Mid-Atlantic

In June 1972, Hurricane Agnes hit the East Coast with a monstrous and devastating force, bringing a deluge across multiple states and slamming four counties in the Southern Tier: Steuben, Chemung, Tioga, and Broome.

Dozens died and property damage ran into the millions as Corning, Elmira, Owego, Binghamton, and other communities suddenly found themselves under water. The flood destroyed the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, staggered the Penn Central, shut down Corning Glass Works for weeks, and devastated the Corning Museum of Glass—a major cultural resource. Lives and landscapes were forever changed when homes and businesses washed away in a matter of minutes. Henceforth, the region's history became permanently divided into the times before and the times after the 1972 flood. Through stunning images, The 1972 Flood in New York's Southern Tier chronicles the extraordinary destruction of twisted rail lines, devastated streets, exhausted recovery workers, rivers bursting their banks, cars on houses, and houses on cars

On March 25, 1911, flames rapidly consumed everything within the Triangle Waist Company factory, killing 146 workers. Until September 11, 2001, the Triangle fire was the deadliest workplace disaster in New York City history.

The victims, mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women, died needlessly due to unsafe working conditions, such as locked or blocked doors, narrow stairways, faulty fire escapes, and a lack of sprinklers. Mass grief and outrage spread from New York's Lower East Side across the country. Garment union membership swelled, and New York politics shifted dramatically toward reform, paving the way for the New Deal and, ultimately, the workplace standards expected today. Through historic images, The New York City Triangle Factory Fire honors the victims' sacrifice and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for the dignity of all working people.

In rare historical photos, discover the story of the hospital, her caretakers, and those cared for at Harrisburg State Hospital for over 150 years.

Harrisburg State Hospital opened in 1851 as the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital, the first public institution in the state. Situated atop a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River, the original building was an early example of a Kirkbride design hospital. The facility closed in 2006 after serving the commonwealth for 155 years. Harrisburg State Hospital: Pennsylvania's First Public Asylum presents a pictorial history of the hospital from the first year of only 12 patients through the peak of state care, when the population reached over 2,500 in the 1950s. Harrisburg State Hospital was an innovative leader in the treatment of the mentally ill, pioneering new methods of therapy even before they were common practice. It was a community and a home for those whom society could not otherwise care for.

Feel the power of Lady Liberty!

The Statue of Liberty is an awesome visual journey that begins with the fantastic proposal of a French professor to give the United States a monument to commemorate the Revolutionary War alliance between the 13 colonies and France. It documents the gift's taking symbolic form of the ancient goddess of liberty and its designation as the tallest metal statue in the world. Highlights include Liberty's construction history, her changing symbolism over the years, and her use in popular advertising and political activism. Her upraised arm has saluted scores of ships as they have passed by. See how her dignity has welcomed Americans returning home from foreign parts and has given hope to newcomers seeking a fresh beginning in the land of liberty.

Through historical images and regional folklore step into the past of the ""Grand Canyon of the East.""

Letchworth State Park, now a century old, grew out of a generous donation made by William Pryor Letchworth to the State of New York. The park's remarkable history reaches back as far as the last ice age. From the Portage Gorge to the mighty highbanks at Mount Morris, Letchworth State Park follows the flow of the Genesee River, exploring the natural and human events that have shaped this inspiring landscape. Drawing on historical images and regional folklore from the collections of the authors, the park, and various local sources, the reader is invited into the past of a park that has been called the ""Grand Canyon of the East.""

Travel through a history of accomodations where Catskills tourists lodged during their excursions through one of America's most famed resort areas.

According to the Catskill Institute, there were over 1,000 hotels spread across the mountains of Greene, Ulster, Delaware, and Sullivan Counties at one time. The Catskills were an exciting world full of pleasures to be enjoyed, with summer and winter activities characterized by entertainment, food, sports, card playing, and food again. Catskill Hotels, with a collection of some 200 images, tells the story of this world, which began with America's first resort hotel, the Catskill Mountain House, continued with places such as the world-famous Grossinger's, and can still be found today at Kutsher's Country Club, the Mountain House at Lake Mohonk, and a few other hardy resorts.

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.

Commissioned in 1936, The Taney was one of seven Secretary-class cutters built for the US Coast Guard during the Great Depression.

She served continuously for 50 years, including service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Taney was in Honolulu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and participated in the defense of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor.  During World War II, she saw service in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. The Taney spent several years on ocean weather station duty in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Later, she patrolled the East Coast of the United States, performing drug interdiction duties. The Taney is the only surviving ship that was present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She was decommissioned in 1986 and has since been a museum ship in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where she hosts an annual Pearl Harbor commemoration on December 7.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary of incorporation, Jenkintown captures many familiar sites and organizations as well as those that helped define the area but no longer remain. Marion K. Rosenbaum and the Old York Historical Society utilize images from the historical society’s collection to trace the rise of Jenkintown as a stop on the coaching lines to New York City along the Old York Road to a shopping, transportation, and cultural hub.

Originally part of Abington Township, Jenkintown became an independent municipality on December 4, 1874, with its own school district forming shortly thereafter. Jenkintown has also been the center for numerous social, civic, fraternal, patriotic, and religious organizations, commencing with the founding of the Abington Library Society (known today as the Jenkintown Library) in 1803.

Marion K. Rosenbaum, Jenkintown resident, graduated from Jenkintown High School (1964) and Beaver College (1968). She is a retired librarian, archivist, and genealogist with extensive experience researching history in local depositories in the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania areas. She collaborated with the Old York Road Historical Society, which was founded in 1936 to preserve and promote the history of the communities along and adjacent to the Old York Road. The society’s collections contain over 250,000 photographic images, of which a few were selected for this book, supplemented by photographs in private and institutional collections.

Downtown Pittsburgh is the story of the great transformation of this city and its contributions to the world.

Downtown Pittsburgh is a 300-acre triangle of land where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge to form the mighty Ohio River. Between the rivers is a tiny spit of flat-bottom land once known as the gateway to the West, the portal to a vast, remote, unexplored wilderness. Ownership of this strategic wedge of land was fiercely contested for hundreds of years. The powerful Iroquois Nation first invaded the area in the 1600s during the Beaver Wars. When the French planted their flag in 1749, they collided with the British Empire for control of the forks of the Ohio River and all of North America. One hundred years later, this swath of frontier wilderness became the workplace of the world, the heart of the great Industrial Revolution. Immigrants arrived from around Europe to work in the glass, iron, and steel mills. Industrial giants such as Carnegie, Frick, Mellon, and Heinz forged their fortunes here.

Over 200 images bring Niagara Falls' past to life and documents the people and places as they were in the 1860s-mid-1960s.

The photographs presented here contain views of the city of Niagara Falls and trace the community's roots in the villages of Suspension Bridge, Niagara Falls, and LaSalle. Many different faces of Niagara are depicted in this rare glimpse of the past. Residents and tourists alike will enjoy viewing the never-before published images gracing the pages of this volume. Images of industry, tourism, the development of hydroelectric power, business districts, streets, homes, and even daredevils all appear in this excellent collection of images.

Here we find the story of the Love Canal's origins in the 1890s, when this project's ultimate goal was to create an almost utopian city. Also included are several photographs of President William McKinley in Niagara Falls, only hours before his assassination. Other famous visitors mentioned include Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Lord Kelvin, Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, the Prince of Wales, Mikhail Gorbachev, Thomas Edison, Princess Diana, George Westinghouse, and John F. Kennedy.

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.

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard has a long history, from its beginnings pre-Civil War to its decommissioning in the late 1990's.

The first government-owned navy yard in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the nation and the largest city in the young republic, was started with two docks in 1798. Workers at the yard numbered seventy thousand at its peak. The area was enlarged and shipbuilding at this site increased, notably during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The yard's area was not dramatically increased, however, until the federal government purchased the 800-acre League Island and closed the former facility in 1868. The golden age of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard came during World War II, when it built fifty-three ships and converted or overhauled some twelve hundred more. After the 1970s, however, shipbuilding was discontinued. The yard continued to serve its country through the modernization of existing craft, but it was closed by the government in 1990 and officially decommissioned in 1996.

Historic photographs convey the influence and lives of the Italian immigrants and their part in the development and culture of the city of Brotherly Love.

Italians from the north have been in Philadelphia since Colonial times, and was second only to New York City in the number of immigrants who settled in the city. It was not until mass immigration from the south of Italy during the 1870s and 1880s that Italians began to make their mark on the city. Leaving small towns in the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Sicily, among others, they faced discrimination, language barriers, the separation of family by thousands of miles, and work in unfamiliar trades. Facing such drastic changes in their lives head on, they persevered, establishing Italian neighborhoods and churches while weaving their customs into their new American lifestyles. Through the use of historic photographs, Italians of Philadelphia conveys the influence Italian immigrants had on the development of Philly and how that spirit remains in the city today.

Follow the history of New York's Long Beach from abandoned barrier island to bustling City By the Sea.

In 1906, Sen. William H. Reynolds purchased an abandoned barrier island along the south shore of Long Island and vowed to turn it into a great city. What is now Long Beach, the "City by the Sea," soon drew visitors who came for its summer resorts, boardwalk, dance pavilions, casino, and luxury hotels. Two world wars, Prohibition, and easy railroad access turned summer residences into year-long homes for thousands eager to live by the seaside and raise families in what has been known as "America's Healthiest City." The images of Long Beach reflect the diversity of the city's architecture, culture, religions, and unique neighborhoods. Photographs show the storied inhabitants and bungalows of the West End, water-lined homes of the canals, the 2.1-mile boardwalk, and long white sand beach.

Built in 1974 in New Jersey, Great Adventure was the larger-than-life dream of a larger-than-life personality, Warner LeRoy.

The consummate showman, LeRoy had visions of a fantasy world of rides, shows, and animals in a beautiful and unspoiled woodland setting. In 1977, Great Adventure became a member of the Six Flags family of theme parks and has continued to grow ever since, with bigger and better attractions added each season. Six Flags Great Adventure revisits some of the park's past attractions, like the Garden of Marvels, Big Balloon, and Super Teepee, and illustrates the park's evolution into a state-of-the-art theme park enjoyed by a new generation of guests.

Discover the rich history of Yonkers as local Joan Jennings walks through the city's neighborhoods, landmarks, and notable characters who called the city home.

A study in contrasts, Yonkers, a sprawling city 20 miles north of midtown Manhattan, traces its roots to early Dutch settlers. Yonkers has a history of retail, boasting one of the first shopping malls in the United States, but prides itself on its backbone of mom-and-pop businesses. Seabiscuit, the legendary racehorse, once stood in the winner's circle at Yonkers Raceway. The city has 38 distinct neighborhoods, each with its own character and identity. Yonkers was home to some of the 19th century's wealthiest industrialists and inventors whose innovations, such as the Otis safety elevator, Armstrong's FM radio, Harvey's elevated railroad, and Smith's carpet looms, shaped the world we know today. Currently, the city with a rough-and-tumble, blue-collar waterfront is undergoing dramatic revitalization.

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.

Explore the construction of the giant hangars and a main area for the development of aviation on the US, and the birthplace of the dirigible.

The naval air station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, has a rich and bittersweet history steeped in success and tainted with tragedy. The area evolved from a gas warfare proving ground during World War I to the focal point of lighter-than-air operations in the United States. Labeled one of the world's first international airports, Lakehurst quickly became a hub of lighter-than-air activity. Although the dirigibles are no longer active, it remains crucial in the operational support of naval aviation as the Naval Air Engineering Station, Lakehurst. Rare photographs and material from the archives of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society chronicle more than eighty-five years of base activity. Offering a unique glimpse of the people, the machines, and the background against which it has all unfolded, this volume examines Lakehurst's vital contributions to the development of aviation and national defense. Naval Air Station, Lakehurst explores the construction of the giant hangars and support buildings for the airships of the U.S. Navy and the glory days of the German zeppelin visits. The blimp programs from World War II through 1962 and the various schools and tenant commands turned the air station into a key component of naval aviation.

Founded by an eccentric glassmaker named Henry William Stiegel in 1762, Manheim, Pennsylvania was born of entrepreneurship and the hardy, adventuresome spirit of early America.

Despite its founder’s unfortunate financial downfall, Manheim made it through the Revolutionary War and continued to grow into a center of commerce for the surrounding farmland. Through the 20th century, Manheim continually grew in pride of its history and in modernization, as electric lights, piping, and paved roads built up the town’s infrastructure. Today, Manheim remains rooted in industry but also offers visitors and residents a variety of boutiques, art studios, and community events. One can also stroll through the streets of Manheim as though walking through time itself, as many buildings from the early 1900s, the 1800s, and even two from the 1700s still grace the town’s streets, making it an architectural gem.

The venerable Wonder Wheel, Coney Island’s oldest and greatest attraction, has dominated the Coney Island skyline for more than a century.

Towering over an ephemeral amusement zone long plagued by fires, floods, and ill-conceived urban renewal schemes, the magnificent steel machine has proved to be the ultimate survivor.The ride boasts impressive statistics.A combination of roller coaster and Ferris wheel, the 150-foot-tall structure weighs 200 tons, has 16 swinging cars and 8 stationary cars, and can carry 144 riders.More than 40 million passengers have taken a ride on the wheel since it was built in 1920, and during that time, it has maintained a perfect safety record.The ride is also a monument to immigrant initiative.Charles Hermann, the ride’s designer, was Romanian; the original owner, Herman Garms, was German; and Denos Vourderis, who purchased and lovingly restored the aging landmark in 1983, was Greek.An official New York City landmark, the Wonder Wheel is now owned and operated by three generations of the Vourderis family as the centerpiece of their Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park.The enduring saga of this iconic ride, and the family that saved it, provide a captivating chapter of Coney Island’s history.

Ithaca, New York has often been called the Hollywood of the East, growing from farms to factories to Cornell University--Ithaca's history is an interesting and broad one.

Nestled in the heart of the Finger Lakes, Ithaca was planned by surveyor Simeon DeWitt and incorporated in 1821 when steamboats signaled Cayuga Lake's heyday of commerce and recreation. Spectacular creeks and waterfalls powered grist, plaster, carding, and other mills. From farms, merchants, and mills, Ithaca's industries grew to include the famous Thomas-Morse Aviation Company and Morse Chain Works. By 1914, Wharton Studios was producing silent films in this Hollywood of the East. Such notable residents as actress Irene Castle, the Tremans, and community leader James L. Gibbs called Ithaca home. Ithacans became known for community involvement early on. St. James AME Zion Church served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and Elizabeth Beebe built a mission for needy Rhiners. Ezra Cornell and Andrew D. White realized their ideal of education when Cornell University opened in 1868, followed in 1892 by the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, which became Ithaca College in 1931. Students protested segregation in front of Woolworth's 30 years later, and echoes of this idealism can still be found here today.

This photographic history showcases Greene County, which is located between the Rhine of America and the scenic northern Catskill Mountains.

Greene County has long been a magnet for settlers, artists, writers, and travelers; it all began with Henry Hudson's exploration of the Hudson River and was followed by the arrival of Dutch settlers. Its geographic location between the Rhine of America and the scenic northern Catskill Mountains contributes to Greene County's allure, as do the Great Algonquin Flint Mines, fascinating remnants of the area's prehistoric inhabitants, the Mohegans.  Much of the content in Around Greene County and the Catskills reflects everyday living, a sampling of its architecture, people, and activities which reflect a sense of history and changing lifestyles. The inclusion of the Dutch Bronck houses of 1663 and 1738, a National Historic Landmark homestead complex, sets the tone of this visual history. From colonial times through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Greene County (like other New York counties) has been affected by national conditions; its economic base has changed and adjusted accordingly. Different ethnic groups who have chosen Greene County as their home have enhanced the area's rich cultural heritage.

Health, history ... and horses! See the Saratoga Springs experience that has been spread out for visitors, year after golden year!

Brilliant afternoons awash in sunshine in Saratoga Springs. Nestled in the foothills of the Adirondacks, it has been the midsummer mecca across two centuries. From the long distant past, the powerful waters from deep in the earth made this place a wellspring of the healing arts. The allure of meeting in the healthy country environment brought society first from the eastern cities and then from all points of the globe. Society itself became an object for summer entertainment, and connecting with living history came to be a recreational pursuit. However, there is more to Saratoga Springs.

While the Spa City opens its arms to all travelers, along with the charms there stands a robust, cheerful, and stalwart core of residents who have over the years transformed a northern wilderness into an oasis of leisure and elegance. Behind the grand hotels of Broadway and America's Monte Carlo are the mansions of Union Avenue and Circular Street, the winter play, and the personalities shaping a place of character, comfort, and culture.Saratoga Springs: A Historical Portraitis their story—the small town at the heart of the City in the Country.

The formula for C.F. Martin & Co.'s success has always been an unparalleled commitment to precise handcraftsmanship blended with optimum tonewoods, innovation, and singular design.

This family business has persevered from the Civil War through the present and remains the oldest surviving maker of stringed instruments in the world. It is the largest and most respected producer of acoustic guitars in America. The images in this book trace the remarkable development of the acoustic guitar in the hands of six generations of Martin family members who have managed the business from 1833 to today. C.F. Martin & Co. captures the buildings, employees, musicians, and exquisite instruments that have contributed to a lasting legacy.

Beginning in the latter half of the 19th century, individuals identifying themselves as Poles, Slovaks, Carpatho-Rusyns, Ukrainians, and others began what would eventually become a mass influx of eastern and central Europeans into Pennsylvania's anthracite coal mining region.

These people brought with them languages and customs quite alien to the longer-established groups that had settled the area many years earlier. At times the Slavs clashed with these groups, as well as among themselves. Eventually, however, they wove their way of life indelibly into the multiethnic fabric of the growing region. The Anthracite Coal Region's Slavic Community presents a pictorial history of Slavic people in hard coal country, conveying the unique and rich culture brought to the area with the arrival of these diverse communities.

A significant site of United States industrial and economic history, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a birthplace and powerhouse of iron, steel, coal, and transportation.

From its early start as a small community on the fringes of the frontier, the town became an important terminus for the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and an early site for coal and ore mining. It also grew into a major steel and iron producer renowned around the world for its output, know-how, and quality. At one time, Johnstown’s industry helped spur the national drive to become an economic and industrial superpower.

This is the history of the supermarket where America grew up shopping, from the Hartford family's legacy to the generations of shoppers who depended on A&P for fair prices and quality food.

In 1859, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, known everywhere as A&P, began as a mail-order business located at 31 Vesey Street in downtown Manhattan. In 1925, A&P operated more than thirteen thousand grocery stores nationwide, with more than forty thousand employees. By 1950, approximately ten cents out of every dollar spent on food in the United States passed over A&P counters. A&P: The Story of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company tells the story of how cofounder George Huntington Hartford and his sons John and George brought A&P to a popularity with consumers that few companies have ever achieved. This stunning collection of vintage photographs shows such nostalgic scenes as the elegant early stores, their gleaming window displays, and the red horse-drawn delivery wagons with the A&P logo emblazoned on their sides. Shoppers choose from rows of colorful merchandise and fresh produce; uniformed storekeepers make change from ornate registers; and the founder's son tastes A&P's Eight O'Clock coffee. A&P is still an industry leader, and A&P: The Story of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company shows why.

In 1911, the operators of Coney Island's Luna Park premiered a miniature, radically banked racetrack for staged automobile races that seemed to defy gravity.

For a fee, patrons would watch from the perimeter of the 85-foot wooden saucer as daredevil drivers raced on the steep angle of the tiny track. The attraction created a sensation and was quickly copied with a show that featured motorcycle riders performing breathtaking stunts. When portable versions were made available, every traveling carnival owner in the United States rushed to have one. Motordromes with perfectly vertical walls soon followed, which permitted riders on their Indian motorcycles to climb, sometimes to a height of 20 feet, with nothing but centrifugal force between them and a trip to the trauma ward. And when full-grown lions were added to pursue riders in the arena, no one could resist buying a ticket! The Wall of Death, a name these shows received in 1917, remained a staple attraction on American carnival midways until the 1970s.

Since 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer’s field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home.

From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity.

Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state’s Adirondack Park. She has a master’s degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.

Pittsburgh has long been in the forefront of developing sports facilities, from Forbes Field, one of the first “modern” concrete and steel ballparks, and PNC Park, the best of the new millennium’s retro design movement, to Schenley Casino and Duquesne Garden, the first artificial indoor ice rinks, and the engineering marvel of the Civic Arena’s movable dome. Pittsburgh’s Historic Stadiums and Arenas chronicles Pittsburgh’s professional baseball, football, hockey, and basketball venues. Photographs cover the design and construction phases, the major changes as facilities expanded and aged, and eventually the demolition of some venues. The great players, teams, and moments are not the focus; there are many other books to tell their stories. Instead, the stadiums and arenas take center stage in this unique history of Pittsburgh sports and architecture.

Poet Walt Whitman proclaimed his adopted home of Camden, in its heyday, the city invincible, a powerhouse of industrial might destined for greatness.

Camden resurrects that fascinating era of invincibility through powerful images of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge construction; Cooper Hospital's nearly ill-fated founding; and the momentous birth of Campbell Soup Company, Victor Talking Machine Company/RCA, and New York Shipbuilding. Also included are images of Camden's neighborhoods, community life, and bustling downtown district, as well as the newsmakers and lawbreakers who defined the biggest little city in the world.

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.

Follow the road through New Jersey, the Jersey Turnpike, the road that brings the indsutrial prosperity and businesses of the state together. A main thoroughfare through the state, don't miss the many diners along the way!

The New Jersey Turnpike chronicles the history of the highway from 1949 through the present day. With vivid images, it follows the road's progress from an ambitious vision, through construction, to opening, and into the future. Built as a utilitarian, four-lane, limited-access highway, the New Jersey Turnpike has evolved into the economic engine of New Jersey, the foundation of industrial prosperity and personal mobility. The highway traverses the entire state and is part of the Interstate 95 Corridor Coalition, which covers the East Coast from Maine to Florida. Today, more than two hundred forty million vehicles travel along the route, and many of those travelers stop at the turnpike's twelve service areas.

Approximately 110,000 soldiers of the Union and Confederate armies fought along the banks of Antietam Creek in the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.

In 12 hours of fighting, approximately 23,000 men fell, either killed, wounded, or missing, forever scarring the landscape around the town of Sharpsburg. Established as the Antietam Battlefield Site in 1890, Antietam National Battlefield became a National Park Service landmark in 1933. The park grew from 33 acres in the 1890s to encompassing over 3,000 acres today. Some of the Civil War’s most recognizable landmarks now sit within its boundaries, including Dunker Church, Bloody Lane, and Burnside Bridge. The events that occurred across the fields and woodlots around Sharpsburg and along Antietam Creek bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Antietam National Battlefield every year.

Kevin Pawlak serves as a certified battlefield guide at Antietam National Battlefield. Antietam National Battlefield is filled with historic photographs of the battlefield and its development from the collections of Antietam National Battlefield Library, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the United States Army Heritage and Education Center, private collections, and more.

Explore the fascinating history of Carbondale, Pennsylvania with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

The first non-native settlers arrived in Ragged Island, as Carbondale was then known, around 1802. Twenty years later, brothers William and Maurice Wurts were exploring the wilderness when they took note of several outcroppings of curious black stones.

These stones turned out to be anthracite coal, and the two Philadelphia businessmen became pioneers in America's Industrial Revolution. Carbondale's journey has taken many twists and turns during the past two centuries.

The colorful and fascinating mosaic of images in Carbondalegives the reader a glimpse into the heart of small-town America and a clear picture of this historic city's past.

Looming on the outskirts of Philadelphia County since 1906, the mental hospital commonly known as Byberry stood abandoned for 16 years before being demolished in 2006.

Like many other mental hospitals and asylums of its time, Byberry began with the best of intentions. Despite having its own self-sustaining farm, bowling alleys, barbershop, ice cream parlor, post office, and baseball team, conditions in the hospital were abysmal and even compared to Nazi concentration camps. Throughout its history, the hospital served as an educational institution for Philadelphia's medical, nursing, and psychology students; was the site of a World War II Civilian Public Service conscientious objector unit; and a volunteering hot spot for local churches, schools, and Girl and Boy Scout troops, before becoming what it is most remembered for today. At its peak in the 1960s, Byberry was home to more than 6,000 patients and employer to more than 800, but now its only residents are ghosts and the urban explorers excited to take a risk in the desiccated husk of the hospital. This book provides an unprecedented window into the good, the bad, the unusual, and the forgotten history of Byberry.

The twin river hamlets of Lambertville, New Jersey, and New Hope, Pennsylvania, hold a special place in America's history.

The tiny pocket of land on which they sit borders the Delaware River on the east and west, and it is this famous waterway that has fostered life as far back as the days when the Lenni Lenape fished and hunted here. Much has changed since the land was purchased by representatives of King Charles II in the late seventeenth century, but what continues to make Lambertville and New Hope special are their deep and enduring ties to the past. This intriguing visual history documents the proud heritage of these riverfront communities from the dawn of photography to the early 1900s through two hundred carefully selected images accompanied by detailed and informative text. Photography is perhaps the most remarkable of all our historic records because it brings history to life for so many people. The images collected for this book provide a window into the past that is both intimate and learned. One image tells of the human toil and ingenuity that went into the digging of the canal system, while another takes us into the carefree world of two young lovers setting out with parasol and oars to spend some quiet moments together on the Delaware in the Victorian era.

Pittsburgh's Bridges takes a comprehensive look at the design, construction, and, sometimes, demolition of the bridges that shaped Pittsburgh, ranging from the covered bridges of yesterday to those that  define the skyline today.

Pittsburgh is the City of Bridges, and what remarkable bridges they are! The area's challenging topography of deep ravines and mighty rivers - the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio - set the stage for engineers, architects, and contractors to conquer the terrain with a variety of distinctive spans. Many were designed to be beautiful as well as functional. While other cities may have one signature bridge, Pittsburgh has such a wide variety that no single bridge can represent it.

A fascinating part of the melting pot city, current day Jackson Heights in Queens, New York, the neighborhood formerly known as Trains Meadow, is shared in images and history of the area from rural farmland to a cultural and economic center in New York.

At the turn of the 20th century, the neighborhood known as Jackson Heights was originally called Trains Meadow, a sprawling area covered by acres of farmland and rolling hills. Its only inhabitants were homesteaders who lived in their ancient wood-framed dwellings with spreads occupied by barns, horse stables, cabbage patches, and beehives. Overgrowing populations in Manhattan and Brooklyn led developers to Queens County to transform that landscape into Jackson Heights. Headed by Edward Archibald MacDougall, the ambitious Queensboro Corporation spent nearly $4 million buying properties, molding roads, and constructing buildings of great architectural merit. Jackson Heights provides an in-depth look at the history of America's first garden apartment community with the use of never-before-seen photographs culled from local archives and private collections. Images featured show the neighborhood's progression from rural farmland to the highly populated economic center it is today with memorable businesses like Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor and the cultural splendor along Thirty-seventh Avenue and Eighty-second Street.

Ocean City, which calls itself America's Greatest Family Resort, is best known for its clean beaches and yearly bayfront celebration called the Night in Venice.

Founded in 1879 as a Christian seaside resort, the island community still maintains some of its early traditions including prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages—while striving to continue its long-standing reputation as a family-oriented resort. This remarkable new photographic history features such historic sites as the home of the town's firstresident and famous old-time restaurants like Chris', Hogate's, and Watson's. Several rare pictures of the shipwrecked Sindia and its cargo are also included, as well as photographs of Ocean City's most well-known citizens, Princess Grace Kelly and author Gay Talese.

From forest and field to thriving neighborhood, explore the Italian influence in building, markets and maybe even a pizza pie, all in South Philly's Little Italy.

What is now referred to as Little Italy was priginally called Irishtown when the first Italian moved to the area near Catherine Street around 1798, mostly forest and field in the middle of colonial Pennsylvania. By 1852, an Italian church had been established for the community, and from the advent of mass migration beginning in 1876 grew into Philadelphia's Little Italy. Many of the early families - Baldi, Pinto, and Fiorella - established businesses in the area that continue today. Other beautiful buildings still left standing are remnants of the once thriving banking industry in this little neighborhood. As time progressed, the market expanded beyond its local neighbors, and Italians throughout Philadelphia developed their own Little Italy communities to the north, west, and farther south of the original boundaries.

With images from the Connellsville Historical Area Society's archives and private collections, encounter the hidden history of Connellsville.

Connellsville became the first city in Fayette County when it merged with New Haven in 1909. Connellsville's growth was shaped by the Youghiogheny River, coal mining, and coke production, which fueled the nation's steel industry for nearly 100 years. Known as the coke capital of the world, Connellsville became an early manufacturing, commercial, and transportation center, attracting a diverse ethnic population. Around Connellsville celebrates this heritage with images of coke ovens, coal patches, railroads, streetcars, and Brimstone Corner. It follows South Pittsburgh Street to Anchor Hocking and the beach, cheers ball teams at Fayette Field in the north end, and admires St. Rita's grotto on the west side. Although recent economic growth shifted from the town center to nearby highways, Connellsville remains the preeminent gateway to the Laurel Highlands Recreational Area, which includes world-class resorts, state parks, historical sites, and the singular beauty of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Philadelphia Organized Crime in the 1920s and 1930s explores a little-known but spirited chapter of the Quaker City's history.

The hoodlums, hucksters, and racketeers of Prohibition-era Philadelphia sold bootleg booze, peddled illicit drugs, ran numbers, and operated prostitution and insurance rings. Among the fascinating personalities that created and contributed to the Philadelphia crime scene of the 1920s and 1930s were empire builders like Mickey Duffy, known as Prohibition's Mr. Big, and Max Boo Boo Hoff, dubbed the King of the Bootleggers; the violent Lanzetti brothers, who ran their own illegal enterprise; mobster Harry Nig Rosen Stromberg, a New York transplant; and the arsenic widows poison ring, which specialized in fraud and murder. Bringing to light rare photographs and forgotten characters, the authors chronicle the underworld of Philadelphia in the interwar era. The upheaval caused by the gangs and groups herein mirrors the frenzied cultural and political shifts of the Roaring Twenties and the austere 1930s.

Essex County Overbrook Hosptial details the history of this institution which had its beginnings as an asylym.

What was founded as the Essex County Lunacy Asylum evolved from a single building on South Orange Avenue to a city within itself in Cedar Grove. It was named the Essex County Overbrook Hospital. Construction began on the hospital's iconic brick buildings in 1896, and they were prominent features on Fairview Avenue for the next 100 years. The facility produced its own food, housed its own police and fire departments, and sustained its own power sources. The Essex County Overbrook Hospital was recognized throughout the world as a leader in psychiatric care. In later years, overcrowding began to plague the institution. However, after the advent of modern psychiatric drugs, many patients were able to be discharged back into the community. In 2007, the buildings were closed, and the hospital was relocated to a newer establishment nearby. The grounds have since been plagued with vandalism and neglect, with a final deal for demolition having been solidified in 2015.

In 1909, Pittsburgh Pirates president Barney Dreyfuss began construction on a new facility for his team in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

Dreyfuss decided to call his palace - the first concrete and steel facility built in the National League - Forbes Field, after the British general John Forbes, a hero in the French and Indian War. Opened on June 20, 1909, Forbes Field was a hit from the onset; the venue hosted large crowds that came to watch the Pirates win in their first World Series against the Detroit Tigers that year. As the years went on, Forbes Field became synonymous with the greatest sports memories in the city's history. Patrons saw the trials and tribulations of the Steelers as well as some of the greatest collegiate football teams in the history of the game. The University of Pittsburgh won three collegiate football national championships, and Duquesne University and Carnegie Tech also fielded many winning teams while calling Forbes Field home. Alongside football, boxing was a constant event at the famed facility, hosting some of the most memorable pugilists this city has ever produced. Above all else, it was a baseball mecca. While the field is no longer in use, the wall remains intact, reminding Pittsburghers of the field's rich history.

Enjoy a cool book on a hot day about America's Oldest Brewery, Yuengling.

D. G. Yuengling & Son of Pottsville has been in continuous operation since 1829, and since its start, Yuengling has been prudently managed by the Yuengling family. Overcoming the 14 dry years of Prohibition, Yuengling persevered due in part to the ingenuity and creativity of its owners and loyalty of its consumers, finding particular success with ice cream products that would continue until 1985. Unlike many of the regional brewers who were forced to close their doors over time, Yuengling found a niche for itself beginning in the late 1980s. With the introduction of Yuengling Lager and Black & Tan, the brand became a sensation in and around Philadelphia. The popularity of their product has led to Yuengling being distributed in 14 states, making it not only the oldest, but the largest American-owned brewery.

With Syracuse, readers can explore the architecture, lifestyles, landscapes, and transportation modes of this city from before the Civil War to the mid-1970s.

As we approach the twenty-first century, many people are seeking to connect with their community's roots in order to better understand their own past and to make thoughtful choices about the future. Within these pages, readers come face-to-face with the nineteenth-century citizens who shaped the city; Syracuse University football and lacrosse legends; and individuals like Colonel Homer Wheaton, who became the first soldier from Syracuse to be struck down in World War I, sacrificing his life to save comrades from an exploding grenade. Other intriguing discoveries include a series of views showcasing the lost mansions of James Street, images of the main line New York Central Railroad tracks that ran though the middle of downtown for one hundred years, and scenes of the former salt manufacturing industry which once defined Syracuse as it is still known today-The Salt City.

The story of the bridge that transformed Maryland's Eastern Shore from a sleepy backwater to a major tourism destination and caused an economic boom in Baltimore in the west.

When it opened to traffic in 1952, the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge - simply called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - was the third-longest bridge in the world. The four-mile long span was constructed over the Chesapeake Bay in a dramatic 2.5-year period of progress that became known to the workers as Operation Link, because it would be the first physical connection between the two widely separated parts of Maryland. Today, the two spans - the original Bay Bridge from 1952 and the parallel span built alongside it in 1973 - are towering architectural landmarks along the East Coast of the United States.

Authors Constantine and Emmanuel Theodosiou take the reader back in time through the distinguished history of Garden City, one of New York’s earliest and most successful planned communities. Historic photographs and meticulously researched text bring to life the upper-class gentility and civic responsibility of this Long Island treasure.

The kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. and the subsequent arrest, trial, and execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann have intrigued true crime buffs for decades.

New Jersey's Lindbergh Kidnapping and Trial tells the story of the case that never dies through vintage photographs. Rare photographs, many not seen since the 1930s, will allow the reader to experience the massive police investigation led by New Jersey State Police superintendent H. Norman Schwarzkopf and the circus-like trial and execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

The Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad tells the story of an American industrial masterpiece.

From the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania at Carbondale to the Hudson River in New York near Kingston, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company and the Gravity Railroad transformed long tracks of wilderness into thriving economic areas. Conceived as an inexpensive way to transport anthracite coal, the canal began hauling loads in 1828 to the Hudson River, where barges to New York City took over. A leader in the technologies of the time, the canal company used the first telegraph system in America, and when Delaware & Hudson engineer Horatio Allen ran the locomotive Stourbridge Lion in Honesdale, he became the first to run a commercial steam locomotive on tracks in the Western Hemisphere. The Delaware & Hudson Canal was privately funded, and when stock was offered for sale in 1825, it soon became the first American company capitalized at $1 million. The Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad uses fascinating vintage photographs to tell an amazing piece of American history. It shows the mules, the canal boats, the locomotives, and the men who ran this technological wonder, boasting one hundred eight locks over one hundred eight miles, plus four suspension aqueducts built by John A. Roebling of Brooklyn Bridge fame. The Gravity Railroad is shown as well, hauling coal from Carbondale to Honesdale over the Moosic Mountains, a rise of more than one thousand feet.

The historic grounds of The Homewood Cemetery have been an integral part of Pittsburgh since before the cemetery was founded in 1878.

Nearly a half-century prior, Judge William Wilkins established his family’s Homewood residence on these now hallowed hills.Homewood was surrounded by the estates of notable Pittsburgh industrialists such as Henry Frick’s residence, named Clayton, and the H.J.Heinz family mansion, Greenlawn.These well-known families, along with numerous other sons and daughters of Pittsburgh, now rest in the approximately 200 acres encompassing The Homewood Cemetery.Today, past blends seamlessly with present, as the lawn park design of the cemetery draws visitors from all walks of life to enjoy its bucolic grounds and storied paths.

Located in the rich anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County was captured on film as early as the 1860s, when A.M. Allen set up Pottsville's first photography studio.

The Historical Society of Schuylkill County has been collecting and preserving these images for the last 95 years, bringing history to life once again in the companion to their first two volumes. Schuylkill County Volume II includes the work of George M. Bretz, the famous Photographer in the Mines, as well as a collection of postcard images that were popular in the early 20th century. View houses of worship, construction of Route 122/61 during the 1940s and 1950s, railroad stations and crossings that have since given way to the age of the automobile, and familiar county scenes. Dedicated historians Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major have reached deep into the collections of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County to mine this fascinating collection of images. A thoroughly researched and informative text complements the images and evokes a nostalgia for the past.

Twenty-five miles north of New York City lie two scenic villages: Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. These villages, bordering the majestic Hudson River, are rich in the charm and mystery of their shared historic past.

From the era of Weckquaesgeek to the close of World War II, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow depicts scenes of area residents' mothers, fathers, grandparents, and ancestors at work, home, school, and play. Treasured images of Revolutionary War sites, the growing villages, and stately mansions and castles bring the past of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow to life. Also vividly brought to life is the location Washington Irving made famous with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Garden State Parkwayshows how this iconic New Jersey roadway gained its place in history and continues to combine safe transportation in a parklike setting.

The Garden State Parkwayhas transformed the lives of New Jersey residents since opening in 1954. Spanning 173 miles from Cape May to the New York State line, it has fostered tourism to the Jersey Shore and given commuters an easier way to get to work.

Gov. Alfred E. Driscoll had envisioned the impact a new highway could have on the state, and a large team of planners, engineers, and contractors made it happen. In 1952, the legislature created the New Jersey Highway Authorityto ensure the funding and completion of the $330-million parkway and to self-sufficiently operate the roadway through toll revenue.

Plainview–Old Bethpage presents an intriguing story of two vibrant Long Island communities that share a colorful 300-year-old history.

They were once quaint farming communities that almost overnight found themselves facing seismic cultural changes. In just 10 years, from 1950 to 1960, the combined population of Plainview and Old Bethpage soared from 2,000 to over 33,000. Plainview–Old Bethpage presents a journey back in time to the Native Americans, the settlers who followed, the farmers who worked the land, and the thousands who came to make a better life for their families. Discover why every town surrounding Plainview–Old Bethpage has a railroad station but it does not. Read about the resident who raised a Confederate flag during the Civil War and drew the ire of his neighbors. Ride along with race car drivers as they hurtle along dirt roads at breakneck speed. Learn about the deadly brawl on Election Day in 1890, the infamous Plainview kidnapper who got the electric chair, and a local company's role in molding a national memorial to Vietnam veterans.

See the faces, events and places that have made Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill an indespensable keepsake since its founding in the late 1600s.

Called the most historic street in America, Germantown Avenue follows the path of an ancient Lenni Lenape trail. This historic route links Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill, the three neighborhoods of the city of Philadelphia that make up the old German Township. From the first protest against slavery in North America, to the battle of Germantown in 1777, to the service of its two military hospitals during the Civil War, Germantown has been the site of some of history's most significant events. Many rarely seen images from the archives of the Germantown Historical Society are in Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill.

Covering the period from Colonial times to the 20th century, these images tell in sharp detail the story of the region founded by German-speaking settlers in 1683. From these beginnings, Germantown evolved into a prosperous industrial center by the mid-19th century. Immigrants from all parts of Europe were attracted to Germantown. It also became a destination for wealthy businessmen who built elaborate Victorian villas and gardens and was home to one of the nation's first commuter railroads, as well as many factories and textile mills.

Through hundreds of scarcely-seen photos and archival materials, the fascinating story of Endicott-Johnson, the company town it built, and the groundbreaking foundations of Square Dealcapitalism come to life.

The Endicott-Johnson Corporation emerged from the modest Lester Brothers Company, manufacturers of boots and shoes, that began in 1854. It was created through the tenacity and vision of great American entrepreneur George F. Johnson. Johnson rose from abject poverty to ownership of one of the largest shoe industries in the world. The village of Endicott was built by Johnson c. 1901, and the Triple Cities of Binghamton, Johnson City, and Endicott made up a classic shoe town USA. At its peak, during the 1920s and 1930s, EJ employed twenty thousand people. The monumental impact of corporate policies on life and the local landscape survived long after company doors closed.

Endicott-Johnson combines nostalgia, insight, stories, and memories from area residents. This volume offers a comprehensive view into the lives of early-twentieth-century factory workers and the men who guided the corporation into the annals of industrial history. The EJ brand of welfare capitalism resulted in a company town where employee benefits nearly overshadowed the making of shoes and where intense loyalty to the company still exists. Revolutionary labor-relation policies and a benevolent relationship between corporation and community made EJ an example of a square deal business.

Through vintage photographs, McKeesport documents the history of this once booming steel town from the development and subsequent loss of its major industry to its recent revitalization.

Located at the confluence of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers, McKeesport was settled by David McKee in 1755. In 1769, McKee acquired land from the Colonial government and one of his sons, John, laid out a village that became known as McKee's Port because a ferry was operating there. Early industries included coal mining and the building of flatboats, and in 1851, an iron rolling mill was started. Industry continued to boom as steamboats and railroads soon appeared, and in 1872, National Tube was founded and joined by other steel industries and foundries. The growing industries created an abundance of jobs, and immigrants from throughout Europe flocked to the area. McKeesport still maintains a strong ethnic heritage.

This volume about Fresh Meadows, Queens captures the optimism of the postwar era by illustrating how middle-class families thrived in an environment that combined the best aspects of urban and suburban living.

Located in northeast Queens, Fresh Meadows grew up around a housing development of the same name, built for World War II veterans. The site plan for the development not only provided an array of green open space, but it also enabled residents to enjoy a variety of services within walking distance. The development became the centerpiece of a brand-new neighborhood, which had been the site of a country club and farmland. In 1949, renowned urban and architecture critic Lewis Mumford hailed the Fresh Meadows housing development as ""perhaps the most positive and exhilarating example of large-scale community planning in this country.""

Featuring over 150 years of obscured history, Neville Island documents this community's journey of change and transformation.

Ten miles from the illustrious city of Pittsburgh is a five-mile island on the Ohio River known as Neville Island. On April 8, 1856, the island was officially named a township and a community was born. The island's fertile soil was rich with produce, and farms grew asparagus, strawberries, and corn. The island became known as the market basket of Pittsburgh with its produce being sold in the most prominent hotels and restaurants. However, at the birth of World War I, the island experienced a drastic turn of fate. Industries arose, and the farms became extinct. Neville Island features over 150 years of obscured history, including the lost Sunshine Island and the failed attempt of Coney Island Park, documenting the community's journey of change under the influence of the Ohio River.

The story of John Larkin, Buffalo businessman, and his soap company that was one largest mail -order companies in America and left the legacy of Larkinville.

Born at 13 Clinton Street in Buffalo in 1845, John D. Larkin went on to become one of the most successful businessmen Buffalo has ever had. Developing from his experience in the soap industry with his brother-in-law Justus Weller in Buffalo and Chicago, the Larkin Company, established in 1875, became one of the dominant mail-order businesses in America. In 1885, Larkin and his wife's brother, Elbert Hubbard, promoted The Larkin Idea, which brought the business a national customer base through Factory to Family direct sales. At the height of the company, 90,000 Larkin Secretaries established clubs to bring Larkin soap and other products to women in their neighborhoods. This system of secretaries and clubs created an external promotional engine unlike any other previously known. The company closed in 1967, leaving its mammoth footprint in Buffalo's Hydraulic neighborhood, now aptly called Larkinville.

As a suburb of the nation’s capital in the late 1800s, Rockville was proclaimed a “peerless” place to live; its subsequent transformation into a city all its own is equally remarkable.

Starting out as a tiny colonial crossroads village, it gained stature as the county seat and evolved into a town.Construction of a train line to Washington spurred suburbanization—even resort hotels. Then the automobile and post–World War II boom rapidly turned it into a full-fledged city, with much of its identity tied to the bustling Rockville Pike, a region-wide commercial mecca.As its downtown faltered, Rockville undertook a massive urban renewal makeover—but with mixed results.Along the way, luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thurgood Marshall figured in Rockville’s story, as did an escaped slave whose autobiography inspired the influential novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Rockville even once had an airport and a renowned mental hospital memorialized in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. A four-time All-America City awardee, Rockville is evolving still as one of the nation’s most ethnically diverse cities.

Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd., is a vibrant nonprofit organization working since 1974 to protect and enhance awareness of Rockville’s rich cultural and architectural heritage. Most of this volume’s photographs come from its extensive archives.

Often separated from other immigrants because of their language, Italian immigrants to New York City in the 1880s formed thriving communities apart from their new neighbors.

They tended to think of themselves collectively as a small Italian colony, La Colonia, that made up part of the demographics of the city. In each of the five boroughs, Italians set up many colonies. Several of them dotted Manhattan in East Harlem, the West Village, what is now SoHo, and the downtown area of the Lower East Side, straddling Canal Street, which still identifies Manhattan's Little Italy, the best-known Italian neighborhood in America. Little Italy is made up of stunning photographs culled from numerous private and public collections. It begins with the first phase of immigrants to Lower Manhattan in the early 1800s, including political and religious refugees such as Lorenzo Da Ponte and Giuseppe Garibaldi. In the 1870s, more and more Italian immigrants settled in Little Italy. As the neighborhood grew up around the former Anthony and Orange Streets, New York's first ""Little Italy"" emerged. The tumultuous history of the Five Points area, the ""Bloody Ole Sixth Ward,"" and many faces and memories from the Italian newspapers L'Eco d'Italia and Il Progresso Italo-Americano are also included in this long-awaited pictorial history.

Explore the building, heyday and eventual demise of Whitemarsh Hall, once considered the Versailles of America.

Whitemarsh Hall was one of the largest and most exquisite estates in North America. Edward Townsend Stotesbury, one of the wealthiest Philadelphians in the early 20th century, commissioned renowned architect Horace Trumbauer to build the 147-room mansion in 1916 on 300 acres just outside Philadelphia. Whitemarsh Hall, which took five years to build at an estimated cost of $10 million with all the furnishings, was a wedding present for his second wife. This book explores Whitemarsh Hall's construction, its prime in the 1920s, the multiple impacts of the Great Depression, Stotesbury's death, and subsequent ownership over the next four decades, culminating in its eventual submission to decay, vandalism, and the wrecking ball in 1980.

Collected in this intriguing visual history are over 200 photographs which bring to life the rich and diverse history of Bayonne, New Jersey.

Bayonne has made a number of significant contributions to American culture: from the country's first rock band and its first independent movie studio, to its first air-mail delivery and fast-food restaurants. This visual history brings these little-known contributions to light while also focusing on the everyday lives of the people of Bayonne. In this fascinating journey into the past, we move from disasters such as the Standard Oil fire of 1900 to celebrations such as the arrival of a Wild West Show at the 8th Street station. Views of the lighthouses and the old New York Bay shore document the continued importance of the city's two shores, even as it transformed itself from being the Newport on the Hudson to the Peninsula of Industry. Jump into Bayonne's history from the years 1860 to 1940.

Although Bertrand Island Park closed in 1983, there is no place in northwestern New Jersey that is more fondly remembered. For some seventy years, the park thrilled youngsters and adults alike. The park opened during the peak of Lake Hopatcong's resort years, and its popularity continued as the lake evolved from a hotel resort to a community of second homes and finally into a year-round locale. Generations of school groups, church outings, company picnics, and residents from throughout the region delighted in the wooden roller coaster, the magical carousel, and the scores of other rides and games.

Billed as New York's answer to Disneyland, innovative Freedomland opened on June 19, 1960.

Designed by Marco Engineering of Los Angeles for the International Recreation Corporation, Freedomland transformed a former landfill, lowlands, and farms into an exciting theme park in the shape of the United States. Through photographs, Freedomland recalls boat rides on the Great Lakes, putting out a fire in Chicago, dancing under the stars at the Moon Bowl, or taking a train ride all the way to San Francisco. Entering Freedomland was like walking into a history book of America for both young and young at heart. Open for five seasons, Freedomland gave its guests and cast members memories that have lasted a lifetime.