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Frederick County, Maryland, In Images Of America
The Images of America Series offers a way to get to know many American places, familiar and unfamiliar, through its many books of photographic histories. I have some familiarity with Frederick County, Maryland, the subject of this volume, but I don't know it well. Frederick County is located in northern Maryland, a relatively short distance from my home in Washington, D.C. I have visited places in Frederick County many times over the years. A favorite trip was to Catoctin Mountain Park to hike and swim. I also was a frequent visitor to the Cozy Inn, a wonderful homey restaurant in the town of Thurmont adjacent to the park. The Cozy Inn closed in 2014. It wasn't mentioned in this book, while the Catoctin Park received only a brief discussion. There is a lot to cover in an American county founded in 1748.
Founded in 1892, The Historical Society of Frederick County drew on its extensive archives to prepare this book of images and text. In his introduction to the volume, project manager, Duane Doxten, states accurately that the volume consists of "snapshots" of Frederick County over time rather than a history. He describes the work as "more of a hors d'oeuvre to whet the appetite than an entree to fill you up." The book offers glimpses of Frederick County and its people and activities but left me wanting a more cohesive presentation. Two years after the publication of this volume, The Historical Society and Images of America published a follow-up volume in the same format: "Frederick County Revisited", which broadens the story told in this first book.
This volume includes images from the mid-19th to the early 21st century Frederick County together with annotations. The short chapters are arranged to highlight different activities in Frederick County in different places, rural and more urban. The book felt episodic but it gave a glimpse of the people and places of the county over time. The volume offers a sense of people in everyday life, while the county's more famous citizens receive mention in passing. In its first six chapters, the book explores farming, business endeavors, transportation, community service, educational institutions, and places of worship in Frederick County over its long history. I particularly enjoyed the images and discussions of the early railroads and trolleys.
In the final four chapters, the book becomes livelier and gives more of a sense of community rather than simply of individuals involved in their own separate activities. Thus, the images show parades, festivals, and commemorations, in which the residents of the City of Frederick or other places in Frederick County come and act together. This is followed by images of Frederick's Civil War history, including the famous Barbara Fritchie story and images of soldiers and supporters of both North and South. There is a short chapter of images of famous people from the county, and the book concludes with a chapter of images from specific towns and communities.
I was glad to learn something about Frederick County and to see the dedication of the Historical Society in pursuing its mission of preserving the County's history and sharing the history with others. The United States has many unique places, people, and stories that deserve commemoration. This volume on Frederick County did indeed "whet the appetite", as promised in the book's Introduction, to learn more about Frederick County and its history. I enjoyed seeing the people, activities, and histories in this short book of images but would have welcomed a more unifying thread to the account.
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The Dooky Chase Cookbook
9781455627660
Regular price $27.95 Sale price $20.96 Save 25%Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, a New Orleans landmark and celebrated bastion of fine Creole food, has welcomed notable individuals as well as thousands of locals through its doors since opening in 1941. The unquestionable authority in the restaurant’s kitchen for many of those years, Leah Chase offers here a collection of recipes from the menu and her personal files that have delighted patrons for decades.
Spiced with exquisite works from the African American art collection that hangs in the restaurant’s dining room, this cookbook pairs the flavors of Leah Chase’s dishes with anecdotes recounting the restaurant’s traditions, origins of the recipes, and memories. This revised and expanded edition presents even more of the restaurant’s favorite offerings and features a new chapter on drinks. Dooky Chase’s longtime chef and proprietor passed away in 2019, but these pages honor Leah’s legacy through recipes and sentiments that will be forever intertwined with the history of New Orleans.
Great Lakes in 50 Maps
9781540270009
Regular price $30.00 Sale price $22.50 Save 25%The largest freshwater system on Earth, like you’ve never seen it before.
The Great Lakes region is home to one-tenth of the United States’ population, and one-quarter of Canada’s. Even if we remember the mnemonic HOMES, we might forget what a natural wonder they are. Cartographer Alex B. Hill, author of Detroit in 50 Maps, shifts our perspectives and offers a fresh look at the five lakes and the vibrant region surrounding them. Split into four categories—history & culture, ecology, infrastructure, and physical—these fifty-plus maps show the lakes’ influence and confluences, from the Underground Railroad to monarch butterfly migration. See how many NFL teams play on a Great Lake, where mysterious shipwrecks and Bigfoot sightings cluster, the lakes' effect on snowfall, and even how “not so Great” lakes have vied for (and in one case, temporarily won) a coveted Great designation. Shrinking wetlands, oil spills, and rising temperatures due to climate change reflect both the fragility of the lakes and the vital role they play.
Great Lakes in 50 Maps is perfect for anyone who appreciates the history, nature, and future of the world’s greatest group of lakes.
Stephen King's Maine
9781467157148
Regular price $24.99 Sale price $18.74 Save 25%Much of Western Maine reads like a Stephen King novel.
The dense dark woods and backcountry ponds. The century-old houses with gravel driveways and immense flower gardens, acres of farmland miles from a highway. Serpentine country roads dotted with farmstands, and picturesque main streets lined with battered pickups. Places where-especially during the dark and rainy days of October and November—things can get downright spooky.
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Cincinnati in 50 Maps
9781540270016
Regular price $30.00 Sale price $22.50 Save 25%There are as many versions of Greater Cincinnati as there are residents of the region. That’s roughly two million different perceptions of the city.
In Cincinnati in 50 Maps, editor Nick Swartsell and cartographer Andy Woodruff present over fifty ways of looking at the Queen City, from its early roadways and Indigenous earthworks to its shifting neighborhood borders. A visualization of relative population density can tell one story, and one showing where jobs are clustered tells another. New maps with up-to-date data sit beside historical maps that show things like exactly how communities were razed to make room for highways. Broken up into five sections—Mapping the Past, the Shape of Cincinnati, Communities and Culture, Getting Around, and Health and Environment—these visual representations show both the commonalities and the contradictions of an ever-changing American city.
These maps present reported statistics in new ways, and they represent the things that make Cincinnati the unique place that residents know and love: Find every place you can get Cincinnati chili, the location of every public stairway, and where the infamous Cincy traffic is worst.
Anyone who calls or ever called Cincinnati home will find something familiar, something surprising, and something revealing in this glossy, full-color volume.
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Pittsburgh in 50 Maps
9781953368850
Regular price $30.00 Sale price $22.50 Save 25%Pittsburgh in 50 Maps offers unique new views of a city at a crossroads—culturally, economically, and demographically.
There are countless ways to map a city. Roads, bridges, and waterways help you navigate the twists and turns; topography gives you the lay of the land; population trends show you a region’s changing fortunes. But the best maps let you feel what a city’s really like. Whether you call it the Steel City, the City of Bridges, City of Champions, Hell with the Lid Off, or even the Paris of Appalachia, Pittsburgh’s distinctive character is undeniable. Pittsburgh in 50 Maps considers the boundaries of the city’s 90 distinct neighborhoods (plus Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood), the legacy of the steel industry, and how immigration continues to shape the city. You’ll also find the areas with the highest concentrations of bike lanes, supermarkets, tree cover, and fiberglass dinosaurs. Each colorful map offers a new perspective on one of America’s most consistently surprising cities and the people who live here.
Sure to be a conversation starter for Pittsburgh locals, transplants, and expats, Pittsburgh in 50 Maps is for anyone keen to understand the city in new and unexpected ways.