American History Books

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

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

Explore the life and early times of Stuart, Florida through the lens of vintage images.

On the southeast coast of Florida in the 1880s, a quaint little community was nestled along the tranquil waters of the St. Lucie River in a wilderness of tropical beauty, one of the region's last frontiers. As lucrative pineapple crops and the commercial fishing industry began to flourish, trade boats brought necessary supplies, and new settlers arrived on river steamers. With land available for homesteading or for sale at $1.25 an acre, the small village soon to be known as Stuart would become a mecca for innovative, hardworking young men seeking business and financial opportunities. By the dawn of the 20th century, the railroad had been established, and the town, forged by the fortitude of early pioneers, thrived, eventually becoming a beautiful, friendly incorporated city.

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

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

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

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

This isolated Tennessee valley has been home for generations of early settlers and Native Americans alike, today welcoming millions of tourists annually as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Though the land has existed for millenia, the village known as Cades Cove came into existence in 1821, when William "Fighting Billy" Tipton was granted 1,280 acres of fine fertile land in the first recorded legal land title to Cades Cove following the Calhoun Treaty of 1819. At its peak in 1900, the census showed that there were 125 families living in the cove and over 700 individuals. The Cades Cove people were self-sufficient and had many conveniences that others did not. Some residents made their own water system, and there were blacksmiths, coffin makers, farmers, storekeepers, postmasters, and many more occupations - there was no need to go out of their beloved cove for anything. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, with a good deal of opposition from the Cades Cove residents, the area was incorporated into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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

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

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

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

A destination for many tourists eager for sun, sand, and a simpler way of life, and a far distant cry from the glitter and neon of more traditional, commercial oriented beaches, the Outer Banks of North Carolina is a natural wonder sheltering and buffering Eastern North Carolina from the volatile temperament of the Atlantic Ocean.

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

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

Whether you call it the Gateway to the Americas, the Capital of Latin America, or even the Magic City, Miami is a city that has enchanted millions for many years.

The city we know as Miami only came into existence in 1896, but evidence suggests people lived in the area for over 2000 years before Europeans ever set foot on the continent. The land was conquered by the Spanish in 1566, but Florida didn't become part of the United States until 1821. Miami holds the distinction of being the only major city founded by a woman - Julia Tuttle was a wealthy citrus grower who originally owned the land the city was built on. When a prolonged bout of cold weather known as the Great Freeze throttled crops further north, farmers arrived to the area in droves, and Tuttle convinced railroad tycoon Henry Flagler to extend his Florida East Coast Railway to the region, for which she became known as "the Mother of Miami." Miami has weathered yellow fever epidemics, the 1920s boom and bust, two World Wars, hurricanes, and numerous other economic ups and downs to become one of the world's great cities and the growth of South Florida.

Nestled among northern Michigan's pine trees in Roscommon County is the state's largest inland lake, Houghton Lake.

Lumbermen made use of its 20,044 acres to move timber. They banked logs on the lake, the headwaters of the Muskegon River, during the winter cutting season and drove them downriver in the spring to southwestern lumber yards. As Houghton Lake's reputation for good fishing grew, visitors came to try their luck. By the mid-20th century, Houghton Lake became one of the most popular destinations in Michigan. Now, the area is known for its bars, resorts, and winter festival Tip-Up Town USA. Water sports, summer cottages, and nightlife still attract thousands of visitors from Lower Michigan and surrounding states today.

The city of Bloomington and Indiana University were linked from the start, grew together and still share joys and sorrows 180 years after their founding.

The many vintage photographs in this pictorial history bring to life both historical ambiance and transformation in town and gown from the late 1800s to the present. When Monroe County was organized in southern Indiana in 1818, hilly, thickly-wooded Bloomington became the county seat. The first courthouse was a log cabin, and 30 families made up the town. Six years later, when Bloomington's population had increased to 500, Indiana's first public institution of higher learning opened with 10 students and a single professor. It would grow to become Indiana University, and start building its present campus in 1884. Bloomington prospered during these decades through the presence of IU, as many as 40 industries, and its growing production of limestone. The town's Beaux Arts courthouse building (1907) and IU's wooded central campus form Bloomington's signature twin landmarks. Around them lie many distinctive neighborhoods, a now-extensive campus with Big Ten sports arenas, and a picturesque countryside that draws bicyclists from across the nation.

Kaufmann's Department Store was a force in Pittsburgh retail from its humble beginnings in 1871 until its merger with Federated Department Stores in 2006.

The "Big Store" downtown was a landmark shopping emporium with 12 floors of everything from cosmetics and groceries to wedding gowns and lawn mowers. Under the leadership of Edgar J. Kaufmann and his wife, Liliane, the store became a forum for exhibitions of art, cutting-edge technology, and Parisian haute couture. Generations of Pittsburghers hold fond memories of meeting friends and family under the famous Kaufmann's clock to lunch at the Tic Toc Restaurant, pick up cookies at the Arcade Bakery, or peer into the store's enchanting Christmas window displays each December.