Lost

Many people have never stopped to realize how many of their fond memories involve advertising signs. Although these neon spectaculars, billboards and even signs painted directly onto brick walls were created expressly to persuade customers or tourists to patronize businesses, many such signs remained in place for so long that they became landmarks in their own right. Signs like the Shoney's Big Boy towering over the area and the iconic Bilmar Motor Inn sign are now a part of history. Author Tim Hollis has scoured various archives to compile some of the best remembered, or most obscure, signs to dot the Tennessee landscape, whether for tourist attractions, restaurants, department stores, gas stations or many other roadside fixtures.

From sprawling potato farms and incredibly lavish estates, to whaling ships and early race cars, Long Island has an incredibly rich history often lost through the generations.

In the world of racing, Long Island was once the horse racing capital of the state and hosted the nation's first professional auto races. Though farming still thrives in Suffolk County, there are only a few working farms left in Nassau County, where hundreds of farms dotted the landscape generations ago. Cold Spring Harbor, Greenport, Sag Harbor and Southampton were centers of the whaling industry in America and maintain a whaling heritage today. Author Richard Panchyk reveals fascinating narratives of Long Island's lost history.

Eastern Michigan's vanished boomtowns and villages are uncovered and revisited in this fascinating look at the history of the lost settlements around Detroit and the Great Lakes.

Many of eastern Michigan's old boomtowns and sleepy villages are faded memories. Nature reclaimed the ruins of some while progress paved over the rest. Discover the stories of lost communities hidden in plain sight or just off the beaten track. The vanished religious colony of Ora Labora fell into a state of near-constant inebriation when beer became the only safe liquid to drink. Lake St. Clair swallowed up the unique currency of Belvidere along with the place that issued it. Abandoned towns still crumble within Detroit's city limits. Alan Naldrett delves into the fascinating history of eastern Michigan's lost settlements.

The massive steel mills of Youngstown once fueled the economic boom of the Mahoning Valley. Movie patrons took in the latest flick at the ornate Paramount Theater, and mob bosses dressed to the nines for supper at the Colonial House. In 1977, the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company announced the closure of its steelworks in a nearby city. The fallout of the ensuing mill shutdowns erased many of the city's beloved landmarks and neighborhoods. Students hurrying across a crowded campus tread on the foundations of the Elms Ballroom, where Duke Ellington once brought down the house. On the lower eastside, only broken buildings and the long-silent stacks of Republic Rubber remain. Urban explorer and historian Sean T. Posey navigates a disappearing cityscape to reveal a lost era of Youngstown.

From a prehistoric locale like the Big Falls of the Cuyahoga River to the cavernous 1970s majesty of the Coliseum, explore the places that have melted away in Akron's changing landscape. Remember M. O'Neil Company? Akron Times-Press? The North Hill Viaduct? WAKR-TV? Norka Soda? Rolling Acres Mall? These are icons that all defined the city and its people. For those who live in Akron, for those who have moved away and for those too young to remember the Rubber City's heyday, author Mark J. Price takes a fascinating look at fifty vanished landmarks from Akron's past.

The beloved places and landmarks of Toledo's past still tint Ohio's memories, as well as those of its residents.

Catch the action of a Toledo Mud Hens game at bygoballpark Swayne Field. Watch the glittering marquees light up the downtown skyline with names such as Count Basie and Elvis Presley to B.B. King and KISS. Recall the birth of the Jeep, as well as the dozens of unique and prominent shoppes available to the residents of Toledo and tourists alike. Author David Yonke jogs fond memories of good times past in this nostalgic stroll through Toledo's heritage.

Even in a city as conscious of history as Charleston, not everything has survived. Natural disasters, wars and other calamities claimed many treasures.

Only a few preserved bits of one of the city’s grandest mansions survive at Dock Street Theatre. An old Quaker graveyard still rests in peace but does so under a downtown parking garage. The famous corner of Meeting and Broad Streets was once the area’s busiest marketplace. The Grace Memorial Bridge spanned the Cooper River for more than seventy years. Author J. Grahame Long details the history of these and more lost locations in the Holy City.