Landmarks

The Landmarks American history books series offers readers accessible, well-illustrated histories of USA landmarks and historic sites. Learn the secret history of the Chicken Ranch, Texas’s iconic brothel. Let loose at Detroit’s Rock’n’Roll palace, shop the hallowed shelves of Kaufmann’s, then relax at the Sandy Hook Highland beach resort. From the rise of Idlewild to the fall of Younkers, these Landmark books will bring iconic locations to your backyard. [View all Landmarks books]
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The Grande Ballroom: Detroit’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Palace
The Grande Ballroom: Detroit’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Palace
Jacobson's, I Miss It So!
Jacobson's, I Miss It So!
Au Sable Point Lighthouse:
Au Sable Point Lighthouse:
The Ford-Wyoming Drive-In: Cars, Candy & Canoodling in the Motor City
The Ford-Wyoming Drive-In: Cars, Candy & Canoodling in the Motor City
A History of Detroit's Palmer Park
A History of Detroit's Palmer Park
Pewabic Pottery: A History Handcrafted in Detroit
Pewabic Pottery: A History Handcrafted in Detroit
Jacktown
Jacktown
Crowley's:
Crowley's:
The Saginaw Trail
The Saginaw Trail
A Camp Story
A Camp Story
Capitol Park
Capitol Park

The Grande Ballroom: Detroit’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Palace

9781626197817

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In the 1920s, a jewel of Detroit entertainment arose on the Westside--the Grande Ballroom. The venue flourished under the ownership of infamous gambler Harry Weitzman and management of dance scion Paul Strasburg. The advent of rock "n" roll pushed the ballroom into hard times, but in 1966, local schoolteacher and disc jockey Russ Gibb resurrected it with the promise of live rock music. The new psychedelic ballroom style attracted scores of suburban baby boomers and helped launch the careers of local legends like the MC5, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent. Soon the ballroom's prestige attracted international acts like Cream, the Who and the Jeff Beck Group. Detroit music history expert Leo Early celebrates this beloved venue.
The Grande Ballroom: Detroit’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Palace

Jacobson's, I Miss It So!

9781609493240

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Join department store historian Bruce Allen Kopytek in this history of Jacobson's, a beloved Michigan institution for over 100 years. Winner of the Michigan Notable Book Award for 2012.


Reenter the marvelous stores and meet the personalities who transformed Jacobson's from its humble Reed City origins to a staple of sophistication throughout Michigan and into the rest of the country. The brainchild of a retail genius, this deluxe specialty store gave customers a peerless social, shopping and dining destination. Experience anew the refined beauty of its Williamsburg-style Grosse Pointe store, the chic designer world of its Birmingham ensemble, or the charm and allure of its original Florida branch in Sarasota, revealing the secrets which made Jake's the dazzling store it was, and why it remains so profoundly missed by anyone who entered through its solid wooden doors.

Jacobson's, I Miss It So!

Au Sable Point Lighthouse:

9781626194830

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Skeleton ship frames surround Au Sable Point, marking a mile-long sandstone reef that reached out into Lake Superior waiting to grab any and all ships that passed by. In an effort to end this tragic loss of lives, the Au Sable Point Lighthouse was constructed to warn mariners of its hidden reef. At the heart of the famed Shipwreck Coast," Au Sable Point was a beacon of hope and safety. Mikel B. Classen charts the history of the lighthouse and the dangerous reef that waits six feet under the lake's surface and serves as the final resting place for so many sailors."
Au Sable Point Lighthouse:

The Ford-Wyoming Drive-In: Cars, Candy & Canoodling in the Motor City

9781626195486

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Shortly after World War II, three Dearborn brothers bought a vacant parcel to build a drive-in theater. Local groups opposed them, fearing such a place would elicit immoral behavior." But the Clark family persevered to see its movie palace become a Metro Detroit mainstay, hosting celebrities, rock stars and a never-ending line of families with kids in footie pajamas. A handshake transferred ownership to movie magnate Charles Shafer and his business partner, Bill Clark, who expanded the theater to a massive nine screens. But blockbusters and hordes of teens couldn't mitigate the effects of Detroit's decline, auto company bankruptcies and Michigan's economic malaise. Despite it all, the mighty Ford-Wyoming kept the movies showing, bringing a bit of Hollywood glamour to the gritty Motor City."
The Ford-Wyoming Drive-In: Cars, Candy & Canoodling in the Motor City

A History of Detroit's Palmer Park

9781626197848

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Palmer Park is Detroit's underappreciated architectural jewel. Located around the intersection of McNichols Road (Six Mile) and Woodward Avenue, it embraces every style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. United States senator Thomas Palmer originally developed the property as farmland and donated it to the city in the 1890s. Between 1924 and 1964, its character changed with some of the best examples of modern apartment living from top local architects, including one of just five buildings credited to the world-renowned Albert Kahn. Author Gregory C. Piazza showcases the exceptional story of building Palmer Park.
A History of Detroit's Palmer Park

Pewabic Pottery: A History Handcrafted in Detroit

9781467137201

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At the height of America's Arts and Crafts movement, Detroit neighbors Horace J. Caulkins and Mary Chase Perry pooled their talents together to found Pewabic Pottery.


With modest beginnings in 1903, Pewabic transformed from a rented stable in Brush Park to an English Tudor building on East Jefferson Avenue, where it has operated since 1907. Today, the iconic enterprise continues Perry's dedication to handcrafted ceramics and remains known for its iridescent glaze on everything from vessels and architectural tiles to ecclesiastical installations in churches across the country, including the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Author Cara Catallo illuminates the story behind one of the oldest American handcrafted pottery traditions.

Pewabic Pottery: A History Handcrafted in Detroit

Jacktown

9781467135238

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Competing with the likes of Detroit and Ann Arbor, Jackson won the battle to build Michigan's first state prison in 1838. During the era of the "Big House" and industrial growth, the penitentiary's on-site factories and cheap inmate labor helped Jackson become a thriving manufacturing city. In contrast to Jacktown's beautiful Greco-Roman exterior, medieval punishments, a strict code of silence, no heat, no electricity and a lack of plumbing defined life on the inside. Author Judy Gail Krasnow shares the incredible stories of life at Jacktown, replete with sadistic wardens, crafty escapees, Prohibition's Purple Gang, a chaplain who ran a brothel and influential reformers.
Jacktown

Crowley's:

9781467119740

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Crowley's:

The Saginaw Trail

9781467136419

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Leslie Pielack tells the story of those whose lives intertwined with the Saginaw Trail, the ancient path that transformed early Michigan.


The Saginaw Trail led from the frontier town of Detroit into the wilderness, weaving through towering trees and swamps to distant Native American villages. Presenting a forbidding landscape that was also a settlers' paradise, the road promised great riches in natural resources like lumber and agriculture, and a future of wheeled vehicles that would make Michigan the center of a global industry.

The Saginaw Trail

A Camp Story

9781609493455

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Who could have foreseen the impact of opening a summer camp in southwestern Michigan? Certainly not Louis and Florence Greenberg way back in 1935. Today, nearly 80 years later, people from around the world consider their summers spent at Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods Camps the very best time of their lives. A Camp Story is the tale of a legacy left by an orphan. It's a story of boys and girls in bathing suits and bug spray as they sail about, sneak out, fall in love, and find themselves, summer after summer. A Camp Story is a poignant and hilarious account about the ultimate camp experience how it touches so many people, how it continues to shape so many lives.
A Camp Story

Capitol Park

9781626193741

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Capitol Park is the only city park in America where a state's first governor is buried. It's the birthplace of democracy in Michigan. Underground Railroad site. Streetcar and transit hub. Urban canyon. A block north of Detroit's iconic Coney Island restaurants. A symbol of the city's late twentieth-century decay, now a key part of its revitalization in a new millennium. Jack Dempsey, award-winning author of "Michigan and the Civil War" and president of the Michigan Historical Commission, uncovers tales of a uniquely inspirational public space that epitomizes the ups and downs of Detroit's three centuries.
Capitol Park