Mid-Atlantic

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was the largest international exhibition ever built in the United States.

More than one hundred fifty pavilions and exhibits spread over six hundred forty-six acres helped the fair live up to its reputation as the Billion-Dollar Fair. With the cold war in full swing, the fair offered visitors a refreshingly positive view of the future, mirroring the official theme: Peace through Understanding. Guests could travel back in time through a display of full-sized dinosaurs, or look into a future where underwater hotels and flying cars were commonplace. They could enjoy Walt Disney's popular shows, or study actual spacecraft flown in orbit. More than fifty-one million guests visited the fair before it closed forever in 1965. The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair captures the history of this event through vintage photographs, published here for the first time.

Become Part of the Store Family

From its flagship store on Market Street in the heart of Philadelphia, Strawbridge & Clothier strove to meet the needs of its customers for over a century. Built on a foundation of integrity and character, the store and its founders, Justus Strawbridge and Isaac Clothier, made sure the customer was always right and the price just. The department store later branched out to nearby New Jersey and Delaware in the mid to late Twentieth Century. At the time of its sale in 1996, Strawbridge & Clothier was the oldest department store in the country with continuous family ownership.

Author Margaret Strawbridge Butterworth charts the history of Philadelphia’s Strawbridge & Clothier through vivid stories from past employees and customers alike as she invites readers to join the “store family.”

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.

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.

Pictorial history of the grand estates, lush landscapes, and lavish lifestyles of wealthy families like the Vanderbilts, Rogerses, Roosevelts, Dinsmores, and Millses, who made Hyde Park famous.

Hyde Park was established in 1821 as a simple and small town on the Hudson River. Its claim to fame, however, and what attracts people still to this day, are the grand estates, lush landscapes, and lavish lifestyles of some of those who lived there. Wealthy families like the Vanderbilts, Rogerses, Roosevelts, Dinsmores, and Millses built homes to match their place in society. Hyde Park was a perfect location because of its easy access to New York City, where culture and society could be found, while providing country living along the Hudson for the many outdoor pleasures the wealthy enjoyed. One part of this collection by former town historian Carney Rhinevault and current historian Shannon Butler shows the wealthy river families, whose houses were built by prominent architects and filled with treasures from abroad while others show the families who worked as coachmen, gardeners, and parlor maids who made the lifestyles of the rich possible.

The history of Grand Central Terminal, from construction to world-famous landmark, and its influence on the New York City community surrounding it.

Built in the heart of the Empire City is the world's greatest and most iconic railway terminal. A colossal Beaux-Arts style transport nexus, Grand Central Terminal was completed in 1913 from the legacy of the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. The terminal quickly became vital to travel and today accommodates 750,000 people daily. This book documents the construction of Grand Central Terminal, the former Grand Central Depot (1871) and Grand Central Station (1900), and illuminates the incredible story of the terminal that revolutionized transport, developed Midtown Manhattan, and opened railroad access to suburban areas.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, is a monument to the nation’s 16th president, a commemoration of the country’s post–Civil War reunification, and a setting for national events and quiet visits.

Demands for a national memorial to Abraham Lincoln began shortly after his 1865 assassination but produced nothing substantial until the early 20th century. Elevation of Lincoln to legendary status and an extended debate over location and design finally led Congress in 1913 to approve a memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Construction took another eight years. Since its dedication in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial has hosted civil rights demonstrations, presidential events, national celebrations, and day and night visits by millions of people who come to reflect upon one of the most consequential leaders in American history.

Kevin S. Schindler is a historian at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and has written six books about science and history. Brian Anderson is a Washington, DC, lawyer and Ford’s Theatre Society trustee who previously wrote a book about the history of Ford’s Theatre. Drawing upon Washington-area museums and research libraries, Schindler and Anderson have assembled a rich collection of historical images to tell the fascinating story of this American landmark.

In early twentieth-century New York, few could have imagined a train terminal as grandiose as Pennsylvania Station.

Sandhogs would battle the fiercest of nature to build tunnels linking Manhattan to New Jersey and Long Island. For decades, Penn Station was a center of elegance and pride. But the ensuing rise of the airplane and automobile began to diminish train travel. By the mid-1960s, the station was tragically destroyed. The loss inspired the birth of preservation laws in the city and the nation that would save other landmarks like Grand Central. Author Paul Kaplan recounts the trials and triumphs of New York’s Penn Station.

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair: Creation and Legacy uses rare, previously unpublished photographs to examine the creation of the fair and the legacies left behind for future generations.

When the gates of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair swung open on April 24, 1964, the first of more than 51 million lucky visitors entered, ready to witness the cutting edge of worldwide technology and progress. Faced with a disappointing lack of foreign participants due to political contention, the fair instead showcased the best of American industry and science. While multimillion-dollar pavilions predicted colonies on the moon and hotels under the ocean, other forecasts, such as the promises of computer technology, have surpassed even the most optimistic predictions of the fair.

In this engaging pictorial history, discover the relationship between the exposition and its host city of Buffalo, and the triumphs and tragedies it endured.

One of a series of popular turn-of-the-century international expositions, the Pan-American Exposition of 1901 emphasized Western Hemisphere production and trade. William McKinley on its grounds in September. The Pan-Am flaunted America's status as a leading international power after the victory from the 1898 Spanish-American War. In this engaging pictorial history, discover the relationship between the exposition and its host city of Buffalo, and the triumphs and tragedies it endured. Discover the booming Buffalo of 1900, with its links to midwestern agriculture and eastern markets. The city had abundant electric power, was home to several important industries, and had a wealthy and influential leadership. A logical venue for the exposition, Buffalo became home to a fair that paid tribute to the nation's industrial, agricultural, and commercial dominance. Along with Chicago in 1893 and other fairs that followed, the Pan-Am combined high-toned self-promotion in the formal exhibits with midway displays that made sport of other cultures and races. The exposition came to a shattering close with the assassination of Pres. Neither the fair nor the city fully recovered. Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition explores a unique time in American history. Historians, scholars, and residents alike will delight in this fascinating collection of images from Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

Architect Horace Trumbauer (1868-1938) is well known for the wide range of residential, commercial, and civic structures he designed in and around Philadelphia.

His works can be found along Old York Road and the Main Line, as well as in Philadelphia and Springfield Township, Montgomery County. During the American renaissance in architecture, Trumbauer masterfully interpreted the classical styles, designing many of the area's most notable structures. Captured in stunning exterior and interior photographs, The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer highlights the architect's most significant works, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Keswick Theatre, the Widener Building, Whitemarsh Hall, Lynnewood Hall, and Ardrossan.

Learn the exciting story of the rise and fall of Gimbels, one of America's most beloved department stores.

In 1842, Adam Gimbel opened a small storefront in Vincennes, Indiana and unknowingly set forth the groundwork for an American retail icon. His fair trade practices encouraged him to leave Vincennes and open up the largest store ever in 1887 in the city of Milwaukee. After getting his Milwaukee on firm ground, Adam Gimbel left for Philadelphia, his wife's hometown, with his seven sons and opened the world's largest store in 1894. Like every major department store, Gimbels began to follow its customer into the suburbs, and the family became less involved in the running of the store. With sales and profits falling, Gimbels was purchased by British-American Tobacco. The company struggled to right itself in the challenging and changing retailing world. It built a new controversial flagship store in Philadelphia but it failed to draw its traditional shopper. By June 1986, Gimbels was going out of business and the 36 Gimbels stores located from Philadelphia to Milwaukee permanently shut their doors

No ballpark in Philadelphia was more revered than the one at Twenty-first Streetand Lehigh Avenue. A must-have for fans of Philadelphia and baseball history!

Originally called Shibe Parkand later Connie Mack Stadium, America’s first steel-and concrete stadium opened in 1909. When it closed in 1970, it had earned a special place in the hearts and minds of Philadelphia sports fans. Home of the Athleticsfor 46 years, the Philliesfor 32 and a half seasons, and the Eaglesfor 18 years, it was also the site of many boxing matches, Negro Leaguebaseball games, and college and high school baseball and football games. Over the years, as the area developed, Shibe Parkbecame known for its obstructed views, delicious hot dogs, Sunday curfews, absence of beer, and boobirds. Along with memorable teams and games, the ballpark played host to eight World Seriesand two All-Star Games.

Join Rich Westcott, baseball writer, historian, author and president of the Philadelphia Sports Writers’ Association, as he gathers archival photos capturing this legendary stadium’s exciting history.

Manhattan has long been renowned for the diversity of its offering of hotels—from some of the best in the world to some of the worst.

Around 1880, the entire nature of the hotel experience began to change. Formerly, hotels had been just a place to stop between here and there for a hot meal and a warm bed. Suddenly, the hotel itself became the destination. New affluence, new technologies, and new fashion all came together in the decades between 1880 and 1920 to influence the demands of hotel guests, eventually changing the hotel themselves. This book gives a glimpse into the hotels of the super rich, the not-so-rich, the middle class, the Bohemians, and the workers. In a city as dynamic as New York, it should come as no surprise that so many hotels have a juicy tidbit or two of historical gossip attached to them. Manhattan Hotels: 1880‚–1920 may well be the most extensive work in print on the subject of the city's hotels in this period. Far From being a book for specialists, however, it is designed to bring Manhattan and its hotels of this era to life for all those who have been captivated by the electric excitement of the place.

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.

New York City is blessed with an incredible array of public sculptures.

One overlooked aspect of this collection is its monuments of Black Americans, each with its own remarkable story. The first appearance of a Black person in a city monument came in the Civil War Soldiers’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery in 1876, but this was a nameless symbolic figure. It wasn’t until 1945 that Booker T. Washington became the first identifiable Black American honored in a New York City monument. In 2007, the city dedicated its first monument to a Black woman, Harriet Tubman. Behind every first is a story of triumph over adversity and exclusion. Local author David Felsen reveals the stories behind thirty inspiring monuments that have endured, as well as how they found their place in the city’s history.

From the crossroads of the American Revolution to the construction of the George Washington Bridge, New Jersey's Bergen County has a history that has shaped not only the metropolitan area, but the nation itself.

Featuring narratives of key historical moments, legendary personalities and fascinating landmarks, this guide to Bergen County's past is essential for any resident or visitor alike. Take a copy along as you traverse the county and discover the historic sites within and the stories behind them.  

Authors Bob Nesoff and Howard Joseph Cohn take readers on a fascinating journey through Bergen County's incredible past.

In contrast to and predating Long Island's famous Gold Coast (the North Shore), communities along the Great South Bay were home to hundreds of less publicized, yet equally impressive, mansions and historic houses

These homes were once owned by prominent captains of industry, popular entertainment figures, and movers and shakers of the day, such as the Bourne, Cutting, Gardiner, Gulden, Gustivino, Guggenheim, Hollins, and Vanderbilt families. Long Island: Historic Houses of the South Shore explores the South Shore's famous resident personalities, including Schuyler Parsons, Fred Astaire, Anita Stewart, and Robert Pinkerton. The lifestyle of the South Shore is also portrayed, including activities like hunting and fishing as well as the famous beaches that served as tourist attractions.

The hard-packed shoal at Thomas Point menaced Chesapeake Bay mariners for centuries.

Even after a pair of stone towers were built on the shoreline, sailors continued to request a light at the end of the mile-long shoal. When a new lighthouse was finally approved in 1873 experts deemed its novel design too fragile for the location. It was built anyway. Long overdue and of an inappropriate design, the iconic Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse was lit in November 1875 and continues to serve mariners. Thomas Point is the last Chesapeake Bay screwpile style lighthouse in its original location and one of only 12 American lighthouses designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Annapolis sailor and local historian David Gendell explores the history of the Thomas Point peninsula, shoal, and lighthouse.

Winner of the Association of New York Public Historians 2023 Excellence in Local History Award

Winner of the American Legacy Book Award 2024 for United States History

Winner of the NYC Big Book Award 2024 for Regional-Nonfiction

Winner of the IAN Book of the Year Award 2024 for Outstanding Non-Fiction: History 

The Van Wyck, the Major Deegan, the Jackie Robinson, the Hutch, the Merritt, FDR Drive, or the Henry Hudson...you might drive them regularly, without really noticing that those road names are, well, names. But, who were these people?

New York's many roads, bridges, tunnels, neighborhoods and institutions bear the names of a diverse cast of characters. The Kosciuszko Bridge honors Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish American Revolutionary War hero and fervent abolitionist. The Outerbridge Crossing, named after the Port Authority's first chairman, Eugenius Outerbridge, is called a crossing because Outerbridge Bridge sounded absurd. Shirley Chisholm State Park celebrates the first Black woman elected to Congress, the larger-than-life Shirley Chisholm. Clifford Holland originally designed his tunnel under the Hudson River to accommodate horse carts. These place names embody the rich history of the city that never sleeps, yet few know their true stories. Author Rebecca Bratspies uncovers the vibrant personalities behind the names that have become New York's urban shorthand for traffic jams, culture and recreation.

Baltimore is one of America’s oldest and most beautiful cities.

Twelve generations of families have built and subsequently destroyed some of Baltimore’s best constructions. Author Charles Duff has restored over 200 classic Baltimore buildings, and co-author Tracey Clark runs the city’s premier architectural salvage business, and as board members of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, they’ve put together a collection of Baltimore’s past and present like never before.Then and Now: Baltimore Architectureshows the dramatic building and rebuilding of architecture around the city’s harbor, downtown, and throughout its great historic neighborhoods.

Lighthouses were built on the Hudson River in New York between 1826 to 1921 to help guide freight and passenger traffic. One of the most famous was the iconic Statue of Liberty. This fascinating history with photos will bring the time of traffic along the river alive.

Set against the backdrop of purple mountains, lush hillsides, and tidal wetlands, the lighthouses of the Hudson River were built between 1826 and 1921 to improve navigational safety on a river teeming with freight and passenger traffic. Unlike the towering beacons of the seacoasts, these river lighthouses were architecturally diverse, ranging from short conical towers to elaborate Victorian houses. Operated by men and women who at times risked and lost their lives in service of safe navigation, these beacons have overseen more than a century of extraordinary technological and social change. Of the dozens of historic lighthouses and beacons that once dotted the Hudson River, just eight remain, including the iconic Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor's great monument to freedom and immigration, which served as an official lighthouse between 1886 and 1902. Hudson River Lighthouses invites readers to explore these unique icons and their fascinating stories.

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

New York's Long Island is long on history from land to sea! Ralph Brady covers well known and unknown sites, events, homes, places and people.

Everyone lucky enough to live on Long Island already knows that it's like nowhere else in the world. From lighthouses and a one-hundred-year-old carousel to World War II camps and missile sites, Long Island native Ralph Brady reveals the secrets to what makes this little-big island so special with a tour of some of Nassau and Suffolk's most historic locations. Walt Whitman, William Vanderbilt, Theodore Roosevelt and many others occupied remarkable homes around the island. Charles Lindbergh made his historic flight to France from what is now a shopping mall. For many years, a Long Island factory gave the world the game of Scrabble. Even the waters teem with history, with the modern submarine making its start off the coast. Come explore these and other settings from Long Island's past.

Discover Chester County's Lost Landmarks/

Chester County has a deep and enriching history, from sites of the Underground Railroad to great moments of Women's Suffrage and incredible remnants of Native American culture. The stories of the county's past can be experienced in many of its historic landmarks. Author Mark DeWitt Lanyon charts Chester County's lost history and the places that defined it.

Along with the Dodgers and Prospect Park, the Abraham & Straus department store was a legendary piece of Brooklyn's history and identity.

From Abraham Abraham's modest store of 1865, A&S developed into one of America's largest department stores, eventually becoming a charter member of the powerful Federated Department Stores Corporation in 1929. Known for unparalleled customer and employee loyalty, the stores rode a wave of demographic and economic changes. Today, the former Fulton Street Abraham & Straus operates as a Macy's and remains one of America's last downtown department stores. Author, historian and lecturer Michael J. Lisicky chronicles the rise and fall of Brooklyn's iconic store.

A look at the statues, monuments, and buildings of the classically designed capital city—from the National Mall to Colonial Alexandria.

Classical design formed our nation’s capital. The soaring Washington Monument, the columns of the Lincoln Memorial and the spectacular dome of the Capitol Building speak to the founders’ comprehensive vision of our federal city.

Learn about the L’Enfant and McMillan plans for Washington, D.C., and how those designs are reflected in two hundred years of monuments, museums and representative government. View the statues of our Founding Fathers with the eye of a sculptor and gain insight into the criticism and controversies of modern additions to Washington’s monumental structure.

Author Michael Curtis guides this tour of the heart of the District of Columbia.

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.

Experience the architecture and colorful history of the Historic Theaters of New York’s Capital District as author John A. Miller charts the entertaining history.

For generations, residents of New York's Capital District have flocked to the region's numerous theaters. The history behind the venues is often more compelling than the shows presented in them.

John Wilkes Booth brushed with death on stage while he and Abraham Lincoln were visiting Albany. The first exhibition of broadcast television was shown at Proctor's Theater in Schenectady, although the invention ironically contributed to the downfall of theaters across the nation. A fired manager of the Green Street Theatre seized control of the theater with a group of armed men, but Albany police stormed the building and the former manager regained control.

On the east side of Midtown Manhattan, next to the United Nations, sits the towering apartment complex Tudor City.

An architectural masterpiece created by developer Fred F. French during the Roaring Twenties, Tudor City was the first residential skyscraper complex in the world. It brought middle-class lifestyle to center city. Tudor City has parks, shops and restaurants and even once had a mini-golf course. Developers and preservationists battled over the site in the 1970s and 1980s, with a notable cast of characters including Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Mayor John Lindsay and Representative Ed Koch. The city designated the area a historic district. Author and resident Lawrence R. Samuel charts the ninety-year history of New York’s Tudor City.

What was once a whale-processing center in the 1700s emerged as a destination for sun and fun by drawing the biggest names and the classic American families of the early twentieth century.

Nestled along the New Jersey coastline and built to be one of the original seaside tourist destinations, Ocean City still sets the standard for resort living along the mid-Atlantic.  As our country's search for the ideal vacation grew, this 7-mile stretch of beach cultivated a rich history and a reputation as one of the most alluring communities on the East Coast.

Over 200 historic photographs and fascinating text combine to create an illustrated history of New Jersey's thirty-eight lighthouses and forty-one life-saving stations.

From the seventeenth to the twentieth century, New Jersey's low-lying, sandy coast has been the site of thousands of shipwrecks as ships bound for New York City or Philadelphia foundered on its offshore shoals. As coastal and international trade dramatically increased after the War of 1812, the federal government was forced to increase safety aids to mariners. To ensure their safe passage, a series of lighthouses was built and the U.S. Life-Saving Service was created. More than two centuries of the history of New Jersey's treacherous coast are preserved in Guarding New Jersey's Shore: Lighthouses and Life-Saving Stations. Gathered from a wide array of sources, more than 200 historic photographs and fascinating, documented text combine to create the only illustrated history of the state's thirty-eight lighthouses and forty-one life-saving stations. Sandy Hook, built in 1764, is the nation's oldest operating lighthouse. Navesink's Twin Lights was the first lighthouse to use electricity and was the home of Marconi's early radio experiments. From the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, which once served as a lighthouse, to Cape May Point, and up the Delaware Bay and River, the fascinating story of protecting mariners from perils Down the Shore is presented and preserved in Guarding New Jersey's Shore: Lighthouses and Life-Saving Stations.

This book offers an inside look at the beginnings and story of Caumsett State Park, from great English estate to nationally protected land.

Marshall Field III was 28 years of age and one of the richest people in the world when he came upon the idea of replicating the environment in which he had spent his youth. Raised and educated in England, Field sought the life of an English gentleman here in the United States. In 1921, Field purchased almost 2,000 acres of waterfront property on Long Island's North Shore, which would become Caumsett. Forty years later, Field's third wife, Ruth, opened bids for the right to purchase Caumsett and all that it had become. The highest bid, in excess of $5 million, came from a builder who planned to subdivide the estate and construct 700 homes. A second bid, from Robert Moses, then parks commissioner of New York State, was more than $1 million less. Ruth reflected on her life and what her late husband would have wanted. She turned to trusted adviser and confidant Adlai Stevenson and stated that she wanted to accept the lower bid. Fourteen months later, Caumsett State Park was born.

Visit historic Sag Harbor on Long Island, through whaling village to homes in the National Register and home to writers and artists.

A prosperous deepwater shipping port on the south shore of Long Island, Sag Harbor was in its heyday as a whaling village in the early 1800s. By 1850, whaling was unprofitable, petroleum had been discovered, and the 1849 Gold Rush led to an exodus. As Sag Harbor fell into economic decline, the arrival of the railroad helped reinvigorate it as a factory town, bringing Fahys Watchcase, Alvin Silver, Bliss torpedo testing, and Bulova, until those industries shuttered. The silver lining to Sag Harbor's boom and bust has been the preservation of its heritage. The grand homes of captains and whaleship owners, tradesmen's cottages, and factory houses were untouched for years, attracting a wave of artists, writers, and weekenders. This fine collection of 18th- and 19th-century homes and public buildings placed the village in the National Register of Historic Places, drawing tourists to walk in the footsteps of Native Americans, colonists, whalers, and resident-writers James Fenimore Cooper and John Steinbeck and to visit the village's war monuments and museums and charming Main Street.

Take the ferry to this New York City borough and discover its colorful secrets, in a quirky history packed with facts and photos.

Staten Island has a rich and fascinating cultural legacy that few people outside New York City's greenest borough know about. Chewing gum was invented on the island with the help of Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. Country music legend Roy Clark got his start as a virtuoso guitar player on the Staten Island Ferry. Anna Leonowens, who worked with the king's children in the Court of Siam and was the basis for The King and I, came back to Staten Island to write about her experiences and run a school for children.

Join native Staten Islanders Theresa Anarumo and Maureen Seaberg as they document the hidden history of the borough with these stories, and many more

The Hampton National Historic Site in Towson, Maryland, was established in 1948 to preserve the surviving 63 acres of the vast empire built by the Ridgely family beginning in the 18th century.

In its heyday, the estate covered 25,000 non contiguous acres and included agricultural fields, orchards, livestock, quarries, mills, and ironworks. Today visitors flock to the magnificent Georgian mansion, farm manager's house, slave quarters, dairy, agricultural buildings, formal gardens, and family cemetery. The story of Hampton National Historic Site extends beyond its buildings and setting to the people who lived and worked on the estate during the 200 plus years of Ridgely ownership, including the indentured servants, the enslaved, and the paid workforce. The legacy of Hampton National Historic Site is illustrated here through rich primary source material that was generated and provided by the Ridgelys, including written documentation, historic images, and physical artifacts.

The bells rung all day, and almost all night...

John Adams wrote this timeless observation when the Declaration of Independence was signed and publicly proclaimed in early July of 1776 to a jubilant crowd in Philadelphia. This is the story of those bells - a search to discover which bells did indeed ring, or are believed to have rung, when America was born. It is the story of the most famous bell in the world, the Liberty Bell, and the other historic bells of Philadelphia, during the era of the American Revolution.

Author Thomas Kaufmann traces the joyous history of sound and instrument as the nation is forged among uplifting tolls of Philadelphia's historic independence bells.

Moored near shifting shoals and treacherous reefs, lightships remained on station during all weather conditions and played a vital role in keeping America's waterways safe for navigation. From 1820 to 1985, light vessels warned of treacherous seas and pointed the way to safe harbors. In Lightships, author Wayne Kirklin chronicles the eighty-five ships that protected the mid-Atlantic coast and the heyday of these special craft. From New York Harbor to the southernmost edge of North Carolina's notorious Cape Fear, Kirklin details the unsung role this fleet played in keeping America's merchant marines safe. Read Lightships to discover a forgotten but vital element of American maritime history.

Originally sought out by city dwellers as a refuge from the tribulations of urban life, Summit developed from a bucolic rural spot in 1836 to a fully established suburb by 1940. The town's growth was intrinsically tied to the development of the railroad and the convenience of the commute it offered to nearby New York City. The houses constructed during these years reflected their owner's wealth, social standing, and aesthetic sensibilities, and exemplified the trends of their times. Some of these houses served as summer residences; others as primary dwellings. Some were designed by well-known architects; others by local talent. Many of these residences are still standing, although some have been altered or even demolished to suit modern lifestyles. Today, many Summit residents still commute to New York. Summit Historic Homes tells the story of Summit's early development by focusing on the expansion of the railroad and the houses built by the city dwellers who moved here as a result.

Michael J. Lisicky is the author of several bestselling books, including Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops.

In demand as a department store historian, he has given lectures at institutions such as the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. His books have received critical acclaim from the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He has been interviewed by national business periodicals including Fortune Magazine, Investor's Business Daily and Bloomberg Businessweek. His book Gimbels Has It was recommended by National Public Radio's Morning Edition program as One of the Freshest Reads of 2011. Mr. Lisicky helps run an Ask the Expert column with author Jan Whitaker at www.departmentstorehistory.net and resides in Baltimore, where he is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.