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In its beginnings, Baltimore County was covered with dense ancient forests of deciduous trees and so little undergrowth that it was said a man could gallop horses within them.

Today horses gallop over bucolic pastures of renowned Thoroughbred farms amidst quaint historic towns seen dotting the rolling landscape. Named for the Lords Baltimore, Baltimore County was originally an expansive area extending well beyond today's boundaries. Founded in 1659, the county has evolved from tobacco farming to diverse industries ranging from steel manufacturing to picturesque vineyards. Both then and now, nearby Baltimore Harbor on the Chesapeake Bay provides lucrative opportunities for merchants to trade their crops and commodities. The county offers endless recreational pursuits on over 175 miles of shoreline. Baltimore County is proud to claim among its residents the noted neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson; baseball's all-time iron man, Cal Ripken; and famous author Tom Clancy.

George Washington was first and foremost a Virginian. Born in the state's Tidewater region, he was reared near Fredericksburg and took up residence at Mount Vernon along the Potomac River.

As a young surveyor, he worked in Virginia's backcountry. He began his military career as a Virginia militia officer on the colony's frontier. The majority of his widespread landholdings were in his native state, and his entrepreneurial endeavors ranged from the swamplands of the Southeast to the upper Potomac River Valley. Historian John Maass explores the numerous sites all over the Commonwealth associated with Washington and demonstrates their lasting importance.

McKees Rocks and Stowe Township, just downriver from the Point of Pittsburgh, contributed significantly to the growth of steel and transportation in western Pennsylvania.

In 1888, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, known as the Little Giant, built a 100-acre maintenance facility in McKees Rocks, igniting the spark to the region's massive industrial, business, and population explosion. By 1910, the population soared to 15,000, fueled by the rapid influx of nearly 6,000 immigrants. A landmark event in labor history occurred in July 1909, when 5,000 foreign workers, representing 16 different nationalities, waged a long and bloody strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company. McKees Rocks and Stowe Township showcases a region whose diverse history includes the largest Native American mound in Pennsylvania, visits by George Washington, floods, and even Al Capone. Today a rich mix of ethnic cultures still flavors the local neighborhoods, and the accomplishments of homegrown businessmen, musicians, clergy, athletes, public servants, artists, and educators are recognized and respected throughout western Pennsylvania and beyond.

Unbeknownst to most of the city’s inhabitants, a rural community of garbage workers once existed on a now-vanished island in New York City.

Barren Island was a swampy speck in Jamaica Bay where a motley group of new immigrants and African Americans quietly processed mountains of garbage and dead animals starting in the 1850s. They turned the waste into useful industrial products until their eviction by Robert Moses in 1936, all in the name of progress. Barren Islanders built businesses, fought fires, demanded a public school and worshipped at churches as they created a quintessentially American community from scratch. Author Miriam Sicherman tells the story of a Brooklyn neighborhood lost in the annals of New York City history.

Discover the history of Folly Beach and how it transformed over the years from Coffin Island to a popular vacation destination.

Folly Beach was not named for its carefree inhabitants' lifestyles, but it is a fitting moniker nonetheless. Originally dubbed Folly for its dense foliage and forests just across the marsh from James Island and Charleston, the six-mile sliver of land has served as an outpost for Civil War soldiers, an inspiration to George Gershwin, and a place of fond memories for thousands of residents, vacationers, and day-trippers seeking time to relax in the sea and sand. Long before Folly became a place for respite and relaxation, however, it served as a quarantine island for sick sailors, forebodingly referred to as Coffin Island. By the 1950s, Folly's dark history was sufficiently replaced with an amusement park, bowling alley, and moonlight dances out on the pier.

Pawling, New York is a charming town offering stunning scenery steeped in history.

Originally formed from the Beekman Precinct on May 20, 1769, the town of Pawling has been called the Hudson Valley’s best-kept secret. Despite being connected to Manhattan via the Harlem Line, the town and village of Pawling have never let go of their picturesque charm. The grand vistas continue to provide the same unimpeded views they have for centuries. Pawling was the site of General Washington’s headquarters in 1778 and the residence of two-time Republican nominee for president Gov. Thomas E. Dewey. It has been called home by some of the richest and most famous people in the United States, and yet it retains its modest and unassuming character. Pawling has always been a curious mix of farmers, politicians, merchants, artists, and entrepreneurs. For more than 200 years, both the affluent and ordinary men and women of the area have benefited from the undeniable scenic beauty of Pawling.

In Pawling, author Max Weber has written a comprehensive history of this remarkable area. He has worked at the Book Cove for over 12 years and is a member of the Historical Society of Quaker Hill and Pawling. This book is a product of his gratitude for the community and its inhabitants.

Drink up the history of one of the most famous beer towns in the world.

Milwaukee is most famous for its booming brewing industry, which is directly tied to a surge in German immigration in the 1840s. These new citizens brought along their work ethic, culture, and a love for their native beverage. Not all immigrants arrived from Europe; many, like Richard Owens, came from Britain. Owens has been credited with establishing the first commercial brewery in the area in 1840. Other men followed, many of whom were already experienced in brewing, and seized the opportunity to start new businesses. Brand names were carved on the front of brewery buildings, deals were made with a handshake, partnerships were cultivated, and factory cities were raised. By 1860, nearly 200 breweries were in operation in Wisconsin, with more than 40 in Milwaukee alone. Of the original 40, four have stood the test of time: Blatz, Pabst, Schlitz, and Miller are still brewed in Milwaukee, right where they were born.

The lives of the Native American, African, and European inhabitants of Bertie County have not only shaped, but been shaped, by its landscape.

One of the oldest counties in North Carolina, Bertie County lies in the western coastal plains of northeastern North Carolina, bordered to the east by Albemarle Sound and the tidewater region and to the west by the Roanoke River in the piedmont.

The county's waterways and forests sustained the old Native American villages that were replaced in the eighteenth century by English plantations, cleared for the whites by African slaves. Bertie County's inhabitants successfully developed and sustained a wide variety of crops including the ""three sisters""-corn, beans, and squash-as well as the giants: tobacco, cotton, and peanuts. The county was a leading exporter of naval stores and mineral wealth and later, a breadbasket of the Confederacy.

Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History documents the long history of the region and tells how its people, at first limited by the landscape, radically altered it to support their needs. This is the story of the Native Americans, gone from the county for 200 years but for arrowheads and other artifacts. It is the story of the African slaves and their descendants and the chronicle of their struggles through slavery, the Jim Crow era, and the Civil Rights Movement. It is also the story of the Europeans and their rush to tame the wilderness in a new land. Their entwined history is clarified in dozens of new maps created especially for this book, along with vivid illustrations of forgotten faces and moments from the past.

Safety Harbor’s five natural mineral springs have drawn visitors and residents to the shores of Old Tampa Bay for centuries.

A ceremonial mound erected by indigenous peoples offers proof of human life stretching back before written history. Spanish explorers landed here in the 16th century, and 300 years later, the first seeds of Florida’s citrus industry were planted by Odet Phillipe. The Florida boom of the 1920s brought development and population growth. Expansion stalled during the Great Depression, but after World War II, Safety Harbor became a tourist destination for the rich and famous, permanently changing the city’s future. Images of the past create a nostalgic reminder of hardy people and their perseverance despite devastating hurricanes and fires. The timeless tranquility of sunrises and sunsets and Spanish moss draped from massive oaks endures throughout this historical, artsy city on the bay.

Laura Kepner is coauthor of A Brief History of Safety Harbor, Florida; author of the children’s book When Lourdes Was Big; and former editor of the literary journal Odet. She serves on the boards of the Safety Harbor Museum & Cultural Center and the Whispering Souls African American Cemetery. Since 2008, Kepner has walked the land of the Tocobaga, ever in awe.

From Tory plantation to a thriving and diverse city, discover Greenville's transformation through time and the prominent people who called the city home.

In a state famous for secession and Old South ideals, Greenville stands as one of South Carolina's most precocious and complex communities. Settled in the inviting shadows of Paris Mountain along the Reedy River, both city and county struggle between the traditional values of a distinct Southern heritage and the progressive trends of a growing and diverse population. Throughout the mid-1800s to the late 1960s, Greenville embraced, even thrived, on this conflict, turning tension into opportunity and creating a remarkable society of savvy entrepreneurs, enlightened educators, talented writers, and triumphant athletes. In this volume of over 200 seldom-seen images, Greenville offers a fascinating glimpse at the people, the schools, and the businesses that dramatically transformed a Tory plantation into a sprawling metropolis. From the rustic portraits of mineral springs and mansion resorts to the snapshots of fast trolleys and overcrowded cantonments, this book highlights a special place that was home to Shoeless Joe Jackson and Jesse Jackson and played host to global notables, such as Albert Einstein and Ronald Reagan.

In 1685, Dutch merchants Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck received their Crown patent for the purchase of what is known as the Rombout Patent.

This was the first and largest portion of Dutchess County to be licensed for purchase from the Wappinger Indians. The town of Fishkill covers only a small portion of this 85,000-acre parcel of land, but it played an important role for years to come in the shaping of the region and the nation. In this vibrant new pictorial history, over 200 vintage images bring to life the changes that have occurred over the past century in this Hudson Valley community, from Dutchess Junction, Timoneyville, Glenham, and Brockway, to Baxtertown, Osborn Hill, and Brinkerhoff Ville. Readers learn more about the key role that Fishkill played during Revolutionary times, and view area homes where notables like Lafayette, George Washington, and Generals von Steuben, McDougal, and Putnam headquartered.

Middleburg was established in 1787 by Leven Powell, one of Virginia's founding fathers.

Following a long decline after the Civil War, the arrival of foxhunting in 1904 gave the town an international reputation for breeding, showing, and racing Thoroughbred horses. Over the ensuing decades, Middleburg would undertake significant historic preservation, but the town would also be remarkable for its laissez-faire attitude toward the rich and famous. Movie stars and presidents were seduced not only by Middleburg's horses, hounds, and history, but also by its respect for the privacy of its more renowned residents and visitors. In Middleburg, photographs from the collections of local residents Howard Allen and Tyler Gore as well as from the National Sporting Library, the Library of Congress, and other sources were chosen to reflect the character and charm of this historic village.

The creation of Lake Jocassee by Duke Power Company's massive Keowee-Toxaway Project in the late 1960s and early 1970s flooded a quaint mountain valley whose earliest recorded history was in 1539, when Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto led an expedition through the present-day Jocassee Gorges.

In 1971, hundreds watched the slow retreat of the Whitewater, Thompson, Horsepasture, Toxaway, and Keowee Rivers as they formed one large lake, smothering homes, lands, and farms in the process. Years of monitoring the water flow through the valley proved initial estimates correct, and Lake Jocassee became the deepwater source it was intended to be, providing an adequate supply of water to generate electricity. Today, a new generation enjoys many recreational activities on what is known as the Jewel in South Carolina's Crown, a pristine lake surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains in Oconee and Pickens Counties.

While it may not have had the same historical impact as its Italian predecessor, the history of Rome, New York, is not to be sniffed at.

This central New York crossroads witnessed the siege of Fort Stanwix during the Revolutionary War, the digging of the Erie Canal, and the development of industry that followed. At one time, Rome boasted one-tenth of all copper produced in the country, earning the nickname "the Copper City.'? This historical collection depicts the people, the great streets, and the structures that all created Rome's rich history.

An engaging pictorial history of the Slovak community in Chicagoland, documenting their journeys and struggles through rare and vintage images.

The story of Slovak Americans in Chicagoland is a tale of the American dream. In a few short years, emigrants from Slovakia with little to their names came to the United States and succeeded beyond their highest hopes. This fascinating story of ""rags to riches"" has been documented in historical photographs in Images of America: Slovaks of Chicagoland. Many Slovaks came to America with few assets, no more than a sixth-grade education, and no knowledge of the English language. They went to school and became naturalized citizens. Many took menial jobs in stockyards, steel mills, and oil refineries. They saved their money and opened grocery stores, banks, construction firms, and other businesses. Slovaks built beautiful churches, quality schools, and recreational facilities. They raised their families to be proud Americans and incorporated traditions from Slovakia into their daily lives, including the important role of religion.

Trace the development of Clinton from a tiny town in the 1800s though vintage photographs of everyday life there.

At the edge of the Piedmont region of South Carolina lies the small town of Clinton. A town built upon nurturing others, Clinton boasts a picturesque village and countryside inhabited by warm-hearted residents. Beginning as little more than an intersection of highways, Clinton has become the home to institutions such as the Thornwell Home for Children, Presbyterian College, and the Presbyterian Home. The small-town charm and quaint beauty that once attracted the town founders still permeates throughout. In this attractive volume of vintage photographs, readers will visit the Clinton of yesteryear, experiencing the area as it was when the earliest visitors and settlers came, including Christian followers of several denominations, railroad travelers en route between Laurens and Newberry, and historical figures such as William Plumer Jacobs, founder of both the orphanage and the college. Covering Clinton's history from its beginnings in the 1800s to its presence in the new millennium, this visual history touches upon aspects of everyday life, the remaining and the lost architectural treasures, and the social activities of the decades.

Images of America: Italians of Stark Countyfocuses on Italian immigration into Stark County beginning in the late 1800s.

In the late 1800s, Stark County's urban hub of Canton and the surrounding communities were in the middle of a thriving expansion driven by industry, transportation, and manufacturing. Along with this growth came the need for labor, with immigration filling many of those needs. Italians came to Stark County to work in the steel mills, in the coal mines, and on the railroad, as well as to start their own small businesses. Once established, Italian families began to replicate the community foundations from their native land, and in turn these foundations reinforced embedded values: family, food, religion, music, and freedom.

This photographic history illustrates these values while bringing to life the character, work ethic, determination, and love of life of the Italian people of Stark County. Local author and Italian American J.A. Musacchia was born and raised in Stark County and is a member of the Sugarcreek Township Historical Societyand the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.

Unforgettable Vintage Images of an All-American City.

From bungalows along the coves to the magnificent Victorian houses along Bayview Avenue, Northport truly provides Images of America.

Once known as Great Cow Harbor, the area that is now Northport grew from a rural farming and fishing village into an industrial hub. Shipyards dominated the harbor's shoreline, while brickworks and sand mines provided building materials for New York City's skyscrapers. As industry flourished, the community grew, and essential amenities for transit, education, and worship were established. During the 19th century, wealthy oyster barons converted seashell fortunes into publishing, banking, and real estate ventures, fashioning Northport into one of the prettiest villages on Long Island, its harbor and beaches offering a summer refuge for city dwellers and a sanctuary for artists, actors, and writers.

While Middlesex County is one of the most historic communities in the nation, some of its past is little known.

Researchers found dinosaur tracks in Middlefield that date back 200 million years. The author of Dr. Dolittle, Hugh Lofting, lived in Killingworth, and a young Dr. Seuss spent summers in Clinton. Constance Baker Motley, the first female African American federal judge, resided in Chester. A Portland lake has water levels that fluctuate for no apparent reason. An Essex blacksmith shop was America's oldest continuously run family business. Local authors Robert and Kathleen Hubbard reveal these and many other unforgettable stories.

As the companion volume to Around Auburn, this pictorial history chronicles the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Auburn, New York.

Local historian Stephanie E. Przybylek has compiled another impressive collection of images in a joint effort with the Cayuga Museum to preserve the history of Auburn. Around Auburn Volume II features images from the museum, the Community Preservation Committee, and private collections. Included in this volume are views of Genesee Street in the bustling 1920s, interior shots of the McIntosh & Seymour factory, and Lakeside Park and Enna Jettick Park, amusement parks that served as summer playgrounds for generations of local residents on the shores of Owasco Lake. The strong community bonds created by the hardship of the Great Depression and two world wars are documented, as well as immigration in the early twentieth century, which added rich ethnic and cultural contrasts to Auburn.

Step into the rich history and unique look of a bygone era in Pickens County, South Carolina through the lens of over 200 vintage images.

A paradise of breathtaking waterfalls, flawless vistas, and picturesque lakes, Pickens County enjoys a remarkable natural beauty along the stream-laced foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county, named for early settler and Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens, was once part of the Old Pendleton District, a portion of the Palmetto State that also included Anderson and Oconee Counties, and like much of the Upstate, echoes its Cherokee heritage through local names such as Lake Keowee and the Cateechee community. This volume, containing over 200 black-and-white images, provides readers a unique opportunity to step back into the Pickens County of yesteryear, a time remembered for clay main streets, horse-drawn buggies, railroads, and early textile mills, gristmills, and sawmills. Covering the county's towns, such as Easley, Pickens, Liberty, and Central, Pickens County recounts the intriguing stories of hardships and accomplishments of the area's pioneering families and descendants, who have continued to shape the county without destroying the area's natural environment.

Historic, haunted, chilling tales of the town of Richmond as told by one of Virginia's most respected paranormal investigators!

With over four hundred years of history, Richmond abounds with ghostly tales and ghastly deeds from the past. Step into the shadows and take a tour of thirteen of Richmond's most haunted sites. Visit Church Hill, home of the famous St. John's Church, and discover the events that led to the tragic tunnel collapse of 1925.

Discover the long-forgotten Civil Warhospitals of Shockoe Bottom, where hundreds of wounded soldiers met their end. Feel the icy chill at the bottom of a staircase where a young apprentice was murdered in cold blood by his jealous master in 1826.

These stories and more await as you discover the mysterious, tragic and terrifying events of Richmond's dark past.""

Frackville, Pennsylvania, is a perfect community for exploring the identity of small-town America.

This borough is representative of the many struggles American citizens and immigrants had to overcome in the mid-nineteenth through the twentieth century on their way to success. Even though Frackville's men and women possess a tremendous drive for progress, they have not forgotten the sacrifices made by earlier generations that have helped shape them and create the area in which they live. This volume looks back on the borough's history and retells the fascinating stories of its original families and early settlers, like the Fracks and the Merediths, and traces Frackville's growth and development from its incorporation in 1876 to its centennial celebration in 1976. With over 200 images, many never before published, this collection shows the reader buildings and homes, some now demolished, lining dusty roads and peopled with citizens in antiquated hats or dresses, and even presents pictures of more recent generations participating in the centennial parade.

The New Hampshire Seacoast has a wealth of overlooked history - some remnants are hidden in plain sight, while others are just plain hidden.

Meet the minister and early religious founder who was involved in an armed confrontation in Dover with another preacher in 1640. Find out how a one-time high school assistant principal in Rochester became a world-famous business leader and ended up meeting President Grover Cleveland. Discover the story of “ghost” racetracks in Somersworth before they disappear, as well as the “pile of rocks” that stopped a multimillion-dollar building project in Windham. Author Terry Nelson reveals some of New England’s most fascinating history, from Durham and Madbury to North Hampton and Portsmouth.

Organized in 1819, Meigs County rests in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio along the beautiful Ohio River.

The land’s deep reservoirs of coal and salt provided early residents work in mines and in shipping the goods via steamboat and railroad. Local communities also nurtured talented scholars like James McHenry Jones and poets and writers such as James Edwin Campbell and Ambrose Bierce, as well as Dr. Brewster Higley VI, whose poetry inspired the American classic “Home on the Range.” The county is home to Ohio’s oldest standing courthouse in Chester and to Pomeroy, the only town in America with no cross streets. Join historians Jordan and Calee Pickens as they recount times of prosperity and hardship that have been engrained on the timeline of Meigs County.

The port area of St. Marks, host to the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition in 1528 and the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1539, was an important shipping port to Middle Florida and South Georgia. Wakulla County was also once the site of long forgotten settlements such as Magnolia and Port Leon, ports along the St. Marks River that played important roles in the economic development of Middle Florida during the antebellum period. Home to outlets to the Gulf of Mexico along Apalachee Bay such as Panacea, Spring Creek, and Shell Point, Wakulla also boasts one of the world's largest and deepest freshwater springs and a premier tourist attraction. Capturing the spirit of Wakulla's pioneering settlers, as well as the county's magnificent landscape, this one-of-a-kind pictorial retrospective showcases the region's singular past through vintage photographs and other visual memorabilia.