Images of America

Name: Ralls County
Brand: K. Allen Ballard
SKU: 9780738594026
Price: 18.74 USD
Availability: InStock

Discover the history of your hometown with Arcadia Publishing's best-selling Images of America History Book series, crafted by local authors. Visit landmarks like the Yellowstone National Park, the Biltmore Estate, or Alcatraz Island without ever leaving your backyard. Hike to the rural Angwin village on Howell Mountain, time-travel to Chicago’s 1893 World Fair, or experience sports history at Fenway Park. Through iconic images of America, these local history books open a window into yesterday for eager history lovers. [View all Images of America books]

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St. Louis

$29.99 $22.49 Save 25%

Ralls County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Jefferson City at War

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Around Butler

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Livingston County

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Sedalia

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Warren County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Irish St. Louis

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

St. Louis Casa Loma Ballroom

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Mexico

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Nodaway County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Southwest Garden

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

St. Louis Garden District

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Monett

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Brentwood, Missouri

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

University City, Missouri

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

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Ralls County

9780738594026

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In 1820, Ralls County was the cradle of northeast Missouri civilization. Ralls was a "Benton Baby," born from a political deal brokered by the powerful Thomas Hart Benton and named for an ordinary New London farmer and state representative. In fact, no other US county is named Ralls. One citizen became a Texan patriot serving defenders at the Alamo, while a slave from the county was ordained as America's first African American Catholic priest. Ralls is blessed with springs, salt licks, farmlands, wildlife, abundant hardwood timber, coal, sand, gravel deposits, and limestone, and most importantly the Salt River passes through it. Development progressed slowly, but Ralls became a major north-south thoroughfare and had the first direct rail route from Hannibal to St. Louis. The Atlas Cement plant produced millions of barrels of cement that were used in the construction of the Panama Canal and the Empire State Building. Today, the Clarence Cannon Dam prevents flooding while providing recreational opportunities rivaling more prominent Missouri lakes.

Jefferson City at War

9781467111591

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Jefferson City has a unique and enduring legacy of brave individuals banding together to answer the nation's call to arms. The Missouri National Guard's Company L, 2nd Infantry mobilized in support of the Mexican Border War in 1916 and later federalized for deployment during the Great War. Local youth scrambled to recruiting stations for a chance to join in the fray against Germany and Japan during World War II. Later, brave residents found themselves in the Korea peninsula or the jungles of Vietnam. It is clear that the Jefferson City community has a history of embracing the groundswell of patriotic pride that emerges in support of those who chose to fight--and sometimes lay down their lives--for a cause they view as greater than themselves.

Around Butler

9780738598666

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Meet the Electric City! From cattle to coal mines, border ruffians to businessmen, and rockets to railroad schemes, the air around Butler, Missouri, has crackled with energy since the settlement's establishment in 1856. Ravaged by Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers and consumed in 1863 by the flames of General Order No. 11, the settlement rose from the ashes in the late 1860s and 1870s to become a hub of culture and commerce at the western edge of the "Show Me State." In 1881, the capital of Bates County went electric, becoming one of the first municipalities west of the Mississippi to generate its own power, outstripping Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station in Manhattan by almost a year. A quiet little community with a loud and vibrant history, Butler is the quintessential example of the American small-town experience.

Livingston County

9781467160124

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

By 1833, settlers began arriving in what became Livingston County, Missouri. The first railroad to span the state cut through the county in 1859, and more followed, which led to the founding of new towns along the railways. Residents built successful farms, schools, churches, and businesses. They served their country in the military. Chillicothe was awarded the State Industrial Home for Girls in 1889. Allen Moore founded the Chillicothe Normal School in 1890, choosing Livingston County because of its "progressive spirit." Rosina Dome was the first Livingston County woman to cast a vote. Lulu May Ott was the only female poultry judge in Missouri in 1915. In 1928, in Frank Bench's bakery in Chillicothe, a loaf of bread was commercially sliced and sold for the first time. Life in Livingston County included races, circuses, theatres, train wrecks, sports, and the Great Flood of 1909. Residents still exemplify a forward-thinking spirit. The history of Livingston County is presented here via rich images uncovered by the authors, Kirsten Mouton and Brenda Anderson O'Halloran, from the collections of the Livingston County Library and the Grand River Historical Society Museum, as well as treasured photographs from the private collections of longtime local families. Many of these pictures have never been shared with the public.

Sedalia

9780738550879

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Sedalia, now a bustling hub of central Missouri, began as a mere interruption to a vast expanse of prairie grass. George R. Smith purchased 337 acres of treeless prairie in 1856, leading his neighbors to question his sanity. When he persuaded the Pacific Railroad to locate a depot on his land, his image--and that of his Sedville--began to change. Sedville, later Sedalia, soon became the county seat of Pettis County and earned a reputation as the "Queen of the Prairies." Sedalia chronicles the transformation of a rugged prairie town to the home of the Missouri State Fair and host to the international Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. Sedalia's history is illustrated through more than 200 vintage images, showing the people, places, and events that shaped the town.

Warren County

9780738582900

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

By 1833, when Warren County was officially created by the State of Missouri, its pages of history were already filled with the lives of famous people. It would become the final resting place of American pioneer and trailblazer Daniel Boone after the Spanish government promised him land in return for bringing settlers. In 1804, when Lewis and Clark and their corps visited, it was the last settlement of whites in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. This led German-born writer Gottfried Duden to come and see what made this area so appealing to the American pioneers. He returned to his homeland and in 1829 published A Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America, filled with glowing descriptions of a promised land. His book opened the floodgates of German immigrants coming to this nation in the 1830s, and by 1850 nine out of ten residents were German born or of German descent--the largest concentration of German Americans in the state.

Irish St. Louis

9780738532226

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

It's quite unlikely that Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau could have comprehended the scope of their undertaking in 1764 when they laid out the settlement on the western banks of the Mississippi that was to become the metropolis of St. Louis. Founded by the French, governed by the Spanish, and heavily populated by the English and Germans, the role that the Irish had in making St. Louis what it is today is often overlooked. The Irish are steeped in tradition, and that trait did not leave the Irish immigrants when they arrived in St. Louis and called this place home. Like many other cities in America, the heritage of Ireland is alive and well in St. Louis. This book visually captures their Irish spirit, and portrays a few of the Irish movers and shakers alongside the Irish commoner in their new and challenging lives here in St. Louis.

St. Louis Casa Loma Ballroom

9780738533780

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

In 1927, on the northeast corner of Cherokee and Iowa Streets in south St. Louis, a multistory, multipurpose building was erected. Retail shops and a bowling alley occupied the first floor, while upstairs was a place that defied the imagination of someone driving by in their brand new Model T Ford. Today, that upstairs space, with its lofty ceiling, huge maple tongue-in-groove dance floor, and wraparound balcony, is the Casa Loma Ballroom--St. Louis' last grand ballroom. Today, one gets the feeling that the ghosts of the big bands and the vocalists still linger there--and with good reason. Just about everybody who was anybody played there at one time or another. Ol' Blue Eyes himself, before he was the idol of millions, received just a meager "Featured Singer, Frank Sinatra" note at the bottom of the Casa Loma bill the night he played with the Harry James Orchestra.

Mexico

9780738584485

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

After its founding in 1836, Mexico was named county seat of the newly formed Audrain County. Growth in the primarily agricultural region was slow until the coming of the North Missouri Railroad and the Graduation Act that made land available from the federal government for 12.5¢ an acre. With the introduction of breeding and training saddle horses, the discovery of fire clay deposits, and the implementation of more efficient means of turning the clay into heat resistant brick, Mexico's star ascended. During its heyday, the city was known as the "saddle horse capital" and the "firebrick capital of the world." Today Mexico continues to survive and thrive as "main street of the Midwest."

Nodaway County

9780738552217

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

One of six counties carved out of the Platte Purchase, added to Missouri in 1836, Nodaway County appeared to its first white explorers to be a rolling prairie, marginal for agriculture but full of opportunity for those willing to bring hard work and ingenuity to the land. Within a generation of building cabins and experimenting with a wide variety of agricultural enterprises, the county boasted at least 17 towns, four railroad lines, 16 newspapers, and all the economic and cultural institutions necessary for boosters to lay claim to progress and civility. While residents of towns and the countryside often drew distinctions between one another, their lives were intertwined by mills, horse farms, livestock shows, new technology, churches, schools, public entertainment of every sort, and occasional times of hardship. By the 1920s, the communities of Nodaway County, supported by a vibrant and diverse rural economy, reached a zenith of locally generated economic growth and community activity, captured artfully by photographers during the decades that bracketed the turn of the 20th century.

Southwest Garden

9780738561851

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Southwest Garden neighborhood borders two internationally known St. Louis landmarks, the Missouri Botanical Garden, founded in 1859, and Tower Grove Park, established in 1868. The land for both the garden and the park was donated by their founder, Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist. Both destinations are designated as national historic landmarks--the garden is one of the oldest in the United States, and the park shares the honor of being on the National Register of Historic Places with only three other municipal parks in the nation. The botanical garden is the best place to start a historical walking tour of the Southwest Garden neighborhood.

St. Louis Garden District

9780738532592

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Found near the famed Missouri Botanical Garden, also known as Shaw's Garden, the Garden District of St. Louis encompasses the present-day environs of Compton Hill, Oak Hill, Compton Heights, Compton Hill Reservoir Square, Tower Grove East, Tower Grove Heights, and the Shaw neighborhood. Henry Shaw was one of St. Louis' most prominent landowners in the mid-nineteenth century and is directly responsible for the Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park. These, along with his other contributions, helped the Garden District flourish, and it continues to attract visitors year in and year out. The images in this book will take you on a tour of the beauty and history of the St. Louis Garden District.

Brentwood, Missouri

9780738520216

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The mail coaches and prairie schooners traveling west in the late 1800s on the Manchester Trail would have stopped in what is today known as Brentwood. Maddenville, as the area was then called, was named after a prominent businessman who owned a grocery store, barbershop, rock quarry, and blacksmith shop. While some travelers took respite in Porta's Tavern and pressed westward, others never left the community that later grew, along with the railroad, into a bustling community just outside St. Louis. This collection of words and images by the Brentwood Historical Society brings to life the small-town values and humble history of "The City of Warmth."

In this book, more than 200 historic photographs portray the days when the Brentwood Dinky streetcar ran from St. Louis, Link's Chicken Farm became infamous, and Louis J. "Pat" Bompart, grandson of Brentwood's founder, bought tavern patrons round after round of drinks. Pictured here are the schools, churches, businesses, and festivals that have endeared residents to Brentwood since its earliest days as a whistle stop.

University City, Missouri

9780738520063

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In 1904, from a plot of land that would soon become University City, eccentric publisher Edwin Gardner Lewis shone the beam of what he claimed was the world's largest searchlight over the World's Fair in nearby St. Louis. Several years later, he claimed an even greater possession: a city, created around his publishing complex, complete with his own mayoral office, wide boulevards, and beautiful residences. The story of University City is one of urban wonder: from the city's "Hilltop Neighbor" and namesake, Washington University, to the diversity showcased in today's University City. The historic images in this volume illustrate the area's founding and development, from the largest printing press of the time, capable of producing 300,000 eight-page newspapers an hour, to the lion sculptures at the city's famed "Gates of Opportunity," standing proud as the city's everlasting symbol.