Images of America Sale

Located about ninety minutes from three major metro areas - Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia - Gettysburg sits in the fertile crescent, an area brimming with agricultural possibilities.

Founded in the 1700s by James Gettys, the little town became headline material during the Civil War, although area residents never expected to be at the forefront of that controversy. Fate, however, had its way with the town, and Gettysburg found itself on the map permanently. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower retired here, Gettysburg became the place to visit for international tourists as well as Americans. Today, the National Park Service maintains the Gettysburg National Military Park, and the town caters to its visitors. Still imbued with small-country charm, Gettysburg beckons visitors from far and wide and treats them royally.

A collection of images celebrating the extravagant and historic mansions of Pittsburgh, PA.

In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city's East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside. Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area's prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

As automobile transportation exploded in the first half of the 20th century, the service station became a part of everyday life for a growing number of Americans in Central Pennsylvania.

These roadside stops provided necessary goods and services for the motoring public while featuring diverse aesthetics and promoting brand loyalty. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, motorists passing through central Pennsylvania had an ever-increasing number of service stations from which to choose. With the state capital Harrisburg at its core, this area has experienced marked growth while managing to preserve much of the historic beauty for which it is known. Lost Service Stations of Central Pennsylvania is a showcase of those stations and the people who owned them and a tribute to the beauty of a bygone era.

Images of America: Centralia chronicles many of the images and stories from this fascinating and colorful Pennsylvania community.

Centralia is the saga of a Pennsylvania community consumed by an underground mine fire. The town, founded in 1866, has often been embroiled in tragedy and controversy. Beginning with the infamous Molly Maguires, Centralia was confronted with the murder of its founder and an assault upon its Catholic priest, who cursed the town, saying, One day this town will be erased from the face of the earth. Almost one hundred years later, a vein of coal that ran underneath the town caught fire and has burned since 1962. In the 1990s, the state of Pennsylvania declared eminent domain and forced most of the town's sixteen hundred residents to leave. Ten people remain in Centralia today.

Held in Philadelphia from May 10 through October 10, the 1876 Centennial Exhibition celebrated the 100th anniversary of American independence.

Philadelphia hosted 37 nations in five main buildings and 250 additional structures on 285 acres of land. The celebration looked backward to commemorate the progress made over the 100-year period, and it announced to the world that American invention and innovation was on a par with that of our foreign counterparts. Patriotism abounded, as did messages of industrial and commercial prowess that promised a brighter future for all. Over nine million people attended this awesome consumer spectacle, an event that set the tone for a long series of world's fairs yet to come.

Take a journey on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - the "superhighway" that went from one generation's tourist destination to the ridicule of another's.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened to traffic on October 1, 1940. Built using the right-of-way and unfinished tunnels of the never completed South Pennsylvania Railroad, it was a supreme achievement of civil engineering. The new highway immediately captured the public's imagination and proved to be an unqualified success. Motorists flocked from around the country to drive on the new "superhighway," and it became a tourist destination on its lonesome. But along with that success, the seeds were planted for its eventual fall from grace. Under-engineered, poorly maintained, and the victim of premature obsolescence, the highway became the object of public scorn in little more than a generation. Only since the turn of the 21st century were real efforts made to change that perception.

A well-known destination for family fun and amusement, Hersheypark has entertained and engaged visitors for more than 100 years.

The park was an important part of Milton S. Hershey's plans for his new model industrial town, built for the workers of the Hershey Chocolate factory. In 1903, even before the factory was completed, he set aside land to be used as a park for picnics and family outings. While originally established as a community park, it soon developed into an amusement park as thousands of people flocked to Hershey each year to visit the chocolate factory and model town. This book portrays the origin of Hershey Park, its development as a trolley park, and its successful transition to Hersheypark, a themed amusement park, at a time when many traditional parks faltered and failed. Through period photographs and engaging narrative, Hersheypark explores the growth and development of the park; the vision of its founder, Milton S. Hershey; its successes and challenges; and how the park endured and transformed itself to become one of the East Coast's leading entertainment destinations.

Four distinct anthracite coal fields encompass an area of 1,700 square miles in the northeastern portion of Pennsylvania. Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region is a journey into a world that was once very familiar.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, underground coal mining was at its zenith and the work of miners was more grueling and dangerous than it is today. Faces blackened by coal and helmet lamps lit by fire are no longer parts of the everyday lives of miners in the region. These vintage photographs of collieries, breakers, miners, drivers, and breaker boys illuminate the dark of the anthracite mines. The pictures of miners, roof falls, mules, and equipment deep underground tell the story of the hard lives lived around the hard coal. Above ground, breaker boys toiled in unbearable conditions inside the noisy, vibrating, soot-filled monsters known as coal breakers.

Kaufmann's Department Store was a force in Pittsburgh retail from its humble beginnings in 1871 until its merger with Federated Department Stores in 2006.

The Big Store downtown was a landmark shopping emporium with 12 floors of everything from cosmetics and groceries to wedding gowns and lawn mowers. Under the leadership of Edgar J. Kaufmann and his wife, Liliane, the store became a forum for exhibitions of art, cutting-edge technology, and Parisian haute couture. Generations of Pittsburghers hold fond memories of meeting friends and family under the famous Kaufmann's clock to lunch at the Tic Toc Restaurant, pick up cookies at the Arcade Bakery, or peer into the store's enchanting Christmas window displays each December.

It's a conveinent-store giant in the Mid-Atlantic region today, but Wawa's history dates back to its days as an iron manufactuer over 200 years ago.

Founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1865, Wawa has roots in the manufacture of cast-iron water pipes and decorative lampposts. Using the resources and surplus water power from the iron business, the family opened a cotton mill and began producing cotton piece goods, including Red Star diapers. The first Wawa milk plant opened in 1902 and by the late 1950s, the Wawa Dairy had expanded its home delivery business to include over 145 routes. The first Wawa Food Market opened on April 16, 1964. Today, the company is familiar to many as a chain of 545 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia that offers a wide selection of fresh foods, coffee, and gasoline. Wawa contains vintage images documenting the evolution of the company as it adapted to changing economic and social conditions. From the early days of iron manufacture to the opening of the first store in Folsom, Pennsylvania, Wawa brings to life the many facets of one of America's top privately owned companies.

Hess's Department Store was a unique department store that with a combination of style and showmanship became a shopping legend for almost 100 years.

Founded in 1897 in Allentown by brothers Max and Charles Hess as a dry goods store, it became the downtown heart of Pennsylvania's third-largest city for much of the 20th century. The Hess family was from Germany, and it was Max Hess Sr. who realized the Germans in Pennsylvania had limited access to quality dry goods; with his sons’ backgrounds in the retail industry, and a higher quality of merchandise, particularly Hess’s French Room, filled with the most in vogue fashions from France. The department store entered its golden age under by Max Hess's son, a showman for merchandising who embraced the life of a department store mogul, living in a giant mansion and rubbing shoulders with celebrities such as Bob Hope and Zsa Zsa Gabor. From the single store in Allentown to more than 80 by the 1990s, it seemed that Hess’s was unstoppable, but a national recession and increased retail competition would eventually sink the titan of Pennsylvania retail. Through a series of photographs, many from private collections and seldom seen, Hess's Department Storebrings the glory days of Hess's to life again.

Pittsburgh: 1758-2008 surveys the city's evolution from strategic fort in the wilderness to bustling industrial workshop to high-tech center for universities and health care.

A boatbuilding center and gateway to the West at the beginning of the 19th century, Pittsburgh later produced iron and steel used to construct bridges and buildings around the country and provided the cannons, shot, and ships that helped win wars around the world. In the process, Pittsburgh became a magnet for successive waves of immigrants - workers and entrepreneurs who shaped the culture and character of the city with their customs, churches, clubs, food, and an impressive collection of museums. With a roster of notable historical figures and as the birthplace of a slew of world-changing innovations, Pittsburgh is a city that left its mark on the history books.

Levittown was created in Bucks County outside of Philadelphia in 1951. As one of the largest "planned communities" in America, this book's superb collection of history and photographs illustrates the birth and growth of this unique area.

In 1951, Levittown was created in Bucks County outside of Philadelphia by builder pioneers Levitt and Sons. Dubbed the largest and "most perfectly planned" community in America, it featured single-family homes, schools, churches, shopping centers, and swimming pools. A symbol of the "American Dream," Levittown defined the phenomenon of post-World War II suburban developments, which for the first time gave working- and middle-class families the option of affordable, detached houses outside congested urban neighborhoods. Levittown was a melting pot, attracting people from cities, rural areas, and all walks of life, including many World War II veterans with young families. Houses came fully equipped with appliances and landscaping and started at $9,000. Levittown's superb collection of history and photographs illustrates the birth and growth of this unique area, explores the community that resulted, and features residents' personal memories of the golden years.

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Allentown, Pennsylvania with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Allentown, the Queen City of the Lehigh Valley, is the youngest but largest of the three cities in the valley. Founded in 1762 by William Allen, it was little more than a crossroads and small market town along the Lehigh Riveruntil it became the county seat in 1812. Heavy industries based on iron developed in the mid-eighteenth century along the Lehigh Riverand, by the 1860s, Allentown had become the largest community in the Lehigh Valley. In 1867, Allentown became a city.

In Allentown, readers nostalgic for times past will find photographs showing the places they remember from years ago, the Pennsylvania Power & Lighttower, and the effects of the devastating floods on the Lehigh River. Equally, newcomers who have heard about the great department stores of Hamilton Street, the trolley systems, Central Park, the breweries, and the iron and silk industries will treasure the images in this volume. Many places that still exist are shown in Allentown as they appeared in their earlier days.

Local historian and author Ann Bartholomew has compiled a riveting photographic record of the vibrant city of Allentown. Perusing these pages will evoke memories and will provide opportunities for parents and grandparents to introduce a younger generation to the city as it was in their youth.

See how the Pennsylvania Turnpike proved the doubters wrong and came to be known as the World's Greatest Highway.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is one of the best-known highways in the United States. Most Pennsylvania Turnpike travelers are unaware that its construction was inspired by the route of the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad. In the 1930s, men of great vision conceived, planned, and built the nation's first long-distance superhighway using the abandoned railroad's partially finished tunnels as its foundation.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike draws from the extensive photograph collection in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Many were taken by photographers hired by both the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and its contractors, and most have never been published previously. Originally predicted to be a financial failure, the project wound up being a tremendous success and, eventually was expanded and improved, laying the groundwork for the nation's Interstate Highway System.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, went from relative unknown to an American dream come true thanks in large part to the risk taken by its founder, Milton Hershey.

In 1903, successful candy-maker Milton Hershey began a new enterprise that many people thought was doomed. He planned to build the biggest chocolate factory in the world, and a town to house its employees. The location he chose, near his birthplace in rural Derry Township, Pennsylvania, was most unlike the traditional urban factory settings of the era. Hershey is the pictorial history of what happened next. Through period photographs, many of them in print for the first time, and engaging narrative, Hershey reveals how the place, the people, the industrial age, and Milton Hershey himself contributed to the success of his scheme. Hershey includes an introduction to the history of Derry Township, tracing it from Milton Hershey's birth in 1857 to his return in the early 1900s. The book follows the intertwining stories of Milton Hershey's life, the growth of his chocolate company, the development of the school for needy boys that he endowed with his entire fortune, and the evolution of his model company town. The transformation of Hershey into a tourist destination and its survival after the death of its founder in 1945 conclude this chronicle of a vision turned into reality.

Illustrating the boroughs, townships and villages of Luzerne County in a rare collection of photographs, advertisements and history dating back to the 18th century.

The Susquehanna River meanders through Luzerne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, passing communities historically known for the mining of anthracite coal. Settlement of the area began in 1769 during the first Yankee-Pennamite War. Historical photographs from the Luzerne County Historical Society depict businesses, churches, coal culture, street scenes, area disasters, entertainment, railroads, steamboats, and veterans, including the last survivor of the Battle of Wyoming in 1778 and the Civil War.

During the turn of the century, the railroad was an extremely important transportation and shipping resource to thousands of people and businesses in Pennsylvania.

Along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: From Cumberland to Uniontown dedicates its pages to this pivotal mass transportation provider. This book includes images from every B&O bridge and station from Cumberland, Maryland, to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1891. Many of the towns stretched along the miles of tracks, such as Somerfield and Ohiopyle, are depicted in these vintage photographs. Experience the coal and coke booms of the 1880s to 1920s through people from many different locations who had one thing in common: the railroad.

The most trusted and prominent knife makers in the US, the history and background of W.R. Case & Sons is examined here with personal stories and photographs

In 1905, John Russell Russ Case brought the fledgling W. R. Case & Sons Company to Bradford, and it dominated the knife industry for the next century. From kitchen, hunting, and pocket knives to the V-42 Stiletto carried by U.S. Army soldiers in World War II, Case knives have been not only a tool but also a trusted companion for generations. Still handcrafted in Bradford, Case knives are the most collected knives in the world. W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company contains photographs of Russ Case and his family, the factory, special knives, Case collector events, and even the Case car. Rare finds from the Case archives, employees, and family members help chronicle the company's incredible history.

Valley Forge offers a variety of historical views and background into the site that became Pennsylvania's first state park. Highlights include Washington's Headquarters and the patriotic and inspiring Washington Memorial Chapel, as well as Revolutionary War artifacts that have found a home in Valley Forge. Thousands of books exist on the history of the American War for Independence, but few describe the events and people who have struggled to preserve that story of independence for people everywhere, as Valley Forge does.

Through an extraordinary collection of photographs, Jim Thorpe tells the story of not only the athlete but its famed coal-mining industry.

What was originally named Mauch Chunk, Jim Thorpe was established on the Lehigh River as a shipping depot for anthracite coal in 1818 by Josiah White, a Philadelphia Quaker and brilliant engineer, and his trusted business partner, Erskine Hazard. By 1829, White and Hazard had founded the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company and built an efficient transportation system that moved coal nine miles over the mountains to Mauch Chunk by Switchback Gravity Railroad, and 46 miles along the Lehigh Canal to Easton. With the arrival of the railroads, the Switchback became a major tourist attraction. As rail excursionists descended on Mauch Chunk to experience a hair-raising ride on America's first roller coaster and enjoy the magnificent scenery, the coal shipping town, billed by the railroads as the Switzerland of America, became a tourist destination second in popularity only to Niagara Falls. In a story stranger than fiction, the town exchanged its name for the name of Jim Thorpe when the 1912 Olympic hero was laid to rest there in 1954.  Jim Thorpe (Mauch Chunk) tells the story of the athlete and his burial, the Switchback Gravity Railroad, the Lehigh Canal, the social scene, and the town's Victorian legacy.

In rare historical photos, discover the story of the hospital, her caretakers, and those cared for at Harrisburg State Hospital for over 150 years.

Harrisburg State Hospital opened in 1851 as the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital, the first public institution in the state. Situated atop a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River, the original building was an early example of a Kirkbride design hospital. The facility closed in 2006 after serving the commonwealth for 155 years. Harrisburg State Hospital: Pennsylvania's First Public Asylum presents a pictorial history of the hospital from the first year of only 12 patients through the peak of state care, when the population reached over 2,500 in the 1950s. Harrisburg State Hospital was an innovative leader in the treatment of the mentally ill, pioneering new methods of therapy even before they were common practice. It was a community and a home for those whom society could not otherwise care for.

Philadelphia has been a magnet for Irish immigrants and their descendants since the 17th century, and the city wouldn't be what it is today without them.

The Irish distinguished themselves in the Revolutionary War with dozens of heroes, such as Wexford-born sailor Commodore John Barry. When refugees from Ireland's Great Famine poured into Philadelphia after 1845, the city changed forever—the thousands of Irish immigrants of the famine generation, after experiencing discrimination from anti-Catholicism and anti-Irish rhetoric, used their religious and cultural traditions to promote their own advancement by constructing a network of schools, Catholic churches, fraternal clubs, and cultural organizations. In Irish Philadelphia, images of their accomplishments and advancements are featured along with vibrant, personal stories of Irish residents.

Altoona is a city built by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Cities usually grow to maturity and then sprout suburbs. With Altoona, it was the opposite. The suburban towns are older than the city and form a larger community.

In 1849, Altoona was farmland, a little hamlet in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. The site was chosen by the railroad for locomotive repair shops. Situated at the eastern base of the Allegheny Mountains, Altoona was destined to become the largest railroad yard in the world. The complex occupied 217 acres and included two huge roundhouses. Centered around the railroad, the city and its population grew. In this historic city were various shops that provided employment to early settlers and the old furnaces of the ironmasters. Also here were the Logan House hotel, where a meeting of governors saved the Union, and Cricket Field, where great athletes from across the country competed. Over the years Altoona has been visited by not only presidents and statesmen but also celebrities of stage and opera. It is home to the world-famous Horseshoe Curve and to Lakemont Park, which has the world's oldest roller coaster.

A significant site of United States industrial and economic history, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a birthplace and powerhouse of iron, steel, coal, and transportation.

From its early start as a small community on the fringes of the frontier, the town became an important terminus for the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and an early site for coal and ore mining. It also grew into a major steel and iron producer renowned around the world for its output, know-how, and quality. At one time, Johnstown's industry helped spur the national drive to become an economic and industrial superpower.

The uplifting story of what pioneering Italian immigrants brought to Pittsburgh and how they laid a foundation for future generations to build on and preserve.

By 1930,  one out of every six Pittsburgh residents was an immigrant. More came from Italy than from any other country in the world. Drawn by chain migration and the prospect of work in coal mines, steel mills, railroads, and other local industries, Italian immigrants contributed greatly to the growth and development of western Pennsylvania and endowed the region with a rich and vibrant ethnic culture that has endured to the present day.

In this unprecedented volume, nearly 200 photographs collected from Italian-American families still living in the Pittsburgh region illustrate aspects of the Italian immigrant experience in western Pennsylvania, including work, community, leisure, religion, and family life.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary of incorporation, Jenkintown captures many familiar sites and organizations as well as those that helped define the area but no longer remain. Marion K. Rosenbaum and the Old York Historical Society utilize images from the historical society’s collection to trace the rise of Jenkintown as a stop on the coaching lines to New York City along the Old York Road to a shopping, transportation, and cultural hub.

Originally part of Abington Township, Jenkintown became an independent municipality on December 4, 1874, with its own school district forming shortly thereafter. Jenkintown has also been the center for numerous social, civic, fraternal, patriotic, and religious organizations, commencing with the founding of the Abington Library Society (known today as the Jenkintown Library) in 1803.

Marion K. Rosenbaum, Jenkintown resident, graduated from Jenkintown High School (1964) and Beaver College (1968). She is a retired librarian, archivist, and genealogist with extensive experience researching history in local depositories in the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania areas. She collaborated with the Old York Road Historical Society, which was founded in 1936 to preserve and promote the history of the communities along and adjacent to the Old York Road. The society’s collections contain over 250,000 photographic images, of which a few were selected for this book, supplemented by photographs in private and institutional collections.

This book invites the reader to step back in time and imagine the days when ancestors traveled through wooden spans to reach their daily destinations.

Starting in the early 1800s, Pennsylvania's rich forests provided natural material for the construction of more than 1,500 covered bridges across the state. The first covered bridge was built in 1805. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges looks at the earliest covered bridges as well as those that have survived modern progress. Images also show rare railroad covered bridges that have been saved from destruction over the years.

Bordered by the Delaware River and dotted by dozens of delightful 18th-century towns and villages, Bucks County retains a wistful air of long ago.

Covered bridges, colonial homes, classic farmsteads, and a breathtaking countryside are only part of this beautiful county's story. In 1683, Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn, established his manor here and helped build a nation by inviting industrious immigrants to its fertile soil. In 1776, Gen. George Washington launched one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War from its shores. Farmers harnessed the land for centuries, followed by writers, artists, and innovators who weaved its charms into their work for the world. Bucks County features photographs from area historical societies and collectors that capture the spirit of the everyday life, as well as the extraordinary people and events, that helped shape one of the most distinctive places in America.

A fascinating history of law and power, Pennsylvania's Coal and Iron Police documents the law enforcement group which ruled these communities from 1865 to 1931.

Pennsylvania's Coal and Iron Police ruled small patch towns and industrial cities for their coal and iron company bosses from 1865 to 1931. Armed with a gun and badge and backed by state legislation, the members of the private police force were granted power in a practically unspecified jurisdiction. Set in Pennsylvania's anthracite and bituminous regions, including Luzerne, Schuylkill, Westmoreland, Beaver, Somerset, and Indiana Counties, at a time when labor disputes were deadly, the officers are the story behind American labor history's high-profile events and attention-grabbing headlines. Paid to protect company property, their duties varied but unfortunately often resulted in strikebreaking, intimidation, and violence.

No other city in the United States is home to more Slovaks than Pittsburgh. Through historical photographs, Slovak Pittsburgh celebrates the rich heritage there.

It is estimated that close to 100,000 Slovak immigrants came to the area in the 1890s looking for work and the chance for a better life. The hills and valleys of this new land reminded newcomers of the farms, forests, and mountains they left behind. They lived in neighborhoods close to their work, forming numerous cluster communities in such places as Braddock, Duquesne, Homestead, Munhall, the North Side, Rankin, and Swissvale. Once settled, Slovak immigrants founded their own churches, schools, fraternal benefit societies, and social clubs. Many of these organizations still enjoy an active presence in Pittsburgh today, serving to pass on the customs and traditions of the Slovak people.

Downtown Pittsburgh is the story of the great transformation of this city and its contributions to the world.

Downtown Pittsburgh is a 300-acre triangle of land where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge to form the mighty Ohio River. Between the rivers is a tiny spit of flat-bottom land once known as the gateway to the West, the portal to a vast, remote, unexplored wilderness. Ownership of this strategic wedge of land was fiercely contested for hundreds of years. The powerful Iroquois Nation first invaded the area in the 1600s during the Beaver Wars. When the French planted their flag in 1749, they collided with the British Empire for control of the forks of the Ohio River and all of North America. One hundred years later, this swath of frontier wilderness became the ""workplace of the world,"" the heart of the great Industrial Revolution. Immigrants arrived from around Europe to work in the glass, iron, and steel mills. Industrial giants such as Carnegie, Frick, Mellon, and Heinz forged their fortunes here.

From a distance, Shenandoah may look like any other small town, quaint and unassuming, and yet there are many more treasures than just the ""black diamonds"" of coal that run in her veins.

Discovery of the Mammoth Vein of anthracite in the 1860s brought tens of thousands of immigrants to work the local mines; in turn, they brought their cultures and dreams of a better life in America. Within a generation, rapidly increasing population created the ""Most Congested Square Mile in the United States."" Later, a shift from coal mine to Main Street fashioned recognition for retail fineries, along with distinction as the ""City of Churches."" At the center of the Molly Maguire troubles of the 1870s and the 1902 coal strike that changed the power of the presidency, Shenandoah has long been recognized for defiance and determination. Mining disasters, financial adversity, and ruinous fires scarred memories of decades of prominence; however, Shenandoah's spirit has endured through the last 150 years.

Looming on the outskirts of Philadelphia County since 1906, the mental hospital commonly known as ""Byberry"" stood abandoned for 16 years before being demolished in 2006.

Like many other mental hospitals and asylums of its time, Byberry began with the best of intentions. Despite having its own self-sustaining farm, bowling alleys, barbershop, ice cream parlor, post office, and baseball team, conditions in the hospital were abysmal and even compared to Nazi concentration camps. Throughout its history, the hospital served as an educational institution for Philadelphia's medical, nursing, and psychology students; was the site of a World War II Civilian Public Service conscientious objector unit; and a volunteering hot spot for local churches, schools, and Girl and Boy Scout troops, before becoming what it is most remembered for today. At its peak in the 1960s, Byberry was home to more than 6,000 patients and employer to more than 800, but now its only residents are ghosts and the urban explorers excited to take a risk in the desiccated husk of the hospital. This book provides an unprecedented window into the good, the bad, the unusual, and the forgotten history of Byberry.

On Christmas Eve of 1741, a group of Moravians founded the mission community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and like its namesake, it became a bright beacon of hope.

The Moravians, a Protestant denomination, envisioned Bethlehem as a support center for missionaries, intent on converting Native Americans and other German-speaking Pennsylvanians, but it became much more. Moravian traditions are still strong in this town, from the preservation of the original stone buildings on Church Street to the sounds of the Trombone Choir on Easter morning. Yet with the arrival of industrialists and new immigrants into the area, Bethlehem evolved into a center of heavy industry and trade in the 19th century, the second-largest steel producer in the world, after its neighbor Pittsburgh. In addition to the ubiquitous steel mills, there also came silk mills, railroads and canals, all shaping Bethlehem to resemble the one we know today. In the process, Bethlehem evolved into a graceful place, famous for its institutions of higher learning and for steel production. This collection is a reinterpretation of the photograph exhibit that graced the windows of the Bethlehem Area Public Library during the city's 250th anniversary celebration, covering the years between 1845 through 1900. The original exhibit consisted of 350 photographs, selected from more than 600 submitted by area residents from their personal collections.

Through vintage photographs, McKeesport documents the history of this once booming steel town from the development and subsequent loss of its major industry to its recent revitalization.

Located at the confluence of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers, McKeesport was settled by David McKee in 1755. In 1769, McKee acquired land from the Colonial government and one of his sons, John, laid out a village that became known as McKee's Port because a ferry was operating there. Early industries included coal mining and the building of flatboats, and in 1851, an iron rolling mill was started. Industry continued to boom as steamboats and railroads soon appeared, and in 1872, National Tube was founded and joined by other steel industries and foundries. The growing industries created an abundance of jobs, and immigrants from throughout Europe flocked to the area. McKeesport still maintains a strong ethnic heritage.

Washington Crossing is one of America’s most revered historic landmarks.

The crossing site is marked by the creation of two historic parks: Washington Crossing State Park, New Jersey, created in 1912, and Washington Crossing Historic Park, Pennsylvania, created in 1917. Washington Crossing illustrates how these two parks commemorate George Washington’s courage to lead his army across the ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 to attack an isolated garrison of Hessians located at Trenton, which would turn the tide of the American Revolution. Filled with images from the collections of historian Peter Osborne, the Washington Crossing Foundation, the Bucks County Historical Society, the Trenton Free Public Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the book includes an exposé of Emanuel Leutze’s famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware—a world-renowned symbol of freedom.

Robert W. Sands Jr. holds a master of arts in museum professions from Seton Hall University. He is the author of three previous Images of America books: Glassboro, Woodbury, and Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Patricia E. Millen holds a degree in American studies. An author of two books and numerous articles, she began her career at Washington Crossing State Park and is a founding board member of the Washington Crossing Park Association.

Through more than 200 vintage photographs, Pittsburgh's Shadyside chronicles the personalities, places, institutions, and events that transformed a farming community into an affluent industrial-age suburb and diverse city neighborhood.

The suburb of Shadyside was established in the middle of farmland during the late 1860s when the Shadyside train station opened. As Pittsburgh grew into the world's preeminent industrial city, Shadyside became the home of many influential men of the industrial age. Rapid change struck Shadyside early in the 20th century when commerce sprouted up around the perimeter of the neighborhood to cater to the residents' demand for luxury goods and services. Within another decade industry moved in, especially close to the train tracks, and in 1915, the Ford Motor Company assembly plant opened in Shadyside.

Schuylkill County in east central Pennsylvania was built from the rich southern fields of anthracite coal.

The era when coal was king has long since passed, but the story of the development of the anthracite coal industry that fueled the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. has not been lost, and its legacy still influences our modern world. When Broad Mountain was conquered by the railroads and the Mahanoy plane was built, coal could be brought up over the mountain to reach its markets. The transportation that was necessary to get the coal to the rapidly developing markets in Philadelphia, New York, and New England caused the development of the towns in northern Schuylkill County such as Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, and Ashland during the 1850s–1860s. The vivid details and nuances of local community life from the 1850s to the 1920s are brought to light in this wonderful collection by historians Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major.

The historic grounds of The Homewood Cemetery have been an integral part of Pittsburgh since before the cemetery was founded in 1878.

Nearly a half-century prior, Judge William Wilkins established his family’s Homewood residence on these now hallowed hills.Homewood was surrounded by the estates of notable Pittsburgh industrialists such as Henry Frick’s residence, named Clayton, and the H.J.Heinz family mansion, Greenlawn.These well-known families, along with numerous other sons and daughters of Pittsburgh, now rest in the approximately 200 acres encompassing The Homewood Cemetery.Today, past blends seamlessly with present, as the lawn park design of the cemetery draws visitors from all walks of life to enjoy its bucolic grounds and storied paths.

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard has a long history, from its beginnings pre-Civil War to its decommissioning in the late 1990's.

The first government-owned navy yard in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the nation and the largest city in the young republic, was started with two docks in 1798. Workers at the yard numbered seventy thousand at its peak. The area was enlarged and shipbuilding at this site increased, notably during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The yard's area was not dramatically increased, however, until the federal government purchased the 800-acre League Island and closed the former facility in 1868. The golden age of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard came during World War II, when it built fifty-three ships and converted or overhauled some twelve hundred more. After the 1970s, however, shipbuilding was discontinued. The yard continued to serve its country through the modernization of existing craft, but it was closed by the government in 1990 and officially decommissioned in 1996.

In the nineteenth century in Pottsville, coal was king, but the town successfully reinvented itself when coal fell out of favor.

FAREWELL 1899! WELCOME 1900! was the headline in the Pottsville Republican on January 1, 1900. The people of Pottsville ushered in the new century in the usual manner with noisy gatherings and crowded churches. Coal was king in Schuylkill County during the nineteenth century, but the demise of the coal industry had already begun by 1900. Bitter strikes between coal operators and miners, especially the great strike of 1902, caused consumers to find other fuels and forced Pottsville to re-create its economy and identity.

However, residents adapted swiftly, and it was not long before Pottsville had seven volunteer fire companies, the second-finest courthouse in the state, a first-class hospital, twenty-three churches, a $100,000 YMCA building, a public mission, a free kindergarten, twelve fine schoolhouses, two parochial schools, and a free public library. Pottsville in the Twentieth Century celebrates the town's changes and accomplishments throughout the 1900s.

Philadelphia Organized Crime in the 1920s and 1930s explores a little-known but spirited chapter of the Quaker City's history.

The hoodlums, hucksters, and racketeers of Prohibition-era Philadelphia sold bootleg booze, peddled illicit drugs, ran numbers, and operated prostitution and insurance rings. Among the fascinating personalities that created and contributed to the Philadelphia crime scene of the 1920s and 1930s were empire builders like Mickey Duffy, known as Prohibition's Mr. Big, and Max Boo Boo Hoff, dubbed the King of the Bootleggers; the violent Lanzetti brothers, who ran their own illegal enterprise; mobster Harry Nig Rosen Stromberg, a New York transplant; and the arsenic widows poison ring, which specialized in fraud and murder. Bringing to light rare photographs and forgotten characters, the authors chronicle the underworld of Philadelphia in the interwar era. The upheaval caused by the gangs and groups herein mirrors the frenzied cultural and political shifts of the Roaring Twenties and the austere 1930s.

Beginning in the latter half of the 19th century, individuals identifying themselves as Poles, Slovaks, Carpatho-Rusyns, Ukrainians, and others began what would eventually become a mass influx of eastern and central Europeans into Pennsylvania's anthracite coal mining region.

These people brought with them languages and customs quite alien to the longer-established groups that had settled the area many years earlier. At times the Slavs clashed with these groups, as well as among themselves. Eventually, however, they wove their way of life indelibly into the multiethnic fabric of the growing region. The Anthracite Coal Region's Slavic Community presents a pictorial history of Slavic people in hard coal country, conveying the unique and rich culture brought to the area with the arrival of these diverse communities.

Explore the riveting story behind what is considered America's best traditional amusement park, Kennywood.

For more than a century, Kennywood has been the Pittsburgh area's playground. Founded in 1898 at the terminus of the Monongahela Street Railway trolley line, the park quickly grew into a favorite summertime destination. Kennywood is unique in that it is one of the country's few successful trolley parks. In 1987, Kennywood was designated a National Historic Landmark and is known today as America's Finest Traditional Amusement Park. Many unique rides and attractions have distinguished Kennywood over the years. Some old favorites, such as the Rockets, Laff in the Dark, Ghost Ship, and Skooters, are long gone. Others, such as the Old Mill, Noah's Ark, Auto Race, Turtle, Whip, and Grand Carousel, still entertain guests today. Kennywood is perhaps best known for its impressive collection of roller coasters, from earlier coasters such as the Figure Eight, Speed-O-Plane, and Pippin to the Racer, Jack Rabbit, Thunderbolt, and Phantom's Revenge coasters that still thrill riders today.

Zippo has been owned and operated by the Blaisdell family for more than seventy years. Zippo Manufacturing Company contains photographs of the Blaisdells, the Zippo Riders, the Zippo ski slope, the Zippo car, special-edition lighters, and scenes from the town of Bradford. Zippo archives and private collections have yielded rare photographs of Zippo employees at work, company and collector events, and other highlights in the company's history.

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

The first non-native settlers arrived in Ragged Island, as Carbondale was then known, around 1802. Twenty years later, brothers William and Maurice Wurts were exploring the wilderness when they took note of several outcroppings of curious black stones.

These stones turned out to be anthracite coal, and the two Philadelphia businessmen became pioneers in America's Industrial Revolution. Carbondale's journey has taken many twists and turns during the past two centuries.

The colorful and fascinating mosaic of images in Carbondalegives the reader a glimpse into the heart of small-town America and a clear picture of this historic city's past.

Lithuanians came to America to find what they were denied in Eastern Europe: freedom from tyranny, freedom to worship and to live as they chose.

Through centuries of bloody invasions and cruel oppression, their land was denied to them, yet in the anthracite coalfields of Pennsylvania, these immigrants worked to build communities of proud American citizens who continued to celebrate Kucios as well as Kaledos, eat blynai and šaltibaršcia, decorate marguciai, and pray the rosary in their native language. In Schuylkill County, they built the first churches, first schools, and first communities established by Lithuanians in the United States. No matter the hardships - grueling work in coalmines, contempt and violence against recent immigrants, prejudice, or condescension toward foreign names and accents - they believed in their country, the United States. Their stories are essential America.

Pine Creek Village depicts the engaging history of this community.

Pioneer settlers began arriving in Pine Creek Valley after the Revolutionary War, drawn to the pristine wilderness filled with towering white pines and hemlocks. In the 1880s, descendants of those settlers began extensive lumbering operations aided greatly by the arrival of the railroad through the valley. Additional logging railroads were rapidly constructed up the tributary runs to the great stands of trees. Pine Creek's villages flourished, with both large and small sawmills buzzing. Around 1910, when the great lumbering days ended, many of the village populations plummeted. Throughout the 20th century and into today, the area remains a popular tourist destination for fishing, hunting, and outdoor enthusiasts.

From forest and field to thriving neighborhood, explore the Italian influence in building, markets and maybe even a pizza pie, all in South Philly's Little Italy.

What is now referred to as Little Italy was priginally called Irishtown when the first Italian moved to the area near Catherine Street around 1798, mostly forest and field in the middle of colonial Pennsylvania. By 1852, an Italian church had been established for the community, and from the advent of mass migration beginning in 1876 grew into Philadelphia's Little Italy. Many of the early families - Baldi, Pinto, and Fiorella - established businesses in the area that continue today. Other beautiful buildings still left standing are remnants of the once thriving banking industry in this little neighborhood. As time progressed, the market expanded beyond its local neighbors, and Italians throughout Philadelphia developed their own Little Italy communities to the north, west, and farther south of the original boundaries.

Historic photographs convey the influence and lives of the Italian immigrants and their part in the development and culture of the city of Brotherly Love.

Italians from the north have been in Philadelphia since Colonial times, and was second only to New York City in the number of immigrants who settled in the city. It was not until mass immigration from the south of Italy during the 1870s and 1880s that Italians began to make their mark on the city. Leaving small towns in the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Sicily, among others, they faced discrimination, language barriers, the separation of family by thousands of miles, and work in unfamiliar trades. Facing such drastic changes in their lives head on, they persevered, establishing Italian neighborhoods and churches while weaving their customs into their new American lifestyles. Through the use of historic photographs, Italians of Philadelphia conveys the influence Italian immigrants had on the development of Philly and how that spirit remains in the city today.

Located in the Lehigh Valley, the city of Easton was once known as the “Entrance to the Grand Valley.”

Its location at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers made it a prized position for commerce and early settlement. At the dawn of its creation, Easton played a major role in the Walking Purchase of 1737; later, Easton was the location of talks to end both the French and Indian and the Revolutionary Wars. By the early 19th century, Easton had become one of the first industrial centers of the region; when the town was incorporated in 1887, nearly 11,000 people called Easton home.Historic Eastontraces the evolution of a small frontier village to a large industrial center, spanning the years from the earliest settlements to the 1940s.

Located in the rich anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County was captured on film as early as the 1860s, when A.M. Allen set up Pottsville's first photography studio.

The Historical Society of Schuylkill County has been collecting and preserving these images for the last 95 years, bringing history to life once again in the companion to their first two volumes. Schuylkill County Volume II includes the work of George M. Bretz, the famous Photographer in the Mines, as well as a collection of postcard images that were popular in the early 20th century. View houses of worship, construction of Route 122/61 during the 1940s and 1950s, railroad stations and crossings that have since given way to the age of the automobile, and familiar county scenes. Dedicated historians Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major have reached deep into the collections of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County to mine this fascinating collection of images. A thoroughly researched and informative text complements the images and evokes a nostalgia for the past.

This collection of photographs tells the story of how one of America's most beautiful theme parks, Idlewild, has grown throughout the years.

Located in the scenic Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania, America's third oldest amusement park, Idlewild, was founded in 1878 as a picnic ground along the Ligonier Valley Railroad. Its tranquil setting quickly established Idlewild as the premier place for church, school, and corporate picnics, as well as a recreational getaway for families. Idlewild added new amusements and facilities as its crowds continued to grow, but it always strove to maintain the picturesque landscape of the site. Soon a full-fledged amusement park was in operation, with throngs of visitors disembarking the trains from such places as Latrobe, Greensburg, and Pittsburgh.

Home to unique attractions like Story Book Forest, the Rollo Coaster, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and the SoakZone, Idlewild has been the backdrop for generations of fond memories. Idlewild's proximity to the Lincoln Highway helped the park survive the abandonment of the railroad, and careful development by the Mellon and Macdonald families and the Kennywood Entertainment Company continue to help it thrive. This collection of photographs tells the story of how one of America's most beautiful theme parks has grown throughout the years.

Life was a lark at Willow Grove Park! Take a trip on a trolley back in time to one of America's most famous amusement parks.

Willow Grove Park was originally conceived by a Philadelphia traction company in order to encourage people to ride the trolley on weekends, coining the term "trolley park'? in the process. Completed in 1896, this ingenious concept proved a remarkable success, and the park set the standard for providing first-class entertainment and amusement. In addition to world-class rides, games, and food, there would be daily concerts at the music pavilion, featuring well-known musicians such as John Philip Sousa, Victor Herbert, and Arthur Pryor. The park was in business for 80 years, only conceding defeat in 1976, but its legacy lives on in photographs and in the memories of the people who spent their days there. Through a wide range of images, Willow Grove Parkcaptures the rich history of this well-known icon.

The formula for C.F. Martin & Co.'s success has always been an unparalleled commitment to precise handcraftsmanship blended with optimum tonewoods, innovation, and singular design.

This family business has persevered from the Civil War through the present and remains the oldest surviving maker of stringed instruments in the world. It is the largest and most respected producer of acoustic guitars in America. The images in this book trace the remarkable development of the acoustic guitar in the hands of six generations of Martin family members who have managed the business from 1833 to today. C.F. Martin & Co. captures the buildings, employees, musicians, and exquisite instruments that have contributed to a lasting legacy.

Tracing its roots back to 1840 on the banks of Roaring brook, Scranton, Pennsylvania is now considered an important industrial and cultural center in the United States.

In 1840, George and Selden Scranton, with William Henry, established their iron furnaces on the banks of Roaring Brook in the wilderness of northeastern Pennsylvania. Anthracite, locomotives, silk, and lace soon followed. In 1847, they successfully mass-produced iron T rails and later emerged as the nation's third largest steel manufacturer. Scranton traces the growth of Slocum Hollow through its rising industrialization into its emergence as the bustling Electric City. In all its urban complexity, Scranton attracted European immigrants and cosmopolitan investors as well as labor leader John Mitchell and entertainer Buffalo Bill. Joseph Albright Jr., a Scranton-born philanthropist, endowed a public library, and Raymond Hood, the architect of Rockefeller Center, designed the Masonic Temple. The footprints of these achievements remain an enduring testament to this important industrial and cultural center.

The most significant building project of its time, Eastern State Penitentiary was designed to reshape the minds of its inmates, rather than break their spirits.

It was believed that by keeping prisoners isolated in the chapel-like cells the inner light of their souls would emerge, leading them to discover penitence. In reality, the isolation was nearly impossible to maintain, and the lofty goals of the founders crumbled in the 20th century, much like the building itself. Originally located on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the city eventually expanded and swallowed up the prison. Its unique location became problematic, and numerous escapes and riots threatened the civilian populace in the area. The prison was home to such well-known figures as Chicago mob boss Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton, once the most wanted man in America. Eastern State Penitentiary chronicles the history of this massive prison from its opening in 1829 to its closing and abandonment in 1971, and finally to the rebirth of the prison in the 1990s as a thriving historic site and national historic landmark

A sweeping, illustrated history of the lakeside hideaway turned resort and leisure park enjoyed by Pennsylvanians for over a century.

In 1877, a humble boat landing was constructed on Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania's largest natural lake. Colonel Frank Mantor, a visionary, discovered and purchased the property and convinced investors from the Pittsburgh, Shenango, and Lake Erie Railroad to extend the railroad line to a newly built resort on the site. In 1892, Exposition Park—a permanent fair exhibiting machinery and livestock—was founded. Amusement rides were added alongside hotels, cottages, restaurants, and other businesses. The resort grew into an amusement park and was renamed Conneaut Lake Park in 1920. Conneaut Lake Park illustrates the evolution of this lakeside resort with images of long-gone attractions such as the Hotel Elmwood, Temple of Music, Jungle Cruise, Fairyland Forest, and Wild Mouse. Recent favorites such as the Blue Streak, Tumble Bug, Ultimate Trip, and Devil's Den are also included.

Through vintage photographs, Chester documents the community's golden years from the post-Civil War era to the 1950s.

In 1682, William Penn chose Chester as his landing place in Pennsylvania. A hub for commerce in Colonial times, Chester continued its prosperous reputation during the industrial revolution, and it is famous for its textile and paper mills. The town is home to the oldest public building in continuous use--the 1724 courthouse. Kimberly-Clark, formally Scott Paper Company, is among the successful local businesses today. Through the years, many prominent people, including the Wetherill, Scott, Deshong, and Crozer families, called Chester home.

For nearly 80 years, Pennhurst State School and Hospital was a reminder of how society viewed and treated people with intellectual disabilities.

Over its existence, Pennhurst was home to more than 10,600 people. Many spent decades there, working to keep the institution running by performing various jobs. While some enjoyed the lives they had fashioned for themselves at Pennhurst, for many others, life there was crushing. Pennhurst also played a central role in the lives of its employees and in the rural Pennsylvania community where it was located. Controversy plagued the institution for its entire existence, and it is remembered primarily as a place where bad things happened. However, it was much more than that. This book provides a window into that separate world, reminding those who were part of it of what they saw and did there and giving those who know only what they have heard or seen a different picture of what Pennhurst truly was.

In 1870, Mother Aloysia Lowe and five Sisters of Charity arrived in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to found a community of sisters for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Mother Aloysia purchased a 200-acre property in Greensburg in 1882 to accommodate the growing community. It became known as Seton Hill. The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill have dedicated their lives in service of others. From the establishment of groundbreaking educational institutions, including Seton Hill University, to the operation of advanced health-care facilities and vital social service programs, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill influenced the lives of thousands. Their pioneering spirit, evidenced in their expansive mission work, culminated in 1960 with a mission to Korea. The Korean Province and the United States now unite the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill as an international congregation.

Take a trip back in time to when Clearfield County’s woods were occupied by lumbermen and log drives filled the West Branch of the Susquehanna.

Through historic photographs, witness the growth of Clearfield, Curwensville, and Dubois despite terrible floods and fires; marvel at the growth from a loose collection of logging towns into prosperous and successful Pennsylvania county, well-known for its coal, quarries, the Gearhart Knitting Machine, and businesses such as Kurtz Brothers, Clearfield Furs, and Clearfield Cheese. The engaging photographs in Clearfield County also document how Kylertown Airport was once one of the busiest in the country and reveal how a few county residents, including Nora Waln, Philip Bliss, George Rosenkrans, and Tom Mix, found fame.

See the faces, events and places that have made Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill an indespensable keepsake since its founding in the late 1600s.

Called the most historic street in America, Germantown Avenue follows the path of an ancient Lenni Lenape trail. This historic route links Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill, the three neighborhoods of the city of Philadelphia that make up the old German Township. From the first protest against slavery in North America, to the battle of Germantown in 1777, to the service of its two military hospitals during the Civil War, Germantown has been the site of some of history's most significant events. Many rarely seen images from the archives of the Germantown Historical Society are in Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill.

Covering the period from Colonial times to the 20th century, these images tell in sharp detail the story of the region founded by German-speaking settlers in 1683. From these beginnings, Germantown evolved into a prosperous industrial center by the mid-19th century. Immigrants from all parts of Europe were attracted to Germantown. It also became a destination for wealthy businessmen who built elaborate Victorian villas and gardens and was home to one of the nation's first commuter railroads, as well as many factories and textile mills.

Southwark's deep history is tied to its relationship to the waterfront and the multitude of immigrant communities that settled its streets.

The area along the banks of the Delaware River originally known as Philadelphia's Southwark District encompasses the present-day neighborhoods of Queen Village, Pennsport, and Dickinson Square West. The Washington Avenue Immigration Station, Southwark's counterpart to Ellis Island, was a testament to the waves of immigrants reaching America's shores in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the immigrants who stayed in Philadelphia found inexpensive housing in Southwark and employment along the waterfront. Today, the neighborhoods of old Southwark continue to embrace diversity. Many of the area's historic houses still stand alongside newly built homes. While the construction of high-volume roadways cut off the neighborhoods from the waterfront, new efforts are reconnecting Southwark to the river through improved access points and attractive waterfront recreation areas.

Before the discovery of "black gold'? in the late 1870s, Bradford was considered a backwoods lumber town, but the following oil boom changed everything.

Almost overnight, Bradford was transformed into a place of millionaires and mansions, people and progress, but Bradford's important earlier history was promptly forgotten. Each photograph is from the collection of the Bradford Landmark Society, and many of these pictures have never before been published. Covering the era from the late 1850s to the mid-1940s, Around Bradford focuses on a time that people regard with fondness and hold firmly in their memories. We can never hear what those early residents heard, and we can never feel what they felt, but with these photographs, we can at least see what they saw.

Images of America: Philadelphia's River Wards captures the history of these five neighborhoods in more than two hundred vintage photographs, rare maps, and historical drawings.

Philadelphia's River Wards is the story of five remarkable neighborhoods that line the banks of the Delaware River from Vine Street to the Frankford Creek: Northern Liberties, Kensington, Port Richmond, Frankford, and Bridesburg. The first white settlers arrived in the area in the 1600s, and the population grew with the influx of European immigrants in the 1800s and early 1900s. Industry flourished as fabric and textile mills sprang up and shipyards and terminals lined the waterfront. In 1922, the Frankford El, a technological marvel, forever changed the face of transportation in the area, connecting the River Wards to the far reaches of the city. Philadelphia's River Wards captures this history in more than two hundred vintage photographs, rare maps, and historical drawings.

Explore the building, heyday and eventual demise of Whitemarsh Hall, once considered the "Versailles of America."

Whitemarsh Hall was one of the largest and most exquisite estates in North America. Edward Townsend Stotesbury, one of the wealthiest Philadelphians in the early 20th century, commissioned renowned architect Horace Trumbauer to build the 147-room mansion in 1916 on 300 acres just outside Philadelphia. Whitemarsh Hall, which took five years to build at an estimated cost of $10 million with all the furnishings, was a wedding present for his second wife. This book explores Whitemarsh Hall's construction, its prime in the 1920s, the multiple impacts of the Great Depression, Stotesbury's death, and subsequent ownership over the next four decades, culminating in its eventual submission to decay, vandalism, and the wrecking ball in 1980.