Arcadia Bestsellers

Through historical images and regional folklore step into the past of the ""Grand Canyon of the East.""

Letchworth State Park, now a century old, grew out of a generous donation made by William Pryor Letchworth to the State of New York. The park's remarkable history reaches back as far as the last ice age. From the Portage Gorge to the mighty highbanks at Mount Morris, Letchworth State Park follows the flow of the Genesee River, exploring the natural and human events that have shaped this inspiring landscape. Drawing on historical images and regional folklore from the collections of the authors, the park, and various local sources, the reader is invited into the past of a park that has been called the ""Grand Canyon of the East.""

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

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

Culinary Traditions Preserved, Stories Never to be Forgotten/

This vital collection of survivor stories uplifts and inspires alongside recipes that nourish your soul. Read about daring partisans who fought in the woods, hidden children who sought comfort from strangers and those who endured unimaginable internment. For Holocaust survivors, food was a way to connect their lives before the war with the homes they created after. Their kitchens were filled with the aromas of familiar foods like chicken soup and brisket while unfamiliar delights they adopted, like arroz con pollo and gnocchi, became part of their repertoire. These are the recipes they share with you. Culinary icons such as Michael Solomonov, Jonathan Waxman, Ina Garten and more contribute their own recipes as tribute to the remarkable survivor community. Author June Hersh gives readers a taste of history and a life-affirming message that honors the legacy of Holocaust survivors. 

A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book will benefit organizations committed to Holocaust education.

Over 200 images bring Niagara Falls' past to life and documents the people and places as they were in the 1860s-mid-1960s.

The photographs presented here contain views of the city of Niagara Falls and trace the community's roots in the villages of Suspension Bridge, Niagara Falls, and LaSalle. Many different faces of Niagara are depicted in this rare glimpse of the past. Residents and tourists alike will enjoy viewing the never-before published images gracing the pages of this volume. Images of industry, tourism, the development of hydroelectric power, business districts, streets, homes, and even daredevils all appear in this excellent collection of images.

Here we find the story of the Love Canal's origins in the 1890s, when this project's ultimate goal was to create an almost utopian city. Also included are several photographs of President William McKinley in Niagara Falls, only hours before his assassination. Other famous visitors mentioned include Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Lord Kelvin, Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, the Prince of Wales, Mikhail Gorbachev, Thomas Edison, Princess Diana, George Westinghouse, and John F. Kennedy.

Author David M. Griffin uncovers the lost history and harrowing stories of Long Island's British forts.

When the Revolutionary War broke out and New York City had fallen in 1776, the forces of the king of Great Britain developed a network of forts along the length of Long Island to defend the New York area and create a front to Patriot forces across the Sound in Connecticut. Fort Franklin on Lloyd's Neck became a refugee camp for Loyalists and saw frequent rebel attacks. In Huntington, a sacred burial ground was desecrated, and Fort Golgotha was erected in its place, using tombstones as baking hearths. In Setauket along the northern shore, the Presbyterian church was commandeered and made the central fortified structure of the town.

Manhattan has long been renowned for the diversity of its offering of hotels—from some of the best in the world to some of the worst.

Around 1880, the entire nature of the hotel experience began to change. Formerly, hotels had been just a place to stop between here and there for a hot meal and a warm bed. Suddenly, the hotel itself became the destination. New affluence, new technologies, and new fashion all came together in the decades between 1880 and 1920 to influence the demands of hotel guests, eventually changing the hotel themselves. This book gives a glimpse into the hotels of the super rich, the not-so-rich, the middle class, the Bohemians, and the workers. In a city as dynamic as New York, it should come as no surprise that so many hotels have a juicy tidbit or two of historical gossip attached to them. Manhattan Hotels: 1880‚–1920 may well be the most extensive work in print on the subject of the city's hotels in this period. Far From being a book for specialists, however, it is designed to bring Manhattan and its hotels of this era to life for all those who have been captivated by the electric excitement of the place.

Follow the history of New York's Long Beach from abandoned barrier island to bustling City By the Sea.

In 1906, Sen. William H. Reynolds purchased an abandoned barrier island along the south shore of Long Island and vowed to turn it into a great city. What is now Long Beach, the "City by the Sea," soon drew visitors who came for its summer resorts, boardwalk, dance pavilions, casino, and luxury hotels. Two world wars, Prohibition, and easy railroad access turned summer residences into year-long homes for thousands eager to live by the seaside and raise families in what has been known as "America's Healthiest City." The images of Long Beach reflect the diversity of the city's architecture, culture, religions, and unique neighborhoods. Photographs show the storied inhabitants and bungalows of the West End, water-lined homes of the canals, the 2.1-mile boardwalk, and long white sand beach.

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

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

The Brooklyn Dodgers: The story of a baseball franchise that became family with its city.

If there was ever a place in America where a city and its baseball franchise were as close as family, it was Brooklyn. The legacy of this relationship chronicles childhoods spent at Ebbets Field to the stories of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, whose courage helped change the face of America. Baseball in Brooklyn goes back to the beginning of the sport, when a young city embraced a new game and, like missionaries, carried it to the nation. Brooklyn Dodgers carries us from the birth of baseball in the streets of Brooklyn through the decades in Flatbush when Ebbets Field was the center of the Brooklyn community during a time when the players lived in the neighborhoods not far from the ballpark, side-by-side with their followers. In additon to Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, and Johnny Podres all make appearances in this exciting selection of photographs - a large part of which is dedicated to those teams of the 1950s and their irrepressible fans. Author Mark Rucker tells the story from that birth and concludes with the heart-wrenching move of the franchise to the West Coast after the 1957 season.

The first recorded Jewish immigrants arrived in New York in 1654 by way of Brazil. Their assimilation and influence on the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and the continual influx of Jewish immigrants from Germany, Eastern Europe, and Russia, have provided a rich tapestry of historic sites in New York. Author Paul M. Kaplan has written more than a mere travel guide; he has provided a road map to the history of Jewish immigration in this great American city. With a focus on the communities of Manhattan, Kaplan includes museums, places of historic interest, restaurants, synagogues, and entertainment venues of the present and those that no longer exist.

Alive in vintage photos, these sites are divided by their location, traveling from the south to the farthest northern tip of Manhattan. Each section provides a map of the area and a broad introduction to the district's place in the historic timeline of Jewish immigration. Included are the regions known as Lower Manhattan; the Lower East Side; Greenwich Village and the East Village, Chelsea, and Midtown; the Upper East Side and Upper West Side; Harlem and Morningside Heights; and Washington Heights. The author provides suggested itineraries, tips for the visitor, and reference notes for further exploration. Kaplan's historical introduction provides the framework for locals and visitors of every religion and nationality to delve into the rich history and contribution of Jewish immigrants in New York.

New York City is blessed with an incredible array of public sculptures.

One overlooked aspect of this collection is its monuments of Black Americans, each with its own remarkable story. The first appearance of a Black person in a city monument came in the Civil War Soldiers’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery in 1876, but this was a nameless symbolic figure. It wasn’t until 1945 that Booker T. Washington became the first identifiable Black American honored in a New York City monument. In 2007, the city dedicated its first monument to a Black woman, Harriet Tubman. Behind every first is a story of triumph over adversity and exclusion. Local author David Felsen reveals the stories behind thirty inspiring monuments that have endured, as well as how they found their place in the city’s history.

The Erie Canal was completed in 1825 and became the backbone of an economic and cultural explosion that defined the image of New York.

The canal's development spurred successful industry and a booming economy, sparking massive urban growth in an area that was previously virtually unexplored wilderness. People poured west into this new space, drawn by the ability to ship goods along the canal to the Hudson River, New York City, and the world beyond. Erie Canal is a compilation of 15 vintage images from the Erie Canal Museum's documentary collection of New York's canal system. Vintage postcards depict life and industry along the canal, including not only the Erie itself but also the lateral and feeder canals that completed the state-wide system.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take a culinary journey through the foods, restaurants and businesses that define the cuisine of New York City and the Jewish immigrant experience...

No trip to New York’s five boroughs is complete without a hand sliced pastrami sandwich at Katz's deli or a bagel and lox with a schmear of cream cheese from Russ and Daughters.  Any true New Yorker can tell you where to get the savoriest bowl of matzo ball soup or the crispest kosher dill pickle. Manischewitz wine became the icon it is today after Sammy Davis Jr. became its offical spokesperson.

Join author June Hersh as she reveals the iconic Jewish foods, establishments and products that left their imprint on the taste buds of New Yorkers and the world.

Discover a lost world of farmers cutting hay with scythes and dancing to fiddle music on barn floors through the Long Island paintings of William Sidney Mount.

Explore vivid depictions of people of color, presented with great humanity when racist caricatures were the norm.

This landmark book reveals the lives of Rachel, the eel spearer; Henry Brazier, the left-handed fiddler; George Freeman, model for the jaunty banjo player, and other agricultural laborers, domestic workers, and musicians who posed for the artist.

Authors Katherine Kirkpatrick and Vivian Nicholson-Mueller take readers on a fascinating historical journey as they publicly honor, by name, the once-anonymous Black and mixed-race models whose images have achieved international recognition.

In 1911, the operators of Coney Island's Luna Park premiered a miniature, radically banked racetrack for staged automobile races that seemed to defy gravity.

For a fee, patrons would watch from the perimeter of the 85-foot wooden saucer as daredevil drivers raced on the steep angle of the tiny track. The attraction created a sensation and was quickly copied with a show that featured motorcycle riders performing breathtaking stunts. When portable versions were made available, every traveling carnival owner in the United States rushed to have one. Motordromes with perfectly vertical walls soon followed, which permitted riders on their Indian motorcycles to climb, sometimes to a height of 20 feet, with nothing but centrifugal force between them and a trip to the trauma ward. And when full-grown lions were added to pursue riders in the arena, no one could resist buying a ticket! The Wall of Death, a name these shows received in 1917, remained a staple attraction on American carnival midways until the 1970s.

The venerable Wonder Wheel, Coney Island’s oldest and greatest attraction, has dominated the Coney Island skyline for more than a century.

Towering over an ephemeral amusement zone long plagued by fires, floods, and ill-conceived urban renewal schemes, the magnificent steel machine has proved to be the ultimate survivor.The ride boasts impressive statistics.A combination of roller coaster and Ferris wheel, the 150-foot-tall structure weighs 200 tons, has 16 swinging cars and 8 stationary cars, and can carry 144 riders.More than 40 million passengers have taken a ride on the wheel since it was built in 1920, and during that time, it has maintained a perfect safety record.The ride is also a monument to immigrant initiative.Charles Hermann, the ride’s designer, was Romanian; the original owner, Herman Garms, was German; and Denos Vourderis, who purchased and lovingly restored the aging landmark in 1983, was Greek.An official New York City landmark, the Wonder Wheel is now owned and operated by three generations of the Vourderis family as the centerpiece of their Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park.The enduring saga of this iconic ride, and the family that saved it, provide a captivating chapter of Coney Island’s history.

Since 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer’s field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home.

From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity.

Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state’s Adirondack Park. She has a master’s degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.

In contrast to and predating Long Island's famous Gold Coast (the North Shore), communities along the Great South Bay were home to hundreds of less publicized, yet equally impressive, mansions and historic houses

These homes were once owned by prominent captains of industry, popular entertainment figures, and movers and shakers of the day, such as the Bourne, Cutting, Gardiner, Gulden, Gustivino, Guggenheim, Hollins, and Vanderbilt families. Long Island: Historic Houses of the South Shore explores the South Shore's famous resident personalities, including Schuyler Parsons, Fred Astaire, Anita Stewart, and Robert Pinkerton. The lifestyle of the South Shore is also portrayed, including activities like hunting and fishing as well as the famous beaches that served as tourist attractions.

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

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

Charles R. Mitchell tracks Curtiss's dizzying ride from a village bicycle shop to record-smashing motorcycle races and city building in the Florida land boom.

Glenn Curtiss beat even the Wright brothers (who sued him bitterly) to get pilot's license No. 1 in America. He teamed with Alexander Graham Bell, helped develop the moving wing part known as the aileron, introduced tricycle landing gear, made the first airplane sales, and turned aeronautics into a multimillion dollar business. His innovations ranged from the Curtiss Pusher to the hydroaeroplane, the flying boat, and the Curtiss Jenny. Curtiss, his engines, and his airplanes dominated the world of early aviation on this side of the Atlantic. Glenn H. Curtiss: Aviation Pioneer charts Curtiss's breakneck course across two continents, North America and Europe, setting speed and distance records, experimenting with military applications, always striving for a safer, faster airplane. Fostering both water flyers and shipboard landing, he became the Father of Naval Aviation. But even the skies were not wide enough for the busy brain of Curtiss.

Just off the coast of the Bronx in Long Island Sound sits Hart Island, where more than one million bodies are buried in unmarked graves.

Beginning as a Civil War prison and training site and later a psychiatric hospital, the location became the repository for New York City’s unclaimed dead. The island’s mass graves are a microcosm of New York history, from the 1822 burial crisis to casualties of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and victims of the AIDS epidemic. Important artists who died in poverty have been discovered, including Disney star Bobby Driscoll and playwright Leo Birinski. Author Michael T. Keene reveals the history of New York’s potter’s field and the stories of some of its lost souls.

1775 belonged to Boston but after April of 1776, the Revolutionary War’s focus became New York City and the highly strategic Long Island, from Brooklyn’s terminal moraine high ground to Queens’s Hell Gate.

1776 was the year when revolution came to Long Island, and in particualr the future Long Island City. The failures, defeats and eventual occupation of the area at the hands of the British forged the resolve and strength of character that would later ensure Patriot victories on distant battlegrounds throughout the rest of the colonies. The British did not evacuate western Queens county until November of 1783, but the events of 1776 would not soon be forgotten during the seven long years of occupation afterword. Join author Richard Melnick as he charts the military, political and cultural history 1776 in Long Island City.

Take a flight with the Long Island aviation companies that helped make the industry the integral part of our world that it is today.

Significant aircraft manufacturing began on Long Island in the early 20th century and boomed during the war years. Long Islanders helped transform aviation from a dangerous sport to a viable means of transportation, while also producing a large portion of the nation's aerial arsenal in times of war.

From the first frail biplanes to the warbirds of World War II and the sleek fighters of the jet age, aviation companies on Long Island helped make aviation the the essential business it is today. During the 20th century, over 70 firms came to build aircraft on Long Island. Some of these firms lasted for decades and became famed builders of historic aircraft, such as Grumman, Republic, Curtiss, Fairchild, and Sikorsky.

Dutch, Irish and Native American residents of New York State have long told tales about mysterious Little People occupying the region’s hills and forests. An exhausted man in 1880s Brooklyn reported to the police that dancing fairies on his roof were keeping him up at night. Irish immigrants in Hell’s Kitchen claimed that banshees in trailing white gowns mourned the deaths of their loved ones. Hordes of goblins on Bannerman Island emerged after nightfall to terrorize navigators of the Hudson River. And in the Genesee Valley, waterfall-dwelling Little People taught a sacred dance to a Haudenosaunee boy. From the noisy metropolis to upstate’s rolling hills, Andrew Warburton roams New York in search of tales of the enchanting Fair Folk.

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.

A fascinating part of the melting pot city, current day Jackson Heights in Queens, New York, the neighborhood formerly known as Trains Meadow, is shared in images and history of the area from rural farmland to a cultural and economic center in New York.

At the turn of the 20th century, the neighborhood known as Jackson Heights was originally called Trains Meadow, a sprawling area covered by acres of farmland and rolling hills. Its only inhabitants were homesteaders who lived in their ancient wood-framed dwellings with spreads occupied by barns, horse stables, cabbage patches, and beehives. Overgrowing populations in Manhattan and Brooklyn led developers to Queens County to transform that landscape into Jackson Heights. Headed by Edward Archibald MacDougall, the ambitious Queensboro Corporation spent nearly $4 million buying properties, molding roads, and constructing buildings of great architectural merit. Jackson Heights provides an in-depth look at the history of America's first garden apartment community with the use of never-before-seen photographs culled from local archives and private collections. Images featured show the neighborhood's progression from rural farmland to the highly populated economic center it is today with memorable businesses like Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor and the cultural splendor along Thirty-seventh Avenue and Eighty-second Street.

Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast will explore many of the lighthouses and breakwater, pier, and reef lights in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Whether it is Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine or Fenwick Island Lighthouse in Delaware, then as now, people love to visit the lights while on holiday and send postcards back home. Many of these important navigational aids are still in existence and can be visited.

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

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

Discover the hidden history of the Hudson Valley's Columbia County with local author Allison Guertin Marchese.

Bordered by the Hudson River and the Berkshire Mountains, Columbia County is part of the famously picturesque Hudson Valley region, but these rolling hills hold secrets most have long forgotten. A mastodon tooth rolling down a farmer's hill in Claverack, changing the world's understanding of prehistoric times; the site of New York's last hanging at Hudson's gallows, as hundreds of ticketholders looked on; outcasts called Pondshiners who hid in the hills of Taghkanic, the only sign of their existence being the fantastic handwove baskets made from strips of hardwood. Join author Allison Guertin Marchese as she explores these little-known stories of people and places that create the history of Columbia County, New York.

Authors Constantine and Emmanuel Theodosiou take the reader back in time through the distinguished history of Garden City, one of New York’s earliest and most successful planned communities. Historic photographs and meticulously researched text bring to life the upper-class gentility and civic responsibility of this Long Island treasure.

The Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad tells the story of an American industrial masterpiece.

From the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania at Carbondale to the Hudson River in New York near Kingston, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company and the Gravity Railroad transformed long tracks of wilderness into thriving economic areas. Conceived as an inexpensive way to transport anthracite coal, the canal began hauling loads in 1828 to the Hudson River, where barges to New York City took over. A leader in the technologies of the time, the canal company used the first telegraph system in America, and when Delaware & Hudson engineer Horatio Allen ran the locomotive Stourbridge Lion in Honesdale, he became the first to run a commercial steam locomotive on tracks in the Western Hemisphere. The Delaware & Hudson Canal was privately funded, and when stock was offered for sale in 1825, it soon became the first American company capitalized at $1 million. The Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad uses fascinating vintage photographs to tell an amazing piece of American history. It shows the mules, the canal boats, the locomotives, and the men who ran this technological wonder, boasting one hundred eight locks over one hundred eight miles, plus four suspension aqueducts built by John A. Roebling of Brooklyn Bridge fame. The Gravity Railroad is shown as well, hauling coal from Carbondale to Honesdale over the Moosic Mountains, a rise of more than one thousand feet.

Acclaimed author June Hersh presents the iconic dishes, fascinating stories and mouthwatering history behind Upstate New York’s culinary heritage, featuring delicious recipes of reinvented classics.

The heart of New York State’s food culture isn’t found on busy Manhattan avenues—it exists within the country kitchens, historic farms and neighborhood spots beyond the environs of New York City. Chicken riggies, salt potatoes and beef on weck aren’t just local foods—they reveal the vibrant Italian, Irish and German immigrant histories that shaped the region. From the Borscht Belt to the Finger Lakes, New York’s Upstate has diverse and exciting flavors all its own. The Empire State’s picturesque apple orchards, Concord grape vineyards and dairies have been feeding the nation for centuries.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book benefit the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum.

Twenty-five miles north of New York City lie two scenic villages: Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. These villages, bordering the majestic Hudson River, are rich in the charm and mystery of their shared historic past.

From the era of Weckquaesgeek to the close of World War II, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow depicts scenes of area residents' mothers, fathers, grandparents, and ancestors at work, home, school, and play. Treasured images of Revolutionary War sites, the growing villages, and stately mansions and castles bring the past of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow to life. Also vividly brought to life is the location Washington Irving made famous with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Plainview–Old Bethpage presents an intriguing story of two vibrant Long Island communities that share a colorful 300-year-old history.

They were once quaint farming communities that almost overnight found themselves facing seismic cultural changes. In just 10 years, from 1950 to 1960, the combined population of Plainview and Old Bethpage soared from 2,000 to over 33,000. Plainview–Old Bethpage presents a journey back in time to the Native Americans, the settlers who followed, the farmers who worked the land, and the thousands who came to make a better life for their families. Discover why every town surrounding Plainview–Old Bethpage has a railroad station but it does not. Read about the resident who raised a Confederate flag during the Civil War and drew the ire of his neighbors. Ride along with race car drivers as they hurtle along dirt roads at breakneck speed. Learn about the deadly brawl on Election Day in 1890, the infamous Plainview kidnapper who got the electric chair, and a local company's role in molding a national memorial to Vietnam veterans.

A female Paul Revere, 16 year old Sybil Ludington's heroic actions helped  the army win many battles in the Hudson Valley of New York. Read the fascinating story of her life and legacy.

The Revolutionary War in the Hudson Valley inspired the rise of heroes and heroines alike. On a rainy night in 1777, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington mounted her beloved horse and rode forty miles through enemy-infested Putnam County to warn her father’s regiment of impending British raids. Riding twice the distance of Paul Revere and under more dire circumstances, her heroic efforts helped position the Continental army in subsequent battles. A widow at a young age, Sybil became a successful businesswoman in a male-dominated profession and lived in the region for her remaining years. Through family documents and correspondence, author Vincent T. Dacquino charts the incredible life and legacy of Sybil Ludington.

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

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

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

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

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

The story of John Larkin, Buffalo businessman, and his soap company that was one largest mail -order companies in America and left the legacy of Larkinville.

Born at 13 Clinton Street in Buffalo in 1845, John D. Larkin went on to become one of the most successful businessmen Buffalo has ever had. Developing from his experience in the soap industry with his brother-in-law Justus Weller in Buffalo and Chicago, the Larkin Company, established in 1875, became one of the dominant mail-order businesses in America. In 1885, Larkin and his wife's brother, Elbert Hubbard, promoted The Larkin Idea, which brought the business a national customer base through Factory to Family direct sales. At the height of the company, 90,000 Larkin Secretaries established clubs to bring Larkin soap and other products to women in their neighborhoods. This system of secretaries and clubs created an external promotional engine unlike any other previously known. The company closed in 1967, leaving its mammoth footprint in Buffalo's Hydraulic neighborhood, now aptly called Larkinville.

Often separated from other immigrants because of their language, Italian immigrants to New York City in the 1880s formed thriving communities apart from their new neighbors.

They tended to think of themselves collectively as a small Italian colony, La Colonia, that made up part of the demographics of the city. In each of the five boroughs, Italians set up many colonies. Several of them dotted Manhattan in East Harlem, the West Village, what is now SoHo, and the downtown area of the Lower East Side, straddling Canal Street, which still identifies Manhattan's Little Italy, the best-known Italian neighborhood in America. Little Italy is made up of stunning photographs culled from numerous private and public collections. It begins with the first phase of immigrants to Lower Manhattan in the early 1800s, including political and religious refugees such as Lorenzo Da Ponte and Giuseppe Garibaldi. In the 1870s, more and more Italian immigrants settled in Little Italy. As the neighborhood grew up around the former Anthony and Orange Streets, New York's first ""Little Italy"" emerged. The tumultuous history of the Five Points area, the ""Bloody Ole Sixth Ward,"" and many faces and memories from the Italian newspapers L'Eco d'Italia and Il Progresso Italo-Americano are also included in this long-awaited pictorial history.

Billed as New York's answer to Disneyland, innovative Freedomland opened on June 19, 1960.

Designed by Marco Engineering of Los Angeles for the International Recreation Corporation, Freedomland transformed a former landfill, lowlands, and farms into an exciting theme park in the shape of the United States. Through photographs, Freedomland recalls boat rides on the Great Lakes, putting out a fire in Chicago, dancing under the stars at the Moon Bowl, or taking a train ride all the way to San Francisco. Entering Freedomland was like walking into a history book of America for both young and young at heart. Open for five seasons, Freedomland gave its guests and cast members memories that have lasted a lifetime.

Sunnyside Yard was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of its massive New York Extension, the centerpiece of which was Pennsylvania Station in the heart of Manhattan.

Opened in 1910, it is still the world's largest railroad passenger car storage yard. At the height of its operation in the 1930s, there were 79 tracks, with a capacity for 1,100 cars. Hell Gate Bridge was a joint venture of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New Haven Railroad to construct a direct rail route for trains between New York City and the New England states. The main span is 1,017 feet between the towers, and it rises more than 300 feet from the East River to the top of the towers.

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

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

In the historic borough of Brooklyn, the thousands of graves and mausoleums within Green-Wood Cemetery are tangible links to key events and people who made New York City what it is today.

For generations, Green-Wood Cemetery has played an integral part in New York City's cultural history, serving as a gathering place and a cultural repository. The cemetery was and remains one of the city's largest open green spaces; a century ago, when natural beauty in New York City was hard to come by, Green-Wood was a social venue for families on picnics, outings, and for political events. The monuments read like checklist of important Americans, including the names of Leonard Bernstein, F. A. O. Schwarz, Charles L. Tiffany, Samuel Morse, and DeWitt Clinton, among others. A national historic landmark since 2006, Green-Wood is considered one of the preeminent cemeteries in the country. Through vintage photographs, Green-Wood Cemetery chronicles the cemetery's rich history and documents how its tradition as a park and a popular tourist attraction continues, drawing 300,000 visitors annually.

IBM is heir to all the ideas for innovative ciphering machines of the past.

From granite blocks used to tell time, to beads used for accounting purposes, to punch cards, to computer chips as small as a raindrop, all are the historical roots of this corporate legend. IBM began with a small group of visionaries whose first factory was in a dismal garret in Binghamton, New York. By the time the Bundy Manufacturing Company relocated to Endicott, New York, it was part of the greatest industrial revolution in the world: the birth of computing technology. IBM in Endicott illustrates the development of a corporation and the people and ideas that made IBM a household word. With the city of Endicott at the epicenter of progress, IBM grew from a small company named Bundy Manufacturing, incorporated in 1889, to the company known as International Business Machines. Pictured are just a few of the notable moments during some of the golden years of Big Blue.

Even before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States began to prepare to enter World War II.

When the army decided to build a depot in Seneca County in 1941, dozens of families were given only days to vacate the homes they loved and land they had farmed for generations. The depot provided vital jobs for residents, but it also continued to cause controversy even after it was established--all while providing critical support for the army through the Persian Gulf War. Since the base closed in 2000, the community has grappled with what to do with the property, including protecting the area population of white deer. Join local historians Carolyn Zogg and Walter Gable as they tell the story of the Seneca Army Depot and the lives it has affected.

Winner of the Association of New York Public Historians 2023 Excellence in Local History Award

Winner of the American Legacy Book Award 2024 for United States History

Winner of the NYC Big Book Award 2024 for Regional-Nonfiction

Winner of the IAN Book of the Year Award 2024 for Outstanding Non-Fiction: History 

The Van Wyck, the Major Deegan, the Jackie Robinson, the Hutch, the Merritt, FDR Drive, or the Henry Hudson...you might drive them regularly, without really noticing that those road names are, well, names. But, who were these people?

New York's many roads, bridges, tunnels, neighborhoods and institutions bear the names of a diverse cast of characters. The Kosciuszko Bridge honors Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish American Revolutionary War hero and fervent abolitionist. The Outerbridge Crossing, named after the Port Authority's first chairman, Eugenius Outerbridge, is called a crossing because Outerbridge Bridge sounded absurd. Shirley Chisholm State Park celebrates the first Black woman elected to Congress, the larger-than-life Shirley Chisholm. Clifford Holland originally designed his tunnel under the Hudson River to accommodate horse carts. These place names embody the rich history of the city that never sleeps, yet few know their true stories. Author Rebecca Bratspies uncovers the vibrant personalities behind the names that have become New York's urban shorthand for traffic jams, culture and recreation.

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

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

Discover lost history in the dark waters of Lake George.

Lake George is bustling with boaters, swimmers, fishermen and many others, enjoying its scenic, quintessentially Adirondack shores. But the depths below hide a whole other world--one of shipwrecks and lost history. Entombed are remnants of Lake George's important naval heritage, such as the legendary Land Tortoise radeau, which sank in 1758. Other wrecks include the steam yacht Ellide and the first famed Minne-Ha-Ha. These waters hold secrets, too, like the explanation behind the 1926 disappearance of two hunters. After years of exploration across the lake's bottomlands, underwater archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski and archeological diver Bob Benway present the most intriguing discoveries among more than two hundred known shipwreck sites.

Welcome to New York City! Parent and Child pigeons tour the Big Apple in best-selling author-illustrator Martha Day Zschock's Hello! board book series for children. In Hello, New York City! join the pair as they ride the subway, hail a cab to the five boroughs, visit the Met, and tour Central Park. Along the way they stop for a hotdog, watch a Broadway Show, learn about the United Nations, skate at Rockefeller Center, and end their day watching fireworks from the Staten Island Ferry as they wave to Lady Liberty! For ages 0-3. Made in the USA.

  A tiny hamlet on the Hudson River, Garrison has deep roots in our nation's history.

Author George Carroll Whipple III has compiled beautiful images of this tiny hamlet and made efforts toward restoring to its former grandeur the iconic 1881 Castle Rock, the estate of William Henry Osborn, a visibly prominent and renowned landmark for all who reside in or visit Garrison. Many wealthy New Yorkers such as William Henry Osborn, Edwards Pierrepont, and Hamilton Fish built their impressive summer estates here and many of those manors still stand today.

Flushing explores the dramatic changes of this ever growing city with many never-before-seen images. Jason D. Antos is the author of three other local Queens history books.

In the 1890s, electric lighting and improved roads were just the beginning of the changes about to take place in Flushing, New York. Once a rural village of wide-open farms and magnificent estates, Flushing transformed into a community of more than 200,000 people and quickly became one of the busiest neighborhoods in Queens.

The Hudson River bridges, iconic structures of the New York State Bridge Authority, are the cornerstone of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Opened in 1924, the Bear Mountain Bridge was the first vehicular crossing of the Hudson River, south of Albany. Twentieth-century growth in the Hudson Valley can be traced to each bridge opening, the result of grassroot efforts by local residents. The Mid-Hudson Bridge, named for the region these bridges span, was designated an “Engineering Epic” following the tipping of the east caisson that delayed construction for a year while engineers and laborers struggled to right that caisson in the waters of the Hudson River. The plan for the Rip Van Winkle Bridge required the creation of the New York State Bridge Authority, when funding was otherwise impossible during the Great Depression. Three more bridges were built connecting remaining areas of the Mid-Hudson region.The last crossing became the “twin spans” of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the New York State Bridge Authority’s most traveled span. In 2010, the New York State Bridge Authority gained ownership of the bridge structure of the Walkway Over the Hudson, a pedestrian walkway built on the old Poughkeepsie Bridge, which opened for trains in 1889.

Kathryn W. Burke, educator, author, and director of Historic Bridges of the Hudson Valley, shares her appreciation and knowledge of these bridges through photograph archives of the New York State Bridge Authority; the Modjeski & Masters, Inc., engineering firm; and the Smithsonian Museum of American History. This is Burke’s second book on the Hudson River bridges.

Syracuse Television features the zaniness of Baron Daemon, lessons from the Magic Toy Shop, and live fun from Jim Deline and the Gang and The Markert Place.

Central New Yorkers have been treated to many memorable television moments since December 1, 1948, when WHEN-TV Channel 8 signed on the air for the first time. In a record 16 days after equipment arrived at its 101 Court Street site, the station was miraculously up and running. Syracuse's pioneer broadcasters were eager to explore this bold, new world with programs that would entertain, educate, and inform.  Over the years, personalities and programs became familiar to Central New Yorkers. There was news coverage from Fred Hillegas, Ron Curtis, Rod Wood, and Carrie Lazarus and weather forecasts from Stormy Meredith, Big Al Roker, Dave Eichorn, and Wayne Mahar.

The history of Buffalo, New York, is intimately bound with its majestic waterways.

Located for generations at the easternmost navigable end of the upper Great Lakes and the western terminus of the Erie Canal, Buffalo flourished first as a commercial hub, then as a center of major industry, all due largely to its location. Buffalo was the birthplace of the modern grain elevator and continues as the leading flour milling center of the nation. It was home to one of the first lakefront steel mills, and was a center for commercial coal and lumber traffic. A glance through Buffalo's Waterfront provides crystalline
views of bygone days. The images within cover the period of Buffalo's major economic strength from the immediate post-Civil War period through the 1950s. Memories captured by photographs abound on every page, showing wooden grain elevators and cargo docks, whaleback steamers and two-masted schooners, Erie Canal shanties and their inhabitants, and tranquil summer days aboard passenger steamers plying the waterways for all to enjoy.

Take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry and explore the rich history behind New York's maritime attraction.

Considered the Best Ride in New York City, the Staten Island Ferry has been immortalized over the years in art, literature, film, and music. In the 19th century, cross-bay ferry riders complained of dangerous and unreliable private service. On October 25, 1905, the newly incorporated City of New York assumed ownership of the service, and the Borough class—the Brooklyn, Bronx, Richmond, Queens, and Manhattan ferryboats—was introduced. These were the largest ferries on the East Coast and made the crossing in 22.5 minutes. Today, the ferry is recognized as a New York icon and a symbol of the borough. A favorite destination for tourists, the Staten Island Ferry carries 22 million passengers annually. On a typical day, 109 trips move about 70,000 people across the harbor, making the Staten Island Ferry one of the most reliable forms of mass transit in the city.

On February 5th, 1946, the Ferguson brothers were concluding a night out celebrating Charles Ferguson’s reenlistment in the Army...

Charles, wearing his military uniform, walked with his brothers Alphonso, Joseph, and Richard towards the Freeport Bus Terminal to go home. A provisional Freeport police officer named Joseph Romeika stopped the brothers over a disorderly conduct complaint. Words were exchanged, and Officer Romeika killed Charles, Alphonso and shot Joseph within minutes of the initial stop. Following the unarmed shooting, Romeikia was acquitted despite changing stories of eyewitnesses.

Discover how the shooting became a catalyst for civil rights efforts and immortalized in a Woody Guthrie protest song.