American History Books

Germantown is a new city. Until 1980, Germantown was a quiet, rural community of farms and cows with a few new houses built for employees of the Atomic Energy Commission. When the Maryland-Nation Capital Park and Planning Commission adopted the area, everything changed.

The World War II years were a time of growth and productivity for the Baltimore area, and the city contributed significantly to the Allied war effort. Baltimore launched the first of the famed Liberty ships, the SS Patrick Henry, which was constructed at the Bethlehem-Fairfield yard. The Baltimore area also produced many advanced military aircraft such as the B-26 Marauder, built at the Glenn L. Martin plant in Middle River. At Camp Holabird, the army first tested the world-famous jeep and trained the soldiers who kept the jeeps and other army vehicles running. Coast Guard sailors trained at Fort McHenry and Curtis Bay before heading to combat or stateside duties. Baltimore sent plenty of its own men and women abroad to take the fight directly to the enemy in every theatre of war. Through wartime photographs, this volume tells the story of Baltimoreans engaged in the war effort--men and women, the young and old, lifelong residents and newcomers--from a variety of racial and religious backgrounds, all working together toward victory.

For nearly four centuries, St. Mary's County has been called "the land of pleasant living." The county's fertile fields and pristine waters invite visitors and natives alike to revel, relax, and renew. As the "Mother County" of Maryland, St. Mary's has a rich written history dating from 1634, when George and Leonard Calvert established the first American settlement founded on the principle of religious tolerance. After surviving British raids during the War of 1812 and divided loyalties in the Civil War, the county leapt into the modern era when the US Navy established Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the Navy's premier flight test center and test pilot school. Today, millions of Americans trace their roots to Southern Maryland and are welcomed home as "Sons and Daughters of Old St. Mary's."

Begun in 1923 as a cluster of summer cottages, Holland Point has developed into a jewel-like residential community on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay at the southern tip of Anne Arundel County. Vintage photographs here capture the history of this community's early beach life that virtually vanished in an August 1933 storm. Behind rock seawalls, residents continued to celebrate with seafood, boating, and parties. Fourth generations of founding families now build luxury homes around "Grandma's cottage" but appreciate the same waves, waterfowl, and wildlife that their ancestors admired when they first cut through the forest to discover the bay.

See how the Baltimore suburb of Catonsville became thesummer retreat in the late 1800's and still retains much of its 19th century ellegency today.

Catonsville, a major suburb of Baltimore, still maintains much of the genteel country-estate charm it developed in the early 19th century. In 1810, Charles Carroll bestowed the land that is now Catonsville upon his daughter, Mary, and her husband, Richard Caton. The Frederick Turnpike helped the area grow, and many estates and farms cultivated the community. By 1880, it was the preferred summer retreat from the heat of Baltimore City for some of Maryland's most prosperous merchants. The completion of the Catonsville Short Line Railroad in 1884 made the burg attractive to middle-income families and a diverse village was born.

Highlighted in this volume are many long-gone homes, mansions, and institutions such as Castle Thunder, Ingleside, Nancy's Fancy, Catonsville Casino, Farmlands, and Arden, the centerpiece of Eden Terrace. Featured as well are monuments that still stand today: Uplands Mansion, Homewood, James Gary's Summit, Hilton, St. Mark Catholic Church, St. Charles College, Old Salem Lutheran Church, Mt. de Sales Academy, Belle Grove, numerous Victorian manors, and the early 20th-century homes that completed this hamlet.

Conococheague and Potomac Streets, Doubleday Hill, Springfield Farm, the C&O Canal--these names conjure up images of Williamsport, Maryland. The first settlement in what was to become Washington County was located here in the heart of the Cumberland Valley in the late 1730s. This small trading post, set amid local Native American tribes, formed the basis of the town of Williamsport. Gen. Otho Holland Williams, a Revolutionary War hero from the region, laid out what he intended to be a grand city with wide avenues on the banks of the great and mighty Potomac. Upon hearing that George Washington favored a site along the Potomac for the new nation's capital, Williams persuaded Washington to visit his town, and "Williams' Port" was given due consideration as a possible location. Williamsport became an important stopping-off point for settlers heading west, and the town quickly grew to be the second largest in Washington County. The arrival of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1834 brought a boom to Williamsport as warehouses, shipping firms, and many other businesses were established to handle the increased population and trade. The Civil War, the arrival of the railroad, and a series of disastrous floods also impacted the town. Today, Williamsport is a quiet community rich with local history and flavor.