DeWitt County
9781467163057
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Readers interested in the America's heartland and the growth of both nuclear power and agriculture will delight in DeWitt County. Founded in 1824 by settlers such as Prettyman Marvel and Cicero Twist, DeWitt County was considered an abundant area because of its flat, open prairies that could be used for farmland and its plentiful forests. Within 15 years, DeWitt County was officially formed, with the first census including approximately 600 people. Over time, several towns changed their names: Mount Pleasant became Farmer City, Marion became DeWitt, and Dunham became Midland City. Other towns came and went, such as Shoo-Fly and Niptight. Clinton, the county seat, drew lawyers and politicians, allowing Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Vespasian Warner, and many others to make impressions first in Illinois and then throughout the nation. Over 180 years from DeWitt’s founding, factories and a nuclear power plant boosted population by 15,000. The county’s fertile sediment of rich minerals and organic matter left by glaciers and wind over millennia helps Illinois rank as the third state in total prime agricultural acreage.
Images of America: DeWitt County provides photographs covering almost 200 years of engaging county history. The author of two other Images of America books, Maureen Holtz lives in Champaign with her husband and cat. Her two other books about Robert Allerton were published locally.
Finneytown
9781467162333
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Finneytown, a dynamic first-ring suburb of Cincinnati, continues to display the optimism and civic spirit that transformed this community during the post–World War II economic and population boom.
A tiny rural settlement for 140 years, Finneytown’s population from 1946 to 1970 quadrupled as young people filled its new residential subdivisions, schools, businesses, and churches. Finneytown celebrates this “creation story.” Seemingly overnight, farms and open fields gave way to streets carved out for cookie-cutter houses as well as stately, custom-built homes, including Mid-Century Modern designs prized today as architectural timepieces. This wide variety of housing drove Finneytown’s economic diversity, while enthusiastic support of its public and private schools defined the small community’s values. Some Finneytown residents throughout its history, such as television writer Rod Serling and illustrator Charley Harper, are known worldwide. Even a potato chip popular across the globe was named after a Finneytown street—Pringle Drive.
Rick Kennedy is a retired media relations manager for General Electric and author of three books, Jelly Roll, Bix & Hoagy, Little Labels—Big Sound, and GE Aviation: 100 Years of Reimagining Flight. Mark Evans is a retired product development manager for Procter & Gamble, a product development consultant, and an accomplished photographer. Kennedy and Evans, along with their wives, Jane and Chris, respectively, are longtime and active Finneytown residents.
