New England

The most respected of firearm companies, Smith & Wesson explores the guns and company history from 1852 to to 1965. Rarely seen historical photographs, advertisements, and company documents culled from the company archives, museums collections, and the private collections of Smith & Wesson collectors make this a must for every gun collector and admirer.

Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson shared a dream of manufacturing a firearm that could fire repeatedly, using a new and self-contained cartridge. In 1852, the dream became a reality with the founding of Smith & Wesson Firearms Company. Over the next 154 years, the company grew to be one of the most innovative and respected firearms manufacturers in the world. The story of Smith & Wesson is not only about two knowledgeable and enterprising men but also the story of generations of creative and dedicated men and women. The spirit of innovation generated by the partners has long outlived them. Today Smith & Wesson is synonymous with quality, performance, and durability. Smith & Wesson explores the company history, its people, and significant products from the partners' first venture in 1852 to the sale of the Wesson family business in 1965. This book features rarely seen historical photographs, advertisements, and company documents culled from the company archives, museums collections, and the private collections of Smith & Wesson collectors.

Go inside the people, places, forests and machines that made Maine the logging and lumber giant it is today.

Known as the Pine Tree State, Maine once led the world in lumber production. It was the first great lumber-producing region, with Bangor at its center. Today, the state has nearly 18 million acres of timberland, and forest products still make up a major industry. The state's lumber industry went through several historical periods, beginning with the vast pine and spruce harvests, the organization of major corporate interests, the change from sawlogs to pulpwood, and then to sustained yields, intensive management, and mechanized harvesting.

At the beginning, much of the region was inaccessible except by water, so harvesting activities were concentrated on the coast and along the principal rivers. Gradually, as the railroads expanded and roads were constructed into the woods, operations expanded with them and the river systems became vitally important for the transportation of timber out of the woods to the markets downstate. Logging and Lumbering in Maine traces these developments in the industry and examines the history from its earliest roots in 1630 to the present, providing a pictorial record of land use and activity in Maine.

The fading memories of Greater Boston's Blizzard of 1978 return to life for those who experienced it and those who can only imagine.

The great blizzard of 1978 is an event seared in the memory of anyone who lived through it. Most of Greater Boston was quickly overwhelmed by the storm, which shut down all forms of transit, stranded thousands of cars and motorists along Route 128, and virtually shut down most of the state for a week. But for many coastal communities, the impact of the storm, which brought record high tides and pounding surf, was pure devastation. The common thread shared by almost everyone in the region was positive memories of neighbors and strangers helping each other and finding new bonds of community.

Greater Boston's Blizzard of 1978is illustrated with approximately 200 photographs from government archives and private collections and is told by author Alan R. Earls, who somehow managed to drive through the worst of the infamous storm.

Treasured by locals and visitors alike, the charm of Block Island, Rhode Island, first developed as a summer resort in the late 1800s, is shown here throughout its history, from its begininning in 1637, to farming and fishing community, to summer scenes of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Block Island explores the evolution of the small, 7-by-3-mile island that lies between Point Judith, Rhode Island, and Montauk Point, New York. In 1637, Block Island, also known as New Shoreham, was claimed by Massachusetts soldiers who took the land away from the Manisses Indians. When the island was sold to 16 proprietors in 1660, the history of Block Island as part of Rhode Island began. At any time of the year, Block Island has a special look and charm of its own. In addition to its beautiful sandy beaches and thundering surf, the island is plentiful with rolling hills, fertile valleys, and ponds. Within these pages, meet the early residents of the island and learn how this farming and fishing community first developed as a summer resort destination in the late 1800s. Summer scenes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including views of the steamers that arrived daily carrying thousands of passengers from New York, Connecticut, and other parts of Rhode Island, are also featured in this collection.

Rocky Hill is a commercial center, and along with attractions like Dinosaur State Park and the nation's oldest ferry line, make it a popular New England tourist destination.

Any great civilization would say the secret to success is easy access to a river, and the town of Rocky Hill is no exception. East of the Connecticut River, the waterway made Rocky Hill an active maritime center during the age of sail. As steam replaced sail, Rocky Hill’s role as a river port diminished. Farms grew, and the town became a thriving agricultural center. In recent years, Rocky Hill has become a residential community. Modern highways and a central location have contributed to the town’s growth and made it a commercial center, along with attractions like Dinosaur State Park and the nation's oldest ferry line making it a popular New England tourist destination as well.

Located on the waterfront in historic Fall River, Massachusetts, Battleship Cove, a nonprofit maritime museum and war memorial, is home to the largest and most diverse collection of preserved US Navy ships in the world.

It is the commonwealth's official memorial for the events of September 11, 2001, and the official veterans' memorial for World War II and the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars. Beginning with the opening of the battleship USS Massachusetts in 1965, the Fall River Navy has continued to grow. The vessels include the submarine Lionfish, destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., and PT boats 617 and 796. Having hosted nearly six million visitors from all over the world, Battleship Cove is one of the most popular attractions in southeastern Massachusetts. It now stands at the threshold of a new era in its ambitions to modernize for the 21st century.

Through photographs of people, events, and machines, Digital Equipment Corporation tells the story of the unassuming computer revolutionaries who reshaped the technological world.

From its inception in 1957, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts, carved itself a role in American business unlike any other company. Launched by Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineer Ken Olsen with a $70,000 investment from the country's first venture capital firm, DEC rapidly became a pioneer in computer technology. In its heyday, DEC had a valuation of more than $12 billion and employed approximately one hundred twenty thousand people worldwide, making it second only to IBM. Its people and technology contributed to making computers increasingly affordable, which led directly to the advent of the personal computer, the first computer games, and computer networks. DEC was also a leader in the Internet revolution, claiming the dubious distinction of launching the first spam mailing and registering one of the first commercial domain names. Through photographs of people, events, and machines, Digital Equipment Corporation tells the story of the unassuming computer revolutionaries who reshaped the technological world. It is written for anyone who is interested in how the present era of computing ubiquity has evolved since the 1940s, when IBM chairman Thomas Watson predicted that the whole world might need no more than five computers.

Cape Cod was known as a ship's graveyard but the Cape Cod Canal, proposed in 1776 and built in 1914 became a vital shipping link and a marvel of engineering.

For centuries, the shoals and high winds around Cape Cod turned its waters into a ships' graveyard. In 1623, Miles Standish proposed a shorter, safer passage by building a canal linking Cape Cod Bay with Buzzards Bay, and in 1776, George Washington ordered the first of many surveys. All attempts failed until 1914, when the Cape Cod Canal opened as a private toll canal. The widest sea-level canal in the world, the Cape Cod Canal continues to be an engineering marvel, a vital shipping link, and a summer destination. These rare images from the Nina Heald Webber Collection at Historic New England survey the canal's development from unsuccessful building efforts in the 1800s, through its 1909-1914 construction, and subsequent improvements in the 1930s.

The historic images in Candlewood Lake illustrate the history of the lake basin from its beginnings to the present day.

At the turn of the century, the Rocky River valley was a quiet, productive farming community nestled in the foothills of Connecticut's Berkshire Mountains. On July 15, 1926, the Connecticut Light and Power Company's board of directors approved a plan to create a lake for the purpose of producing electric power, a decision that changed the face of the valley forever. Plans moved quickly, and the company bought the valley land and built several dams to contain the water. On February 25, 1928, the fill-up began, and in a mere seven months, Candlewood Lake was born.

Documenting the destruction caused by the 1938 hurricane along New England's coast and the ways in which victims united to rebuild their communities.

The Hurricane of 1938 was one of the most devastating storms to strike New England's Atlantic coast. It forever changed the landscapes of cities and towns in its path. Throughout the hurricane, the Coast Guard worked tirelessly to provide aid to countless displaced residents. Entire communities were leveled by the hurricane's powerful winds and waves.

After the storm subsided and the destruction was evident, the enormous task of rebuilding and reuniting the community began.

Around Houlton documents the history of this town with Yankee pioneer spirit from potato farming to Market Square.

Since the development of photography in the mid-19th century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation. Photographs bring alive our picture of the past in a way that other historic relics cannot, and they tell us much more than at first appears. Houlton, Maine, is a town still infused with the Yankee pioneer spirit, an independence that can be traced back to Houlton's roots at the beginning of the 19th century. This is reflected in nearly every face in this delightful selection of images of the people of Houlton and its surrounding communities in the century between 1850 and 1950. Some of the best photographs are those that simply show ""how things used to be""--pictures of potato farming, of industry, of lively activity in Market Square, and of peaceful summer recreation at cottages at Nickerson, Grand, and Drew's Lakes.

Newtown, Massachusetts is home to some of the finest examples of 19th and 20th century American architecture and has an interesting history as well.

Incorporated in 1688, Newton has a history asfascinating as it is long. Newton illustrates the city's development from a community of scattered farmhouses and five small villages in the 1830s to the Garden City of the Commonwealth one hundred years later. Newton's colorful history encompasses many unique features; not only was it one of the country's first railroad suburbs, Newton was home to the Stanley brothers of ""Steamer"" fame, to Gen. William Hull, whose reputation suffered during the War of 1812, and, briefly, to Horace Mann and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Newton, however, is best known not for the famous or nearly famous who lived here, but for some of the finest examples of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century domestic architecture in America.

A suburb of Boston with its own distinctive identity, Brookline, Massachusetts is explored through the years in this delightful pictorial history.

Join authors Greer Hardwicke and Roger Reed in a celebration of the people and places of Brookline from 1680 to 1940. Brookline boasts many notable historical figures such as Dr. Thomas Boylston, originator of a smallpox vaccine, King Gillette, inventor of the safety razor, and Charles Sprague Sargent, founder of the Arnold Arboretum. Among these notable figures residing in Brookline were many wealthy Boston merchants who maintained estates in the popular suburb.

The exquisite images in this collection provide views of a wide range of architecture, from impressive eighteenth-century estates to multi-family homes for the working class. Churches, schools, and parks are also represented, including Longwood Mall, with its famous copper beech trees imported from Europe, and Cypress Field, the first public playground in America. View designed landscapes from private estates such as Faulkner Farm to suburban developments such as Fisher Hill, and witness the changes that have occurred along Beacon Street and other major thoroughfares. Travel back in time to discover these and many other wonders in the fascinating town where both John and Robert Kennedy were born.

The typical farm life of a Mainer pre-1910 is told through the photographs of Nettie Cummings Maxim.

Before her death in 1910, Nettie Cummings Maxim chronicled the people, landscapes, and animals of a typical Maine farm at Bird Hill in Bethel at the turn of the century. In a time before mass media, her world consisted almost entirely of her family and farm. This intimate familiarity with her immediate world and a degree of cultural isolation allowed Nettie to explore and capture on film the details of farm life through the seasons and the innocence and wisdom in the eyes of the children whose lives were so closely entwined with life on a rural Maine hill farm. After one look at her photographs, her innate artistic talent becomes immediately apparent: her use of natural light, the composition of her images, and her eye for detail lend a tremendously beautiful, evocative quality to her images. She turned the long exposures mandated by film at the turn of the century to her advantage, and somehow manages to create the illusion of motion in her photographs. Through her cameras, Nettie recorded the world that was so endearing to her, a world that has gone largely undocumented by photography. In doing so, she has given immortality to the people, buildings, and even the animals that were part of her life and her microcosm of society nearly a century ago, as well as giving us a rare insight into the intricacies of daily life in the nearby communities of Locke's Mills and Greenwood. Allow her to lead you back into life in rural Maine at the turn of the century: it is a journey worth making, and one that you will never forget.

This collection of historic photographs and illustrations will guide you through quaint Narragansett's early years into its peak in the late 19th century.

Narragansett By-the-Sea is a narrow strip of land along the southwestern shore of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. A sparsely populated agricultural society in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Narragansett was transformed in the nineteenth century into one of America's busiest and most popular seaside resorts. A remarkable collection of historic photographs and illustrations will guide the reader through Narragansett's early years into its golden age at the end of the nineteenth century. See the growth of great wooden hotels, the establishment of a railroad, and the summer cottage period. Share the excitement of the rich and the famous as they were drawn to the finest beach in the northeast and the unique Narragansett Casino, which offered dining, dancing, theater, lawn tennis, and bowling. The quaint charm of Narragansett is what sets it apart from other seaside resorts.

Route 128 and the Birth of the Age of High Tech tells the intertwining stories of the construction of the nation's first circumferential beltway and the burgeoning high-tech industries of Massachusetts, which helped spawn the modern age of personal computers, the Internet, and biotechnology.

Nearly one-third of Maine residents have French blood and are known as Franco-Americans.

Many trace their heritage to French Canadian families who came south from Quebec in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to work in the mills of growing communities such as Auburn, Augusta, Biddeford, Brunswick, Lewiston, Saco, Sanford, Westbrook, Winslow, and Waterville. Other Franco-Americans, known as Acadians, have rural roots in the St. John Valley in northernmost Maine. Those of French heritage have added a unique and vibrant accent to every community in which they have lived, and they are known as a cohesive ethnic group with a strong belief in family, church, work, education, the arts, their language, and their community. Today they hold posts in every facet of Maine life, from hourly worker to the U.S. Congress. These hardworking people have a notable history and have been a major force in Maine's development.

A collection of photos of the first large municipally funded library in the U.S. ""built as an ornament to the city"" from the first misteps to the successful completion.

The Boston Public Library (BPL) was the first large municipally funded public library in the United States. Although the library was founded in 1848, the original idea was first proposed by French ventriloquist Alexandre Vattemare in 1841. In 1854, the library opened to the public in two rooms in a schoolhouse on Mason Street. Just four years later, the building on Boylston Street opened with 88,789 items. In 1871, the BPL was the first library in the country to open a branch, and by 1895, when the new central library was opened in Copley Square, 29 branches and reading rooms had opened. Charles Follen McKim was the principal architect of the new building, which is noted for its perfect proportions, magnificent murals, and beautiful ornamentation throughout the building. The tremendous growth of the library made it necessary to build an addition, and in 1972, the new building designed by Philip Johnson was opened.

Discover the history of Tewksbury through historic photographs from the Tewksbury Historical Society.

In 1689, Chief Magistrate Waitstill Winthrop appointed Samuel Hunt II to build a blockhouse to guard against Mohawk-affiliated Indians from Canada seeking to cross the Merrimack River to harm the English settlers and the Praying Indians of Wamesit. The crossing Hunt guarded is now known as Hunts Falls. By 1734, on a second attempt, Hunt and 41 settlers from around his site petitioned the legislature and succeeded to incorporate Tewksbury as a separate town from Billerica. Beginning as an agricultural community, along with fishing in the Merrimack, Shawsheen, and Concord Rivers, industries such as dairies, tanneries, furniture making, sawmills, blacksmith shops, and even a soap factory prospered during the 1800s. Greenhouses began to spring up in the late 1800s. In the 1970s, Tewksbury was deemed the Carnation Capital of the World for its production and cultivation talents. In 1934, at the town’s 200th anniversary celebration, citizens celebrated its beginnings and growth with pride and patriotism. Today, public art includes figures from Tewksbury’s past by renowned resident sculptor Mico Kaufman.

Rev. Douglas W. Sears, JD, and Nancy Reed, president and vice president, respectively, of the Tewksbury Historical Society, are longtime residents who have served on several town boards. Reed serves as Tewksbury’s town historian. The images in this book are from the Tewksbury Historical Society’s collection and other sources as noted.

In 1805, a member of a survey crew working on building a road through New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch walked down to Ferrin’s Pond (today’s Profile Lake), gazed up the side of Cannon Mountain, and was mesmerized by what he saw—the state’s most iconic symbol, the Old Man of the Mountain profile.

A few years later, the Flume Gorge, an 800-foot-long natural gorge, was discovered. These natural curiosities quickly gained national attention, and by the mid-1800s, Franconia Notch was a tourist mecca; the limited stagecoach travel through the notch became daily, and the simple overnight accommodations were replaced with the Flume House and the Profile House, two grand hotels that could accommodate hundreds of overnight guests. After fire destroyed the Profile House in 1923, the property was put for sale. A joint effort between the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the State of New Hampshire, and the New Hampshire Federation of Women’s Clubs led to the creation of the Franconia Notch Forest Reservation and Memorial Park (today’s Franconia Notch State Park) in 1928.

This book takes readers on a journey through the rich and fascinating history of Franconia Notch during the mid-19th to late 20th century.

Southbridge presents historical images of the town as it grew and thrived during and after the Industrial Revolution, from the Globe Manufacturing Company to the world-renowned American Optical Company. Southbridge is defined not only by its industrial past. Equally important are the images of the commerce, agriculture, and everyday life of its people.

From a small get-together in the early years of the twentieth century to an annual gathering of hundreds of thousands, discover the uncanny history and characters of Laconia Motorcycle Week.

Laconia Motorcycle Week is the oldest national motorcycle rally in the United States. Since 1916, motorcyclists have traveled to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire to enjoy the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains. In 1916, the sport of motorcycling had just begun, and the enthusiasm and participation has continued to grow exponentially throughout the years. As the oldest rally, Laconia Motorcycle Week has certainly seen the good times and the bad times. Since 1998, Laconia Motorcycle Week has averaged over 300,000 visitors into New Hampshire every June. The rally is made up of hundreds of individual motorcycle-related events throughout the state of New Hampshire.

Boston is home to one of the oldest Chinatowns in the US, when Chinese merchants, workers and stdents populated the area. Explore their history there and their part in creating a strong community and unique culture in the area.

Chinese Americans in Boston trace their historical origins to pioneering settlements of merchants, workers, and students in different parts of New England. After the 1880s, hundreds of Chinese arrived in Boston. Beginning as a bachelor male-dominated society, the Chinese in Boston gradually developed stronger bonds of family and community life. Spared natural disasters that characterized the Chinese immigrant experience in the West, Boston's Chinatown nonetheless faced challenges of urban renewal and environmental degradation. Through their participation in community organizations, merchant activities, educational opportunities, and civic protests, the Chinese in Boston persevered, simultaneously maintaining their Chinese identity and acculturating into America. They formed a close-knit community that distinguished Boston's Chinatown as one of the oldest and most enduring Chinese neighborhoods on the East Coast.

A well-read and inventive community, Franklin has been home to a number of influential Americans itself, including Horace Mann, the "Father of American Education." Mr. Johnston's pictorial history of Franklin honors the memory of these great citizens and also chronicles the development of the town through its industrial revolution.

Founded in 1641, Stamford is one of the oldest towns in New England. The images in this book date from the Civil War through the end of World War I.

Founded in 1641, Stamford is one of the oldest towns in New England. The resulting influx of immigrants and industrial expansion that followed transformed Stamford from a rural community into a bustling city. Although once a stopping place on the stagecoach route between New York and Boston, Stamford remained largely agrarian until the coming of the railroad in 1848. The images in this book date from the Civil War through the end of World War I, from the earliest available photographs to the established use of the automobile. It is a time that saw the gristmills become factories and old frame trading posts be replaced by imposing brick structures. During these years the people of Stamford supported the Union Cause and voted for Grover Cleveland; they built new homes, churches, schools, and parks; they established a hospital and a library; they joined the YMCA, went yachting, and always turned out for a parade.

The Portsmouth Naval Prison, now vacant, sits on Seavey Island on the Maine and New Hampshire border. Discover its intriguing history and fearsome reputation.

For over a century, the Castle or the Rock, with its deceptively appealing exterior, has kept both visitors and New Hampshire residents in its thrall. Since its opening in 1908 to its decommissioning in 1974 and into the present day, myth and lore have surrounded this iconic building. For the 66 years it functioned, any prisoner who escaped was brought back dead or alive - or so it has been said. Although the prison's fearsome reputation is cemented in Darryl Ponicsan's The Last Detail, Portsmouth was a forerunner in many ways. Routine inside often reflected the latest advancements in the field. Yet, designed or deserved, the prison's legacy remains an intriguing mix of dread and redemption.

When Torrington's first English settlers, Ebenezer Lyman Jr. and his wife, Sarah, arrived in the hills of northwest Connecticut in 1737, they found little more than a lonely wilderness.

Although the town grew steadily, it was only in 1813, when Frederick Wolcott built his woolen mill on the banks of the Naugatuck River, that Torrington was set on the path to becoming a significant manufacturing center. A railroad line completed in 1849 linked the town with larger population centers and further stimulated industrial growth. For the next 100 years, Torrington supplied the world with needles, woolen cloth, hardware, tools, sheet and rolled brass, bicycles, skates, golf shafts, ball bearings, and other manufactured products. Together, Torrington's farmers, laborers, builders, artists, and entrepreneurs created a dynamic and progressive community in the hills of Litchfield County.

Reading about Reading's long history and influence in industry.

The town that began its life as Lynn Village in 1639, Reading has seen many changes during its 375-year history. Its initial settlement in the woods, Wood End, became a village of farms with countless stone walls.  On April 19, 1775, Readingites marched to Meriam's Corner and helped drive the British back to Charlestown. Beginning in the late 18th century, the town saw the development of widespread industry with the manufacturing of shoes, clocks, neckties, organ pipes, and more, led by prominent residents such as Everett Richardson, Daniel Pratt Jr., and numerous other illustrious families. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Reading has further evolved into a suburban community of homes and light industry, only a half-hour away from the area's largest metropolis, Boston.

Bangor has grown in many ways since Jacob Buswell and his family, the first white settlers, built their cabin by the Penobscot River in 1769.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, Bangor developed into a cosmopolitan center of Maine, but to this day it retains some of the proud characteristics of a town that was once the lumbering capital of the world. Collected in this fascinating visual history are over 200 photographs that together reflect the city's rich and diverse history. The photographs show more than a century of change, with stirring images of four-masted schooners in the harbor, of log drives, of floods, and of fires. People fill the book: Amelia Earhart and Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Kennedy pictured on visit; the Brady Gang, shot by the FBI in 1937 as the nation's most wanted criminals; and especially the hardworking men and women who built Bangor into the ""Queen City of the East. ""

The House of the Seven Gables is an American icon. It is one of the nation's oldest homes and one of its first historic house museums.

Built in 1668, it is a unique and well-restored first period house displaying many preserved 17th- and 18th-century architectural features. Three generations of the seafaring Turner family lived in the home before the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne was hosted in the house by his cousin, and the setting encouraged his literary genius. After this famous association, the house attracted tourists even before it opened to the public when the artistic Upton family called the mansion home. In 1910, Caroline Emmerton, an enterprising philanthropist, opened the home to raise money to help local immigrants. She restored the structure and brought other historic houses from Salem to the property.

Boston neighborhood history extraordinaire Anthony Mitchell Sammarco casts his local knowledge to nooks and crannies of The North End.

The streets of Boston's North End, some laid out in the seventeenth century, exude a rich history that has included every generation of immigrants to Boston since 1630. An active port, the neighborhood of the North End also included churches of every denomination, historic homes, and early commercial concerns. Immigrants from Russia, Ireland, Germany, Italy, and most other European countries settled in the North End and contributed to itsdevelopment over the years. Today, most visitors to Boston tour the North End and see the Paul Revere House and the famous Old North Church. On the weekends, shoppers visit the bustling Haymarket and attend feasts and festivals amidst the appetizing ambiance of restaurant row. This thriving, lively area of town is an alluring meeting place forresidents and tourists alike.

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Foster, Rhode Island with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Foster, originally incorporated as part of Scituate in 1731, became a separate community in 1781.

The town was named in honor of Theodore Foster, a coauthor of the Bill of Incorporation. By 1820, the population topped out at 2,900 and then sharply declined. The building of the Scituate Reservoirbetween 1915 and 1925 contributed to this decline as the Providence and Danielson Railwaydecided not to relocate trolley service to the area. The population would not surpass the 1820 figures until 1975, when it reached 3,000. Today, Foster is known for its simple, country lifestyle; friendly and neighborly residents; and plentiful open spaces with clean air and clear streams.

Author Raymond A. Wolf is a member of the Scituate Preservation Society, the Foster Preservation Society, and the Rhode Island Historical Society. Besides the Foster Preservation Society, over a dozen residents of Foster graciously loaned their collections of postcards, photographs, and documents to bring this book alive.

In 1650, Middletown earned its name due to its location, halfway between the mouth of the Connecticut River and the first Connecticut settlement of Windsor.

Growing from a key Native American village into a colonial one, then into a major seaport, Middletown eventually became the wealthiest town in Connecticut by the mid-1700s. In the early 1800s, although international disputes adversely affected Middletown's seafaring trade, manufacturing prospered. Factories turned out everything from ship hardware and textiles to sleigh bells and sidearms for Union army officers. Trolleys encouraged suburban expansion while railroads, and later highways, greatly influenced commercial development, while many immigrants from Europe made Middletown their home around the turn-of-the-century. Today, Middletown is perhaps best-known as the location of Wesleyan University, one of the "Little Three'? liberal arts colleges.

Images of America: Amherst and Hadley, Massachusetts is an educational and entertaining volume that will delight residents, visitors, and lovers of history everywhere.

Once part of Hadley, the town of Amherst is known the world over as the home of celebrated poet Emily Dickinson. This photographic portrait of Emily's surroundings reveals the beautiful landscape that inspired her art, and also includes less typical but nonetheless significant images of hard-working farmhands, Irish laborers, Italian peanut vendors, riotous college students, and feuding factory workers.

These two towns at the heart of the Connecticut River Valley have been appreciated by poets and artists for many years, and their bucolic and pastoral character is celebrated in this marvelous new examination of the towns' history in photographs from 1860 through the early twentieth century. Famous residents of and visitors to the area are featured, including Dickinson, Robert Frost, Henry Ward Beecher and Noah Webster.

Mr. Lombardo's book combines a serious look at these historical figures with a humorous perspective on some of the area's more colorful characters, such as Charles King, the Amherst barber who became famous for eating fifty eggs in fifteen minutes.

Founded in 1803, Fall River changed its name the following year to Troy, after a resident visiting Troy, New York, enjoyed the city.

In 1834, the name was officially changed back to Fall River. The city's motto, ""We'll Try,"" originates from the determination of its residents to rebuild the city following a devastating fire in 1843. The fire resulted in 20 acres in the center of the village being destroyed, including 196 buildings, and 1,334 people were displaced from their homes. Once the capital of cotton textile manufacturing in the United States, by 1910, Fall River boasted 43 corporations, 222 mills, and 3.8 million spindles, producing two miles of cloth every minute of every working day in the year. The workforce was comprised of immigrants from Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada, the Azores, and, to a lesser extent, Poland, Italy, Greece, Russia, and Lebanon.

The town that began as “Swampfield” became Danbury, one of the best cities in Connecticut, the one-time capital of the hat industry, and the gateway of New England.

The founding families of Danbury, with names such as Thomas Barnum, Judah Gregory, and John Hoyt, left Norwalk in 1684 and traveled some 30 miles north. There, at the western edge of Connecticut, they settled in the surrounding wetlands, and in 1687, the town was decreed as Danbury. Over the years, the small community has grown from the first residents’ homes on Towne Street (today’s Main Street), and has become a city of over 80,000 people. From a pivotal role in the American Revolution, to the Great Danbury State Fair, and how Danbury became America’s “Hat City,” producing over 5 million hats a year and supplying the hat industry with 75% of its hat bodies.

Read the history of the Raytheon Company, which has played a big part in the growth of America and in WWII and the Cold War., as well as in consumer electronics.

Raytheon's history is one of the great American success stories. Launched in 1922, theCambridge-based company quickly moved to the forefront of innovation in the electronics industry. During World War II, thousands of Raytheon workers contributed to the war effort, supplying eighty percent of the magnetron tubes (vital components for U.S. and British radars), developing miniature tubes for the crucial proximity fuse in anti aircraft shells, and providing entire radar systems. Although government contracts slowed after World War II, Raytheon continued to develop military components, including leading-edge radars and missiles for America's defenses in the Cold War, but it also began to offer a host of civilian products: the famous RadaRange (the world's first microwave oven), televisions, marine radars, transistors, miniature hearing aids, and medical equipment.

This delightful and nostalgic pictorial history tells the story of Hull, Massachusetts, as it evolved from a quiet, remote seafaring village into a thriving community and resort.

Home of world-famous Nantasket Beach, this 7-mile peninsula is rich with a history that includes maritime traditions, technological advances, and celebrated personalities. Through these fascinating images collected by the Committee for the Preservation of Hull's History, we learn about the unique heritage of this flourishing summer resort town. Visitors view Hull as a wonderful vacation paradise, but it is also a progressive community of firsts. North America's first lighthouse and the first U.S. electric railroad were both built in Hull. The area is also the site of the famous amusement park, Paragon Park, which was opened in 1905 and was considered comparable to the World's Fair. Through the 1950s, steamboats, trains, and famous hotels brought millions of visitors to Hull, making it one of the area's premier tourist destinations. During the later part of the 20th century, Hull has been ardently re-establishing its links to the past while growing and prospering, as more people discover this jewel of the region as a place to visit or reside. In Hull and Nantasket Beach, the authors invite you to join them on an exciting journey through an area rich with historic hotels and beaches, maritime and military history, technological advances, famous visitors, and proud residents.

Swedes of Greater Worcester captures the area's Swedish heritage through a collection of images that displays everything from vintage weddings to ski-jumping events and stories known only by the families of the Swedes who first traveled to Worcester. These images represent a time when the Swedish element was a vital and vibrant part of the identity of the greater Worcester area.

Lois Yeulenski, a native and lifelong resident of Worcester, has created a delightful journey into the past which will appeal to young and old alike.

Since the development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation. Photographs bring alive our image of the past and can open a floodgate of memories and nostalgia or inspire curiosity and a sense of history. In this fascinating visual history we see Worcester through the eyes of those who have lived, worked, and played there for the last 120 years. We are led on a journey down Main Street of the past, and watch it grow and expand along with the surrounding community. The people who make up the heart of this community are here as well; while daily life has changed a great deal over the last century, the pride and passion for life characteristic of the people of Worcester remain strong to this day.

Incorporated in 1764, Fitchburg began as a farming community nestled among the hills along the Nashua River in north-central Massachusetts.

In 1845, the railroad sparked rapid growth in the city, and by the beginning of the 20th century, nearly 100 trains traveled through Fitchburg daily, the railway linking Albany and Boston. Immigrants from many countries provided a vital workforce, and the city was catapulted into a golden age of industry. Mill owners became prosperous, and their philanthropy became evident throughout the city. Splendid churches, Main Street edifices, and grand residences were built to create a rich architectural heritage, particularly the Victorian style, built at the height of mill town prosperity.

In vivid historical images, step into Norwalk's past and discover a new part of Long Island history

Located on the shores of Long Island Sound, Norwalk's close proximity to New York City prompted the building of many summer residences and guest cottages along its coast. In the summer, steamships and trolleys arrived with passengers looking to enjoy the local amusement park, Roton Point. Norwalk's earliest industries included farming as well as mills powered by its rivers. The area has been famous for its pottery, oystering, and hat manufacturing. Over time, this community has endured disasters; it was burned during the American Revolution, and the flood of 1955 wiped out much of the Wall Street area as well as several bridges on the Norwalk River. Norwalk shares vintage images from the mid-1800s through the 1960s, highlighting memorable sites such as Old MacDonald's Farm and the Melton Automobile Museum. The revitalization of Norwalk's downtown areas proves it is possible to respect the past and those that came before through the renewal of historical architecture.

Pictorial history of beautiful Lake Champlain from one end to the other...highlighting nature and recreation along with commerce and trade.

Nestled between the Adirondacks of New York and Vermont's Green Mountains, Lake Champlain offers 120 miles of tranquil beauty with a rich, bustling history. Picturesque waterfront communities established in the 18th century recall the era when the Champlain Valley's natural resources--iron, lumber, granite, marble, and potash--were shipped to distant ports on lake sloops and schooners. By the early 19th century, Lake Champlain was connected with the canals of New York and Quebec, and the resulting economic boom lasted for 100 years. Apples, hay, bricks, and finished goods were shipped on thousands of workaday canal boats that were also floating family homes. Massive steamboats carried travelers and tourists drawn to the fresh country air, and lakefront camps sprang up everywhere. Automobiles traveled over Lake Champlain on ferries and bridges. Through stunning historical images from the archives of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and other regional collections, Lake Champlain tells the story of this busy commercial corridor and pastoral recreational destination.

New Britain is a treasure trove of information and memories that will be a source of reminiscence and recollection for older people and a voyage of discovery for the young.

New Britain was once known as the ""Hardware Capital of the World,"" and it is this that has made the city famous. But as well as its rich industrial history, New Britain has a diverse and dynamic cultural heritage. As its name suggests, the town was originally settled by people of British descent, but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century it became a haven for immigrants fleeing oppression or economic hardship in Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Russia, Lithuania, Armenia, the Ukraine, Poland, and Greece. The photographs that make up this fascinating visual history bring life to the changes that took place in New Britain between 1920 and 1970. They show how much the city has developed and evolved as well as providing an intimate glimpse of the daily life of New Britain's many ethnic communities. Of particular interest are the images of women which together paint a vivid picture of their unique contribution to the city and its heritage.

Founded in 1638, Pawtuxet is one of Rhode Island's oldest and most historic villages. Its history is uncovered in this fascinating book.

The Pawtuxet River divides this unique settlement almost in half; the northern section belongs to Cranston and the southern to Warwick. The village is a distinct entity, however, and the object of much pride. After making significant contributions to our nation's fight for freedom—the British schooner Gaspee was burned off the shores of this village in the first act of violence in the American Revolution—Pawtuxet became known as a prosperous seaport and, later, as the home of Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet, an entertainment mecca that attracted visitors from far and wide. Many a couple met and courted at this exquisite resort, whose charms included ballroom dancing, big band music, canoe rentals, and regional culinary fare. The village of Pawtuxet has retained much of its attractive historical character over the years; by-passed by new roads and superhighways, Pawtuxet's heritage has been preserved.

Chester sits on one of the highest points in Rockingham County.

In the 1700s, ships coming into Portsmouth Harbor could be seen. The glow from the 1872 Boston fire was visible in the southern sky. An ear on the ground could hear the cannons during the Revolutionary War. The area was first called Winfield, then Chestnut Country, then Cheshire, and finally Chester in 1722 when it was established. The history of the town of Chester is amazingly rich considering its small size.

There are three sites on the National Register of Historic Places in the center of town. It was home to three governors; two senators; several representatives; a stand-in first lady; a famous cello maker; a renowned furniture maker; the Vanderbilts of New York and Newport, Rhode Island; a Tony award-winning actress; the sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial; and a private college. With all this grandeur, Chester has maintained its quaintness.

Jackie Brown is a member of the Chester Historical Society and sifted through the museum’s archives and many private collections for these images. Chester Historical Society is committed to the preservation of knowledge about the history of Chester and supports the continuing education of what shaped the community.

This is a visual history of the youngest county in Rhode Island from emancipation from Warwick in 1912 to present day.

By 1912, the citizens of the western portion of Warwick had been talking about secession. They possessed all the mills on the Pawtuxet River and were largely democratic, while the eastern section was primarily republican. Finally in 1913, the town of West Warwick was incorporated and became the youngest town in the state of Rhode Island. West Warwick still maintains that status today as it celebrated its centennial in 2013. The town of nine villages-Arctic, Centreville, Clyde, Crompton, Lippitt, Natick, Phenix, River Point, and Wescott-has grown to be the 10th largest out of 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island. It is mainly located in the Valley of the Pawtuxet.