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“New Jersey is the most celebrated cider making district in America,” wrote Andrew Jackson Downing in 1849. At one time, New Jersey grew more apples than any other state, and they have been a key part of life across the Garden State for more than 300 years.

North Jersey orchards produced internationally renowned Newark cider and high-proof apple brandy—known as applejack, cider spirits, Jersey Lightning, and dozens of other nicknames—which were signature products produced in hundreds of New Jersey distilleries. America’s oldest distillery is a Monmouth County applejack maker. Orchardists, cider makers, and distillers made New Jersey applejack famous. In addition, farmers supplied Washington’s Continental Army with spirits during the coldest winters of the American Revolution, and bootleggers produced thousands of gallons of illegal applejack during Prohibition. By the early 20th century, tastes changed, and the cider industry dwindled. Prohibition nearly snuffed it out entirely. In the 21st century, New Jersey cider is experiencing an unprecedented revival.

James Malchow is a New Jersey native and the director of the Ralston Cider Mill Museum in Mendham, Morris County. The Ralston Cider Mill preserves the unique history of cider and applejack in New Jersey. The images in the book are drawn from museums, private collections, public libraries, and other archival collections.

Nestled along the Ouachita River in the piney hills of north-central Louisiana, Caldwell Parish was formed in 1838 from parts of Catahoula and Ouachita Parishes. Early settlers arrived by riverboat and wagon, drawn by rich timber, fertile bottomlands, and abundant wildlife. The communities that emerged—Columbia, Clarks, Grayson, and others—were shaped by the river’s commerce, the railroads, and the resilience of the people who worked its land and mills. From the steamboat captains who ferried cotton and passengers to notable natives such as Gen. Graves Erskine, Louisiana governor John McKeithen, and FBI agent Guy Banister, Caldwell’s history reflects both its rural roots and its far-reaching influence. Through these pages, readers can explore the faces and stories behind the churches, schools, businesses, and families that defined Caldwell Parish for generations.

Author and teacher Felicia Willhite, whose family’s roots in Caldwell Parish date back to the early 1900s, has spent more than 20 years in education, including teaching within the parish she now documents. Guided by a deep connection to Caldwell Parish’s people and places, she compiled these photographs from library archives and family collections, including her own, to preserve the memories and traditions that shaped the community.

Join Andrew Warburton, author of Fairies of New York and Fairies of New England, as the deep, but often overlooked, deep roots of fairy lore in the mist-shrouded mountains of Northern Appalachia.

The magic of Old World folklore lingers in Northern Appalachia’s hills and hollers. From banshees to tommyknockers to mischievous elves, myriad fairy spirits populate the stories of the region’s mountain folk. The Little Hunchbacked Man who dwelled in corners of Pennsylvania Dutch homes. Pixies whose knocking warned of explosions in West Virginia’s mines. A red-haired fairy whose magical arrows tormented the Scots Irish of Kentucky’s Cumberland Mountains.

In this vivid and well-researched history, Andrew Warburton gathers the region’s forgotten fairy stories—from tales about “ancient pygmies” in Ohio to a psychiatrist’s account of photographing fairies in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

Preserving Pride through Art

Cheyenne’s downtown demonstrates an ongoing appreciation for public art. Melding art and history, bronze statues decorate the streets of Wyoming’s capital city. Following the completion of thirty-five sculptures on Capitol Avenue, the project exploded with the addition of more than fifty bronzes. The city-wide installation immortalizes symbols of the American West. The Cheyenne Children’s Museum includes several statues celebrating paleontology. Others pay tribute to remarkable women like Lakota Sioux Princess Blue Waters and Louisa Swain—the first woman to vote in Wyoming Territory. Near Cheyenne Regional Hospital, the Healers of the West monument honors a notable doctor and nurse. And of particular pride is the statue of champion cowboy, Verne Elliott, riding a wild buffalo for the visit of President Teddy Roosevelt at the 1910 Frontier Days celebration.

Authors Starley Talbott and Michael E. Kassel return to complete the story behind the city’s inspired and ambitious display of The Cowboys State’s unique culture and heritage.

Charleston, 1775–1783: where loyalty was as dangerous as rebellion.

Revisit the Revolutionary War through the eyes of Charleston’s most misunderstood figures, the Loyalists. Often erased from more traditional narratives, these men and women lived in the deadliest gray space of the war, where allegiance shifted by necessity, survival outweighed ideology, and every decision carried life-and-death consequences.

Featuring more than eighty rare and striking historic images, this book reconstructs Charleston as a high-stakes garrison town: a city of spies, secret networks, and double agents—one operating directly under General Nathanael Greene himself. Drawn from newly examined primary sources and firsthand accounts, the story exposes the covert war beneath the battlefield, where Patriots and Loyalists often moved indistinguishably through the same streets, salons, and homes.

Beyond the fighting, the narrative follows the war’s long shadow into post-Revolutionary South Carolina, where confiscation, exile, and political vengeance threatened to tear the region apart. Why did iconic Patriot leaders like Henry Laurens, Francis Marion, and Nathanael Greene intervene to restore seized Loyalist estates? And how did those decisions quietly shape the foundation of reconciliation in the new republic?

At the heart of the story are the women of Loyalist Charleston, forced out of the domestic sphere and into the raw machinery of power. Their petitions before the state legislature—pleas for property, protection, and survival.

Authors Kathy Roe Coker and Jason Wetzel detail the these stories and more in a riveting account of loyalty and struggle.

A buffalo ranch, banana stand wars, and the world’s largest surfboard. 

Since its founding in 1889, Orange County has captured the world's attention with its iconic attractions, stunning beaches, and vibrant communities. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find a treasure trove of hidden gems. From lion safaris and an alligator farm to roaming buffalo, the theme parks of Orange County once offered a wide variety of thrills before fading into obscurity. The county is also the site of one of the most infamous UFO sightings in history, documented by Rex Heflin’s Polaroid camera in 1965. A plethora of famous rock stars, athletes, and actors have left their mark, though many of their local haunts have long since disappeared. Social justice movements and dramatic showdowns are woven into the tapestry of the county’s history alongside tales of aviation, agriculture, and the innovative businesses that took root here.

Join author and historian Chris Epting as he shines a light on offbeat and exotic tales of the O.C.

A vivid portrait of power, privilege, and peril in colonial Charleston.

Eighteenth Century Charleston was a city built on water, wealth, and whispers—where the harbor brimmed with merchant ships and war vessels, and status was measured in wharves, wine cellars, imported porcelain, and family names that could open every door. This is colonial Charleston at its peak: a thriving Atlantic port fueled by rice and indigo, shaped by transatlantic trade, and held together by tightly woven kinship networks that blurred the line between commerce and political power.

At the center is Rebecca Brewton Motte—born into privilege, married into influence, and forced by fire, disease, and revolution to become far more than a genteel figure in a drawing room. Through the interconnected worlds of the Brewtons, Mottes, Pinckneys, and their allies, the story reveals how South Carolina’s elite built fortunes, constructed iconic townhouses, navigated epidemics and natural disasters, and managed sprawling plantations with enslaved labor powering every “luxury” detail.

But this is not a postcard version of the past. Alongside elegant architecture and consumer culture sits the raw reality of colonial life: malaria, yellow fever, smallpox, hurricanes, legal constraints on women, and the destabilizing pressure of war and British occupation. Moving from Charleston’s grand streets to backcountry plantations, this biography-driven history shows how one woman’s life illuminates the larger machinery of colonial South Carolina, the American Revolution, and the fragile world that made—and nearly unmade—an Atlantic empire. Historian and author Alexia Helsley details this remarkable history. 

Detroit Lions: A 1950s Dynasty offers a compelling photographic narrative of the history of a revered team. This retrospective of the Detroit Lions’ glory years is an evocative reminder of what the cheering at Briggs Stadium was all about. Behind such storied figures as quarterback Bobby Layne, halfback Doak Walker, and defensive stalwarts Yale Lary, Joe Schmidt, and Jack Christiansen, coach Buddy Parker’s squad dominated the National Football League for much of the Eisenhower decade. The three-time world champions—competitive, colorful, controversial, and a mainstay on that marvelous new medium called television—helped make professional football a Sunday ritual in Detroit and around the country.

Journalist and author Richard Bak has been writing about his native Detroit for more than 40 years. His many works include biographies of Joe Louis, Ty Cobb, and Henry and Edsel Ford as well as histories of Tiger Stadium, the Detroit Red Wings, and Detroit’s Negro Leagues. He has won book awards from the Society for American Baseball Research and the Professional Football Researchers Association and two Emmy Awards as the writer and coproducer of the Tiger Stadium documentary Stranded at the Corner. 

Creating an Island Community

Vineyard men and women, Islanders, off-islanders and immigrants contributed their energy and enthusiasm to create the Martha’s Vineyard community.  Generations of businessmen and women catered to locals and tourists, welcoming newcomers to this Island paradise.

Native Americans of the Wampanoag tribe have lived on the Island for thousands of years. Their leaders helped bring the Indians together with the white men, led by Thomas Mayhew, to a peaceful relationship. The founders of Oak Bluffs created a town for both Methodist gingerbread cottages and vacation homes. Whaling captains built the county seat of Edgartown. It was sea captains and shipyard workers who developed the commercial harbor of Vineyard Haven, for centuries a refuge for sailors. 

Presidents Clinton and Obama visited the Vineyard, granting the Island national prominence. The Vineyard is a mix of old businesses and new, of Blacks and whites, of immigrants and Natives, working for a tranquil resort community.

Historian David McCulloch called the Vineyard home. Local John Alley was a leader of the secession movement and Craig Kingsbury’s head made a startling cameo in Jaws.  

Thomas Dresser describes how dozens of Islanders have contributed to the unique atmosphere of Martha’s Vineyard.

100 years of cruising from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Opened in 1926, Route 66 was one of America's original highways. In modern times, the Mother Road is an icon of nostalgia and kitsch, but behind each pitstop is a uniquely human story. From Alberta Ellis, who created safe havens for African-American travelers in the first half of the 20th century to Bob Waldmire and Angel Delgadillo, who worked to preserve the history of the route after the interstates came through, the people behind these places are what truly makes them special. 

Just off the well-traveled path are places like the Santa Fe Internment Camp, where many Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated during WWII, and the Apache Death Cave near Two Guns, Arizona, that is said to be the site where many Native Americans lost their lives. Visit the Amboy Crater, a dormant volcano in the Mojave Desert of California that hints at the distant geological past, and the town of Baxter Springs, which was once a major part of America's Main Street. 

Author Brain Clune brings to life the tales that left a legacy along Route 66. 

The history of New York is inseparable from the history of sailing on the Hudson River. Beginning with Henry Hudson in 1609 the Dutch and English extended their empires into the Hudson Valley and extracted its bounty via sail. 

Control of the Hudson River was a lynchpin for American victory in the Revolutionary War and New York City's 19th-century rise to global prominence was powered by the sailing vessels on its waterways. Upriver, sloops and schooners delivered goods from the nation's interior and international whaling businesses operated from Hudson and Poughkeepsie and Kingston and Newburgh became noted shipbuilding centers. Yacht racing and ice yachting emerged as popular sports among wealthy families like the Astors and Roosevelts. Sailing clubs preserved these traditions into the 20th century. Since the 1960s, activists including Pete Seeger have used sailboats to galvanize a movement to revive the river ecosystem. Today, the river is home to new generations of sailors continuing these traditions into a fifth century.

Steve Schwartz has sailed and captained numerous sailing and motor vessels on the Hudson River since the 1970s. He and James Malchow are both captains on the Hudson River ferry sloop Woody Guthrie. Images in this book, collected from local libraries, historical societies, the New York State Archives, Library of Congress, and private collections, capture the people, places, and ships that have made the Hudson River an important sailing center for over four centuries.

How Powerful Storms Shaped Martha’s Vineyard and Its Resilient Spirit

Martha’s Vineyard is no stranger to storms. Its location puts it in the direct path of any weather system moving up the Atlantic coast. In 1635, the Great Colonial Hurricane devastated the island, and the 1898 Portland Gale is well remembered to this day for its fury and death toll. In 1944, Gay Head was isolated when the access bridge was washed away. Other storms included the famous 1938 Hurricane, Carol and Edna in 1954, and the Perfect Storm in October of 1991. Each storm was unique in its creation, impact, and resulting changes in the landscape of the island. Tom Dresser reveals how each of these devastating events affected life on island, and the future dangers posed by an ever-warming climate. 

Millions visit Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market each year—drawn by the food, the shops, and the rich sense of history. But behind the brick and granite walls are stories that most visitors (and even many locals) have never heard.

Faneuil Hall, opened in 1742 as a gift from wealthy merchant Peter Faneuil, was a marketplace and meetinghouse. While vendors sold meat, fish, and produce from first-floor stalls, the upstairs Great Hall hosted fiery debates and spirited gatherings on the issues that helped shape Boston and the nation—from the fight for independence to the struggle for civil rights. By the 1820s, Faneuil Hall could not keep pace with the needs of a booming Boston. Enter Quincy Market, three grand market houses that brought new life to the waterfront. Yet the market was nearly lost in the mid-20th century—until a bold reinvention in the 1970s turned the historic buildings into a national model for urban revival. Packed with colorful characters and forgotten chapters of Boston’s history, this book is perfect for everyone who wants to see the city with fresh eyes.

A Harrowing Heritage of Resilience

During the era of Indian Removal, scores of men, women and children of African descent were forced west alongside the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations. 

National award-winning essayist and historian Julia Hans has assembled nearly 200 vintage postcards unique to Southern Pines. Thanks to the efforts of the Moore County Historical Association, thousands of these postcards have been digitally preserved for future generations.

Established in 1887 by industrialist John T. Patrick, Southern Pines was first a seasonal health resort and winter escape for Northerners. But at the turn of the 20th century, thousands of people flocked to the Sandhills for golf, riding, and other outdoor activities. Hotels and boardinghouses were built to accommodate the influx of visitors. This collection of historic postcards chronicles the bygone era of grand hotels, steam railroads, Model T Fords, and virgin pine forests. Included are vintage postcards of the town’s Blue and Gray Picnic, one-room jailhouse, downtown theaters, and early health sanitarium. The postcards capture the evolution of Broad and Bennett Streets and chronicle the people and places that make Southern Pines special.

Jacksonville, Florida’s Gullah Geechee heritage is an integral part of the city’s story.

Gullah Geechee people, descendants of west and central Africans forcibly brought to the southeastern coast of the United States, have retained many of their indigenous African traditions through architecture, food, culture, religion, and occupations. This legacy, combined with northeast Florida’s unique blend of Indigenous, French, Spanish, and English colonial history, has contributed to the African American journey in Jacksonville. Today, Jacksonville is the largest city in the federally designated Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which stretches from Wilmington, North Carolina, to St. Augustine, Florida.

Ennis Davis is a Gullah Geechee descendant, urban planner, heritage advocate, and writer. Adrienne Burke is a historian, urban planner, and heritage advocate. Together they own Community Planning Collaborative, a firm working to assist communities with heritage-based urban planning solutions. Drawing from archival photographs housed in the Library of Congress, State Archives of Florida, National Archives, Jacksonville Public Library, University of Florida, University of North Florida, the Ritz Theatre & Museum, and the Jaxson magazine, each image illuminates the unique stories of the past that continue to shape Jacksonville’s character today. The foreword is provided by Saundra Morene with the Jacksonville Gullah/Geechee Nation Community Development Corporation.

The waters of Lake Michigan are a calm and tranquil place--until they aren't

Lake Mishigami, as the Ojibwe referred to the big waters of Lake Michigan, has a violent side, especially when the winds roar, creating waves that are freshwater giants. These waves have mercilessly taken many ships—along with their crews and passengers—to the bottom. Many have paid a dear price for mistakenly thinking this massive lake is nothing but an oversized pond. A single monstrous storm in November of 1880 sank or damaged north of 100 ships and claimed nearly 100 lives. But tragedy on the lake is so often met with heroism, those who brave carnage to save their fellow man. Lake Michigan can go from serene to devilish in less than an hour—author Michael Passwater delves into these transformations and their aftermath.