Dedham

9781596297500

$21.99

This New England community has made national headlines for the notorious Sacco and Vanzetti trial; it has hosted Presidents Washington, Jackson and Lincoln, among other leaders; and it played a formative role in the establishment of the Animal Rescue League. In popular culture, Dedham made its mark as the setting for several notable films and works of fiction. Author James L. Parr gives a fresh take on Dedham's famous moments and also weaves in lesser-known stories of its heritage and traditions. This town has accumulated some eccentricities, from the legendary apparitions that haunted the cemetery for most of October 1887 to the still-active, two-centuries-old Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves. Explore the intricate microcosm of American history that belongs to this charming New England town.

On This Day in Memphis History

9781626191365

$14.99

For locals and visitors alike, read about the events that uncover the history behind the legendary Memphis culture, and examine the stories of music, murder, natural disaster and other River City blasts from the past.

Far more than blues and barbecue, Memphis deep and fascinating culture has evolved one day at a time. Author G. Wayne Dowdy pins an exact date to a host of important, quirky and forgotten events in the history of Tennessee's largest city--an entertaining footnote for each day of the year. Earth, Wind and Fire founder Maurice White entered the world in a Memphis hospital on December 19, 1941. On January 15, 1877, a severe thunderstorm mysteriously left the city covered in snakes. On December 31, 1902, a resident was murdered on Main Street after taunting a Native American named Creeping Bear. A day or a month at a time, enjoy a year of entertaining River City blasts from the past.

On This Day in Columbus, Ohio History

9781609496685

$14.99

Columbus grew from a one-horse town to a metropolis one day at a time. Tom Betti and Doreen Uhas Sauer of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation have selected the 365 most fascinating city history vignettes for each day of the year. Match your seasons up to the full range of Columbus history, from the marching band hired to test the strength of incomplete statehouse stairs in January 1857 to the prohibition of public dancing in city parks in December 1913, and enjoy delightful tidbits every day in between.

Palm Beach Past

9781596291157

$21.99

Known for its year-round warmth, beautiful beaches and famous residents, Palm Beach County is one of the most well-known areas along Florida's Atlantic coast. And although many people know the county as a winter destination for the likes of starlets and snowbirds, few know that German U-boats sank sixteen ships off the coast in 1942. Nor do they know that eleven "barefoot mailmen" originally took on the mail service between Palm Beach and Miami. In Palm Beach Past: The Best of "Post Time," author and local journalist Eliot Kleinberg has compiled a collection of historical vignettes--which originally appeared in the Palm Beach Post--about the intriguing people and events in the county's history. Kleinberg reveals little-known facts about the development of the region's prestigious neighborhoods and parks, while introducing readers to some of the most captivating and eccentric characters. For readers who want to understand the Palm Beach County of today or those who enjoy local history and just want a "good read," Palm Beach Past is a must.

Old Frontenac Minnesota

9781596295070

$21.99

The entire village of Old Frontenac is snugly nestled on the National Register for Historic Places--a tribute to the frontier paradise cultivated under the patronage of the Garrard family. With the exception of the modern county road that serves the local residents, all the streets are still unpaved gravel. No streetlights or visible utilities mar the overall impression of an untouched early settlement. No commercial businesses are in the village. As we enter the twenty-first century, the nineteenth-century buildings of Old Frontenac remain virtually untouched by the heavy-handed development that has so recently decimated other historical areas. It is hoped that this little time capsule of Minnesota's architectural history, occupied by preservation-minded owners, will survive.

The Brooklyn Heights Promenade

9781609495299

$19.99

Featured in films and on television and used as a backdrop to countless photos, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade offers the public a view that is usually reserved for the rich at the top of a tower.

From this one-third-mile stretch, locals and tourists take in the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and New York Harbor. But its history is less harmonious. Plans by the powerful Robert Moses to run the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway through a resistant neighborhood led to contention and an unforeseen eventual compromise. In this volume, Brooklyn Heights Press editor Henrik Krogius presents this history, along with his articles that document the fate of the Promenade over the years.

Old College Street

9781609496142

$21.99

Every city has a neighborhood that housed its earliest founders and their successors, an enclave of local power and financial success. For Rochester, Minnesota, this neighborhood is personified by a ten-block stretch of tree-shaded street originally platted in 1855 as West College Street, now designated as 4th Street Southwest. In the span of 150 years, two and sometimes three generations of remarkable buildings have come and gone in this neighborhood. Under the direction of movers and shakers like George Head and Dr. William J. Mayo, the street helped shape the city's architectural legacy and define its purpose. Join architectural historian Ken Allsen on a stroll down this storied street.

Building the Columbia River Highway

9781626192713

$21.99

When nine-hundred-foot ice age floods carved the Columbia River Gorge through the Cascade Mountains to the sea, little space was left for man to form a highway of his own. It took an artist-poet-engineer extraordinaire to conquer this reluctant piece of real estate and produce the nation's first scenic highway. Meet Sam Hill, the mover and shaker, and Samuel Lancaster, the polio survivor, who turned modern engineering on its ear to create a "poem in stone." Today, Oregon's historic Columbia River Highway is hidden among the trees, where it meanders past spectacular waterfalls and dramatic views. Ride along with Peg Willis as she explores the beginnings of this miracle highway and the men who created it.

North Carolina Rivers

9781596292581

$21.99

John Hairr crafts a captivating study of the Tarheel State's rivers. The Cape Fear, the New, the Pee Dee: these are the streams that course through North Carolina's history, and Hairr navigates them all, while also exploring lesser-known waters. The only natural history to trace all of the state's rivers in a single volume, this is a must-read.

Cape Cod Shore Whaling

9781596294295

$21.99

While Nantucket has long enjoyed an illustrious position in America's whaling history, Cape Cod's contribution to the industry is relatively unknown. Yet, it was a Cape Codder who taught the Nantucketers how to hunt whales. In Cape Cod Shore Whaling, authors Duncan Oliver and John Braginton-Smith uncover Cape Cod's integral role in shaping whalefishery, which began along the Cape's sandy shores and evolved into the far-flung whaling expeditions that drove Nantucket's economy into the nineteenth century. Drawing on rare documents never before published, whaling journals, and diaries, Oliver and Braginton-Smith recreate a bygone age when men fought one another for rights to the sea.

Carolina Beach Music

9781609492144

$23.99

Just as the dances of Beach Music have their twists and turns, so too do the stories behind the hits made popular in shag haunts from Atlantic Beach to Ocean Drive and the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. In Carolina Beach Music, local author and Beach Music enthusiast Rick Simmons draws on first-hand accounts from the legendary performers and people behind the music. Simmons reveals the true meaning behind "Oogum Boogum," uncovers just what sparked a fistfight between Ernie K. Doe and Benny Spellman at the recording session of "Te-Ta-Te-Te-Ta-Ta," and examines hundreds of other true events that shaped the sounds of Beach Music.

Druid Hill Park

9781596292093

$21.99

Shady hills, rolling lawns, and gardens in the core of the city: Druid Hill Park lies at the heart of Baltimore, and
made history as one of the first public parks in
America. One of Frederick Law Olmsted's commissions, it led the way for other estates and green spaces
to be deeded as parks that are open to all. Druid Hill's
design reflects the tradition of European garden style and
it stands as a natural refuge for fun and relaxation amid
the urban neighborhoods of Baltimore.

Eden Prairie

9781596299412

$21.99

From scouting reports of Native American tribes to Money Magazine's declaration that it was the best place to live in America, Eden Prairie has a history that commands attention. Few can rival Marie Wittenberg's dedication to telling this story or match her intimate knowledge of her hometown's changing landscape, from early sheep barns to modern megachurches. In this brief history, she describes how Eden Prairie got its name, visits with pioneer families and points out the local places and critical moments that shaped this beloved community's identity.

Edisto

9781596291553

$14.99

Edisto Island has been an integral part of the South Carolina Lowcountry for centuries. For more than three hundred years, Edisto Island was the setting for marauding pirates, sea-island cotton plantations and indigo traders. Today, as one of the jewels of the Carolina coast, Edisto and its people lead a calmer life. With a small year-round population buttressed by a dedicated seasonal crowd, Edisto remains a beloved island community with a rich tradition and history. Edisto: A Guide to Life on the Island is a charming blend of Edisto history and useful local information. Full of details that will surprise even lifelong residents, this book captures the heart and spirit of the island. Author Cantey Wright provides readers with a wealth of insight and creates a deep appreciation for Edisto's history and tradition. More than a history book, this volume also serves as a guide to Edisto's uniquely enchanting lifestyle. Wright uses humor and a warm writing style to take his readers on a tour through the tidal creeks and oak-lined roads, stopping along the way to reveal the best way to catch crabs, fish and shrimp and the tastiest ways to prepare them.

Durham Tales

9781596295889

$21.99

Run into the history of the Bull City!

There is much history in the Bull City, and some of it can be found within these pages. How Bull Durham smoking tobacco put Durham, North Carolina, on the map. How a plastic cow and an oversized flag cut the city council down to size. How it felt to travel back in time at the Duke Homestead. How sportsman Al Mann and "Mom" Ruby Planck left indelible marks on their hometown. Journalist and local historian Jim Wise shows you that while Durham's stories are its own, readers may find the people, places and truths in them resonate with hometowns everywhere.

Fair Lawn, New Jersey:

9781596296985

$21.99

In Fair Lawn, New Jersey, the layered heritage is clear from the mix of Native American, Dutch and English names adorning its street signs. Author Jane Lyle Diepeveen traces Fair Lawn's history from its origins as a settlement at Sloterdam, a site of the developing Dutch Colonial architecture, to the innovative neighborhoods of Radburn, a cutting-edge planned American garden city. Through interviews with longtime Fair Lawn residents, Diepeveen honors the days of dairy farms and swimming holes, as well as this vibrant community's progress today. From Warren Point to Columbia Heights, Fair Lawn reveals the hidden story of this jewel of New Jersey.

Fire Island

9781596298590

$19.99

Fire Island, or Great South Beach as it is also known, is a 32-mile long sliver of a barrier beach located just off the South Shore of Long Island. Always a wild, lonely and untamed wilderness, its shores, waterways and the lands surrounding it have given us innumerable stories -- some inspirational, some frightening, but all of them intriguing. The stories in this book portray people and events from the island's earliest days, when it served Native Americans as a rich hunting, fishing and whaling site until the present day and its use as a U.S. National Seashore and National Wilderness Area.

Wicked Bay City, Michigan

9781467135542

$21.99

Join author Tim Younkman for a wild ride into Bay City's wicked side.

From unscrupulous lumber barons to Hell's Half Mile, Bay City history casts a sinister shadow. Pope Leo XIII was forced to intervene when rioting Catholic immigrants seized St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and battled one another in the city's streets. The police discovered prostitute Lou Hall nearly beaten to death in the Block of Blazes. And respected publishing mogul Edwin T. Bennett's secret life led to the death of a young woman in a Bay City hotel room.

Folly Beach:

9781596290846

$21.99

As anyone who has ever crossed over the Folly River onto Center Street can tell you, Folly Beach is a place like no other. For Charleston writer Bill Bryan, Folly is another world that has drawn him back time and again. In Folly Beach: Glimpses of a Vanished Strand, Bryan takes a wistful look back at Folly during a special time in its history, when the dark days of war were over and everyone just wanted to have fun. Through these charming, historical vignettes, enjoy a moonlit dance on the pier, take a ride on the Ferris wheel at the carnival, grab a bite to eat at the Pavilion or comb the Washout for driftwood.

The New Deal in Orange County, California

9781626194885

$21.99

Unpredictably harsh elements wreaked havoc in Orange County during the Great Depression. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake claimed 115 lives, shattering lands eastward across the Los Angeles County line into the Orange County cities. Then 60 people perished in the devastating 1938 Santa Ana River flood, which washed out roads and buildings and much of the county's namesake citrus industry. Orange County's 130,000 people received a greater density of federal public aid than LA County's 2.2 million and San Diego County's 210,000. Join Charles Epting on this tour of the buildings, bridges, harbors, trails, libraries, highways and other infrastructure gains--many still in use--that were revitalized by the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and other agencies of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

The New Deal in Orange County, California

New Jersey Fresh:

9781626199781

$21.99

New Jersey's bounty is ripe for the picking. The state boasts thousands of thriving farms, hundreds of CSAs, dozens of community farmers' markets and countless residents dedicated to the locavore lifestyle. Jersey food writer and chef Rachel J. Weston takes a seasonal tour of the state, showcasing the bounty that its down-to-earth farmers, creative artisan producers and innovative chefs produce for their patrons throughout the year. See how globally inspired cuisine representing New Jersey's diverse population is created and adapted using locally sourced products. Savor a juicy August peach, pucker up for a tart cranberry in October and nourish body and soul with local bok choy, asparagus and tomatoes. With local recipes for every season, this book shows why New Jersey is the Garden State.

Mansfield Plantation

9781467117746

$23.99

Standing on the banks of the Black River, Mansfield Plantation is a living testament to antebellum rice plantations. In 1718, it started as a five-hundred-acre land grant near the upstart village of Georgetown. The main house was built around 1800, and the plantation soon grew to nearly one thousand acres. John and Sallie Middleton Parker returned the property to the Man-Taylor-Lance-Parker family, a line of ownership dating back 150 years. Ongoing preservation projects ensure that future generations can explore and appreciate one of the most well-preserved rice plantations in America. Plantation historian Christopher C. Boyle captures the spirit of Mansfield Plantation and unravels the many mysteries of its past.

Morris County's Acorn Hall

9781626196315

$21.99

Acorn Hall has always been a home. In 1852, Dr. John Schermerhorn conceived the sprawling estate and mansion, and he spent four years decorating it in a lavish Rococo style. Banker Augustus Crane later bought the estate and mansion, had it redesigned and rechristened it Acorn Hall, and it remained in his family through two world wars and numerous financial crises. Mary Crane Hone donated the landmark to the Morris County Historical Society in 1971. After its devoted members lovingly restored the hall, it became a focal point for the community and a beautiful setting for the society's collections. Today, it is imbued with a sense of purpose, tradition and reverence for the past. Local historian Jude Pfister tells the remarkable story of Morris County, New Jersey's Acorn Hall.

Bethany Beach

9781609490027

$21.99

The fascinating origins of this once peaceful resort town are explored in Michael Morgan's Bethany Beach.

Before a 1901 ceremony opened the peaceful resort town, the wild dunes of Bethany Beach were part of the rough-and-tumble New World and the deadly land wars between Delawareans and Marylanders. The twentieth century brought crowds eager to partake of a healthy saltwater bath and chicken-and-waffle socials. Local author Michael Morgan chronicles the history of this ""quiet"" resort with stories of rumrunners who concealed their illicit goods in local chicken coops, World War II residents who anxiously kept a weather eye on the Atlantic and the devastating 1962 nor'easter. Join Morgan as he deftly narrates the storied history of this beloved Delaware beach town.

The Best of "I Remember Dahlonega"

9781596291256

$21.99

Charming Dahlonega, Georgia is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the northeastern region of the Peach State. With a wealth of stories from her "I Remember Dahlonega" collection, Anne Amerson recalls the history that has made Dahlonega both a beloved home and a travel destination with a rich past.

Synagogues of Long Island

9781467138369

$24.99

Long Island has one of the most vibrant and largest Jewish communities in the nation.

After World War II, hundreds of thousands of Jewish soldiers returned from war looking for a life in the suburbs and synagogues to join, but the demand exceeded the supply. In 1946, Rabbi Elias Solomon called a meeting of Conservative rabbis from Manhattan to map out a plan to build a synagogue at ever South Shore Long Island Railroad stop, from Valley Stream to Patchogue. Central Synagogue of Nassau County and Beth El in Great Neck both grew to more than 1000 families as Reform Judaism took hold, and the growth of the Chabad movement in recent decades as spurred an increase of Orthodox Judaism. Author Ira Poliakoff catalogues the history of synagogues and congregations that have shaped Long Island's past and present.

Boston Miscellany

9781596295872

$21.99

Before the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the nineteenth century's cultural renaissance, a serious rebellion was brewing in the taverns of Boston. Look back to a time when riots raged through the streets of Boston, when Beacon Hill was a neighborhood of beggars and vagabonds, and papal effigies burned on the Boston Common. Meet William Blackstone, the first Bostonian, and John Singleton Copley, portrait artist of the elite. In this compilation by historian William Marchione, discover Boston as it once was—when customs officials were dragged through the sewers and drinking tea was a highly political act. Even the city's largest and most controversial funeral, held for the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti, ended in a street brawl with police. And yet, with the sprawl of the first American railroads, the dawning of the abolitionist movement and the cultural flourishing in art and architecture, Boston emerged as the nation's first cultural, economic, and political hub.

Montpelier

9781596295018

$21.99

Once a small clearing in the woods, Montpelier today sits at the center of Vermont's civic and cultural life. Its artists, legislators, innovators and leaders have made the nation's smallest state capital a crossroads for all. Glimpse the only surviving photographs of the second State House--taken just years before it burned--and the welcome given to Admiral George Dewey, fresh from victory in the Spanish-American War, by the largest crowd the city has ever seen. Survey the wreckage of the 1927 flood, learn how Montpelier's glorious historic district came to life and follow the footsteps of presidents passing through town.
Gathered together for the first time, these timeless images show Montpelier's citizens in their grittiest, saddest, happiest and most triumphant moments.