Transportation

The legendary Blue Comet train no longer streaks through the pines of New Jersey. However, its memory still lives on through timeless images and the sustained efforts of historical societies and preservation organizations.

The Garden State's Blue Comet passenger train service operated from 1929 to 1941, on a route from the New York metropolitan area to Atlantic City. Despite the backdrop of the Great Depression and stiff competition from other railroads, it survived and established an enduring legacy in the annals of New Jersey rails. This book contains memorable images, many from private archival photograph collections, showing the remarkable history of this classic train and of the many hardworking, dedicated people who made it all possible.

Lake Erie has seen its share of disasters, claiming more ships per square mile than any other body of freshwater. Read the mysteries of its most mysterious and notorious wrecks and disappearances.

The great lakes have seen many ships meet their end, but none so much as Lake Erie. As the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is prone to sudden waves and wildly shifting sandbars. The steamer Atlantic succumbed to these conditions when, in 1852, a late night collision brought 68 of its weary immigrant passengers to watery graves. The 1916 Black Friday Storm sank four ships -- including the unsinkable James B. Colgate -- in the course of its 20-hour tantrum over the lake. In 1954, a difficult fishing season sent the Richard R into troubled waters in the hopes of catching a few more fish. One of the lake's sudden storms drowned the boat and three man crew. At just 50 miles wide and 200 miles long, Lake Erie has claimed more ships per square mile than any other body of freshwater. Author David Frew dives deep to discover the mysteries of some of Lake Erie's most notorious wrecks.

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Commissioned in 1936, The Taney was one of seven Secretary-class cutters built for the US Coast Guard during the Great Depression.

She served continuously for 50 years, including service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Taney was in Honolulu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and participated in the defense of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. During World War II, she saw service in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. The Taney spent several years on ocean weather station duty in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Later, she patrolled the East Coast of the United States, performing drug interdiction duties. The Taney is the only surviving ship that was present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She was decommissioned in 1986 and has since been a museum ship in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where she hosts an annual Pearl Harbor commemoration on December 7.

Ever since ships began navigating the coast of North Carolina, the area has maintained a reputation for being dangerous. Weather, geography, war, piracy, and human error have all contributed to this dense shipwreck zone.

Today, the region that stretches from the Currituck Outer Banks south to Bogue Banks is referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. From the 1585 grounding of the English ship Tiger off the Outer Banks to the 2012 loss of the Bounty, more than 2,000 shipwrecks have occurred in the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The stories behind the shipwrecks illustrate the best and worst of mankind, showing courage and compassion as well as the atrocities of war. This history informs readers about commerce, technology, war, environment, maritime life, and the complexity of the human element.

More than four decades after the great aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown last served her country, the ghosts of battle are still heard and felt onboard.

Staff members and visitors claim to have experienced disembodied voices, uniformed apparitions, shadowy masses and other unexplainable occurrences since the ""Fighting Lady"" first docked at Patriots Point. Join local author, investigator and "ghostorian'? Bruce Orr as he examines the history, haunting and heritage of the National Historic Landmark and home of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

How a Pennsylvania town and county's aviation journey began with a balloon ascension and eventually matured into the site of the country's largest air show.

Author, pilot and Reading native Michael J. Floriani shows how Berks Countians began embracing aviation when balloonist pioneer John Wise held his first balloon ascension in Reading in August 1836. In 1912, Charles Walsh became an instant celebrity when he was the first person to fly among thousands of spectators. After World War I, barnstormers landed surplus military planes on fields that once populated Reading, and Whander Field became the first airport in Pennsylvania to accommodate Reading Airways - the state's first commercial airline. Visionaries like Eddie Nibur, Alfred M. Bertolet, and J. Harding Breithaupt made significant aviation contributions, building flight training, charter operations, and general aviation empires, while Boyertown's Gen. Carl Spaatz served as commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe during World War II. As aviation matured, Reading Airport became the county's first municipal airport and the site of the nation's largest air show throughout the 1970s. Today, new industries provide opportunities for Berks County to lead aviation into the 21st century and build upon the rich heritage that already exists.

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

Discover a time when hydroplane racing captured the heart of the Detroit community in a way that has never been equaled.

Since the start of the 20th century, Detroit has been the hub of the motorized world. It was only natural that the powerful motors built in Detroit's huge factories eventually found their way into high-speed boats and that organized racing soon followed. Starting in 1916, Detroit became the center of powerboat racing. Names like Gar Wood, Chris Smith, and Horace Dodge dominated the sports pages of the 1920s and 1930s. Following World War II, racing in Detroit entered its golden era, led by local businessmen like Jack Schafer, Joe Schoenith and George Simon.

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

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

For over a century, the Olympia harbor tugboat Sand Man has worked on Puget Sound waters.

Built in Tacoma in 1910, Sand Man towed such commodities as sand, gravel, oysters, logs, and more to and from Budd Inlet. The tugboat was owned by three commercial companies and one private owner. In 1997, the Sand Man Foundation formed, took ownership, and placed Sand Man on multiple historic registries. Through fundraising efforts, the deteriorating Sand Man was miraculously saved and rebuilt after three sinkings. Over the years, the vessel participated in many Olympia Harbor Days activities and vintage tugboat races and was the festival’s first logo boat in 1983. Sand Man, a workhorse and survivor, is known as “Olympia’s Tugboat.” This is the story of Sand Man, the little tug that could and did. 

Lisa Nickel grew up boating on Puget Sound in her family’s own tugboat. She holds a master’s degree in creative arts and learning. After retiring from a 30-year teaching career, she is now the author of multiple magazine articles. She received the 2022 Algona Great Blue Heron Award for her dedication to her teaching career, partnership in science education, and charter lead educator of the Algona Blue Heron Community Gardens. Maritime historian Chuck Fowler’s previous publications include Arcadia Publishing’s Tall Ships on Puget Sound, Tugboats on Puget Sound, and Patrol and Rescue Boats on Puget Sound, as well as Exploring Maritime Washington, published by The History Press.

Take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry and explore the rich history behind New York's maritime attraction.

Considered the ""Best Ride in New York City,"" the Staten Island Ferry has been immortalized over the years in art, literature, film, and music. In the 19th century, cross-bay ferry riders complained of dangerous and unreliable private service. On October 25, 1905, the newly incorporated City of New York assumed ownership of the service, and the Borough class--the Brooklyn, Bronx, Richmond, Queens, and Manhattan ferryboats--was introduced. These were the largest ferries on the East Coast and made the crossing in 22.5 minutes. Today, the ferry is recognized as a New York icon and a symbol of the borough. A favorite destination for tourists, the Staten Island Ferry carries 22 million passengers annually. On a typical day, 109 trips move about 70,000 people across the harbor, making the Staten Island Ferry one of the most reliable forms of mass transit in the city.

The history of one of the most important airports in the US comes to life in over 150 historical photos.

In 1942, a stretch of Illinois prairie that had served as a battleground and a railroad depot became the site of a major manufacturing plant, producing Douglas C-54 Skymasters for World War II. Less than twenty years later, that plot of land boasted the biggest and busiest airport in the world. Many of the millions who have since passed through it have likely only regarded it as a place between cities. But for people like Michael Branigan, who has spent years on its tarmac, they know that O'Hare is a city unto itself, with a fascinating history of gangsters and heroes, mayors, presidents and pilots.

Not-a-pe-ka-gon was the Native American name given to the Ludington area and translates as ""heads on sticks.""

The name refers to a battle between the Ottawa and Mascouten Indians in the 17th century that raged along the river toward Lake Michigan. The heads of the defeated Mascoutens were placed on sticks as a warning to all. Later a bluff overlooking the lake and river was the site of the 1675 death of Fr. Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary and explorer. When the first settlers of European descent arrived, they gave the name of Pere Marquette to their village, lake, and river in honor of the fallen missionary. Eventually renamed after lumber baron James Ludington, the community became a bustling maritime port and the home of the largest car ferry fleet in the world.

An estimated three thousand shipwrecks lie off the coast of New Jersey - but these icy waters hold more mysteries than sunken hulls.

Ancient arrowheads found on the shoreline of Sandy Hook reveal Native American settlement before the land was flooded by melting glaciers. In 1854, 240 passengers of the New Era clipper ship met their fate off Deal Beach. Nobody knows what happened to two hydrogen bombs the United States Air Force lost near Atlantic City in 1957. Lessons from such tragic wrecks and dangerous missteps urged the development of safer ships and the U.S. Coast Guard. Captain Stephen D. Nagiewicz uncovers curious tales of storms, heroism and oddities from New Jersey's maritime past.

Documenting the history of Lake Winnipesaukee from its early Native American heritage to the lasting legacy of the first American settlers.

A world unto itself, Lake Winnipesaukee and its environs have attracted and sustained a variety of cultures over the past centuries from early American Indian tribes to New World settlers to today's seasonal tourists. Whether Indian hunter, aspiring pioneer or modern-day angler, each, in turn, fell for the region's wild allure: its sheer natural beauty, fertile soils, and waters teeming with an assortment of fish, including great quantities of shad, salmon, pickerel, smelt, and trout. Within this magnificent setting, scores of hardy and resolute frontier men and women worked tirelessly to fashion homes and towns along the bays, tributaries, islands and shoreline of the lake.

With over 150 accompanying illustrations, the many stories recorded in this unique volume evoke memories of a simpler way of life, when the lake was evolving from a scattering of humble villages, like Laconia, Meredith, and Wolfeboro, and just beginning to toy with a budding tourist industry. Readers of many generations will enjoy reliving the early summer camps, upstart businesses and the variety of entertainment and recreation the lake's waters have provided, such as canoe trips, steamships rides and ski boat adventures.

This pictorial history illustrates the Tennessee River's influence on Northwest Alabama and people, places, and events that have shaped the area’s cultural and natural history.

For centuries, the Tennessee River has shaped the lives of northwest Alabamians. Native peoples made their homes on its shores, living on the rich resources found in its waters and on its banks. Early Europeans and Americans recognized the river's importance in connecting east with west, although traveling the 40-mile stretch of rocky shoals between present-day Decatur and Florence was difficult. Overcoming that navigation challenge led to such 19th-century technological advances as the Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur Railroad—the first rail line west of the Appalachian Mountains—and the Muscle Shoals Canal. During the Civil War, skirmishes over control of factories, rail lines, and bridges characterized most military activity in northwest Alabama. In the 20th century, the construction of Wilson Dam and the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority improved the quality of life and increased economic opportunities in northwest Alabama.

The southwest corner of Kansas was once home to Liberal Army Airfield. For 27 months, from April 1943 to September 1945, the desolate plains of Kansas were alive with the deep throaty roar of the B-24 Liberator.

The Liberal Army Airfield trained approximately one-quarter of all B-24 commanders. Residents of the area recall few days and nights in which they did not hear the familiar roar of the big Pratt & Whitney engines flying overhead. What was once a wheat field, a symbol of peace, became thousands of feet of concrete runways used to train pilots for vital World War II missions. To this day, many of the runways and structures of the base still survive. Years have passed since the inception and closure of the base, but its history will always be a part of Liberal, Kansas.

Lidia Hook-Gray was born in Liberal and raised in the adjacent Oklahoma Panhandle. A local history buff, she has always been intrigued by the Liberal Army Airfield, the big B-24s, the people that came to the base, and their stories. Hook-Gray is also the author of Liberal and Seward County. Connie Gray-Bowman was born in Liberal. Her father, Herbert Gray, flew 52 combat missions as a nose gunner on a B-24 with the 454th Bombardment Group, the Tailwind Crew. His last assignment was stationed at the Liberal base, where he met his wife at a USO dance.

The First State of Delaware has a truly legendary history of automobile racing.

Since the first racers roared down the dusty Delaware State Fairgrounds track in 1915 at Wawaset Park, Wilmington, Delaware, auto racing has thrilled capacity crowds all over the state. Images of Sports: Delaware Auto Racing documents and explores the tracks, cars, and people that made racing what it is today. The history of racing can be seen in historic photographs from the legendary dirt tracks, like Delmar and Georgetown Speedways, to the high banked turns of Delaware's NASCAR track--Dover Downs. Rare images have been collected from drivers, car owners, fans, and historians to provide an insightful look into auto racing in Delaware. Many of the historic photographs have never been published.

Launched in Wilmington in 1997, Kalmar Nyckel—The Tall Ship of Delaware—is one of the region’s great educational resources, a floating classroom and inspirational platform for a broad array of land-and sea-based programs.

An accurate replica of the original Swedish naval vessel that launched the colony of New Sweden in the Delaware Valley in 1638, today’s Kalmar Nyckel voyages over 2,000 nautical miles and reaches more than 30,000 students, passengers, and visitors a year. A photographer’s dream wherever she goes, Kalmar Nyckel embodies America’s maritime heritage and has become one of Delaware’s defining treasures.

Samuel W. Heed, Esq., is the senior historian and director of education at the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, where since 2008 he has been developing the programs, exhibits, articles, and documentaries that bring the Kalmar Nyckel story to life and give it meaning. Heed serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Council of American Maritime Museums. The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation archives provided the primary resources for this book.

Get a first-hand account and fascinating new details of the story behind The Finest Hours, the film portraying the harrowing rescue of the SS Pendleton in 1952.

On February 18, 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, a fierce nor'easter snapped in half two 503-foot oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer. Human grace and grit, leadership and endurance prevail as Theresa Mitchell Barbo and Captain W. Russell Webster (Ret.) recount the historic, heroic rescue of thirty-two merchant mariners from the sinking Pendleton by four young Coast Guardsmen aboard the 36-foot motor lifeboat CG36500. A foreword by former Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (Ret.) and an essay by Master Chief John ""Jack"" Downey (Ret.), a veteran of thousands of modern-day small boat rescues, round out the special third edition of this classic work on Coast Guard history.

Stanwood was established at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River on the eastern shoreline of Puget Sound in 1873. In this pictorial history, local Stanwood Area Historical Society historian and retired librarian Karen Prasse features over 200 photographs from the collections of the Stanwood Area Historical Society.

Originally designated Centerville, it had a wharf to accommodate steamboat transportation. Loggers and mill men from the nearby Utsalady mill on Camano Island were among those who established homesteads and businesses, and the town began to grow. The Great Northern Railroad Company, providing long awaited rail connection, bypassed Stanwood a mile away from the waterfront in 1891. When two major lumber companies were established between 1888 and 1903 on the waterfront, they needed access to a railroad, so the Hall & Hall Railroad, the “Shortest Railroad in the World,” was incorporated to transport lumber. As the mills closed in the 1930s, food processing became the primary economy with the establishment of Twin City Foods and the Pacific Coast Condensery near the depot. The depot area became known as East Stanwood, and it was incorporated in 1922, creating two separate towns one mile apart—Stanwood and East Stanwood. The citizens voted to consolidate in 1960 when the cities faced an issue they could not resolve on their own. 

The historical society, chartered in 1972, operates the D.O. Pearson House museum, the Eldridge Center, and the Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center. All photographs were generously donated to the collections over the years by local families and collectors.

Told through the eyes of three Irish immigrant families who helped build it, discover the groundbreaking story of the  construction of the Blue Ridge Tunnel.

In one of the greatest engineering feats of his time, Claudius Crozet led the completion of Virginia's Blue Ridge Tunnel in 1858. Two centuries later, the National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark still proudly stands, but the stories and lives of those who built it are the true lasting triumph. Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Hunger poured into America resolute for something to call their own. They would persevere through life in overcrowded shanties and years of blasting through rock to see the tunnel to completion. Prolific author Mary E. Lyons follows three Irish families in their struggle to build Crozet's famed tunnel and their American dream.

She was built as the flagship for the Pere Marquette Railway's Lake Michigan ferry fleet, and signified a bold departure from traditional Great Lakes vessel design. Her sleek outboard profile, spacious passenger accommodations, and modern interior furnishings were a hit with the traveling public. By the time she was retired from service in 1988, she had served both the Pere Marquette and Chesapeake & Ohio Railroads, transported thousands of travelers as a passenger ferry, and become known as the "Queen of the Great Lakes Car Ferries."

Settled in 1868, Prineville was the first community in Central Oregon.  Primarily focused on the livestock industry, the area experienced a period of vigilante action in the 1880s and sheep-and-cattle wars just after the turn of the 20th century. Prineville remained the predominant community in the region until about 1915, when major railroads arrived and passed over it. This book showcases key images of Prineville, beginning with its first-known photograph in 1881 up until the early 2000s. /Steve Lent has authored several books on local history and provides historical perspectives to both the past and present photographs.

Perfect for readers interested in the abundant and thought-provoking history of the southern United States, the story of Pine Mountain is one of hardship, adaptation, and reconciliation.

Kings Gap, Bethany, Hood, Chipley, and Callaway invoke the different chapters of the story. This area of Georgia was settled in the 1830s following lotteries that distributed land acquired from the Creek Indian Nation. The catalyst for Chipley, chartered in 1882, the precursor of Pine Mountain, was the railroad. It had profound effects: subsistence farming became agriculture, local trading became commerce, and distant neighbors turned into fellow townsfolk.

By the mid-20th century, there were efforts to promote Chipley as a site for industry and a pleasant place to visit. On May 21, 1952, Ida Cason Callaway Gardens opened its gates. Over the following years, it resulted in lasting changes and was the impetus for the alteration of the town’s name to Pine Mountain in 1958.

Chipley Historical Center was founded in 1984 to record the vanishing way of life. The center has collected and preserved photographs, documents, genealogical records, and artifacts that might otherwise have disappeared. Most of the images in this book are from the center’s archives.

Helen L. Brackett and other volunteer staff of the Chipley Historical Center compiled this record from material contributed by current and former residents.

Explore the period between 1900 and 1950 when South Haven, Michigan transformed from a rough commercial port into a beautiful tourist attraction.

Although South Haven is now entirely a recreational harbor, this compilation of archival photographs provides a glimpse of an earlier time when shipments of coal, stone, pig iron, paper pulp, and clay came to port instead of pleasure boaters.

Showcasing the remarkable photography of Roy S. McCrimmon, Maritime South Haven: 1900-1950documents South Haven's nautical heritage with images of large foreign freighters, hardy fish tugs, bustling passenger steamers, carefree pleasure cruisers, and sprightly sailboats.

The story of Baltimore's historic Oakenshawe neighborhood is a tale of two families and a dream to create an idyllic place.

The powerful Wilson family made fortunes in colonial shipping and established a summer estate for more than one hundred years. The Mueller families were prominent Baltimore builders, and Phillip C. Mueller envisioned an upscale community of terraced townhomes on the Wilson estate. After purchasing the property, he died suddenly, and his family banded together to create a vibrant streetcar suburb providing affordable homes along newly accessible streetcar routes. Join author D.J. Wilson as he takes readers through the history of Baltimore's Oakenshawe.

The US Army and US Navy both decided that Oregon would be a great location for numerous airfields in support of training and positioning of air crews.

Oregon is not the first state that comes to mind when discussing military bases and active-duty military. During World War II, however, this was not the case. From bombers to fighters and even some balloons, Oregon’s skies were filled with aircraft. Most of these bases have either been lost to time or transformed into civilian airports. Explore the rich history of Oregon’s World War II airfields by taking a step back in time. 

Historian Andretta Schellinger has lived in Oregon the majority of her life. She has two bachelor’s degrees from Pacific University in history and sociology and a master’s degree in military and diplomatic studies from Hawaii Pacific University. While living in Hawaii, she worked at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) as an archivist. She now owns Schellinger Research, based in Central Oregon, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and numerous animals. She is the author of three books and specializes in cultural history.