Sale [hidden]

Black's ranching and dairy empire, founded on a single Mexican land grant, ultimately encompassed 20,000 Marin County acres. Black, his wife, and daughter enjoyed the privileges of the landed gentry until January 1864 when his cherished wife died in their son-in-law's dental chair. An obsessive resentment, excesses of whisky, and a scheming second wife consumed Black's bereavement.

Augustina learned after her father's death that she had been written out of his will. For four years and across two counties, she fought her stepmother for a fair portion of her father's $15,000,000 estate. After multiple notorious trials, Augustina gained a partial victory¬--but would she receive the land and gold the jury awarded her?

The railroad station was at the heart of every town the trains passed through on Delmarva. These buildings were more than walls, floors, ceilings, and roofs--they served as the very heartbeat of their community. More than freight and passengers traveled through these buildings. News came in from the outside world, family members arrived home, and in a number of cases, they served as the town meeting place or a spot for locals to "chew the fat."

From grand three-story structures designed by some of America's most famous architects to small stations described by locals as nothing more than goat barns, the railroad stations of Delmarva ran the gamut of architectural design. Some rail lines chose a standard design to rapidly construct their stations while other lines chose a more unique design and varied construction methods. At its peak, the railroad stations of Delmarva numbered nearly 400 strong. Passenger service ended long ago, and with it most of these structures were eventually torn down. Thankfully, several stations survive today, and it is these monuments that we travel to in the pages of this book.

Abandoned Chicago: Decay in the Windy City is an exploration through photographs of the shuttered buildings that are scattered all over Cook County, Illinois, and the city of Chicago--from beautiful churches with colorful stained glass, a moldy medical clinic that still has all its machinery, and a funeral home with everything still left inside. Have you ever questioned what's inside that boarded-up building you pass by? This book features photographs that will show readers a glimpse inside these decaying, haunting places and make them question why some were so quickly left behind.

The city of Chicago is home to around 2.7 million people. Each year, more Chicago churches, schools, and businesses are permanently closing. Many will sit for sale in hopes of being used again or hopefully renovated into something different. Sketchy floors, dark hallways, and flooded basements won't stop explorer Alison Doshen from stepping inside and continuing to share these places through her photographs.

In this fascinating selection of photographs Amy Waters Yarsinske traces some of the many ways in which Norfolk has changed and developed over the last century.

With over three centuries of rich history, and with so little intact of the city's historic built environment, photographs are a priceless record of Norfolk, the "sunrise city by the sea."

These pages tour Plattsburgh's residential and commercial streets, witnessing the significant changes that have occurred over time.

Local treasures, like the Plattsburgh Normal School and Clare and Carl's Restaurant, are pictured alongside municipal buildings, churches, and houses. The changes caused by the closure of Plattsburgh Air Force Base in 1995 and the exodus of business from the city's downtown area to the town's commercial district on Route 3 are particularly noted, as are the evolution of the area's schools.

One hundred years later, Dayton was a modern city, its citizens open to innovative ideas, but still proud of their past.

The Main Street Bridge was one of the first concrete bridges in the United States. Cash registers, invented in Dayton, were in stores throughout the world. Yet time was taken to save the city's oldest structure, Newcom Tavern, and place it near where the first settlers of Dayton had come ashore. In 2014, Newcom Tavern underwent a $100,000 exterior renovation. As it was in 1896, so it is today; a symbol of how, from such humble beginnings, a great city can rise.

There is little argument that the twentieth century was "America's century," a time of incredible growth, innovation and prosperity across the country, despite depression and war, and the dichotomy of black and white, poverty and wealth that marked the highs and lows of Newport News' twentieth century experience.

The consistent threads that weave the Newport News story still hinge on the imagination, ambition and achievement of Collis Huntington; what he started at the end of the nineteenth century became a powerhouse in the twentieth.

Dust, shards of glass, gravel, and grit coat heavy vines that spiral down empty stairs. They're more than concrete and steel--as nature takes over abandoned buildings, they come alive. Through journalistic and experimental photographs, Sam Smith aims to capture the unique architectural character, mood, and mind of Cincinnati's dilapidated buildings.

Discover the rich history of Queen City's vacant structures as they rose and fell. Step inside a 150-year-old ornate cathedral, a middle school auditorium, the skyscraper office of Cincinnati's once largest employer, and a four-story furnace room that was used to manufacture ammunition for World War I. From an amusement park to a chemical research facility turned into a chop shop, disuse has brought brevity to these abandoned structures. Experience the ruins of Queen City as they find new life through decay.

In Abandoned Maine, Michael Petipas captures the state's past through a collection of photographs. Through this visual journey, readers can explore the beauty that has been left behind in the wreckage of places that time and people have forgotten.

Abandoned locations always have a story to tell. Some were once giants of industry that slowly became obsolete and were eventually forced to close their doors for good. Other places are of great historical significance. Some places the locals remember fondly, and they continue to live among them as they slowly decay year after year. Then there are the places that keep their secrets, and the cause of their decay is left to the imagination.

All the locations in this book have been left to sit empty and slowly give way to the rains of spring, the heat of summer, and the cold of winter. One day, these old structures will be no more than a pile of bones and a distant memory for the few people that remember them.

Beneath the many trees and leaves of South Carolina are places yet to be seen by passing visitors and locals. South Carolina was once home to pivotal battles, rebels, and textile mills. Thanks to cotton plantations and mills, South Carolina thrived. Buildings with histories that were once key to the health and function of the state are now lost to time and Earth's foliage. With growing cities and towns, South Carolina leaves its history ever so slowly. As people turn a blind eye to these homes, hospitals, and factories, they build new ones that stand by the old. Remnants of time await their end.

In Abandoned South Carolina: Forgotten Upstate, explore the state sanitarium that served as a tuberculosis hospital, textile mills that stand to rot, rich family homes now filled with spirits of a sad past, and even a missile plant now home to local wildlife. As the people of this state move forward, we must look to the past and learn from it to better our future.

Many towns in North Alabama operate on such a small budget that a single drought could fatally cripple much of their income. A single devastating storm might damage a building beyond repair, but the cost of starting over and in some cases cleaning up becomes more fiscal trouble than the towns are able to spare. Anyone who has owned property in North Alabama can tell you that all it takes is one summer's worth of neglect to turn a proudly displayed property into a mysterious shadow veiled by trees and vines. These places exist all around, but are often avoided because of the dangers that may be lurking inside.

In Abandoned North Alabama, photographer Mary Posey documents her journey inside some of North Alabama's most bizarre and creepy discarded structures. She explores the stories of a military base that couldn't maintain its funding, a train station with a hint of murder mystery, a juvenile detention center for girls that fought lawsuits for abuse until ultimately being shut down by a tornado, and houses left as if the owners just ran off in the middle of the night.