Biography & Autobiography

Name: Historic Bethabara Park
Brand: Diana Bahnson Overbey
SKU: 9781467162821
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

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Historic Bethabara Park

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Legendary Locals of Louisville

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Literary Luminaries of the Berkshires:

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Legendary Locals of Grand Rapids

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Wicked Hartford

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Movie Houses of Greater Newark

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Legendary Locals of El Paso

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Texas Far & Wide

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The Elks Opera House

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Cleveland's Playhouse Square

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North Carolina Governor Richard Caswell

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Milwaukee's Live Theater

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Detroit

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Cape Cod Nights

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Captain William Hilton and the Founding of Hilton Head Island

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South Jersey Movie Houses

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Memphis Music

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Detroit Gesu Catholic Church and School

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Legendary Locals of Scituate

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The Odyssey of Texas Ranger James Callahan

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Crooked Politics in Northwest Indiana

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Theatres in Los Angeles

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Legendary Locals of Kent County

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Fox Theatre

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Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn

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Legendary Locals of Peoria

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Legendary Locals of Grand Prairie

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New York City Vaudeville

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Literary Philadelphia

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A Theatre History of Marion, Ohio: John Eberson's Palace & Beyond

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Wicked Vermont

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Delta Music and Film

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Legendary Locals of Newton

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Legendary Locals of Rockwall

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Nashville Music before Country

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Legendary Locals of Fairfield County

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San Francisco Jazz

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Naperville

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Legendary Locals of Buckeye

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Legendary Locals of Moscow

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Legendary Locals of Fort Wayne

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Legendary Locals of Wallingford

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Fort Worth's Rock and Roll Roots

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Historic Jacksonville Theatre Palaces, Drive-ins and Movie Houses

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Legendary Locals of Huntsville

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The Birth of the Detroit Sound

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New Jersey Folk Revival Music

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Legendary Locals of Cabarrus County

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Legendary Locals of New Hampshire's Lakes Region

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Legendary Locals of Fillmore

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Legendary Locals of Toledo

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The MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Program

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Legendary Locals of Bangor

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Legendary Locals of Ambler

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Historic Dallas Theatres

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Montana Americana Music

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The Keswick Theatre

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Legendary Locals of Oak Cliff

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Pierre Part

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Legendary Locals of Columbus

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Tacoma's Theater District

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The Dallas Music Scene

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Legendary Locals of Oak Park

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Legendary Locals of Aurora

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Legendary Locals of Lowell

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Legendary Locals of Eastpointe

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Forest Hill Cemetery

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Salt Lake City Cemetery

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Legendary Locals of Washington

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A History of Leadville Theater

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Legendary Locals of Bel Air

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Tacoma's Lincoln District

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Native American History of Savannah

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New Jersey Originals

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Long Island and World War I

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The Chicago Music Scene

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Morton F. Plant and the Connecticut Shoreline

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Thalian Hall

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Unforgettable Texans

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Kentucky's Bluegrass Music

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Legendary Locals of Shreveport

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Legendary Locals of Tempe

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Legendary Locals of Daytona Beach

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Cincinnati Theaters

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Legendary Locals of West Palm Beach

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Theatres of Hawai'i

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Legendary Locals of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor

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Legendary Locals of Pacifica

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Legendary Locals of Auburn

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Legendary Locals of Staten Island

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Legendary Locals of Pittsburgh

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Legendary Locals of Pelham

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Legendary Locals of Carlsbad

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Legendary Locals of Moline

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Legendary Locals of Harrisburg

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Entertainment in Early Milwaukee

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Boston's Downtown Movie Palaces

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Legendary Locals of Greater Miami

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Legendary Locals of Hilton Head

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Madam Walker Theatre Center

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Historic Bethabara Park

9781467162821

$24.99

Diana Bahnson Overbey, executive director of Historic Bethabara Park, uses archival maps, drawings, portraits, and photographs to tell Bethabara’s story, from 18th-century backcountry settlement to 21st-century historic site.

In 1753, the Moravian Church purchased 98,985 acres of land in the Piedmont of North Carolina and established the town of Bethabara. It grew into a bustling trades town by the 1760s but transitioned into a small farming community in the 19th century, with fields of crops planted next to the 1788 church. Ministers remarked on the muddy, rutted roads and the wayward behaviors of their congregation. Bethabara’s significance as the first Moravian town in North Carolina was not forgotten, however, and in 1903, thousands turned out for the 150th anniversary celebration. That celebratory spirit was kindled again in the 1950s when Edwin Stockton decided Bethabara needed to be preserved for future generations. Acreage containing the original settlement was purchased, and archaeologist Stanley South conducted a groundbreaking archaeological dig during the 1960s to uncover the foundations of the original structures, which had been left undisturbed beneath farmland for over a century. Historic Bethabara Park opened to the public in 1966. Today, the site covers 183 acres and includes four restored historic buildings as well as a reconstructed village and gardens.

Literary Luminaries of the Berkshires:

9781626198777

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The Massachusetts Berkshires have long been a mecca for literary greats from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edith Wharton to Sinclair Lewis and Joan Ackermann. The Green River in Great Barrington inspired William Cullen Bryant's poetry. Charles Pierce Burton's childhood hometown, Adams, became the setting for his frolicking Boys of Bob's Hill juvenile books. During an interlude in Lenox, Patricia Highsmith consulted a local undertaker for details to use in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Bernard A. Drew brings together a fascinating chronicle of some 250 wordsmiths who took inspiration from the hills and valleys of the Berkshires.

Legendary Locals of Grand Rapids

9781467100236

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Grand Rapids began as an Indian trading post. Louis Campau became the first permanent white settler in 1826. Today, the city on the Grand River is Michigan's second largest with a population of nearly 200,000, more than triple when adding the surrounding metropolitan area. Though best known as the hometown of President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, the city lays claim to others who are, or have been, in the national spotlight as well. These include astronauts Roger Chaffee and Jack Lousma; sports figures Stan Ketchel, Dave Rozema, Mickey Stanley, and Chris Kaman; screenwriter and director Paul Schrader; actors Lorna Gray and Dick York; writers Meindert DeJong, Chris Van Allsburg, and Bich Ngyuen, to name just a few. In these pages are legends named Meijer, Van Andel, De Vos, Trotter, Belknap, Hekman, and Wege. Others are lesser known, or even unknown, but their heartwarming stories make them equally worthy of legendary status.

Wicked Hartford

9781467137348

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One of the oldest cities in America, Hartford holds plenty of sinful stories. Famed inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt sold arms to both the North and South in the buildup to the Civil War. The notorious Seyms Street jail was the subject of national criticism and scandal for its deplorable conditions. Local journalist Daniel Birdsall fought to expose corruption in the powerful insurance industry and local government at the expense of his own printing presses. Tension between unions and robber barons such as Jay Gould spilled into the streets during the Gilded Age. Author Steve Thornton takes readers on an exciting journey through the seedy underbelly of Hartford's past.

Movie Houses of Greater Newark

9780738599335

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For decades, Newark and its environs have been lit up by the bright neon lights of grand movie palaces and theaters. In the early 20th century, stages that were originally built for vaudeville acts were turned over to silver screens and the flickering images from motion-picture projectors. This new technology ushered Hollywood movies to the East Coast and made cinema accessible for locals to enjoy. Movie houses and palaces provided moviegoers a new type of viewing experience. With ornate interiors and rich architecture, these institutions offered their patrons a beautiful setting to watch classic films. Over time, these establishments evolved and began hosting burlesque shows and rock concerts. Today, many of these downtown landmarks have been demolished, replaced, or adaptively renovated into the modern multiplexes of today. Images of the Paramount and the Mosque Theater help Movie Houses of Greater Newark tell the story of an era when going to the movies was an event.

Legendary Locals of El Paso

9781467101875

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From a small settlement along the Rio Grande to a major metropolitan area at the crossroads of three states and two nations, El Paso has grown immensely. Known as the Sun City, the region has always attracted individuals and families from around the world who were looking to establish roots and make their mark. In the early days, pioneers such as Zach White, Anson Mills, and Joseph Magoffin helped lay a solid foundation on which the city was built. Gunfighters like John Wesley Hardin walked the streets of El Paso, while lawmen like Dallas Stoudenmire did their best to keep them off. Lining the streets of El Paso were, and still are, beautiful edifices designed by famed architect Henry Trost. El Paso's unique location, history, and culture have helped inspire many artists, writers, and musicians, such as Jim Ward, Cormac McCarthy, and Tom Lea. Take a moment and learn about some of El Paso's legendary locals.

Texas Far & Wide

9781625859181

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The sheer volume of remarkable Texan exploits creates a dizzying tally for the proudest of its citizens. So it happens that inexplicable marvels slip past an entire state of storytellers and world-famous legends live as anonymous neighbors. Ever hear the story about the escaped ape in the Big Thicket? Or the Interplanetary Capital of the Universe that sat on the Gulf Coast? Does the cowboy hat that warmed U.S.-China relations ring a bell? From the Staked Plain Quakers to the Kaiser Burnout, E.R. Bills delves into some of the most fascinating chapters of overlooked Texas lore.

The Elks Opera House

9780738585420

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For over 100 years, the Elks Opera House has been a landmark of the cultural scene in Prescott, Arizona, and the western United States. In 1904, the people of Prescott raised $15,000 toward a performance hall to be included in the Elks Building. The original structure featured opera boxes that were later removed to adapt to the demands of motion pictures, and the entire proscenium arch was covered with wood paneling. In 2010, the Elks Opera House Foundation completed major renovations to restore the original 1905 grandeur of the theater and the 1928 marquee, which was paid for by grants from local charitable foundations, Arizona historic preservation funds, and generous participation by businesses and individuals. The Elks Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Cleveland's Playhouse Square

9780738540139

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Cleveland's Playhouse Square documents the fascinating history of the five theatres which boomed, beginning in the 1920s.

In the early 1920s, five opulent theaters--the Allen, the Ohio, the State, the Palace, and the Hanna--opened on a stretch of Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. They offered legitimate theater, vaudeville, name bands and entertainers, and films for the affluent and hardworking citizens of this booming industrial city. Unfortunately, the introduction of television and the flight to the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s turned the theaters into ghost palaces destined for the wrecking ball. In 1970, a bold group of planners led by Raymond K. Shepardson formed the Playhouse Square Association, a nonprofit group dedicated to saving the theaters. A 25-year restoration endeavor emerged that raised $53 million, culminating in the largest theater restoration project in the world. Today Playhouse Square Center ranks second only to New York's Lincoln Center as North America's largest performing arts complex.

North Carolina Governor Richard Caswell

9781467135443

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Richard Caswell emerged during the Revolution as a vital leader of the Patriot cause. Though he was a loyal British subject who fought against the backcountry Regulator rebellion, he embraced America's revolutionary fervor. He represented North Carolina at the Continental Congress and bravely commanded troops at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. He supervised the writing of North Carolina's constitution and was elected the Old North State's first governor. After the Revolution, he again served as governor and became a leading spokesman for the ratification of the United States Constitution. Author and historian Joe Mobley chronicles the life of a man devoted to the public service of North Carolina and a new nation.

Milwaukee's Live Theater

9780738560595

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Milwaukee's live theater scene is the sum of several exciting parts. For many, Milwaukee live theater means world-class productions done by resident actors at one of the nation's leading regional theaters. For others, it has been defined by the machinations of a respected experimental theater troupe that traveled throughout Europe in the 1980s and was once honored with an Obie Award. There was a time when Milwaukee live theater meant a big top arena where some of the biggest stars of American musical theater frolicked and played for local audiences. Audiences in Milwaukee have enjoyed the classics, new plays, and contemporary hits performed by never-say-die producers who boast personalities larger than the stages their companies play upon. The Milwaukee theater style is not fussy or overblown. It is informed by a thrilling past, buoyant future, unsurpassed community support, and unfailing devotion to solid midwestern work ethics channeled into artistic innovation. Simply put, Milwaukee's live theater scene is the best-kept artistic secret in the United States.

Detroit

9780738561134

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Detroit has always been at the forefront of American popular music development, and the ragtime years and jazz age are no exception. The city's long history of diversity has served the region well, providing a fertile environment for creating and nurturing some of America's most distinctly indigenous music. With a focus on the people and places that made Detroit a major contributor to America's rich musical heritage, Detroit: Ragtime and the Jazz Age provides a unique photo journal of a period stretching from the Civil War to the diminishing years of the big bands in the early 1940s.

Cape Cod Nights

9781467140058

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The Cape has been home to hundreds of popular nightclubs and watering holes over the past hundred years, featuring such timeless drinks as the Cape Codder and the Sea Breeze. From orchestras to digital playlists, the clubs have evolved with the times. While many famous locales, such as Johnny Yee’s and the Compass Lounge, have been shuttered, other classics like the Beachcomber, the Atlantic House and the Melody Tent remain, serving up a unique blend of entertainment and spirits for tourists and locals alike. Join local author Christopher Setterlund as he takes a look back at some of the places, music and drinks that have made Cape Cod nightlife sparkle.

Captain William Hilton and the Founding of Hilton Head Island

9781467141918

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Author Dwayne W. Pickett details the life of William Hilton, his exploration of the Carolina coast and the founding of an iconic island.

Behind the pristine beaches and world renown of Hilton Head Island lies a history that dates back to the early exploration of the nation. In 1663, William Hilton, a mariner born in England, was hired by a group in Barbados to find new lands for them to settle. Hilton led an exploration of the Port Royal Sound area, where he named a high bluff of land Hiltons Head as a navigational marker for future sailors. The island began as a sparsely populated area on the fringe of English settlement in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when it was called Trench’s Island on some maps.

South Jersey Movie Houses

9780738544663

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Since the early 1900s, when the first moving images flickered on the screens of storefront nickelodeons, going to the movies has been an integral part of life across America. By the 1950s, there were over 230 theaters in southern New Jersey, ranging from lavish palaces like the 2,000-seat Stanley in Camden to modest venues like the 350-seat Little in Haddonfield. Today, sadly, less than a dozen remain standing, and most of those are now used for other commercial purposes. Only the Broadway in Pitman continues to operate as the last of the original motion-picture palaces. South Jersey Movie Houses is a pictorial tour of the theaters that once raised their curtains to audiences across the southern part of the state. It offers a nostalgic look at their neon marquees and silver screens, bringing back memories of Saturday matinees, 3-D glasses, and movie date nights.

Memphis Music

9780738544113

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Memphis means music. That relationship was solidified in 1909 when W. C. Handy wrote the song "Mr. Crump" and later published it as the "Memphis Blues." As Handy's songs were sung and played in streets and music halls, a spotlight began to shine on a new mecca for innovation in music--Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis Music: Before the Blues surveys the people, music, and events that contributed to the rich musical life that emerged against the backdrop of the Civil War and yellow fever in the 19th century. The story is not just one of the building blocks to what has been called America's greatest export--popular music--but rather it is a story of ongoing innovation and creativity that came from a convergence of people of different cultures.

Detroit Gesu Catholic Church and School

9781467127356

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Explore the fascinating history of Detroit’s Gesu Catholic Church and Schoolthrough the images and stories of the people who were there.

In a reconfigured farmhouse just a mile outside of the city limits of Detroit, a Jesuit priest and 25 men, women, and children gathered to celebrate Sunday mass on March 19, 1922.

The Reverend John McNichols named the Catholic mission church Gesu, the Italian word for Jesus.Gesubecame one of Detroit's landmark parishes. Its history illustrates the Motor City'sboom, bust, resilience, and resurgence. It was the home parish of four Detroit mayors, powerful members of Congress, auto industry titans, sports legends, artists, authors, and actors. At its peak in the mid-1960s, GesuSchool enrolled 1,600 students. Because of Detroit's decline and its racial and economic struggles, Gesuis one of only four Catholic elementary schools that remain in the city. But as Detroit rebounds, Gesu Schoolis growing again.

Author Patricia Montemurri is an award-winning Detroit journalist whose in-laws were the church's architects and stained-glass designers.Gesu'shistory unfolds here through vintage photographs from the parish archives, the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the University of Detroit Mercy, the Walter P. Reuther Library, the Michigan Catholic, and the albums of Gesuparishioners and graduates.

Legendary Locals of Scituate

9781467100724

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

For more than 375 years, the town of Scituate has shared the talents of its residents in a host of ways. Individuals who called Scituate home have gained acclaim in public service, the arts, and athletics. The Bates, Stewart, and Monteiro families, among others, demonstrate how the Irish, Cape Verdean, and Yankees came to share this small coastal town. Doctors like Ruth Bailey and Max Miles offered contributions to a rich quality of life that endures to the present day. The work of writers like Jacques Futrelle, Claire Cook, and Nick Flynn spans genres and generations. Businessmen like Jack Conway, Paul Young, and Alan Wheeler set standards for service and showed a dedication to their neighbors that went beyond dollars and cents. Scituate has also been home to extremely unique characters like Percy Mann and Bill Sexton--one struggled to fit into a modernizing world and the other found the humor in it. Legendary Locals of Scituate shares a small sample of this talent.

The Odyssey of Texas Ranger James Callahan

9781625858771

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James Callahan entered Texas armed, a quixotic young man enlisted in the Georgia Battalion for the cause of independence. He barely survived the 1836 Battle of Refugio and the Goliad Massacre. Undaunted by the perils of his adopted home, he remained in the line of fire for the next twenty-one years, fighting to protect Texas settlers from Apaches, Comanches, Seminoles, Kickapoos, outlaws, mavericks and the Mexican army. As a Texas Ranger, he rode with the legendary men of Seguin and San Antonio. In 1855, he commanded the punitive expedition into Mexico that bears his name, a fiasco that has been shrouded by mystery and shadowed by controversy ever since. In this first-ever biography, Joseph Luther traces the tragic course of the wayfarer who crossed so much of the Texas frontier and created so much of its story.

Crooked Politics in Northwest Indiana

9781467136426

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Defined by a tangled web of deception for more than a century, Northwest Indiana's political culture involved secret handshakes, tapped phone calls, backroom deals and murder.

Found submerged in his car with a rock on the gas pedal, city official Babe Lopez's execution-style murder rocked East Chicago. Shot and killed at a political fundraiser, power broker Jay Given's murder occurred while four hundred guests mingled in a neighboring room. Former Lake Station mayor Keith Soderquist stole thousands of dollars from his reelection campaign and the city's food pantry account to gamble at local casinos. Author Jerry Davich explores the hidden political scandals and highly publicized court cases of public servants once sworn to serve and protect.

Theatres in Los Angeles

9780738555799

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Los Angeles and the movies grew up together, and a natural extension of the picture business was the premium presentation of the product--the biggest, best, and brightest theatres imaginable. The magnificent movie palaces along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles still represent the highest concentration of vintage theatres in the world. With Hollywood and the movies practically synonymous, the theatres in the studios' neighborhood were state-of-the-art for showbiz, whether they were designed for film, vaudeville, or stage productions. From the elegant Orpheum and the exotic Grauman's Chinese to the modest El Rey, this volume celebrates the architecture and social history of Los Angeles's unique collection of historic theatres past and present. The common threads that connect them all, from the grandest movie palace to the smallest neighborhood theatre, are stories and the ghosts of audiences past waiting in the dark for the show to begin.

Legendary Locals of Kent County

9781467102186

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Kent County, located on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, is noted for its farms, outdoor recreation, architecture, and its people. Legendary Locals of Kent County recognizes only a handful of the many Kent County people who deserve to be noted. Included are Tony Award nominee Mark Bramble, who is a director, author, and producer; controversial and colorful Evelyn Harris, also known as the Barter Lady, who gained fame during the Depression when she proposed a system of swapping to overcome the shortage of money; elected official, school principal, minister, and artist Clarence Hawkins; Sheriff Bartus O. Vickers, who earned the respect of prisoners, lawyers, other law enforcement officers, and citizens; game warden Bozy Robinson, friend of both the hunter and the hunted; and writer Gilbert Byron, who detailed life on the Chesapeake Bay throughout the 20th century.

Fox Theatre

9780738594491

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Even beyond Atlanta, this amazing, Moorish-style icon is known by most not by its legal name, the Fox Theatre, but as the Fabulous Fox.

Constructed in the late 1920s as a temple for the Yaarab Shrine, the imposing yellow-brick building was designed to out Baghdad Baghdad in its elaborate Middle Eastern appearance. But the onion-domed exterior with its faux prayer towers is nothing compared to the elaborate interior. Movie mogul William Fox leased the auditorium from the Shriners in 1929, transforming it into a movie palace like no other. The theater became a place of spectacular premieres and world-class performances until changing times threatened its very existence in the 1970s. The campaign to Save the Fox proved more dramatic than some of the performances that graced Fox's own stage. Today, the Fabulous Fox is one of Atlanta's best-known and most cherished landmarks.

Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn

9781467102155

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Nestled in the middle of the southwest side of Chicago are the neighborhoods of Chicago Lawn, West Lawn, and Marquette Manor. All three border picturesque Marquette Park, which intertwines their histories. The pages of Legendary Locals of Chicago Lawn and West Lawn are filled with tales of people who make up the story, or, in some cases, add spice to the story of this section of the city of Chicago. Highlighted locals include the lady known as the Witch of Wall Street and the Roman Catholic priest who took her to court to save his parishioners from deadly disease, the gentlemen known as the Dean of 63rd Street and the Mayor of 69th Street, as well as the Polka King and the Father of Little League. Through their actions, the people featured have impacted the neighborhood. It may be due to acts of kindness or dedication to a cause; they might be builders; they might be gangsters; they might be store owners, but they are all interesting figures.

Legendary Locals of Peoria

9781467101738

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Peoria harkens back to the 1670s glory days of the French voyageurs and became the now-familiar face of Americana—its townsfolk have touched every aspect of national and international life, often significantly. In comedy, Fibber McGee and Molly, Charles Correll, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, and even Bishop Sheen with his witty homilies have made Peoria the Habitat of Humor. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique jump-started the 1960s feminist movement, while Philip José Farmer's The Lovers rocked the 1950s sci-fi universe. Dr. C.T. Vivian, Dr. Romeo Garrett, and John Gwynn Jr. held the frontline against racism. Representing the best of society's core values, Barb and Dick Hammond founded Friends of the Children of Haiti, a medical organization tending to the year-round needs of the earth's poorest. And unheralded Bill Noel has shouldered the sorrows and burdens of others who have leaned on him for decades. When it comes to all the legendary locals, they play in Peoria . . . and the world.

Legendary Locals of Grand Prairie

9781467102179

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Grand Prairie is a city on the edge. Citizens have been innovators with a love for family and community. Alexander Dechmann traded land to insure a railroad depot; early settlers started schools for their families; and the police department hired one of the first women. Leaders at nonprofits such as Brighter Tomorrows not only helped the local community, but also helped develop services in surrounding communities. Business owners and volunteers have strong family traditions of giving back to Grand Prairie, and civil servants have loyalties for extended years of service, such as Ruthe Jackson and her family, who provided support for both businesses and the community. From the early settlers to today's city, Grand Prairie is built upon loyalty.

New York City Vaudeville

9780738545622

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

New York City Vaudeville provides a unique pictorial record of America's preeminent entertainment medium in the late 1800s through the early 1930s. New York's Palace Theatre
served as the flagship for vaudeville, on which stage every
vaudevillian aspired to perform. New York City Vaudeville
features photographs of some of the greatest names from
the Palace Theatre, including Jack Benny, George Burns
and Gracie Allen, Anna Held, the Marx Brothers, and Eva Tanguay, as well as legendary African American performers such as Bill Robinson, Ethel Waters, and Bert Williams. Through the photographs and the capsule biographies, the reader is transported back to a time when vaudeville was the people's entertainment, with a new bill of fare each week and an ever-changing number of performers with ever-changing styles of presentation.

Literary Philadelphia

9781626198104

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Since Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin put type to printing press, Philadelphia has been a haven and an inspiration for writers. Local essayist Agnes Repplier once shared a glass of whiskey with Walt Whitman, who frequently strolled Market Street. Gothic writers like Edgar Allan Poe and George Lippard plumbed the city's dark streets for material. In the twentieth century, Northern Liberties native John McIntyre found a backdrop for his gritty noir in the working-class neighborhoods, while novelist Pearl S. Buck discovered a creative sanctuary in Center City. From Quaker novelist Charles Brockden Brown to 1973 U.S. poet laureate Daniel Hoffman, author Thom Nickels explores Philadelphia's literary landscape.

A Theatre History of Marion, Ohio: John Eberson's Palace & Beyond

9781626199507

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One of the last remaining atmospheric theatres in the nation, elegant Marion Palace Theatre holds a storied history behind its curtains. From the "Wigwam," the Grand Opera House and Germania Park Pavilion to nickelodeons, vaudeville houses and movie theatres, performance has been an essential part of Marion's history, and the Palace is the city's jewel. Designed by renowned theatre architect John Eberson, the Palace opened its doors in 1928 to packed audiences of over three thousand patrons. Author Scott L. Hoffman delves into the life and work of John Eberson and the forgotten stories of the Palace that include a police gambling raid, the construction of the theatre and the stars who performed for dazzled audiences there.

Wicked Vermont

9781467138741

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Author Thea Lewis takes a revealing ride through the unique and colorful history of the Green Mountain State.

Vermont is a picturesque landscape, but the idyllic setting hides a sometimes dark and desperate past. H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer, may have been the University of Vermont's deadliest student. A Burlington resident made an empire partly by carrying contraband goods to and from Canada. The first United States president subject to a birther movement wasn't 44, but a much lower number. A Burlington schoolboy ran away with the circus and became an international sensation under the big top.

Delta Music and Film

9781467113953

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The Delta Lowlands, a place of stunning innovation and creativity in music and film, has laid an incredible foundation for American entertainment. Talented singers, producers, and musicians from a narrow stretch of Arkansas Delta land--traversing U.S. Highway 65 south near England down to Pine Bluff and on through Lake Village/Eudora--have garnered every conceivable distinction, including Grammys as well as Country Music Association (CMA), Gospel Music Association (GMA), Stellar, Dove, Soul Train, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and other music awards. The mosaic of cotton blossoms, catfish farms, blues juke joints, foot-stomping churches, and rich Delta dirt has also served as the training ground for legends in blues, R&B/soul, country music, jazz, and gospel. In film and television, the Delta Lowlands has birthed the invention of sound in movies, the development of slow-motion footage, the creation of television's Neilson's ratings, the first western-genre movie star, a cadre of Emmy and Oscar award-winning personalities, and a television tower that was once the second tallest man-made structure in the world.

Legendary Locals of Newton

9781467101462

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Newton has more than enough legendary locals to fill volumes of books. Endless are the stories about men, women, and young people who dedicated, or still dedicate, countless hours of their lives in order to make Newton and the world a better place. Newton has been a launching ground for award-winning authors, Nobel Prize winners, Olympic medalists, and Hollywood stars. Some of Boston's best athletes have chosen to make the Garden City their home. In the pages of this book, readers will learn about Newton's first mayor, James Hyde, who never lost an election in more than 50 times on the ballot; Rev. Edmond Kelley, the first pastor at Myrtle Baptist Church and a former slave; Leonard Zakim, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League who dedicated his life to fighting prejudice and civil rights violations; Louise Bruyn, who walked from Newton to Washington, DC, to protest the Vietnam War; Shirley Lewis, known as the regal queen of the blues; and Ted Williams, regarded as baseball's greatest hitter, who lived in Newton Upper Falls.

Legendary Locals of Rockwall

9781467101899

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Since its founding in 1854, Rockwall has been home to dedicated public servants, pioneer personalities, hometown heroes, successful business owners, devoted educators, and hardworking farmers. Containing more than 100 profiles of Rockwall's interesting and influential citizens, Legendary Locals of Rockwall includes the stories of Confederate veteran John Summerfield Griffith, who rode on horseback to Austin to gain the original charter for Rockwall County; long-tenured office holders such as Lannie Stimpson, who served 53 years in office, and Derwood Wimpee, who served 35 years; a long list of educators, including Maurine Cain, Dorothy Smith Pullen, Ouida Springer, and Doris Cullins, who influenced generations of Rockwall students; and business professionals such as newspaper publishers P.J. and Jane Bounds, local developer and philanthropist Raymond Cameron, and Texas's first formally trained female dentist, Dr. Jessie Castle LaMoreaux. In addition, Rockwall has long honored its agricultural heritage by naming roads after farming families who influenced the region. The names Bourn, Rochell, Cornelius, Clem, and Smirl, among others, will be familiar to those who travel the roads of Rockwall County.

Nashville Music before Country

9780738553986

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Nashville is a name synonymous with music. Years before the first radio broadcast of country music from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, music and publishing were central to Nashville's self-identity. Thousands of songs flooded into the Cumberland and Tennessee River valleys from Southern Appalachia, sung by folk performers. These songs became the foundation for the folk-hymn traditions that grew throughout Tennessee. Into this stream flowed a body of African American spirituals, gospel, and minstrel songs. The arrival of trained German musicians brought classical styles to this gathering stream of musical confluences. These musicians found a home in the academies and businesses of Nashville. Nashville Music before Country is the story of how music merged with education, publication, entertainment, and distribution to set the stage for a unique musical metropolis. The images for Nashville Music before Country come from private collections as well as public libraries and archives.

Legendary Locals of Fairfield County

9781467100380

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Local legend says that Marquis Charles Cornwallis, Revolutionary War hero, rode into this area and declared, How fair are these hills and thus, Fairfield County was born.

Fairfield County is a unique blend of tradition, culture, and history. Freedom-seekers, farmers, and religious folks came from the northern trails, while many aristocrats and plantation owners traveled from the coast. These citizens bred a unique and proud folk ranging from sturdy military men who protected their land during the American Revolution and the Civil War to educators who started well-known educational institutions and produced prominent military men and politicians who forever changed the world. Fairfield County is also known for its culture and music. Many recognized beauty queens, artists, musicians, and sports figures hail from this midland region of South Carolina.

San Francisco Jazz

9781467132879

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San Francisco is probably best known for its hills, ubiquitous fog, dungeness crab and the Golden Gate Bridge. But jazz music's threads are similarly woven into the fabric of the city and its environs. Whether performed in renowned clubs like So Different, Jimbo's Bop City, Black Hawk, and the Jazz Workshop or in halls like the Primalon Ballroom and Great American Music Hall, jazz has infused the city from the Barbary Coast to the Fillmore, thrilling audiences for over a century. San Franciscans have grooved to and incubated scores of jazz acts, hot and cool, raucous and contemplative.

Naperville

9781467139168

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Since Naperville sprang from the northern Illinois prairie, it has maintained an unmistakably fascinating heritage.

The settlers who followed the Napers to the DuPage River had to endure the hardships of felling trees and plowing prairies to make a place to call home. The campuses of the Research and Technology corridor might seem far removed from the travails of those early years, but both are part of the same community. That shared tradition holds surprises such as the location of the Stenger Brewery or the legacy of Peter Kroehler, furniture tycoon, mayor and philanthropist. Bryan Ogg takes stock of the people and events that shaped Naperville from its founding through its current state.

Legendary Locals of Buckeye

9781467102001

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In 1884, Malie Monroe Jackson began and named a canal Buckeye in honor of his native state, Ohio, the Buckeye state. In 1886, Thomas Newton Clanton added 10 miles to the canal. The following year, he applied for a post office, and on March 10, 1888, the post office, named Buckeye, was established. Clanton platted a townsite and named the town Sidney, though why he chose that name remains a mystery. Beginning in 1910, advances in transportation put the community on the map, and Sidney became Buckeye. Hugh Watson, founder of the Buckeye Valley Bank, became the town's first mayor in 1929. On January 1, 2014, Buckeye became the newest city in Arizona. This newest volume also celebrates today's Buckeye settlers, such as Levi Beard, Tony Youngker, Clemie Arnold, and Bob Doster, DVM, updating Buckeye's colorful history of notable residents.

Legendary Locals of Moscow

9781467102070

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The rich and fertile land upon which Moscow sits has sustained a vibrant community of hard working thinkers, creators, and activists for more than 125 years. Just as the area's first inhabitants returned to camas fields in Paradise Valley year after year, pioneers settled in Hog Heaven because they found ready access to life's necessities. Businessmen like Nathaniel Williamson and Frank David tied their fortunes to the local farming economy to the same degree as seed pioneer Willis Crites or sustainability advocate Mary Jane Butters. While the bounty that surrounds Moscow feeds its growth, the town's cultural lifeblood is pumped by the University of Idaho. The university has provided Moscow with inventors such as Malcolm Renfrew, talented athletes like Olympian Dan O'Brien, and colorful characters, perhaps best embodied by Dean of Women Permeal French. The picturesque hills of the Palouse roll through the history of this unique town, rooting tomorrow's leaders in the work of yesterday's groundbreakers.

Legendary Locals of Fort Wayne

9781467102100

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Fort Wayne sits astride the confluence where the St. Joseph and St. Mary's Rivers form the Maumee River. Though occupied for over 10,000 years, its modern history begins just over 200 years ago with Gen. Anthony Wayne and his Miami nemesis, Chief Little Turtle. The pageant of Fort Wayne's history includes traders, industrialists, politicians, athletes, and movie stars. Included here are such notables as Hollywood's Carole Lombard and Shelley Long, Ian Rolland of Lincoln Life, Big Boy's Alex Azar, gangster Homer Van Meter, football's Rod Woodson, inventor Philo Farnsworth, and over 150 more.

Legendary Locals of Wallingford

9781467102049

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Legendary Locals of Wallingford is about fabric—the fabric of community that is made up of an amazing variety of threads, yarns, and whole panels of every color, design, and origin. These represent the people of the community. Wallingford's story goes back over 350 years and encompasses an enormous range of people with every kind of motivation for being part of this town. The people of this community love where they live and give back to the townspeople who have supported their businesses, educated their children, and protected them in so many ways. Wallingford has produced a number of people of celebrity, including Morton Downey, the famous singer and songwriter of the 1920s and 1930s, and also his son Morton Downey Jr., who earned a name for himself in the TV talk show world; Beverly Donofrio authored Riding in Cars With Boys; Maureen Moore acts on Broadway; sculptor Robert Gober recently completed a major show at MOMA in New York; and Maj. Raoul Lufbery was a renowned World War I Flying Ace. These and more are celebrated here.

Fort Worth's Rock and Roll Roots

9780738584997

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On the evening of February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced the Beatles to America. Across the country, teens were glued to their TV sets and witnessed a turning point in rock and roll history. Vibrant and creative teen scenes sprang up all across the country. The scene in Fort Worth, Texas, produced an exceptional burst of creativity in songwriting and musicianship. Weekend concerts and battles of the bands drew thousands of fans. Primitive teen recordings were pressed into 45s and received radio airplay in rotation with national acts. Local television shows featured live bands; fashions changed with go-go girls' skirts growing shorter; long hair became the style for women and men; and the seeds of the counterculture were planted and flourished. The music of this generation birthed every rock subgenre for the next 40 years (acid rock, heavy metal, punk, new wave, grunge), and today's musicians still reach back to these recordings for inspiration.

Historic Jacksonville Theatre Palaces, Drive-ins and Movie Houses

9781626197701

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Jacksonville's theatre and performance history is rich with flair and drama. The theatres, drive-ins and movie houses that brought entertainment to its citizens have their own exciting stories. Some have passed into memory. The Dixie Theatre, originally part of Dixieland Park, began to fade in 1909. The Palace Theatre, home to vaudeville acts, was torn down in the '50s. The Alhambra has been everyone's favorite dinner theatre since 1967's debut of Come Blow Your Horn. Local author Dorothy K. Fletcher revives the history of Jacksonville's theatres. Lights, camera, action!

Legendary Locals of Huntsville

9781467102025

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First they came for the land, later they came for the stars and the moon; all found themselves against the glorious backdrop of the Tennessee Valley. Legendary Locals of Huntsville chronicles the story of Rocket City, a sleepy, Southern cotton town that weathered the Great Depression with its mill villages, gained national attention with Redstone Arsenal, blossomed into the center of aerospace development, and became the home of the largest arts center in the Southeast. Notables include pioneer John Hunt and founding father LeRoy Pope; aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun; world-renowned portrait artist and poet Howard Weeden and cobweb artist Anne Clopton; internationally known soprano Susanna Phillips; Professional Football Hall of Fame member John Stallworth; performing arts pioneers Helen Herriott and Loyd Tygett; and entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark C. Smith. The stories herein celebrate just a handful of the many people who have made a memorable impact on this community and who continue to propel Huntsville forward through leadership by example.

The Birth of the Detroit Sound

9780738520339

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From the 1940s through the early 1960s, a new form of popular music was born in the United States-one that would take the world by storm. Detroit disc jockey Alan Freed, among the very first to play and promote new music, christened it "Rock 'n Roll" from an old blues lyric. Detroit, like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Memphis, contributed its own distinctive regional character to the music and became a hub of industry activity. An epicenter of American music by the mid-1950s, Detroit built its reputation upon a wealth of talented singers and musicians, the vast amount of clubs and theaters available to them, and a multitude of enthusiastic industry professionals who helped bring their unique sound to the world. Many record labels, including Fortune and Fox, also thrived in the metro Detroit area in the days before Berry Gordy's Motown Records gained international recognition. This book documents the extraordinary style of music that took shape in Detroit well before Motown was a gleam in Gordy's eye. The Birth of the Detroit Sound chronicles great talents like John Lee Hooker, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Jackie Wilson, Jack Scott, Andre Williams, and Nolan Strong. Featuring a rare collection of vintage photographs, the book also spotlights record industry personalities, deejays, and long-forgotten venues where the giants of Detroit music once performed.

New Jersey Folk Revival Music

9781626198241

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New Jersey shaped folk revival music into an art form. The saga began with the bawdy tunes sung in colonial-era taverns and continued with the folk songs that echoed through the Pine Barrens. Guitar Mania became a phenomenon in the 1800s, and twentieth-century studio recordings in Camden were monumental. Performances by legendary artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan spotlighted the state's folk revival movement and led to a flourishing community of folk organizations, festivals and open-mic nights at village coffeehouses. Author Michael Gabriele traces the evolution and living history of folk revival music in the Garden State and how it has changed the lives of people on stage and in the audience.

Legendary Locals of Cabarrus County

9781467102193

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In calling for the region's separation from Mecklenburg County in 1792, John Pioneer Paul Barringer set a high-spirited standard for future legendary locals of the nascent Cabarrus County. New communities flourished on the former homesteads of Robert Harris and Paul M. Dayvault, and the county was subsequently transformed by devoted civic leaders such as John Washington Carriker, Jonas Cook, A.L. Brown, J. Carlyle Rutledge, Martha Melvin, and Allen T. and Ella Mae Small. Cabarrus County citizens, like Glenn McDuffie, the famous kissing soldier of World War II; Corine Cannon, the first African American woman to work in the textile mills; and Margaret Hagerty, the Guinness World Records–holding senior citizen marathon runner, often tread where others recoil. Kannapolis-born Ralph Earnhardt started a racing dynasty here, while other natives found their fortunes elsewhere, including record producer Marshall Sehorn, NFL superstar Natrone Means, and broadcaster Beth Troutman. Cabarrus County's people have always been its most valuable resource, and their inspirational and exhilarating stories are collected in this keepsake edition.

Legendary Locals of New Hampshire's Lakes Region

9781467101998

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There are few places in America that have such a rich variety of landscape and scenery as the Lakes Region of New Hampshire: from the summer calm of Squam Lake to the robust white winter mountaintops of the Gunstock Mountain Resort. So it is no surprise that the people who call it home reflect the same wide palette of humankind—from the pre–Revolutionary War surveyors who first marked their initials on a rock at Weirs Beach to Bob Lawton, the current owner of the world's largest arcade; from one of George Washington's inner circle to Ernest Thompson, the award-winning author of On Golden Pond. The Lakes Region draws them—or grows them—all, because it has it all.

Legendary Locals of Fillmore

9781467101929

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Since its beginning as a Southern Pacific Railroad town 100 years ago, Fillmore has been the setting of many legends and true tales, like the St. Francis Dam disaster, the 1994 earthquake, and the Hollywood film shoots. Joaquin Murietta hid in the hills, and the story of the T. Wallace More murder in Rancho Sespe in 1877 was the murder of the century. Rancho Camulos, owned by the del Valle family until 1924, signifies the last of the Californios. Today, it is owned by the descendants of August Rubel. Tales of the sycamore tree abound, and it is an icon on Highway 126, as is the tower of the Sanitary Dairy, which was ordered from the Sears, Roebuck & Company in Chicago. Oil was discovered early in Shiells Canyon and brought Texaco to town. The fruit industry prospered, and Sunkist was welcomed. Hugh Warring installed indoor plumbing in the Piru Mansion. The likes of Booty Sanchez, Marcelino Woody Ybarra, Gene Wren, Kevin Gross, Jim Fauver, and Dorothy Shiells still influence the community.

Legendary Locals of Toledo

9781467101790

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While Jesup W. Scott proclaimed it the Future Great City of the World in 1868, in reality, Toledo saw little development for the first four decades after its founding in 1837. Plagued by swamps, disease, and unwelcoming occupants, few settled here. But slowly, the city attracted people who saw a chance to improve their lives and perhaps their fortunes, including Edward Drummond Libbey. In 1888, Libbey brought with him the glass industry that would dominate the city's economy and earn it the nickname of Glass Capital of the World. Legendary Locals of Toledo describes the impact of people like Scott, Libbey, and others who shaped Toledo—from the well known whose names grace street signs, buildings, and monuments, to unsung heroes who few remember. Included are pioneers who were the first in their fields as well as leaders of business and industry, representatives of government and the law, and successful entertainers and sports figures. Some were born here and moved on to make their impact, while others lived here and impacted the city.

The MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Program

9781467134804

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The MEDEX Northwest Physician Assistant Program was created at the University of Washington in 1968 as one of the nation's first physician assistant (PA) programs. A joint project of the Washington State Medical Association and the University of Washington School of Medicine, MEDEX was designed to meet the needs of overworked physicians in rural communities. As envisioned by MEDEX founder Dr. Richard A. Smith, Physician Assistants were created by physicians, for physicians. Initially, all MEDEX students were former military corpsmen returning from Vietnam. Based on their extensive clinical experience, they were well accepted by doctors and their patients. Dr. Richard Smith was a former Peace Corps physician and leader of the federal project to desegregate the US hospital system as a requirement for Medicare reimbursement. Dr. Smith's founding principles for MEDEX included a collaborative model for community and practitioner involvement—the framework for the MEDEX Program throughout its 45-year history.

Legendary Locals of Bangor

9781467100731

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Since its settlement in 1769, Bangor's greatest resource has been its people. Long before 1834, when the town on the Penobscot became a city, future legends were born who transformed it into a world-class community. Hannibal Hamlin served as Abraham Lincoln's first vice president. Timber tycoon Sam Hersey financed urban development while less affluent folk such as Molly Molasses also made their mark. When philanthropists Stephen and Tabitha King are not writing best-selling novels, they are spreading their wealth throughout the community. Bangor's melting pot includes the Italian Baldacci family and the Jewish baker Reuben Cohen, who, with his wife Clara, raised their son Bill, a US senator and defense secretary. More infamous but equally legendary is brothel keeper Fanny Jones. Paul Bunyan earned a statue on Main Street. Airport troop greeters Kay Lebowitz and Bill Knight round out the list of notables. They are all jewels in Bangor's crown, and each in their own way is a bona fide legend.

Legendary Locals of Ambler

9781467101950

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One of the few towns in America named after a woman, Ambler derives its driving spirit of selflessness and community from the heroine of the Great Train Wreck of 1856. Mary Ambler, a humble Quaker mill owner who came to the aid of dozens of disaster victims, may have been the first of countless Ambler personalities who have devoted themselves to the greater good of the thriving little borough located just outside Philadelphia. Legendary Locals of Ambler celebrates the lives of the sung and unsung heroes—political and civil servants, businessmen and builders, restaurateurs and devotees of the arts, and founders of charitable institutions, such as Henry G. Keasbey and Richard V. Mattison, William E. Strasburg, George E. Saurman, Bud Wahl, Mattie Dixon, and Peggy Dolan—whose contributions have made a significant difference in the lives of so many.

Historic Dallas Theatres

9781467131285

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Dallas was the show business capital of Texas and much of the South throughout the 20th century. More than 100 theatres served the city's neighborhoods, and Elm Street once boasted more than 15 vaudeville and movie theatres—second in number to Broadway. The quality of the show houses in Dallas were surpassed by few cities and all major, and most minor, Hollywood studios maintained Dallas offices. Notable names figuring in this history include Margo Jones, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Karl Hoblitzelle, Baruch Lumet, Bob Hope, Greer Garson, Linda Darnell, Howard Hughes, Clyde Barrow, Gene Autry, Oliver Stone, Pappy Dolson, Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald, Nicola Rescigno, Don Henley, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Montana Americana Music

9781467135146

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Montana's relationship to Americana music is as wide and deep as the famed Missouri River that inspired countless musicians seated at its shores. From the fiddling of Pierre Cruzatte and George Gibson in the Corps of Discovery to the modern-day loner folk of Joey Running Crane and Cameron Boster, the Treasure State inspires the production of top-notch country music. In the 1950s, bands like the Snake River Outlaws fostered a long-standing love of hillbilly honky-tonk, and in the 1970s, the Mission Mountain Wood Band added a homegrown flavor of its own. Contemporary acts like the Lil' Smokies and songwriter Martha Scanlan promise a vibrant future for the local sound. Author and musician Aaron Parrett explores this history to show what it means to boot stomp in Big Sky Country.

The Keswick Theatre

9780738535616

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The Keswick Theatre, located just outside Philadelphia, opened in 1928 in an era when four thousand similar structures were in various stages of design and construction across the country. Vaudeville was in its final days and film was just being born. Designed by acclaimed architect Horace Trumbauer, the theater evolved into the area's premier movie house. When the theater was threatened with demolition in the early 1980s, the Glenside Landmarks Society was formed with the hopes of restoring the building to its former grandeur. Today, operating as a commercial venture, it is one of the most acclaimed concert halls in the Philadelphia area. The Keswick Theatre celebrates this historic landmark through vintage images and recognizes the dedicated community members who have kept its doors open.

Legendary Locals of Oak Cliff

9781467100779

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Since its earliest days, Oak Cliff, a rolling, tree-covered section of Dallas, has generated outstanding personalities in all fields of American society and business and continues to do so today. In a high school history class, future US Speaker of the House Jim Wright caught his political vision; two years later, future Olympic champion and LPGA founder Babe Didrikson began her training at Lake Cliff Park. The legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with contemporaries Michael Martin Murphy and Ray Wylie Hubbard, began his music career in Oak Cliff, while sports legends like Jerry Rhome and Harvey Martin paid their dues on local fields of play. Hollywood successes Belita Moreno and Stephen Tobolowsky first trained in their high school drama classes, decades after pioneer Oak Cliff girl Sarah Horton Cockrell became Dallas's first millionaire. Although a presidential assassin once lived in the community, two of America's largest mega-churches now call Oak Cliff home, as did the Father of the Texas Sesquicentennial.

Pierre Part

9781467113311

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Pierre Part and Belle River rest in an area once known as the Atchafalaya Basin. Between 1770 and 1773, a young Canadian named Pierre Part set foot on the banks of what he called La Bay de Lac Verret. He was with the Spanish colonial militia under the command of Commandant Nicholas Verret Sr., a French Canadian. Part considered this place a beautiful wilderness and asked his superior for permission to establish a settlement—his request was not granted. The military returned Part to the Spanish military post at Valenzuela, and although he never made this area his home, his name remains. Other French explorers came much earlier than Part, and some of the area's waterways bear French names: Le Belle Rivere, Le Lac de Natchez, Bayou de Magazille, Bayou de Lantania (Palmetto), Bayou de Postillion, Le Lac de Palourde, and Le Bayou Milhomme. In 1780, Acadian French–speaking people moved to Pierre Part from Burlie des Olivers and Burlie Saint Vincent. Small groups came and settled together at various places within sight of each other. In 1803, a small settlement of families, which is believed to have included the Solors and Berthelots and later the Heberts and the Pipsairs, settled on the banks of Lake Verret, where Bayou Pierre Part flows into the lake.

Legendary Locals of Columbus

9781467100885

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Columbus, Indiana, is a vibrant small city known for its modern architecture and for housing the world headquarters of Cummins, Inc., a global manufacturer of engines and engine components. Since its founding in 1821, Columbus transformed from a mostly agricultural town into a center of manufacturing and commerce, unusual for a town its size. Along the way, many colorful individuals played significant roles in the city's history. Names of early settlers—including Irwin, Perry, Marr, Glick, and Crump—formed the backbone of a growing community. As industry expanded throughout the county in the 19th century, names of enterprising individuals included Mooney, Lincoln, Brown, and Reeves. After the turn of the 20th century, some businesses faded away as new ones appeared and new names such as Cummins, Noblitt, and Hamilton emerged. Over the years, the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller family played a large role in Columbus's development as a livable city. Numerous others also left their marks in big and small ways creating a unique place that has been labeled by various national publications as safe, playful, beautiful, historic, and architecturally significant.

Tacoma's Theater District

9781467134026

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The history of Tacoma's Theater District is nearly as long as that of the city of Tacoma itself, spanning from the opening of the Tacoma Theater in 1890 to the present day, with restored historical facilities anchoring a renewed cultural district. This telling of the district's history reflects a range of engaging topics, including the boundless enthusiasm of the initial residents of Tacoma (the City of Destiny), the changing ways in which culture was shared and experienced over the decades of the 20th century, and a community working together through difficult times to save and restore historical buildings as gathering spaces for the benefit of future generations. The story is told through historical photographs of the theater venues themselves, as well as images capturing a myriad of cultural and community events taking place in those facilities and in the surrounding district.

The Dallas Music Scene

9781467131513

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For much of the 20th century, Dallas was home to a wide range of vital popular music. By the 1920s, the streets, dance halls, and vaudeville houses of Deep Ellum rang with blues and jazz. Blind Lemon Jefferson was discovered singing the blues on the streets of Deep Ellum but never recorded in Dallas. Beginning in the 1930s, however, artists from Western swing pioneer Bob Wills to blues legend Robert Johnson recorded in a three-story zigzag moderne building at 508 Park Avenue. And from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, a wrestling arena called the Sportatorium was home to a Saturday night country and rock-and-roll extravaganza called the Big D Jamboree.

Legendary Locals of Oak Park

9781467100861

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Founded in the 1830s by Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings, an intrepid young couple from Yorkshire, England, the small settlement of Oak Park grew slowly until the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Before the ashes had cooled, Oak Park's population boomed as displaced families relocated into the community on the west edge of Chicago. By the turn of the 20th century, this thriving village became a magnet attracting ever-larger numbers of prosperous, progressive people to settle in what many referred to as the finest of the streetcar suburbs. In the 1960s and 1970s, Oak Park became widely recognized for encouraging racial and ethnic diversity. Though best known for such residents as architect Frank Lloyd Wright and novelist Ernest Hemingway, Oak Park also lays claim to scores of others who have shone brightly in the national spotlight, as well as current folks who are passionate, daring, and dynamic. More than 100 noteworthy Oak Parkers— past and present—are featured in this volume, from writers and restaurateurs to mobsters and movie stars.

Legendary Locals of Aurora

9781467100571

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Aurora, just 20 miles south of Cincinnati, is located at a north-south bend in the Ohio River in Dearborn County. The first settlers, Revolutionary War veterans Isaac Morrison, Adam Flake, and George Cheek, arrived in the 1790s looking for a new start for their families. The history of the city was shaped by the Ohio River, as well as industrial leaders like Thomas Gaff, Peter Williams, and O.P. Cobb and city leaders such as Watchdog of the Treasury representative William S. Holman, his partner Judge John D. Haynes, and Dr. John Sutton and his tireless work to cure cholera. Today, Aurora is known for its picturesque historic downtown and churches. Volunteers like the Turner family, the Charlotte (Peters) Hastings family, and the Aurora Lions Club work to keep the town beautiful.

Legendary Locals of Lowell

9781467100489

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When Nathan Appleton and his colleagues built their first textile mill on the banks of the Merrimack River in 1822, they were pursuing the vision of their departed mentor, Francis Cabot Lowell. The complex system of machinery, labor, management, and capital that resulted made the city that they named Lowell the centerpiece of America's Industrial Revolution. Changes in technology and commerce made the golden age of Lowell's mills short lived. Despite the success of businesses such as the patent medicine company of James C. Ayer, jobs remained scarce for decades. Hard times created strong leaders—people like Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers, who sponsored the G.I. Bill, and writer Jack Kerouac, who added a new voice to the country's literary mix. More recently, Paul Tsongas inspired a new generation to transform Lowell into one of the most exciting mid-sized cities in post-industrial America and a world model of urban revitalization. Legendary Locals of Lowell tells the city's story through pictures of its people.

Legendary Locals of Eastpointe

9781467100410

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Eastpointe was first settled in the early 1800s by Irish and German immigrants, who had traveled to a new country to find a better life. The inherent values of strong education, hard work, and love of home and family have continued throughout the city's history into modern times. In the past 200 years, many locals have become legendary as they strived in various ways to pursue excellence. As notable as the achievements of hometown hero astronaut Jerry Leninger and the athletic power of All-American Ron Kramer, there are also the stories of unsung heroes, which are now told.

Forest Hill Cemetery

9781467128353

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Beyond the rustic gates of the Forest Hill Cemetery in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, lies a vast wealth of history. Early in 1870, George Sanderson, Elisha Phinney, William Breck, and J.A. Robertson, with J. Gardner Sanderson and George S. Kingsbury, purchased a 50-acre tract of land from the Pennsylvania Coal Company, which became the last resting place for the cemetery's 18,000 residents. The Civil War section of the cemetery is home to over 300 Union soldiers and two Confederates. Numerous congressmen, lieutenant governors, state representatives, and other elected officials make up Forest Hill's political graveyard. The rich, the poor, the famous, and the unsung all have stories to be told, and this book recounts their tales.

Salt Lake City Cemetery

9781467129466

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The Salt Lake City Cemetery was established in September 1847 when George Wallace, who arrived with the first company of Mormon pioneers two months prior, buried his young daughter on a picturesque hillside above the Salt Lake Valley. It has since grown to become the largest municipal cemetery in the United States, containing approximately 130,000 gravesites. To walk through the Salt Lake City Cemetery's 120 acres is to trace a path through Utah history and experience a mosaic of the diverse and fascinating individuals who have shaped it: politicians, pioneers, artists, inventors, outlaws, educators, activists, and currently 12 presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This book highlights these influential figures and many more. It also serves as a guide for navigating the cemetery grounds in person, with grave locations accompanying most captions.

Legendary Locals of Washington

9781467102384

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Located on the banks of the Pamlico River, Washington has been home to many famous, infamous, and unique people over the years. Springing from the community of Forks of the Tar under the watchful eyes of the everlasting Blount family, the town has grown from a small shipping port into a prominent county seat. Many pivotal people have called Washington home. William Blount, son of town founding father John Gray Blount, signed the US Constitution before scandal drove him from his Senate seat and into exile in Tennessee. Filmmaker Cecil DeMille was raised here. It is a place where opportunity has been available no matter the time period. Susan Dimock broke the gender barrier by becoming a physician and Joan Little's violation in a local jail led to a precedent-setting legal battle. Ed Peed served valiantly as a fireman, and his death during a great waterfront fire shook people of all classes and races in the community. The people of Washington, from the founding families to the artistic community that thrives today, have defined the town seen today.

A History of Leadville Theater

9781609497118

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When the West was wild, the glitziest streets in Colorado ran through Leadville, where opera, variety and burlesque lit up Magic City theaters. Theatrical legends Buffalo Bill and Oscar Wilde graced the Tabor Opera House, while revolutionary Susan B. Anthony reached a rough mining audience from a stage atop a bar. Thomas Kemp spared no expense on the risque Black Crook at the Grand Central Theater, complete with a grand waterfall, a trapdoor and dragons. Follow Leadville historian Gretchen Scanlon through these theatrical glory days, from the glamorous productions and stump speeches to the offstage theft and debauchery that kept the drama going even when the curtain fell.

Legendary Locals of Bel Air

9781467102377

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Residents of Bel Air, a small county seat located in northern Maryland, played inordinately large roles in the evolution of the state and nation. Bel Air boasts two Maryland governors, William Paca and Augustus Bradford; the fi rst woman elected to the Maryland State Senate, Mary Risteau; as well as Milton Reckord, whose 65-year military career is unequaled. Other local legends include radio personality Diane Lyn, artist Jim Butcher, and Kimmie Meissner, the youngest member of the 2006 US Olympic team. There are villains as well. The civil rights era brought the mysterious 1970 explosion that rocked the town on the eve of H. Rap Brown's scheduled trial in the Bel Air Courthouse. Peruse the pages of Legendary Locals of Bel Air and fi nd generations of talented and passionate people who turned a wilderness town into a thriving suburban center that still manages to maintain its unique beauty and sense of community.

Tacoma's Lincoln District

9781467128674

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In 1889, a 40-acre parcel south of downtown Tacoma was set aside as South Park. In 1901, park commissioners officially changed the name to Lincoln Park to honor the former president. Lincoln remained the area's namesake, and portions of the park were carved out to create Lincoln High School in 1913 and Lincoln Bowl in the 1940s. The 20th century witnessed much change as the area became more diverse; businesses came and went; and, instead of the streetcar tracks that once crisscrossed the district, Interstate 5 now draws an obvious boundary to the north. The heart of the Lincoln District, however, remains the same—a neighborhood of modest single-family homes and thriving businesses, with the high school at its center. This book shares stories of the district's creation, development, and, most importantly, people—residents; business owners; Lincoln High School students and teachers; and significant visitors, ranging from politicians and athletes to entertainers as varied as Paul Robeson and Elvis Presley.

Native American History of Savannah

9781467138314

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Savannah's storied history begins with Native Americans.

The Guales lived along the Georgia coast for hundreds of years and were the first to encounter Spanish missionaries from St. Augustine in the 1500s. Tomochichi of the Yamacraw tribe is lauded as the co-founder of Georgia for his efforts in helping James Oglethorpe establish the Savannah colony in the eighteenth century. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson forced southeastern Native American tribes to resettle in the West, including descendants of the Savannah Creek, who had fought by Jackson's side at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Michael Freeman explores the legacy of coastal Georgia's Native Americans and the role they played in founding Savannah.

New Jersey Originals

9781467139267

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New Jersey's institutional research accolades are renowned—medical inventions at Johnson & Johnson, the genius of Edison Labs and fourteen Nobel Prizes to Bell Labs scientists.

But beyond those behemoths of innovation lie many more breakthroughs and firsts. In 1869, Rutgers and Princeton played the first college football game. Famed inventor Abram Spanel developed the Apollo space suit at his home, Drumthwacket, now the official residence of governors. The American Can Company and Krueger Brewing Company teamed up to create the first beer can. Author Linda J. Barth reveals these and many more stories of the state's diverse tradition of original ideas and trailblazing personas.

Long Island and World War I

9781467138888

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Nassau and Suffolk Counties answered the call to service during the First World War. As young men entered the armed forces, existing facilities such as Camp Mills and Hazelhurst Field were expanded, while Camp Upton, a massive training center, was created almost overnight. Long Islanders demonstrated enthusiastic support for the war through patriotic rallies, subscriptions to Liberty and Victory Loan drives and establishing recreation centers for troops called "soldiers' clubs." While Long Island factories turned out torpedoes, freighters and clothing, the Island's vibrant agricultural sector contributed significantly to the nation's food supplies. Author and historian Richard Welch explores the impact of the Great War on Long Island.

The Chicago Music Scene

9780738577296

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This is the story of Chicago's vibrant music scene in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 1960s and 1970s was a time when jazz, rock and roll, country and western, folk, blues, and R & B flowed through the streets of Chicagoland. Much has been written about the national and international talent of that time, but not enough has been written regarding local music scenes. This story focuses on the city of Chicago (along with its suburban club scene) and the homegrown performers who made the 1960s and 1970s one of the most electrifying and memorable periods in music history. Some of those players went all the way to the big time, while others made their mark and disappeared. But they all made a difference in their own way, and for those who were there, it is a time they will never forget.

Morton F. Plant and the Connecticut Shoreline

9781467119832

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Gilded Age financier Morton F. Plant inherited his father's transportation empire determined to improve his community. A dreamer eager to invest in innovative technology and grass-roots community causes alike, Plant's influence ran deep on the Connecticut shoreline prior to World War I, and his legacy remains prominent. Plant's summer mansion, Branford House, is one of southeastern Connecticut's iconic landmarks. He was instrumental in founding the prestigious Connecticut College. And the Shennecossett Golf Club he developed as part of his summer resort is a popular public course. Gail Braccidiferro MacDonald brings to life this important figure in Connecticut history and demonstrates his long-reaching impact.

Thalian Hall

9781467121224

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Thalian Hall is one of the oldest and most beautiful theaters in America. Forming the east wing of Wilmington's iconic city hall, this dual-purpose building has been at the center of the community's cultural and political life since it first opened in 1858. Thalian Hall is the only surviving theater designed by John Montague Trimble, one of America's foremost 19th-century theater architects. It was built at a time when Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina. Thalian Hall is the embodiment of a tradition of performance that stretches back for over two centuries. It has hosted Shakespearean tragedies, musical concerts, and even boxing and wrestling events. For generations, Wilmington audiences have witnessed touring stars, local actors, musicians, dancers, and movies in a parade of performances and celebratory events. The story of Thalian Hall is an embroidered tapestry reflecting the history of the American theater and the community that built it.

Unforgettable Texans

9781467137737

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History books burst at the seams with stories about Houston, Travis, Crockett and other icons of Texas history. Yet many of the Lone Star State's fascinating figures—well known in life but forgotten in death—remain obscure by omission. This scintillating company includes a World War I spy who became a movie star, the first gringo matador, a West Texas tent showman and the husband-and-wife trick-shot act that amazed audiences for forty years. Some characters cut across the common narrative, like the admiral whose advice might have prevented the attack on Pearl Harbor, the one and only Republican congressman in the first half of the twentieth century, the Klansman Texans elected to the U.S. Senate and the businessman who wrote the longest English-language novel in complete secrecy. Popular columnist and author Bartee Haile brings to life some of the most intriguing Texans who ever slipped through the cracks of history.

Kentucky's Bluegrass Music

9780738585611

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It is likely that most fans of bluegrass music would concede that no state should be more associated with bluegrass music than Kentucky--and rightly so. Bluegrass music draws its name from the band that Kentuckian Bill Monroe formed during the late 1930s and 1940s. Bill named his band Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys to honor his home state. Eventually, the music these bands and others like them were playing came to be known as bluegrass music. Later, another Kentuckian, Ebo Walker, while playing with the Bowling Green-based bluegrass band, New Grass Revival, coined the phrase "newgrass" to describe the band's progressive style of music. Other Kentuckians such as Bobby and Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Dale Ann Bradley have become bluegrass stars. Some of the musicians from Kentucky covered in this book are quite famous--some are not. Famous or not, all of them have a deep-rooted passion for the music they play.

Legendary Locals of Shreveport

9781467101783

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Legendary Locals of Shreveport chronicles fascinating people who have made a difference in the Shreveport–Bossier City area. Some are good, some are bad, and more than a few are wicked. There are movie starlets, entertainers, decorated war veterans, gangsters, preachers, madams, politicians, giants of industry, and humble folk who rose to greatness or infamy. Shreveport began as a rough and tumble frontier town that came late to being civilized. A Baptist preacher shot one of Quantrill's Raiders when he rode his horse into church during a Sunday service. The most famous madam in the region was also a suffragette. The first successful bankers in Shreveport were immigrants from Prussia who developed a business model that extends into the modern era. Shreveport lost one quarter of its population in less than a month due to a yellow fever epidemic. And that is just the beginning.

Legendary Locals of Tempe

9781467102285

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Tempe started collaboratively, and its innovative citizens continue to work together, creatively solving problems and capitalizing on opportunities in the landlocked 40 square miles surrounded by Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, and Guadalupe. The vision began with freighter Charles Trumbull Hayden, who worked with Mexican settlers to optimize the productivity of the valley south of the Salt River with his ferry, canal building, and milling activities in 1870, and continued with the 1885 founding of the Territorial Normal School, now Arizona State University. Subsequently, Tempe has remained successful due to both individual innovations, like creating Big Surf, the first man-made wave pool in the United States, and city-led initiatives like the development of Tempe Town Lake, which reinvigorated the shore line of a river bottom frequently left dry since the implementation of a dam system.

Legendary Locals of Daytona Beach

9781467102223

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Since the 1920s, Daytona Beach has sold itself as The World's Most Famous Beach, which, while not literally true, does suggest a city with a big personality and large plans. The people in these pages contributed to that personality and made those plans. These people include Matthias Day, the Ohio industrialist, educator, inventor, and newspaper editor who founded and gave his name to the new city in 1876; Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of former slaves, who founded the university that bears her name with five little girls, a dollar and a half, and faith in God; Bill France Sr., the race driver and promoter who took stock car racing from the beach sands to a state-of-the-art track and built a racing empire; and his son, Bill France Jr., who turned NASCAR into a national pastime. Other notable Daytonans include the builders, writers, artists, rockers, promoters, business founders, educators, journalists, politicians, pioneers, bootleggers, philanthropists, sports stars, and even a dog that made the city what it is today. They come to life in historical photographs from the Halifax Historical Museum, the Florida Archives, and files of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Cincinnati Theaters

9781467115247

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Theaters have always been the places where memories are made. There, on Saturday afternoons, children could escape the pressures of growing up to live for two hours in a fantasy world of daring heroes, dastardly villains, and dazzling magic. They were the places where awkward teenage boys could nervously, and often clumsily, put their arms around equally nervous girls. In years past, every neighborhood had its own local theater. Downtown was home to the great movie palaces, ornate portals to a world of motion picture thrills. For a unique experience, nothing could beat a hot summer night at the drive-in. Today, in the era of the corporate multiplex, the great movie palaces are just memories. Some neighborhood cinemas are now churches or venues for meetings, wedding receptions, and small concerts. Images of America: Cincinnati Theaters looks back at these marvelous old theaters and the days when they were in their prime.

Legendary Locals of West Palm Beach

9781467102254

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From West Palm Beach's beginnings as service town to Palm Beach, Standard Oil tycoon Henry Morrison Flagler's resort village, the city has evolved into a trendy art, cultural, and shopping mecca. Palm Beach County's largest city serves as county seat and center of business, government, and commerce. Taming America's last frontier saw the industriousness of pioneers and settlers such as Marion Gruber, the Potter brothers, George Lainhart, and Max Greenberg guide the Cottage City of yesteryear to today's gleaming metropolis. Meet many of West Palm Beach's pioneers, civic leaders, educators, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. Learn about the heroes, celebrities, philanthropists, and even the villains who have contributed to the mosaic of West Palm Beach.

Theatres of Hawai'i

9780738581606

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Famous for its lush beauty and inviting beaches, Hawai‘i also boasts a rich theatrical history dating back to the mid-19th century and spanning its years as a kingdom, U.S. territory, and a state. Its warm, tropical climate and social, cultural, and ethnic diversity contributed to the variety of theatres unique to the islands—from simple, rural plantation theatres on the neighbor islands, to neighborhood movie houses in exotic styles, to an incomparable tropical moderne jewel near the beach at Waikiki. Most of these theatres are now just a memory, except for those few saved by dedicated individuals and restored for another life. This book celebrates the rich history of these theatrical venues through rare archival photographs and little-known details.

Legendary Locals of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor

9781467125161

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A cast of characters tumbles out of the pages of this book, beginning with the courageous settlers who tamed the wilderness. By the 1890s, dynamic denizens of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor harvested fruit, established factories, and opened tourist attractions. Drake and Wallace's Silver Beach Amusement Park, with its roller coaster, fun house, and Lake Michigan beach, attracted visitors from Chicago. So did the curative mineral waters. Al Capone took the baths, despite their stinking like rotten eggs. The Israelite House of David, a Christian sect founded by Benjamin and Mary Purnell, welcomed summer visitors to their amusement park. Despite an infamous scandal and trial involving Benjamin, the House of David thrived for decades. The cities spawned inventors like Augustus Herring, who flew an airplane five years before the Wright brothers; Emory Upton, who developed an electric-powered washing machine manufactured by a company now known as Whirlpool; and Walter Miller, inventor of a record-changing machine manufactured by V-M. By the 1980s, manufacturing in the area had declined, and the cities suffered. Present-day entrepreneurs, artists, and community activists have jump-started their return to vitality.

Legendary Locals of Pacifica

9781467100984

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Pacifica has the nickname Scenic Pacifica because of its beautiful ocean vistas and lovely hillside views. Twelve miles south of San Francisco, the city of Pacifica grew rapidly, although not to the size that some had predicted. A haven for young families, Pacifica fostered strong leaders among housewives, environmental activists, and businesspeople. The strength of Pacifica, other than its natural beauty, has always been its people. The schools, service clubs, and athletic fields produced local celebrities, but the proximity to San Francisco helped forge more widely known legends. This combination of personalities helped make it possible to identify a broad spectrum of legendary locals, from a woman who was the first mayor of Pacifica to a successful comedian who earned national attention on Saturday Night Live and in the movies.

Legendary Locals of Auburn

9781467101097

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Sweet Auburn! The loveliest village of the plain. This line from an Oliver Goldsmith poem is believed to have inspired the naming of Auburn, Indiana. Known as The Home of the Classics in honor of the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg automobiles built by citizens of the city from the early 1900s through 1937, this classic theme runs deep within the people who shaped the very fabric of the community. These locals—like Martha the Popcorn Lady Falka, Glenn T. Rieke, Charles Eckhart, William McIntosh, Dr. Bonnell Souder, Irene Bisel, Rollie Muhn, John Martin Smith, and others—dedicated themselves to Auburn Forever with Honest Endeavor. They advanced a legacy first envisioned for the loveliest village of the plain and nurtured its vibrant heritage. Legendary Locals of Auburn explores the stories of these men and women and offers an insightful look into Auburn's remarkable contributions to American culture.

Legendary Locals of Staten Island

9781467125024

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Located at the entrance to New York Harbor, Staten Island has had a front-row seat to many of the comings and goings of the New World. From the early European explorers, such as Verrazano and Hudson, to the waves of immigrants coming in steerage, the island would be part of a gateway to a great continent. Some visitors stayed briefly, while others would go no further and would make the island their forever home. Those who called Staten Island home would include inventors, business leaders, writers, athletes, politicians, and artists. Some famous islanders include industry titan Cornelius Vanderbilt; inventor Antonio Meucci; Central Park visionary Frederick Law Olmsted; poet Edwin Markham; silent film star Mabel Normand; and singers Christina Aguilera, Joan Baez, and members of Wu-Tang Clan. All these would play a role in the development of Staten Island, a borough of New York City and sister to one of the world's great metropolises.

Legendary Locals of Pittsburgh

9781467101080

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Pittsburgh is a city rich in history, perhaps best known as the industrial hub for steel production, but it is also a city with deep roots of personal achievement. From Andrew Carnegie and his important role in putting the "Steel City" on the map to beloved Fred Rogers, renowned early childhood educator, creator, and television host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, countless individuals have made a lasting impact on the community and the nation. Those featured in Legendary Locals of Pittsburgh have played vital roles in the medical field, such as Dr. Kenneth L. Garver, and served as quiet heroes, like Norman and Margaret Samways, Edith Balas, and Harold McKamish--all of whom have contributed to Pittsburgh's unique identity through public service, business, education, and volunteerism. And chances are, readers just might know more than a few of the wide variety of people profiled who have left an indelible mark on a city they loved.

Legendary Locals of Pelham

9781467100755

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From its start as a farming community, Pelham has been a place for dreamers and visionaries. It has been home to NASA astronaut Richard Linnehan and current NASCAR host Meghan Lamontagne, who made her television debut winning America's Funniest Home Videos. Pelham has many other residents who may not have reached for the stars but instead focused on making a great community. Harry Atwood ran Atwood's Store, which housed the post office until 1965. Aunt Molly served as librarian at the Pelham Public Library for more than 55 years. The Harris family's Pelham Inn has always welcomed visitors from all over the region. Originally a parade group, the Starlighters Drum & Bugle Corps was soon participating in world open competitions. Twins John and Charles Steck buzzed above the town from their plane but also performed search and rescue missions. Longtime resident Eleanor Burton remembers all her students, served on every committee, and still actively volunteers. These legendary locals are people who, in their own comical or poignant way, have shared their vision to create our community.

Legendary Locals of Carlsbad

9781467102339

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A collision of cultures in a seaside resort community, Carlsbad sits on a seven-mile stretch of white-sands beach idyllically located on the Pacific coast of north county San Diego. The idea of Carlsbad began in the late 1880s when two small groups of entrepreneurs ascended, simultaneously, from both the north and the south. The first group discovered natural mineral springs, which they promoted to tourists as having healing powers. As a result, the town became a very popular resting point for the rich and famous when traveling by train from Los Angeles to the famed Del Mar horse races. Subsequently, the Mexican Revolution began to the south and drove a second group of visionaries to Carlsbad. Thus, the quaint downtown area, known as the Village, was created along with a vibrant Barrio. Incorporated in 1952, Carlsbad remains, today, a tight-knit community of multigenerational and uniquely talented locals.

Legendary Locals of Moline

9781467102353

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David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois. It was upon his land that Moline was platted in 1843. It was because of his brush dam on the Mississippi River between the Moline shore and Rock Island—known today as Arsenal Island—that significant industry began to develop. Grain and lumber mills were the first, but farm implement and related factories soon found prominence after John Deere moved his plow-making business here in 1848. It would not be long before immigrants, particularly the Swedish, Belgian, and German, were drawn to Moline for the jobs and opportunities and added to the growing and prosperous population. Legendary Locals of Moline tells the known and not-so-well-known stories of many of the early and the more-recent individuals who have contributed to the fabric of the community, both locally and nationally. Historical and current photographs illustrate those who affected business and industry, culture, academia, public service, organizations and philanthropies, and sports and entertainment.

Legendary Locals of Harrisburg

9781467101547

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With images taken from the archives of the Dauphin County Historical Society, as well as family collections, Legendary Locals of Harrisburg encompasses biographical tributes that celebrate the deeds of actors, musicians, artists, teachers, athletes, humanitarians, politicians, veterans, firemen, and community leaders who have added a peculiar brand of Harrisburg's rich cultural tapestry. William Howard Day, an educator, and John Harris, who established Harrisburg, are two pioneers. Edward Stackpole, of Stackpole Books, and Theophilus Fenn, editor of the Telegraph, have forged the way for the city's writers. The first secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, and Simon Cameron, secretary of war under Lincoln, are among world-renowned politicians who have contributed to Harrisburg's valued reputation. From rival high school football coaches to dueling business owners, from civic leaders building an integrated city to aspiring young people embarking on independent journeys to the big screen, these profiles of real lives and real heroes show us that we all have contributed to the development of our own communities.

Entertainment in Early Milwaukee

9780738550992

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What did early Milwaukeeans do to have fun and relax? This book answers that question, covering pop culture from the mid-1800s up to 1950, from the earliest tavern stages hosting traditional German plays and musicals, to the large traveling circus acts that arrived via the railroad, to the beer gardens, nickelodeons, and old grand cinemas that dominated the city's landscape during the first half of the 20th century. In its heyday, Milwaukee had several classic amusement parks with roller coasters, fun houses, water rides, and more. The first movie was shown in Milwaukee in 1896, and by 1920, there were nearly 100 buildings dedicated to motion pictures. And it was two Milwaukee businessmen who discovered the great Charlie Chaplin and also produced the 1915 epic Birth of a Nation.

Boston's Downtown Movie Palaces

9780738576312

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Since the late 1800s, Boston has been a trendsetter in the development of the movie business. It was here that many of the earliest public showings of moving images took place and the name nickelodeon first appeared on a storefront theater. In 1896, B.F. Keith added film to his Washington Street theater, then throughout his national chain of vaudeville houses. In 1914, Boston's Modern became the country's first theater with an installed sound projection system. Several years later, the city had its first movie palace: Marcus Loew's Orpheum. A magnet for theater architects, Boston became a center for elegant movie houses, including the Metropolitan, Keith Memorial, and Paramount. Thanks to civic leaders and academic institutions, many of Boston's theaters have been preserved and restored and are alive and well today.

Legendary Locals of Greater Miami

9781467100823

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Guided by a visionary widow named Julia Tuttle, the city of Miami truly came into being in 1896 and has not stopped growing. Halfway through the last century, the apparent domination of land, population, and business by whites and—for decades—repressed African Americans became tested and balanced by the victims of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Beyond that, hundreds of thousands of others from Spanish-speaking lands came to create what truly is an international metropolis. The chapters of Miami's existence are delineated by those legendary locals who came earliest; those who were the pioneers; those who established businesses that endured; those who were the builders and visionaries; those who served in politics; those who came from other places; those who created, built, and extended educational and arts opportunities; and those who embraced the placid environment and natural beauty of the Magic City.

Legendary Locals of Hilton Head

9781467100465

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Before the Europeans came, Amerindians celebrated on Hilton Head Island with seasonal oyster feasts. Later, planters made fortunes here with Sea Island cotton. But the island came alive to the guns of the Union in 1861 and, for seven years, was host to the troops who helped former slaves even before the Emancipation Proclamation made freedom official. The forces left, and the island slept. In the pages of this book are some of the people who kept the Gullah sea island culture alive, a self-sustaining culture of mutual help and integrity, living off the sea and the land. This volume also includes some of the people who set a standard for development and made the island what it is today, unique visionaries who had a fierce devotion to preservation of the island's natural beauty, its flora, and its fauna.

Madam Walker Theatre Center

9781467110877

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As they watched construction of the block-long flatiron building brick by brick throughout 1927, African American residents of Indianapolis could scarcely contain their pride. This new headquarters of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, with its terra-cotta trimmed facade, was to be more than corporate offices and a factory for what then was one of America's most successful black businesses. In fact, it was designed as a city within a city, with an African Art Deco theater, ballroom, restaurant, drugstore, beauty salon, beauty school, and medical offices. Generations of African American families met for Sunday dinner at the Coffee Pot, enjoyed first-run movies and live performances in the Walker Theatre, and hosted dances in the Casino. Today, this National Historic Landmark is an arts center anchoring the Indiana Avenue Cultural District.