Images of America Sale

Little Village has been known by several names over the past 140 years, but its rich culture and history have never been forgotten.

Situated on Chicago's southwest side, Little Village has gone from real estate promoters Millard and Decker's affluent ""suburb"" Lawndale to one of the largest Bohemian enclaves in the United States. This vibrant neighborhood is known today as the largest Mexican community in the state of Illinois. Little Village has almost always been a working-class immigrant neighborhood filled with hardworking men and women who want their piece of the American dream. From residents such as martyred Chicago mayor Anton Cermak to the typical immigrant family next door, these strong-willed people have made their mark on Chicago and the rest of the world.

A land of breathtaking beaches and bays situated on the south shore of Long Island, Westhampton has evolved from an agricultural and fishing village to summer resort to a year-round oceanfront community.

Just 65 miles east of New York City, the area renowned as part of the Hamptons— the area known today as Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Quiogue, and West Hampton Dunes— was named Catchaponack by the Algonquin tribes who lived in the area when the English sheepherders arrived in the 1660s. Fortune 500 chief executive officers and celebrities, such as Cary Grant, Charles Addams, and Marvin Hamlisch, have lived quietly amid locals. Together they have survived hurricanes, outlasted raucous night clubs, rebuilt eroded dunes, and fought off real estate developers. Around Westhampton depicts how an area blessed with uncommon physical beauty has managed to remain unspoiled in the face of natural disasters and international fame.

Located in southeastern Harford County, Edgewood was established in the mid-1800s as a small village around a train station.

It remained small until 1917, when the government took over thousands of acres to create the Edgewood Arsenal military complex. Thousands came to build the arsenal on land previously known for having fertile farms, gentlemen's waterfowl hunting clubs, and one of the earliest meeting places for Methodists in America. World War II brought an even greater increase in military personnel and civilians. Later, numerous housing developments replaced obsolete off-post government buildings. The creation of Route 40 through Edgewood in 1939 and 1940 and the Edgewood exit on Interstate I-95 in 1963 brought travelers and spurred new business.

Vintage photographs document the fascinating histories of Fort Washington and Upper Dublin.

Upper Dublin and Fort Washington, located to the northwest of Philadelphia, were part of William Penn's original land grant of 1681. The villages of Fitzwatertown, Jarrettown, Three Tuns, and Dreshertown developed to serve early settlers who worked as farmers and lime burners. Through vintage photographs collected by the Historical Society of Fort Washington from local sources, Fort Washington and Upper Dublin illustrates the area's transformation as new roads and railroads brought industry, grand country homes, and vacation retreats. Included are photographs of Dr. Richard Mattison's grand Lindenwold estate, homes built for his employees, and the water-tower house with its five twenty-thousand-gallon tanks perched above four apartments. The collection also includes photographs of several country inns and the now vanished community of Hoopeston.

Join authors George B. Henry and Linda Braden Albert as they recount the history of Friendsville, Tennessee through the lens of over 200 vintage images.

Friendsville is a small town with a rich, varied history. It had its beginnings in the late 1790s, when several related families with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) moved from North Carolina into what is now Blount County and established a Friends meeting about 12 miles from Maryville, the county seat. The families built a gristmill and a sawmill and later sold town lots. The Friendsville Post Office was established in 1850, and the town was incorporated in 1953. Friendsville has played a remarkable role in the history of the United States. The Friends, who did not support war or slavery, operated several stops on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, helping runaway slaves, freed African Americans, and southern residents who wanted to fight for the North or move north to avoid the war. The area is now noted for its marble production, with Friendsville pink marble gracing such buildings as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

As part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the town of Greenbelt was the first and largest experimental “ideal” community.

One of three green towns established during the Great Depression, the town was planned and built by the federal government; despite opposition, the project put struggling Americans to work, provided low-income housing to the overcrowded D.C. region, and was a bold experiment in town planning and cooperative living. Its first residents enjoyed modern homes, schools, a pool, movie theater, library, and a town center—all within walking distance from your modern, new home. Despite nearly doubling in size to accommodate World War II-era housing and steady growth through the second half of the 20th century, Greenbelt’s original streamlined architecture, ample green space, and innovative design have been preserved and recognized as a National Historic Landmark. After 75 years, the city continues to thrive as it looks towards sustainability and the future.

Like many Sun Belt cities, Fort Lauderdale has experienced phenomenal growth over the past several decades.

Once a wilderness home for the Seminole Indians and a few hardy pioneers, the small community grew up around Frank Stranahan's successful trading post, a convenient stop for hunters, fishermen, and sightseers preparing to head into the Everglades. But much more was in store for this rugged outback camp. Surveying Fort Lauderdale's fascinating history chronologically, this pictorial retrospective begins with the 1890s, a time when this part of the country was still part of America's frontier, isolated and wild. With the coming of the railroad and the twentieth century, an agricultural economy developed, and, soon, the Florida land boom would bring thousands of new settlers to the area. Fort Lauderdale's glistening beaches and comfortable climate earned the city anearly reputation as a tourist town and, eventually, as a Spring Break mecca.

The name Beartooth suggests strength, rawness, and force. Indeed, the Beartooth Mountains are a power and are unsurpassed in splendor and beauty.

The voluminous masses are said to compromise one of the largest contiguous areas in North America. Early natives came in search of game in both the high country and rich valleys, especially the Crows, who used the area frequently. Later, miners appeared in search of precious metals and developed gold, chrome, and platinum mines. Geographers came and scaled mountain peaks, defining, naming, and mapping. Cattle and sheepmen were also lured to the lush mountain pastures. Eventually, trails became roads, and the Beartooth Plateau was easily accessible upon the completion of the Beartooth Highway. With the creation of the US Forest Service, forestlands were surveyed and protected by wilderness status. Soon, dudes were upon the landscape, and an industry was created amongst the peaks and prairies of the Beartooths.

With a history dating back to 1664, Summit, New Jersey, has evolved from a pastoral town of farms and rolling hills to a populous suburb of Manhattan.

Though the land was originally purchased in the 17th century, it wasn’t until the late 1800s, as the area began shifting from farmland into wealthy estates, that Summit was incorporated into a township. In the early days of the community’s development, many residents were seasonal, but this changed as it became easier to live in the country and work in the city. In this original collection of images, author and local historian Patricia E. Meola takes readers on a journey into Summit's past. Through nearly 200 postcard images, Summitcelebrates a city known for its tree-lined streets, the reputation of its public and private schools, the activism of countless city volunteers, and its thriving opportunities for culture.

Kennewick is on the direct route of the Oregon Trail, as well as the Lewis and Clark trail. The story of Kennewick begins in 1883-with the arrival of the railroad and an era when steamboats and the men who plied them were pivotal in the town's settlement. These vintage images tell the story of Kennewick's early businesses, frontier homes, schools, churches, and community experiences.

Join Ray and Diane Hadley as they retell the history of the communities that make up Jonesboro and Arkansas’s Northeast Corner in vintage images.

When Union soldiers returned North after the Civil War, they brought home stories of a sparsely populated area with bountiful timber and potential for homes and farms. Over the next 50 years, first by wagon train and then by railroads, settlers came to build not only homes and farms but also thriving communities in the Clay, Greene, and Craighead counties of northeastern Arkansas. Today, visitors and residents of the area see the bustle of Jonesboro and the thriving Arkansas State University. Readers of Jonesboro and Arkansas' Historic Northeast Corner will discover Jonesboro as it lived a century ago, a promising town of 7,000 citizens. As the 20th Century opened, modern and attractive towns such as Corning, Piggott, Rector, and Paragould began to thrive. The evolution of these historic areas-from slow-paced villages with dirt roads and horse-drawn wagons to the bustling towns of the late 20th century-is chronicled in this Images of America edition.

Park Forest: Dreams and Challenges brings to life the accomplishments of this inspiring community, which possesses two All-America City awards for its volunteer efforts.

Less than 60 years ago, Park Forest, Illinois, began as a vision of this country's post-World War II future. Located some 40 miles south of Chicago's Loop, Park Forest was the first privately financed, completely planned community ever built in the United States. It was hailed as a G.I. Town-a place where veterans could find affordable housing and put down roots. From the date Park Forest was incorporated as a Village in 1949, the community has created a distinguished history for itself, and to this day many of the original residents still take an active part in Village life. Featured in the book are historic images of the first regional shopping center built in the nation after the War and the largest publicly-owned swimming complex in the state. Park Forest is also home to both the highly rated Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and the Illinois Theatre Center, a nationally known repertory company.

Southwest Washington, D.C.: A defined neighborhood even without a proper name.

The quadrant of Southwest Washington, D.C. has a clear border southwest of the U.S. Capitol Building, nestled along the oldest waterfront in the city. Its physical delineations have defined it as a community for more than 250 years, beginning in the mid-1700s with emerging farms. By the mid-1800s, a thriving urban, residential, and commercial neighborhood was supported by the waterfront where Washingtonians bought seafood and produce right off the boats. In the 1920s and 1930s, an aging housing stock and an overcrowded city led to an increase of African Americans and Jewish immigrants who became self-sufficient within their own communities. However, political pressures and radical urban planning concepts in the 1950s led to the large-scale razing of most of SW, creating a new community with what was then innovative apartment and cooperative living constructed with such unusual building materials as aluminum. Author and local historian Paul K. Williams provides and in-depth look at it all.

Explore the fascinating history of Niles, Illinois with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

The village of Niles began during the Black Hawk War of 1832as the pioneer settlement of Dutchman's Pointon the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Incorporated in 1899, the new village's thriving business district was established along Milwaukee Avenue. During Prohibition, Niles was the gateway to rural bohemia, the roadhouse district of suburban speakeasies and resorts north of Chicago. Niles's Tam O'Shanter Country Club, arguably the birthplace of modern professional golf, rose to international prominence during the Great Depressionand continued to host the sport's most exclusive tournaments long after World War II.

Behind the village's colorful past, another Niles existed, grounded by strong agrarian values and a deep sense of community pride—the truck farms of Maine and Niles Townships. These gentleman farmers and their families formed the backbone of local culture, and their influence is still felt today.

Hundreds of ornately decorated rooms, gardens and greenery and more--Walk through the history of the Biltmore Estate, one of America's many displays of personal wealth and decadence.

In the spring of 1888, George Washington Vanderbilt returned to New York after spending weeks exploring the countryside near Asheville, North Carolina. Thinking it was the perfect place to build his home, Vanderbilt promptly sent his agent to begin quietly buying contiguous tracts of land until he had several thousand acres. Soon, he began constructing what would become America's largest private residence. He commissioned two of America's preeminent designers, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, to collaborate with him in planning his estate, which he named Biltmore. To complement the 250-room French Renaissance-style chateau, Olmsted worked closely with Hunt to create a vast landscape of pleasure gardens and grounds with miles of scenic drives through parklands, productive farms, and the country's first scientifically managed forest. Today, Biltmore is a National Historic Landmark privately owned by Vanderbilt's descendants.

Grand River Avenue details the history of this historical Michigan roadway, which has served as a footpath, wagon rut, and ultimately a two-lane highway.

Grand River Avenue, or Michigan US-16 as it was ultimately designated, is one of Michigan's true Blue Highways—an original two-lane, blacktop road still serving as a direct path through roadside America. Originally a Native American trail, this ancient path has been a westbound route from the Straits of Detroit to the eastern shores of Lake Michigan for more than 1,000 years. Over time, it has served as a footpath, horse trail, wagon rut, stagecoach route, plank road, and ultimately a two-lane highway that gave some of America's earliest motorists their first taste of long-distance automobile travel.

Tiny and quiet today, Floral City's past was as a commercial center of the phosphate industry during the boom of the early 20th century.

Established in 1883, Floral City is one of the oldest communities in Citrus County. Today, it is the only surviving town in the county's southeastern quadrant and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its appearance today is deceiving, however, because this tiny, quiet, laid-back village was once a sprawling, dynamic town. Floral City grew as the main commercial center of Citrus County during the Florida hard-rock phosphate boom of the early 20th century and was known for its beautiful homes, commerce, and state-of-the-art technology, including electricity and telephone service. With a population of nearly 10,000 people in 1914, it was one of the largest towns in Florida until the phosphate industry collapsed as World War I disrupted exports to Europe. Floral City never recovered economically and reverted to its original small-town ambience.

For more than one hundred years, the Grit was small-town America's favorite family newspaper and a Sunday morning staple. Dietrick Lamade, a German immigrant and self-made man, founded the Grit and ushered it through early adversity and uncertainty, eventually initiating innovations such as direct mail and nationwide newsboy delivery, transforming the paper into a national institution. The Grit was one of the first newspapers in America to feature color photographs and fictional supplements. Williamsport: The Grit Photograph Collection documents momentous events from a turn-of-the-century city on the rise, through the end of the lumber boom, the world wars, and the great Depression, to modern times.

Dietrick Lamade, a German immigrant and self-made man, founded the Grit and ushered it through early adversity and uncertainty, eventually initiating innovations such as direct mail and nationwide newsboy delivery, transforming the paper into a national institution. The Grit was one of the first newspapers in America to feature color photographs and fictional supplements. Williamsport: The Grit Photograph Collection documents momentous events from a turn-of-the-century city on the rise, through the end of the lumber boom, the world wars, and the great Depression, to modern times.

Stretching midway across Wisconsin's famous Door County peninsula, Sturgeon Bay has developed into the county's business and industrial center.

Divided by the waterway it's named after, this small city provided a home to a working waterfront that once housed sawmills and docks for shipping ice, quarried stone, and, later, cherries. A canal dug from Sturgeon Bay to Lake Michigan in 1880 enabled ships to avoid the long passage over the tip of the peninsula. Sturgeon Bay became a shipbuilding capital, housing three major yards. The lively downtown districts on each side of the bay sported the typical hotels, taverns, stores, and blacksmith shops. Residents took pride in their newly formed schools, churches, and public services such as the Pioneer Fire Department. Families, fortunate to live in a land of great natural beauty, enjoyed recreational pursuits in the woods and on the water, whether it was perch fishing early on a summer morning or skating over the ice on a crisp winter afternoon.

Rockbridge County lies at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley in southwestern Virginia

After the Civil War, renowned photographer Michael Miley took up residence in Lexington, where he established a studio and created a one-of-a-kind photographic archive with over 7,000 photographs spanning nearly 70 years. In 1866, Robert E. Lee was invited to come to Lexington to be president of small Washington College. Miley photographed Lee extensively, along with the townspeople of Lexington and Rockbridge County, students and faculty of Washington and Lee, unusual characters who seem to abound in the area as well as gorgeous landscapes of the mountains and rivers of the region. Rockbridge County: The Michael Miley Collection shares photographs of life in this rural landscape during the last third of the 19th century. It affords the modern reader with a remarkable view into a sometimes familiar but often foreign past.

The rich history of the Setaukets, Old Field and Poquott is revealed through 200 vintage images.

The Setaukets, Old Field, and Poquott is a rich collection of photographs, documents, and oral histories from the archives of the Three Village Historical Society and from generous residents. It reveals the bucolic old Setauket village center, with its farmers, craftsmen, and seamen who were the backbone of the community. This book portrays buildings that no longer exist and follows other structures, through the migration of the town center south and east, to their present location. It also shows aspects of village life in Old Field and Poquott, both established as residential communities in the early 20th century.

From the Civil War to present day; Greenville’s history has impacted more than its home state of Tennessee.

The Greeneville area was settled in 1775 by English, German, and Scotch-Irish pioneers. In 1783, while still part of North Carolina, the town of Greeneville was founded and named for Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. It served as the capital of the State of Franklin from 1785 until 1788 under the leadership of John Sevier. In 1796, Greeneville was included in the formation of a new state—Tennessee. Over the years, farming has been the mainstay of the area with tobacco becoming the most prominent income producer for the agricultural community. Greeneville is proud to be the home and burial place of our 17th president, Andrew Johnson, and home to the state's oldest institute of higher learning, Tusculum College.

Ambler, a working-class town located fifteen miles north of Philadelphia, boasts some of the grandest homes in Montgomery County.

Ambler’s evolution is rooted in the mills that sprang up along the Wissahickon Creekin the 1680s. The town entered the industrial age when the North Penn Railwaypushed through in the 1850s. In 1856, a catastrophic head-on train collision killing fifty-nine created the heroine Mary Ambler, whose generous ministrations to the wounded caused the railroad in 1869 to rename its Wissahickon Stationin her honor. But it was Philadelphia manufacturers Henry G. Keasbey and Richard V. Mattison who changed Ambler's character forever. When they relocated their business to Ambler in 1881, it became the asbestos capital of the world.

Frank D. Quattrone, an editor at Montgomery Newspapers, has written extensively on the history of Montgomery County.Amblercaptures the lasting legacy of Mattison's thriving company town, with its array of fanciful and simple homes, churches, shops, and cultural institutions.

Denville, the Hub of Morris County, has retained its small-town atmosphere since its early days as a stop for stagecoaches.

Iron and good soil attracted the first settlers, but today, its scenic lakes, vibrant downtown, and many festivals attract tens of thousands each year. In this superb image collection from the archives of the Denville Historical Society & Museum, more than 200 images and informative text fill the pages of this township’s history. Along with the photographs of buildings, such as the grand Wayside Inn, landscapes, and locals of Denville, are historical figures such as George Washington and William Penn, as well as local legends “Uncle” Jeddy Cooper and Rock Etam.