New England

Building the Mass Pike details the urban history and construction of old Boston, with previously unpublished images from the Turnpike Authority archives.

By 1950, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its capital city had fallen on hard times. The solution came in 1952 from one man and the road he devoted the last decade of his life to building. With the region's railroads in decline and the roads in appalling disrepair, the difficulty of moving people and goods around the state and into its largest port was taking a heavy toll on the economy. The man was William Callahan, and the road was the Massachusetts Turnpike. Building the Mass Pike tells the story of the road's planning, construction, and impact on the communities through which it passed. The book includes previously unpublished images from the Turnpike Authority archives and provides a vivid document of the largest public works project in the state's history and the firestorm of controversy that surrounded it. Written by an engineer-historian, Building the Mass Pike will appeal not only to those fascinated by the history of the Commonwealth and its capital but also to those with an interest in construction, urban history, and the politics of old Boston.

A pictoral history and moving tribute to the people of Portland's spirit, drive and ability to overcome adversity from the last 130 years.

Portland is often associated with the mythological phoenix, the animal that rises out of the ashes of its apparent death. Life here has often been a struggle: to overcome the disastrous fires of 1775 and 1866, to rebuild after the change in Canadian policy in 1920 that devastated the waterfront and to outlast the Depression and the other economic crises that have affected the area. The people of Portland have always faced these problems head on, survived, and rebuilt the city stronger then it was before.
Portland features more than 200 images that together document life in Maine's largest city over the last 130 years. We see immigrants arrive from all corners of the world and watch as they build lives and businesses in their new home. We witness the waterfront and Congress Street rise, fall, and rise again. We observe how the political scene has changed and been changed by everyday people. Perhaps the most interesting photographs, however, are those of everyday life: people working, playing sports, relaxing, falling in love and living life to its fullest.

Take a ride through historic Massachusetts down Route 128!

Route 66 may be the most famous highway in the United States, but the country is home to countless roads ushering millions of motorists along decade after decade. Route 128 traces its origins to the late 1920s, when the Massachusetts Department of Public Works cobbled together a makeshift network of existing roads through Boston's suburbs. Between 1947 and 1956, Route 128 was reconstructed as a major regional expressway, and immediately feuled explosive growth in the region. What was once the "road to nowhere" quickly became a major commercial nexus for eastern Massachusetts and a critical link in the region's highway network. Building Route 128 vividly documents the highway's construction and its impact, drawing previously unpublished images from the Massachusetts Department of Public Works and tells the story of a region forever changed.

The Lost Towns of the Quabbin Valley highlights the life and times of these towns from 1754 to 1938, when the inhabitants were told, ""All Must Leave.""

The Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts was created in 1938 to supply the state's growing population with a source of drinking water. In order to create the reservoir, it was necessary to dam three branches of the Swift River, and to flood the valley which was home to five small towns- Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, Prescott, and parts of New Salem, all of which now exist underwater. More than two thousand people were displaced when the Quabbin Valley was flooded, and now these former towns are only accessible through memories, SCUBA equipment, or a time machine.The Lost Towns of the Quabbin Valleypresents rare photographs of town life, including images of students at the first Hillside School and Dr. Mary Walker, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and Greenwich summer resident. The images are drawn from the archives of the Swift River Valley Historical Society. Although the towns are gone, their stories are alive and well.

Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont, is one of New England's most renowned graveyards. The cemetery attracts thousands of visitors every year, particularly when the foliage turns during fall.

This 85-acre open-air museum is noted for the artistry and craftsmanship of its monuments, derived exclusively from legendary Barre gray granite. Barre was a boomtown with a rapidly rising population of European immigrants, especially those from Italy and Scotland, seeking opportunities as artisan carvers and laborers in the area's granite quarries. Ethnic enclaves developed around Barre; most notably, the city's north end became known as Little Italy. This diversity is captured in granite on the monuments of those interred at Hope Cemetery—not only in the surnames etched in stone but also in the monuments' widely varying symbols of remembrance. Within Hope Cemetery, memorials range from traditional European forms, including angels, cherubs, and other religious hallmarks, to highly individualized modern monuments depicting images representative of family life, interests, and leisure in the form of such diverse objects as lounge chairs, airplanes, race cars, a soccer ball, and many more.

Since 1938, when the Merritt's first 7-mile section was opened to traffic, millions have shared a fascination for Connecticut's Merritt Parkway and its bridges.

A survey made in 1928 called for a two-lane macadam highway to run from Stratford to Greenwich; with $1 million of state money, construction started on the Merritt Highway in 1932. Opened for 38 miles on September 2, 1940, it became known throughout Fairfield County as the ""Queen of Parkways."" Discover the beginnings of this groundbreaking advance in American travel in Traveling the Merritt Parkway. This pictorial history preserves and pays tribute to the history of the Merritt, and explores the construction of the parkway, as well as the little-known parent highway for which the earliest bridges were constructed, including White Plains Road in the town of Trumbull.

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.

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.

The Great Boston Fire of 1872was a spectacular conflagration that destroyed Old Bostonand allowed a phoenix to arise from the ashes.

Few events can be said to have changed the face of Boston forever. Eventually destroying 775 buildings and causing millions of dollars in damage to the commercial section that we now know as Boston's business district. This conflagration ranks among the most destructive fires in American history

This exciting new pictorial history brings to life the drama that began one Saturday evening in 1872 when a fire started in an empty hoop-skirt factory on the corner of Summerand Kingston Streets. At the time, Boston was in the throes of an epizootic disease that caused all horses in the area to be ill. This caused a virtual shutdown of transportation and city services and delayed the fire department's response to calls for help. By the time the breathless firemen arrived, the fire had already consumed the granite five-story factory and burst through the mansard roof, which acted as a flue and spread the fire. Within an hour, much of Summer Streetwas engulfed in flames and firemen from near and far were being summoned to combat the spread of the deadly blaze. By midnight, the fire had spread through Summer Streetto Arch Streetand was attacking Winthrop Square.Old Trinity Church, at the corner of SummerandHawley Streets, had given itself up to the flames.

With this moving new work, author Anthony Mitchell Sammarco has artfully combined images and text to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the awesome fire. A well-known lecturer and local historian, Mr. Sammarco has created an entertaining and educational look at a critical and unsteady moment in Boston's past.

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.

The Old Orchard boasts miles of sandy beaches which were once home to Native Americans and settlers but are now booming with tourism.

From Pine Point in the north to Goosefare Brook in the south, Old Orchard boasts miles of marvelous sandy beaches. For hundreds of years, this well-loved stretch of coastline was home to Native Americans and a few hardy settlers, undisturbed by the chaos and cacophony of modern life. With the coming of the railroad in 1874 this serene place exploded into life. The boom in tourism brought hundreds and then thousands of pleasure-seekers every week to the Old Orchard. They came to relax in the opulent surroundings of the elegant hotels, to stroll hand in hand along the pier with their sweethearts, and to feel the thrill of the wind in their hair as they rode the roller coaster. Some came to dance to the Big Band sound of Glen Miller and Benny Goodman; some came to ride on the Dummy Railroad; others arrived to take airplane flights over the beach, or to watch automobile races in the sand.

The first comprehensive photographic record of Boston's most conspicuous immigrant group - the Irish.

A Journey through Boston Irish Historyis the fruit of years of tireless research by prize-winning author Dennis P. Ryan. Within these pages are rare and handsome images unearthed from innumerable local libraries, historical societies and museums, parish rectories and Catholic charitable institutions, the archives of religious congregations, major Boston and diocesan newspapers, private family collections, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Beginning with the horrifying famine of the 1840s in Ireland and concluding four generations later with the election of John F. Kennedy as president, A Journey through Boston Irish Historyis a sweeping, poignant portrait of the children of the Gael and the city they transformed politically, socially, and culturally.

Ryan takes us through the corridors and wards of hospitals and orphanages that were established by the Irish to care for their own. Powerful images supplied by the Mathew Brady Collection at the Library of Congress recount the exploits of the celebrated Massachusetts Ninth Irish Regiment during the American Civil War. Within these pages, we are also invited to discover the vibrant personalities of pugilist John L. Sullivan, William Henry Cardinal O'Connell, as well as the irrepressible Mayor James Michael Curley.

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.

This fascinating visual history chronicles the growth of a city that began to rise from the plains of the Merrimack River in 1845.

Conceived, financed, and managed by Yankee capitalists and designed to be a model town, Lawrence was among the earliest planned manufacturing communities in the country and it quickly became the largest wool manufacturing center in the world. From the outset, Lawrence was the gateway to America for thousands of immigrants; here they found work, acquired skills, learned English, educated their children, and eventually became citizens. By 1910, almost 90 thousand people--representing 25 nationalities and speaking 40 languages--had made their home within the seven square miles that constitute Lawrence. Their unique story is told through images cherished in photograph albums and old cardboard boxes, and gathered over the decades from the tenement attics and basements of those who actually lived the lives shown in these photographs. The images vividly portray America's industrial and immigrant past, and show the lives, work, aspirations, pleasures, and sometimes the suffering, of the people who created the city of Lawrence. This collection is the first extensive photographic history of the city in over 75 years, and it offers more than 200 fascinating images from the renowned Immigrant City Archives--many of them rare and previously unpublished.

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.

Photo by photo, discover the stories that have been made along Maine's stretch of Appalachian wildneress.

Maine native Myron H. Avery recruited friends from Washington, DC; Maine forest and warden service personnel; guides and sporting camp operators; and the Civilian Conservation Corps to extend the Appalachian Trail through Maine, despite questions of whether it would be possible to carve a trail through the state's wildlands. Volunteers of Maine's Appalachian Trail Club, created by Avery in 1935, have since maintained the trail, built shelters, relocated more than half of the original hastily constructed route, and taken on the task of managing the trail's protection corridor. Along Maine's Appalachian Trail illustrates the rich history of the trail's rugged mountains and vast forests, which have provided a livelihood for generations of workers and communities.

Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree details one of Boston's oldest and busiest subway lines. This nostalgic collection of vintage photographs documents the line's construction and its engineers and leaders, such as Maj. Gen. William A. Bancroft, mayor of Cambridge and president of the Boston Elevated Railway Company. In these pages, watch as crews break ground in Harvard and Andrew Squares and see the 1929 trolleys that replaced Mattapan's commuter train service. Through exciting, historic photographs, Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree tells the fascinating story of how the Crimson City's subway became the modern Red Line, taking passengers beneath the streets of Boston to landmarks such as Harvard Square, Massachusetts General Hospital, historic Park Street, and the Longfellow Bridge.

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.

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.

Looking through the eyes of the camera, we can glance back to a long-gone, quieter, and gentler rural past in the towns of Rehoboth, Swansea, and Dighton.

This significant new pictorial history features many previously unpublished photographs that capture the small-town agricultural intimacy of the area before its transition during the middle and latter parts of the twentieth century to a less agricultural, semi-suburban setting. The period between 1850 and 1950 represents a century of significant change for these towns, and the photographs presented here seek to capture some of the area's lost flavor and texture. This volume features wonderfully nostalgic and rare views that have, for the most part, gone unseen by the general public.

Visit the earliest history of the US with the settlers and industries that were built in Ipswich, Massachusetts and the local charm that persists today.

Founded in 1634, Ipswich is one of the oldest towns in America. It currently has more First Period houses still lived in than any other community in the United States. It was originally the home of Colonial governors, renowned furniture makers, sea captains, and the Heard family, who were giants in the China trade. Added to the early settlers were immigrant millworkers and millionaires who built summer mansions. As nearby towns with broader rivers and deeper harbors became commercial successes, Ipswich went into decline. It was this ""hibernation"" that enabled Ipswich to maintain its earliest homes, spectacular scenery, and local charm.

Through more than two hundred vintage images, Ipswich takes the reader on an exciting journey through the history of this unique town. It presents the town's creative artists, the lives and occupations of its everyday citizens, beautiful landscapes, the mills and the country stores, and the ships and shipwrecks that met the Ipswich coast.

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.

How this roadside attraction became a BEAR-y big hit and turned into a must-see New Hampshire destination that still exists today!

In 1928, Edward and Florence Clark opened a roadside attraction in Lincoln, New Hampshire, for visitors to the White Mountains. Ed Clark's Eskimo Sled Dog Ranch featured guided tours with its purebred Eskimo sled dogs and artifacts from Labrador, Canada. The Stand offered souvenirs, tonic, and maple products to motorists. Three black bears, Soggle, Toggle and Woggle, joined the family in 1935, and the bears acted as the perfect visual attraction, gaining the attention of curious passersby.

In 1949, Ed and Murray, sons of Florence and Edward, began training black bears for show work. The Clark brothers and their bears delighted guests with humor and hospitality as they entertained and educated the audience. Generations later, that philosophy lives on as the Clarks offer bear shows, rides on the White Mountain Central Railroad, family entertainment, and good, honest fun to visitors. There are up to 20 family members working at Clark's Trading Post on any given day, including fifth-generation descendants.

This wonderful visual history weaves together more than two hundred images with intriguing and informative text to create an immensely enjoyable journey through the history of the northern Litchfield Hills.

The Litchfield Hills Region, situated in the northwestern corner of Connecticut, is known for its picture-perfect rolling hills, its traditional farms, and its charming villages. There is a sense of peacefulness and pride here, and yet this idyllic appearance belies a long and fascinating history dating back to the very first years of settlement in America. The Litchfield Hills Region has been home to such legendary figures as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ethan Allen, and Oliver Wolcott, and in this book the contributions of these historic figures are celebrated alongside those of the ordinary folk of Torrington, Winsted, Litchfield, Kent, Sharon, Lakeville, Salisbury, Cornwall, Canaan, Canton, Collinsville, New Hartford, Riverton-Barkhamsted, Colebrook, and Morris.

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.

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.

Salem, Massachusetts, is one of the most historic settlements in the United States. This new and exciting visual history reveals Salem's comprehensive heritage from the 1860s to the 1950s.

Most commonly associated with the seventeenth-century witchcraft hysteria of Salem Village - an area that now falls within the bounds of neighboring Danvers - the city of Salem actually boasts a rich and textured history with a variety of economic, religious, and cultural highlights. Salem's early strengths as a colonial community were drawn from the waters around it: fishing was a staple industry in the beginning, and shipbuilding and ocean tradebolstered the settlement economically for many years. In the nineteenth century, after war with Britain caused Salem's maritime tradeto decline, the city developed into a modern commercial center. Prominent settlers fostered the development of luxurious architecture and interior design, along with the founding of the city's well-known resort and amusement center, the Willows.

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. ""

Permanent settlers began arriving at the village of Flagstaff around the 1820s, drawn by its advantageous location along the Dead River floodplain and the availability of waterpower at the outlet to Flagstaff Pond.

In 1923, the Maine legislature passed a bill condemning a 25-mile section of the upper Dead River Valley to inundation, causing the eventual permanent flooding of the villages of Flagstaff, Dead River, and Bigelow. The bill authorized the construction of a dam at the river narrows at Long Falls and the subsequent creation of Flagstaff Lake. The properties in these towns were obtained by the process of eminent domain, and residents were forced to relocate. In the spring of 1950, Flagstaff Lake was officially created when the gates in Long Falls Dam were closed. It remains a controversial project today.

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.

The isolation and harsh environment of Presque Isle, Caribou, and New Sweden have shaped the distinctive character of these communities and are together known as "America's Last Frontier.'?

While these days the first thing people associate Maine with are dreadfully scary happenings in Stephen King novels, the history of the Pine Tree State is nothing less than fascinating. As part of Aroostook County, the largest American county in the nation, the communities of Presque Isle, Caribou, and New Sweden are remarkable for their rich cultural heritage, which not only includes Anglo-Saxons, but French, Native American & First Peoples, and Acadian communities. The social mobility of the frontier went hand-in-hand with a pioneer pride and spirit that remains today.

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 Sebago Lake Area is a pictorial history, chronicling the transformation of this natural gathering place over time.

Clean and clear, the waters of the streams and ponds that feed into Sebago Lake bring a constant supply of newness to a region centuries-deep in tradition. Located in southwestern Maine's Cumberland County, Sebago, ""great stretch of water,"" has been a gathering place for generations of native people and settlers. This striking pictorial history quickly transports us to the past. We see the area as it was before the railroad came through; fishermen coming to enjoy the famous landlocked salmon of Sebago, travellers spending the night at farmhouses, and later inns and hostelries. A turn of the page and we find ourselves watching majestic steamboats as they slip through quiet waters. Vistas of summer camps and classic cars abound--fond memories for many.

This volume spans 65 years of life in New London: from the 1850s, when the Whaling City earned its reputation, to the days before World War I, when the last whaler had departed and the first submarine was about to arrive

Home to whaling ships, privateers, and submarines, New London has been at the heart of some of America's most exciting seafaring history. Through these pages, you will walk the city's unpaved streets to forgotten places like Bacon's Hotel and the Old Yellow Building, ride the trolley up State Street, and see Ocean Beach as it was before the 1938 hurricane swept it away. New London also gives special attention to the fashionable Pequot Colony, the trains and steamboats that traveled to and from the city, and familiar landmarks such as Union Station, the Nathan Hale Schoolhouse, and the Olde Town Mill.

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.

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.

Through the 200-plus photographs and informative captions, this marvelous visual history by local author Rob Lewis seeks to remind residents of Fall River's glorious past.

The city known today as Fall River, Massachusetts, considered until 1803 to be a part of Freetown and until 1862 to be partially contained within the boundaries of Rhode Island, came into its own as a great industrial city in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The massive power of the Quequechan River fueled several mills, and Fall River granite provided the basis for a developing stone-cutting business. Over the years, the city's numerous villages have been home to many hard-working and loyal residents. These residents historically have much to be proud of: in many ways Fall River led the region in the development of technology and public education. By the 1880s, the city was equipped with telephones, streetcars, and electrical service, and the B.M.C. Durfee High School-opened in 1886-was considered the finest in the nation.

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.

Boston's old West End, now demolished, is revealed here in the history of its residents and buildings in more than 200 photographs.

Within these pages, author Anthony Mitchell Sammarcobrings to life the history of Boston's West End--thearea of the city bound by the Charles River and Storrow Drive as well as North Station, City Hall Plaza, and Myrtle Street. Once a thriving, energetic, and diverse neighborhood, the West End was slated for complete removal following World War II. In over 200 marvelous photographs, this collection recaptures fond memories for former residents and shows newcomers the history of the West End. Now the site of luxury, high-rise apartment buildings, condominiums, and stores, Boston's West End was once the site of many Bulfinch-designed townhouses owned by prominent families. In later years, the neighborhood was home to a diverse ethnic and religious community of families who arrived in Boston from all parts of the world. Today,three decades after the West End was virtually leveled, it is still fondly remembered by many who once called it home.

Page by page, picture by picture, step back in time and discover the remarkable history of Ogunquit By-The-Sea.

From its early history as a fishing village to its official recognition as a town in July 1980, Ogunquit has always been one of New England's most dynamic coastal communities. When Charles Woodbury opened opened an art school in 1889 among the fishhouses and dories of Perkins Cove, he could scarcely have known the effect it would have on the little village. Drawn by the natural beauty of its rocky shore and rolling sand dunes, hundreds of aspiring artists flooded the Cove every summer, creating one of the most vivacious creative communities in the Northeast. The people of Ogunquit -- the residents and tourists; artists and fishermen -- have each contributed to its rich cultural heritage, making it one of the most unique resorts on the Atlantic seaboard.

Visit the town of Newport, one of New England's largest seaports, through this new and exciting photographic history.

Founded in 1639, the city of Newport offered a temperate climate and a wealth of natural resources to early settlers seeking religious freedom. In Colonial times, Newport flourished as one of New England's largest seaports, a prosperity dimmed only by the Revolutionary War and subsequent three-year British occupation. Despite the fact that more than one-third of existing homes in Newport were destroyed by the British during their stay, Newport today still has the largest number of eighteenth-century homes of all cities in the United States. In 1968, the Newport Restoration Foundation was founded by tobacco heiress Doris Duke to preserve, protect, and restore the city's eighteenth and nineteenth-century architecture. The foundation's extensive photographic archives have been made available to area resident and modern-day photographer Rob Lewis in the creation of this new and exciting photographic history.