future of their charming hamlet would be best served by organizing as a village, a handful of local taxpayers voted to incorporate. This community along the New York and Harlem Railroad, 15 miles from New York City, was about to become one of the most desirable residential suburbs in the metropolitan area. The book offers a visual tour of Bronxville's early ""downtown""; William Van Duzer Lawrence's art colony, Lawrence Park; and neighboring Lawrence Park West, the home of Sarah Lawrence College. Over 200 photographs, combined with explanatory text, recapture the ambiance of people, places, and events of a past era and offer a glimpse into the private lives of some of the community's more notable residents, such as Elizabeth Custer, widow of General Custer, and the families of Jerome Kern and Joseph P. Kennedy.

Middletown Township, a fascinating visual journey through New Jersey's past, will delight and educate both the avid historian and the casual observer.

Middletown Township: Volume II is a fascinating collection of over 220 vintage views of this venerable township, and it explores in even greater depth the rich and historic fabric of the community first brought to life last year in Middletown Township.

In this second volume, the author has collected an extraordinary diversity of images from a wide range of sources, and these images bring to life the development of the township and the lives and aspirations of its people. We meet the people who gave the township character; witness the changing landscape; visit places of worship; marvel at the growth of business and industry; and explore the development of the individual neighborhoods. These scenes of the familiar and unfamiliar will bring to local people and visitors alike a new appreciation of the richness and depth of the township's history.

Author Randall Gabrielan is president of the Middletown Township Historical Society and the township's official historian. With Middletown Township: Volume II he has combined a compelling selection of images with years of accumulated knowledge to create a history that is both entertaining and educational.

With a history dating back to 1664, Summit, New Jersey, has evolved from a pastoral town of farms and rolling hills to a populous suburb of Manhattan.

Though the land was originally purchased in the 17th century, it wasn’t until the late 1800s, as the area began shifting from farmland into wealthy estates, that Summit was incorporated into a township. In the early days of the community’s development, many residents were seasonal, but this changed as it became easier to live in the country and work in the city. In this original collection of images, author and local historian Patricia E. Meola takes readers on a journey into Summit's past. Through nearly 200 postcard images, Summitcelebrates a city known for its tree-lined streets, the reputation of its public and private schools, the activism of countless city volunteers, and its thriving opportunities for culture.