Images of America Sale

Discover the history of USA's first suburb and how the American Dream of owning a home became a real possibility for many.

When developer Abraham Levitt and his two sons conceived the idea for Levittown in 1946, they were probably unaware of the future impact of their radical concept - to build cellarless, affordable tract housing on Long Island farmland. Levittown
became the prototype suburban community that has
been mirrored in towns throughout America and around the world. This delightful photographic history chronicles the growth and development of Levittown as returning World War II GIs flocked to it in droves, attracted by the promise of the American Dream of becoming homeowners. Despite criticism of its stunning conformity, Levittown and its residents thrived as they raised families, started businesses, and created a close-knit community that exists to this day. This enchanting collection of photographs reveals the joys and struggles of Levittown's founders and residents as they carved their niche in American history.

Clayton depicts and documents the history of this diverse New York community.

The town of Clayton, located in northern New York State, was established on the shores of the mighty St. Lawrence River. At the turn of the last century, Clayton was in its heyday, and was one of the most famous resort destinations in the northeastern United States. During this period, Clayton was a place of affluence, its economy and culture built on the timber trade, shipping, boat building, and tourism industries. This book highlights the collection of Lester Corbin. Mr. Corbin, known as the Dean of the Thousand Islands Photographers, dedicated his life to compiling the photographic history of Clayton and the surrounding Thousand Islands Region. Whether shooting his own photography or restoring the collections of photographers who went before him, Mr. Corbin was able to develop one of the most extensive collections in the area. Every photograph in this book is taken from an original glass plate or negative found in the collection.

As early as 1895, seeking to avoid the summer heat of the city, executives, heirs and heiresses, bankers, and others began to flock to the countryside of East Hampton.

This influx began its second phase of development. Behind it lay the village's colonial heritage and ahead lay the estates and condominium subdivisions of today. With over 200 photographs, mostly gathered from the Long Island Collection of the East Hampton Library, East Hampton traces the dramatic development of one of America's foremost summer colonies. This photographic account reflects its early settlers and hotels, now only a memory; its distinctive shingle-style cottages; and images of elm tree-lined Main Street. Windmills, suffrage meetings on the village green, and of course fine homes designed by the most sought-after architects are recaptured in this enchanting pictorial history.

Migrants from Puerto Rico to New York beginning in the 1890s created a vibrant and active community and culture, documented here.

The history of Puerto Ricans in the so-called Babel of Steel dates back more than a century. Through hundreds of images of the pioneers-those Puerto Rican migrants who established themselves in New York City between the 1890s and the end of World War II-we capture a glimpse of their daily lives and of their individual and collective stories. This rich collection of images from the Archives of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College helps to examine the history of the Puerto Rican community at a time when it was spreading its roots in New York City's social, political, cultural, and economic life.

A fascinating history of Otisco Lake Community, documenting this New York State Finger Lake area's beginnings.

With Otisco Lake Community, Roger N. Trendowski chronicles this New York State Finger Lake area's history from the late 1800s to mid-1900s. Gathered from many local archives, private collections, and town historians from Otisco, Marcellus, and Spafford, the unique published and unpublished images show the area's natural beauty. The pictures transport us to the past where some of the same adventurous and entertaining activities still remain today.

When Buffalo was incorporated as a city, the East Side represented a vast forested area and farmland that would one day be booming with industry.

By 1832, the beginnings of the major arterials of Genesee, Sycamore, Broadway, William, Clinton, and Seneca were there. These streets were laid out in 1826 and represented the seeds of the East Side's explosive growth. The development of railroads and the Buffalo Belt Line, constructed in 1883, created a semicircle pattern that outlined the East Side. Industries began sprouting up, eager to use their proximity to the belt line to transport wares all over the country. Immigrants from Germany, Poland, and Ireland, along with African Americans from northern and southern states, began establishing their lives around these industries. Access to land, water, roads, and rail lines and eager immigrants and natives looking for work led to the development of Buffalo's East Side industry, an immensely diverse industrial base and workforce.

Hudson River Bridges documents how these structures remain beautiful testaments to cooperative efforts during trying times in America's history.

The Hudson River Valley, an invaluable connection between New England and the rest of the colonies during the American Revolution, continues to be a major crossroads today. The Hudson River bridges were architectural marvels of their time. The Bear Mountain Bridge was the longest suspension bridge, while the Newburgh Beacon second span was built with a new type of weathering steel. The bridges were constructed during important times in history. The Bear Mountain Bridge was built as the automobile became an integral part in the country's development, and the Mid-Hudson Bridge was built during the Depression. Labor disputes helped develop labor laws, and world wars led to changes in activity on the bridges.

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.

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.

New Scotland Township contains photographs dating from 1840 to 1980, including dozens of formerly unpublished ones. Both the photographs and captions contain an amazing amount of detail that creates a vivid account of town life over the course of more than a century.

The book celebrates the people, their homes and occupations, as well as the community's schools, churches, and means of transportation. It explores the area's extraordinary landforms, from the Helderberg Mountains, Thacher State Park, Clarksville caves, Onesquethaw Falls to the Vly, Normanskill, and Onesquethaw creeks. It highlights the only remaining carriage sheds in Albany County, where part of the famous Anti-Rent Wars occurred, and the remains of a structure called the Castle, where Bouck White became famous for his Bouckware pottery.

Authors Parma Historian Shirley Cox Husted and Rochester City Historian Ruth Rosenberg-Naparsteck offer more than 200 fascinating photographs-some published here for the first time.

Even in its early days, Rochester had multiple neighborhoods, small settlements with names such as Swillburg, Goat Hill and the Butter Bowl. Today, Rochester is a community of 128 neighborhoods, each happily pursuing a local identity while united together with justifiable pride in their role as New York State's third largest city outside of the New York City metropolis. Located in the Genesee River Valley just below Lake Ontario, Rochester is on an old Indian trail that once brought Seneca families here to hunt and fish. The milling industry began here in 1789 and, as it flourished, Rochester became known as the Flour City. By the mid-1800s, the seed industry and the widespread production of flowers, trees, and shrubs had recreated Rochester as the Flower City. Later, thanks to the Eastman Kodak Company and the Xerox Corporation, Rochester became the Picture City and the World's Image Centre. Rochester was a haven on the Underground Railroad between 1830 and 1860. Always an ethnic city, it became a hotbed for inventors, reformers, educators, and spiritual leaders. Its leaders were independent, sometimes outrageous, outspoken, colorful, and courageous. Many were women-foremost among them was Susan Brownell Anthony.

From rails to trails, the history of Sacandaga Valley comes to life in vivid historical images.

Much of the history of the Sacandaga Valley in upstate New York was lost in the early part of the 20th century with the building of a dam and the flooding of a vast area of homes, farms, and villages. Researched and compiled by historians of three Fulton County communities, The Sacandaga Valley preserves part of that history by showing the people and the life that filled the valley before it was covered with a huge new lake. For years, the fertile valley contained prosperous villages with tradesmen and factories, a rail line, and one of New York's best-known amusement centers and resorts. The Sacandaga River was a lumber-transport route and every spring, thousands of spectators lined its banks to watch the river drives. Then, in 1920, the river was chosen as the site for a dam needed to control spring flooding in cities along the Hudson River, including Albany and Cohoes. In 1930, the valley was flooded creating the Great Sacandaga Lake.

Since the colonial period, the Poughkeepsie area has been a prime location on the Hudson, midway between Albany and New York City.

Referred to as the “Queen City of the Hudson,” accessibility, scenic beauty, and a dynamic economic and cultural environment have made Poughkeepsie an excellent community in which to live, work, and play. Since the 19th century, Poughkeepsie has been a favored site by society elites, families like the Astors, Rogers, and Vanderbilts building palatial weekend homes there due to its natural beauty and proximity to New York City. Numerous Americans have left their mark here, including the Livingstons, Samuel Morse, Matthew Vassar (whom local Vassar College is named for), Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Thomas Watson Sr. Poughkeepsie has also been enhanced by the contributions of its African American community and by successive waves of immigrants seeking a better life. From hosting New York's United States Constitutional Ratification Convention in 1788 to becoming the location of IBM during World War II, Poughkeepsie has continued to be the site of world-changing events.

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Shelter Island, New York with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

In the spring of 1962, Captain Nathaniel Sylvester and his young bride, Grissel Brinley, stepped from their boat onto the narrow shore along Gardiners Creek. Nearby, in a clearing, stood a sturdy house, newly built of white oak timber from the surrounding forest. Shiploads of tiles and chimney bricks from Holland and household furnishings from England and Barbados had arrived during the preceding months. The Sylvesters would make Shelter Island their home.

Shelter Island: A Nostalgic Journey takes us to early homes, churches, and stores, and introduces us to the people who shaped this community. With over two hundred images carefully selected from the archive of the Shelter Island Historical Society, this unprecedented volume will be treasured and enjoyed by resident and visitor alike.

With this striking new pictorial history, local artist and historian Louise Tuthill Green has created a journey into the island's past. During the years that followed the Sylvesters' arrival, many families settled along these tranquil shores. Homesteads were built, farmland was cleared and cultivated, and businesses were established. Many boats sailed the area's sparkling inlets and bays, and guests to the area created a need for grand hotels and gingerbread cottages.

This fascinating local history tells the story of this landmark and the creators of the renowned mountaintop haven, beautiful Mohonk in the Shawagunk Mountains, home to the Mohonk Preserve and Mountain House.

Mohonk is a name of Native American origin first given to a lake high in the Shawangunk Mountains of Ulster County. Mohonk Lake was sculpted eons ago by the crushing weight of advancing glaciers. Nature's handiwork resulted in a crystal blue lake rimmed by stately hemlock trees and sheer conglomerate cliffs. Mohonk Mountain House was established at the lake in 1869 by Quaker twins Albert and Alfred Smiley. They and younger half-brother, Daniel Smiley, created a mountaintop haven for their guests-a 251-room hotel set on acres of woodlands and gardens. Today Daniel Smiley's descendants welcome visitors to the last of the grand Victorian hotels in the Shawangunk and Catskill Mountain region. The Mohonk Preserve was carved from lands of the Mountain House beginning in 1963 and bears witness to the vision of the Smiley family. Its mission is to protect over 6,400 acres of semi-wilderness through its education, research, and land stewardship programs. Today, it is the largest nature preserve supported by members and visitors in New York State.

Pearl River was part of a royal land patent issued to two New York businessmen, Daniel Honan and Michael Hawdon.

Honan, the  accountant general of New Amsterdam, and Hawdon, a friend of the infamous Captain Kidd. Immigrants later settled in areas they called Nauraushaun, Middletown, Pascack, Sickletown, Orangeville, and Muddy Brook. In the 1870s, Julius Braunsdorf permitted the New York & New Jersey Railroad to run an extension through his property, which gave his new sewing machine factory access to markets and materials. The factory would later be enhanced to produce the first newspaper-folding machines. In 1906, Dr. Ernst Lederle, a former New York health commissioner, began a laboratory to produce antitoxins and other medicines. With the success and growth of these inventors and their businesses, Pearl River became a nationally known company town. Since the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge, it has evolved into a friendly, modern bedroom community of New York City and the second-largest hamlet in New York State.

Around Lima explores the fascinating evolution of Lima and the diverse adjoining towns that were inexorably connected. It illuminates the elegant streets of Lima, the rich heritage of nearby Bloomfield, the covered bridge and stone mills of Honeoye Falls, and the grandeur of the resort days of Avon Springs, which rivaled Saratoga Springs. Appearing within these pages are glimpses of Susan B. Anthony and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as accounts of the Underground Railroad and a winter morning's journey to see Abraham Lincoln.

Discover how eight families created Clinton and the Town of Kirkland in New York to become the thriving community it is today.

Nestled among central New York's rolling green hills, the Village of Clinton and Town of Kirkland attracted the attention of early Revolutionary War soldiers, who ventured into heavily forested lands with rich soil and many creeks and rivers. A group of eight families, led by Capt. Moses Foote, settled in Clinton in 1787. The economy of the area, which included Clinton, Clark Mills, Kirkland (Manchester), Franklin Springs, and Chuckery, was vibrant with agriculture, iron mining, world-class mineral waters, a textile industry, and numerous educational institutions, which drew many residents and further expanded the communities. The community's early interest in and recognition of scholarly pursuits and its 62 schools earned it the name Schooltown. Today, it is known for its village green and historic sites. Clinton and the Town of Kirkland showcases the rich heritage and town pride that continues to make these communities an attractive and desirable place to live.

Pictorial history of golf on Long Island, from the earliest country clubs to public courses of note.

When the European sport of golf found its way to Long Island and took root in the Hamptons at Shinnecock Hills in 1891, its journey across the Atlantic served as the opening drive of a recreational era that now spans three centuries. Home to more than 130 golf courses, the area boasts prestigious American clubs overlooking picturesque Atlantic bays and inlets, along with public layouts climbing and descending the region's sloping terrain. Long Island is home to the most popular municipal golf facility in the country, the centerpiece of which is Bethpage Black, the People's Country Club. Celebrated architects like A.W. Tillinghast, Devereux Emmet, Seth Raynor, and C.B. Macdonald built many of Long Island's famous courses, which have challenged the brightest of golf's stars. International tournaments and star-studded exhibitions have all been decided on Long Island turf, helping it grow into one of the world's most prominent golf settings.

100 miles north of New York City, Saugerties is nestled between the silent majesty of the Catskill Mountains and the flowing waters of the Hudson River.

In this tranquil landscape, the area possesses a wonderful combination of natural and artistic attractions: an environmental sculpture, Opus 40; Searmon Park; and a nature trail leading to the Saugerties Lighthouse. This book is a visual history made up of over 200 photographs which take readers down historic Main Street in the Village of Saugerties, and through the outlying hamlets such as Katsbaan, West Camp, and Glasco. In this volume, you will meet some impressive personalities; like Augusta Savage, renowned Harlem Renaissance artist; and Roger Donlon, the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Vietnam conflict. People shaped this community’s identity and gave it strength—whether in the arts, industry, or in the armed services, Saugerties has nurtured many men and women of courage and vision.

Constructed in 1919, OHEKA CASTLE, Long Island's largest Gold Coast mansion, was once described by the New York Times as the finest country house in America.

Enrico Caruso sang in its grand ballroom, and Arturo Toscanini lifted his baton to its soaring ceiling. Appearing as the mysterious mountaintop castle in the opening scenes of the film classic Citizen Kane, its majestic edifice and meticulous grounds continue to dazzle the screens of major Hollywood movies and television shows. It was a playground for the rich and famous of the Gilded Era, when heads of state, royalty, stage and screen stars, great comedians, and bohemians alike cavorted about its great halls. In subsequent years, it became home to an eclectic array of occupants, including New York City sanitation workers, World War II radio trainees, military school cadets, and eventually vandals and squatters. After its abandonment and descent into unrecognizable ruin, a Long Island developer with an appreciation for history reversed the adverse effects of time and neglect, transforming OHEKA into the largest restored home in America.

The city of Fulton lies twelve miles south of Lake Ontario on the Oswego River.

Early history reveals the importance of the river to the Native Americans and the European settlers. The early settlement's strategic location at the site of the waterfalls, with dangerous rapids below, contributed to the success of various industries that harnessed the waters' power. Fulton grew, flourished, and became a city having the distinct honor of being virtually unaffected by the Great Depression.

Fulton and the Oswego River contains a striking collection of hundreds of rare local photographs, together with the stories of the town, the river, and the people who have lived here. The early settlers, including blacksmith Daniel Masters and the Van Buren family come to life in these pages, as the reader imagines their early struggles. The building of the Erie and Barge Canals had a influence on the economy, as did the businesses that developed along the river: the flour mills, paper mills, and woolen mills, such as the American Woolen Mill, which made military uniforms on Oswego's banks through World War II.

As colonial New Yorkers expanded their housing and employment options beyond Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, southeast Queens became a destination for Dutch and English families who wanted more land and a better life.

Beyond the confines of the village of Jamaica in Queens emerged a community of strivers - farmers and entrepreneurs - who founded St. Albans in 1899. A housing boom in the 1920s and 1930s in Queens brought more residents with European heritage to St. Albans. Yankee slugger Babe Ruth spent so much time at the St. Albans Golf and Country Club that many area residents thought he lived there. Meanwhile, a racial covenant in Addisleigh Park, an affluent section of St. Albans, threatened to keep African Americans out of the neighborhood until the federal government outlawed the practice in 1948. Over time, many African American jazz musicians and entertainers along with middle- and working-class families have called St. Albans home. Today, St. Albans is a predominantly middle-class African American and Caribbean American neighborhood that continues to embrace its ambitious past through strong connections to business, civic, political, and religious groups.

A frozen history of the Ice Box of New York Cityas told by archival and private images from the people who experienced it.

Rockland Lake, Hook Mountain, and Nyack Beachare located just 30 miles north of New York City. From the 1830s to 1930, the area was one of the largest producers of natural ice and was also the site of large traprock quarries.

On the western side of Hook Mountainlies Rockland Lake, the only natural spring-fed lake entirely located in Rockland County. The lake was known around the world for its famous pure blue iceand was referred to as the ice box of New York City. In the 1910s, the area became a popular day-trip destination for steamboats from New York City and eventually became an active summer community in the 1920s. In 1965, the Palisades Interstate Park Commissionopened Rockland Lake State Park. Today, the PIPCparks of Nyack Beach, Hook Mountain, and Rockland Lakeare some of the most visited New York State parks.

The family of author Robert C. Maher Jr. have been residents of Rockland Lake for over 170 years. He founded The Friends of Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain, Inc., in an effort to preserve this history of the area for future generations.

The Nassau County Police Department was created in 1925 out of an urgent need for a professional law enforcement agency to provide swift, reliable, and trusted protection for its citizens

During those unprecedented times, Greater New York was rapidly encroaching on Nassau County's western border, and the escalating crime rate in this bucolic island setting was due in large part to the Volstead Act, which ushered in the mob-infused Roaring Twenties, with its related violent and turbulent unrest. After the rebellious 1920s and the Great Depression followed a long dark period of global hostilities and impending threats of homeland invasions from foreign enemies in World War II. The founding members of this department, equipped with little other than their dedication, bravery, fortitude, and self sacrifices, established a strong foundation for one of the finest police departments in the country today.

The East River captures the history of New York's premier waterway. The river, a Native American life source, spawned communities from Brooklyn to Harlem.

Its shipyards and docks projected American enterprise around the world. The waterfront, an industrial and commercial dynamo, forged a continent. The dreams of immigrants who arrived and lived on its banks created this nation. The river's strong currents guarded prisons and hospital quarantines while keeping secret legends of gold on its bottom. The sinews of a great city are knitted by more than a score of its tunnels and bridges. Today, a renaissance draws people to this river, the heart of New York.

Bedford-Stuyvesant details the evolution of this Brooklyn neighborhood, home to the nation's second largest African American community.

The heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant is still found in the near-forgotten settlement of Brooklyn's Bedford Corners, a Dutch township colonized in 1667, where ancient Native American trails determined its now major thoroughfares, and where Colonial patriots fought the British in the country's struggle for independence. Bedford-Stuyvesant remained a quiet farming hamlet until the 1880s when rapid subway transportation, construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the burgeoning population of Manhattan combined to forge one of America's first and finest suburban communities. Bedford-Stuyvesant details the evolution of this neighborhood, home to the nation's second largest African American community, and it documents how this urban center is now finally enjoying new regard for its wealth of architecture and its notable place in American history.

From a strategic location in the American Revolution to a resort town for New York City elite, this collection highlights the successes and daily life of Mahopac’s bygone eras.

Mahopac's first known colonial settlement was founded near the large lake bearing the Algonquian name Macookpack around 1740. During the American Revolution, the area served as an important logistical center and supply depot for the American cause, despite not seeing any battles. Following the war, the hamlet developed into an early kind of farmer’s market, supplying goods and produce¬—especially dairy items—region-wide. By the mid-19th century, Mahopac became a resort destination with many large hotels and boardinghouses, largely thanks to its beautiful lakes. Arrival of the railroad to Mahopac in 1872 further supported tourism in the lakeside resorts as travelers from New York City could now reach Lake Mahopac within a few hours. Drawing from the archives of the Carmel Historical Society, Putnam County Historian's Office, and the collections of the authors and others, Mahopacisn’t just a history of a small town in New York State, but a history of the value that the United States is able to produce.

Long known for its Dutch heritage associated with windmills, tulip festivals, and distinct surnames, there is more to share about the town of Clymer. Traveling country roads through the rolling hills of southern Chautauqua County, a fertile valley with a village at the center that features a lone flashing red traffic light can be found. Established in 1821, Clymer has a rich history and a proud tradition of both individual and community accomplishment. Self-reliance and an entrepreneurial spirit led to the creation of public utilities, flourishing businesses, and schools that educated future professionals and farmers alike. Its small-town charm remains today, with an amazing one-stop general store, an all-you-could-need hardware store, and a widely known and popular restaurant with delicious sweet rolls.

As a retired teacher who grew up in Clymer, Rod Beckerink shares photographs and stories that act like individual pieces of a puzzle that, when put together, give a better understanding of what shaped the Clymer of today. With images primarily collected from the Clymer Area Historical Society, readers can take a trip down the nostalgic memory lane of Clymer’s past to catch a glimpse of the people, places, and events of the area’s interesting history.

Located in upstate New York on the western banks of the Mohawk River, Schenectady's Historic Stockade District is recognized as New York's first local historic district.

As one of the oldest European-settled areas in the United States, the Stockade contains the highest concentration of historic buildings in the country, over 40 of which are older than 200 years. As a result of the Stockade's longitude, a mix of architecture from 17th century Dutch to modern US design exists within the four blocks that make up the historic Stockade. Through photographs and maps, Schenectady's Stockade: New York's First Historic Districttells the story of one of America's earliest and longest lasting communities.