New Releases

Long Beach Station stands as one of the most remarkable and enduring landmarks on the Long Island Rail Road.

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the oldest railroad in the country still operating under its original name. Of the 126 LIRR railroad stations, two are located on the island of Manhattan with the Long Beach Station being the only other that is not located on geographic Long Island. Situated on the barrier island of Long Beach, trains must travel over a bascule drawbridge, going over the Reynolds Channel waterway, to reach the Long Beach terminal. Train service began in 1880 at Long Beach as a means for city dwellers to get to a beach resort. When the island started to become heavily residential in the early 1900s, the existing station building was erected in 1909. A short walk from the world-renowned boardwalk and the Atlantic oceanfront, this station has an annual ridership of over three million. The ridership spikes during summer months, when the LIRR heavily promotes “Take the Train to the Beach.” The station building is an architectural gem, with three huge brick archways on the front, a Spanish-style roof, and Moravian tiles imbedded in the exterior stucco walls on all four sides. 

Readers who enjoy the peacefulness of cemeteries and those who are interested in the history of California alike will enjoy this insightfully crafted guide to the cemeteries of Sacramento County. Beneath the oak canopies and sun-drenched fields of Sacramento County lie silent witnesses to more than a century of local history. Sacramento County Cemeteries takes readers on a visual journey through the region’s burial grounds, from early family plots to expansive memorial parks, capturing the evolving story of the community through the places where its people rest. Guided by compelling imagery and thoughtful context, this book explores the cultural legacy of Sacramento through its cemeteries. Each site reveals a piece of the past—stories of native peoples, performers, civic leaders, immigrants, and even a few beloved animal companions—preserved in stone and landscape. More than a pictorial archive, this book is a tribute to the lives, memories, and past that continue to shape the region.

Colette Kavanaugh is a resident and business owner in Arden-Arcade, Sacramento. She is a member of the Old City Cemetery Committee and performs annually in the Lantern Tours at the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. She has also published a book celebrating the Arden-Arcade community. Photographs in this book come from the Sacramento Room at the Sacramento Public Library, the Center for Sacramento History, the California State Library, and local historical societies.

Readers interested in World War II will enjoy this in-depth depiction of Arkansas beginning in 1941. When the United States entered World War II in the winter of 1941, Arkansas was still in the grips of the Great Depression as farmers struggled with crop failures and being able to support their families. When the United States declared war on the Axis powers, Arkansans demonstrated their patriotism as they enlisted in droves in the military. The people of the state served with honor on the battlefield and on the home front, and families rationed food and resources, bought war bonds, and served the war effort in other ways. Women, traditionally tied to working at home, volunteered to work in factories to support the war effort. The war had a darker side as hundreds of Japanese Americans suspected of disloyalty to the United States were herded into the state’s two relocation centers. Some of Arkansas’s World War II heroes, those who sacrificed on the battlefield and the home front to win the epic struggle and save the world from tyranny, are featured through archival photographs in this book.

Brian David Irby is a longtime student of history, completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Central Arkansas. He has been on staff at the Arkansas State Archives since 2008, where he has been immersed in Arkansas’s history. 

Arizona’s fire departments started forming while the area was still a territory. Early days of firefighting were largely done by residents rushing to help their neighbors with water bucket brigades trying, almost always unsuccessfully, to save houses or businesses.

In 1865, Wickenburg formed the first formal fire department to protect the growing mining town from the constant threat of fire. The next fire departments did not form until 1881 in Tombstone and Tucson. After that, fire departments developed quite rapidly as specific methods of firefighting were instituted. These included using hand-pulled fire wagons with water tanks and hoses and then horse-drawn apparatus with water or chemicals that were now being manufactured. By the time Arizona gained statehood in 1912, fourteen major towns had an official fire department. Today, there are over 140 fire districts and roughly 35 municipal fire departments.

Carol A. Schumacher is the chairperson for Arizona’s Queen Valley Fire District Board of Directors. She is also president of the Queen Valley Historical Society and authored Superior and Queen Valley with Arcadia Publishing. She visited every fire department in this book to research the history and gather photographs of these heroic firefighters. Chief Cecil Fendley, with the Queen Valley Fire District, is the longest-serving fire chief in Arizona, with 38 years of experience as of 2025.

Two centuries of Oregon’s homegrown music history are explored and documented in this new retrospective.

Rare photographs evoke bygone days, digging deep into the area’s rich folk and country roots; old-timey 1890s brass bands; Roaring Twenties dance orchestras; 1950s jazzniks, rockabilly cats, and doo-wop groups; 1960s “Louie Louie”– fueled garage rockers andpsychedelic hippie bands; 1970s blues dudes and punk pioneers; 1980s New Wave artistes, metalheads, hip-hop heroes, and pop stars; and Oregon’s quirky post-grunge, alt-rock, and Americana movements. Discover how a scrappy backwoods region built a fiercely independent music scene that has produced scores of beloved musicians along with gold and platinum record award-winning stars.

Pondera County, located in north central Montana, was Blackfeet territory prior to the arrival of fur traders beginning in 1848.

The Blackfeet Indian Reservation was established in 1851 and forms the westernmost portion of present-day Pondera County. The Montana Territory was established in 1864, with the area originally being included in the vast Choteau County with Fort Benton as its county seat. The 1880s brought cattlemen and sheepherders, with Montana becoming a state in 1889. The Carey Land Act of 1894, subsequent amendments to the act in 1909 and 1912, and newly built railroads brought homesteaders and businesses to what would become Pondera County in 1919. Pondera County has a rich history of Blackfeet Indians, fur traders, trading posts, the Whoop-Up Trail and Riplinger Trail to Alberta, stagecoaches, mule trains, cattlemen, sheepherders, homesteaders, the Great Falls–Canada Railroad, and the Great Northern Railroad. Communities and towns established in Pondera County have included Fort Conrad, Robare, Willow Rounds, Pondera, Dupuyer, Conrad, Valier, Heart Butte, Williams, Manson, Fowler, Sollid, Brady, Ledger, Lytle, and Lucille. Most communities are still in existence.

Preserving Pride through Art

Cheyenne’s downtown demonstrates an ongoing appreciation for public art. Melding art and history, bronze statues decorate the streets of Wyoming’s capital city. Following the completion of thirty-five sculptures on Capitol Avenue, the project exploded with the addition of more than fifty bronzes. The city-wide installation immortalizes symbols of the American West. The Cheyenne Children’s Museum includes several statues celebrating paleontology. Others pay tribute to remarkable women like Lakota Sioux Princess Blue Waters and Louisa Swain—the first woman to vote in Wyoming Territory. Near Cheyenne Regional Hospital, the Healers of the West monument honors a notable doctor and nurse. And of particular pride is the statue of champion cowboy, Verne Elliott, riding a wild buffalo for the visit of President Teddy Roosevelt at the 1910 Frontier Days celebration.

Authors Starley Talbott and Michael E. Kassel return to complete the story behind the city’s inspired and ambitious display of The Cowboys State’s unique culture and heritage.

Preserving Pride through Art

Cheyenne’s downtown demonstrates an ongoing appreciation for public art. Melding art and history, bronze statues decorate the streets of Wyoming’s capital city. Following the completion of thirty-five sculptures on Capitol Avenue, the project exploded with the addition of more than fifty bronzes. The citywide installation immortalizes symbols of the American West. The Cheyenne Children’s Museum includes several statues celebrating paleontology. Others pay tribute to remarkable women like Lakota Sioux Princess Blue Waters and Louisa Swain, the first woman to vote in Wyoming Territory. Near Cheyenne Regional Hospital, the Healers of the West monument honors a notable doctor and nurse. And of particular pride is the statue of champion cowboy Verne Elliott riding a wild buffalo, commemorating the visit of President Teddy Roosevelt at the 1910 Frontier Days celebration.

Authors Starley Talbott and Michael E. Kassel return to complete the story behind the city’s inspired and ambitious display of the Cowboys State’s unique culture and heritage.