Travel

On August 22, 1914, Milford, Connecticut, celebrated its 275th anniversary. An estimated crowd of 20,000 celebrated on the Milford Green alongside open-air horseless buggies.

The celebration started at sunrise with a cannon salute and the sounding of church bells and factory whistles. Milford just recently celebrated its 375th anniversary.

Queens offers a rare look at New York City's largest borough, featuring many never-before-seen images.

The borough of Queens, New York, has seen many historical and geographical changes. Marshlands, woods, and farms gave way to factories, thriving communities, and the nation's premier arterial highway system.

The Spanish landed in Florida in 1513 and established St. Augustine in 1565, over four decades before the Virginia Company settled Jamestown and five decades before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

Henry Flagler transformed the sleepy port into a winter resort for the affluent, and the quaint college town still displays some of the nation's oldest and most beautiful architecture.

It's called ""The Olympic Village,"" but Lake Placid, New York is so much more than that.

It is called ""the Olympic Village,"" and rightly so. In 1932, Lake Placid hosted the third Winter Olympics and hosted 13th edition of the famed event of 1980 when arguably the biggest upset in sports history, ""The Miracle On Ice,"" occured. Lake Placid has placed an athlete on all but one winter Olympic roster since 1924. This small community continually works to keep international winter sports on the calendar.

First settled as a farming community in 1800, it was home to the famous Lake Placid Club from 1895 to 1980. Today it is known for its beautiful setting amid the Adirondack peaks of New York and for its diverse summer activities making it a year-round international resort.

St. Petersburg Then & Now retells the history of the area in images comparing its beginnings to present day.

As the ""Sunshine City"" of St. Petersburg forges onward with new and exciting developments, a legacy of landmarks still remains. The founding fathers envisioned St. Petersburg as a city with great potential for progress and growth. Over the past century, St. Petersburg has far exceeded these vast expectations.

What began as a humble milling town became Ellicott City, part of the Baltimore metropolitan area and an important piece of Maryland history.

In 1772, the Ellicott brothers purchased land and water rights in the valley along the banks of the Patapsco River for $3 an acre. They constructed mills, started the National Road, and brought the railroad to what was then called Ellicott's Mills. The newly constructed railroad in the 1830s put Ellicott City on the map, and even today, the oldest surviving train station in the United States is located in Ellicott. Enduring highs and lows as a center of industry, the 20th century saw Ellicott City transform once again into a suburban haven, consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in the US.

Kokomo, Indiana: Then and Now takes the reader back to a simpler time in Kokomo history. Using historic images paired with contemporary photos, authors Thomas D. and Barbara Hamilton have created a charming view of the area's history and evolution.

In 1870, the communities of Astoria, Dutch Kills, Hunters Point, Ravenswood, and others, merged to form a new municipality: Long Island City.

The once independent city continued to exist as an incorporated city until 1898, when all of Queens was annexed to New York City. The factories that supported Long Island City throughout most of the 20th century have been all but abandoned, but since the beginning of the 21st century, large-scale gentrification projects have been undertaken, such as Hunter's Point South. As high-rises replace single-family homes, Long Island City would be unrecognizable to people of the early villages and hamlets that created it. The Greater Astoria Historical Society and photographer Gary Vollo explore the unique places that have shaped Long Island City's development.

After seeing its golden age in the 1800s and early 1900s, Amelia Island slipped into a calm and quiet slumber for most of the 20th century; nevertheless, the local paper mills provided an important economic base that brought people and jobs to the area.

It did not take long for people to discover the majestic beaches of the island, and growth followed. Companies specializing in resort development soon arrived, and the island became a popular vacation destination. Throughout that transformation, local residents worked hard to keep the small-town feel, natural surroundings, and historic relevance intact.

In addition to being the state capital, Richmond, Virginia, was also the capital of the South during the Civil War. Today Richmond is a vibrant city that embraces its historical past while looking toward future developments.

After Reconstruction, businesses developed, and the warehouse district - Shockoe Bottom - was rebuilt, boosting Richmond's economic growth. Then & Now: Richmond uses late-19th-century photographs of Richmond neighborhoods, churches, businesses, and schools, contrasting these historic photographs with contemporary views of the same Richmond sites such as St. John's Church, the Capitol, Broad Street, Main Street, and the Old Stone House. Then & Now: Richmond takes a step back in time and compares the glory of the past with the progress of the future.

New Smyrna Beach is beloved by residents and visitors alike for its small-town charm and fascinating 250-year history.

In the last century, the city has evolved from a sleepy Southern beach town to a vibrant seaside destination.

Four communities along Deal Island Road in Somerset County form the area known as Deal Island.

Legend says the island was originally called Devils Island and was settled by pirates. Deal Island served as a prominent landmark as Capt. John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay. For generations, the area has been mostly a watermen's community, but now it is also home to many retirees.

Time often stands still along the picturesque shores that dot one of North Carolina's favorite barrier islands.

Islanders have always loved Topsail's quiet, small-town charm and seclusion. Local author and photographer BJ Cothran shows how this beloved vacation spot and popular retirement community has survived major storms, growing pains, and modern development.

In Then & Now: Portsmouth, authors William T. and Constance S. Warren share their collection of photographs, postcards, and maps to illustrate Portsmouth scenes of days gone by alongside contemporary photographs. Readers will enjoy the country seaport town that Portsmouth was and look at the urban metropolis that it has become. From Market Square and its earliest merchants to the port that gave the town its name, the authors' extensive research will bring to light fascinating stories for every reader, from the newcomer to the fifth-generation locals.

The year 2002 marks the 388th birthday of the settlement of a Dutch fur-trading fort on the west bank of the Hudson River. The year also marks the 350th anniversary of the founding of Beveryck, the permanent village that became Albany. Then & Now: Albany contains corner-by-corner views from four centuries. It focuses on the history as seen through the architectural transformation of a frontier village to a modern city. It is a pictorial field guide through the city's oldest streets.

Since Myles Standish and the Plymouth Colony pilgrims first set foot on the Hull peninsula in 1621, the town has undergone several significant identity changes.

At first a remote fishing village, Hull later became a military outpost, the first line of defense for the city of Boston during the American Revolution. After the Civil War, the residents of that city flocked to Nantasket Beach by the thousands each summer to partake of its health-giving ocean breezes and rejuvenating waters, helping to turn Hull into one of the most popular seasonal resorts in New England. Today, fishermen and summer thrill seekers alike can connect with the town's past at its many historic sites, where the past is brought up to the present day. Then & Now: Hull and Nantasket Beach carries us through nearly four centuries of change in one of America's oldest communities, where smoke-belching cannon once roared atop the empty ramparts that now form Fort Revere Park on Telegraph Hill, and Boss John Smith once ran his Old Ring political machine from the Old Town Hall that now serves as the Hull Historical Society Museum.

The history of Chester County, the fastest developing county in Pennsylvania, is revealed by the uses of the land through the years, from the agriculture and industries of the nineteenth century to the specialty agriculture and service industries of today. Chester County visits the landscape and community that has endeared generations of residents. Rediscover Saturday night movies at the Warner Theatre in West Chester and root-beer floats at the Guernsey Cow in Exton. Visit the industries that built a strong economy in Chester County, such as Lukens Steel and the Sharples Separator Company, and learn about the site of a paper mill that is now a nature preserve for rare Brandywine bluebells.

When John Wood built his first log cabin in 1822 at what is now Front and Delaware Streets, he began a settlement that would become Quincy, Illinois.

To the east was a high bluff, and to the west, the Mississippi River. As the town grew, it moved eastward onto the bluff. In Qunicy's early days, the settlers depended on the Mississippi River for their livelihood. Today's residents still depend upon the Mississippi, but now more for transportation and for pleasure. It is difficult today to imagine what the area looked like in those early years. As with many American towns, Quincy has experienced change through the years, dramatic and subtle, both captured here in the unforgettable images of Then & Now: Quincy, Illinois.

Then & Now: Cherry Hill documents the monumental changes that have occurred in South Jersey's largest suburban municipality over the last 100 years. This book reflects on a time when Chapel Avenue was a dirt lane, when the children of farmers were educated in one-room schoolhouses, when cows grazed on the grounds of the present Cherry Hill Mall, and when stately old houses dominated the rural landscape. Then & Now: Cherry Hill also features long-gone attractions such as the Latin Casino, the Camden County Music Fair, the original Garden State Park, Cinelli's, the Hawaiian Cottage, and the Rustic Inn.

From a booming crossroads to a quiet town, follow author Seán Duffy and photographer Paul Rinkes as they tour Wheeling, WV through the ages.

The convergence of the Ohio River, the National Road, a remarkable bridge, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad transformed Wheeling into a transportation hub. Fed by an influx of immigrant labor, the city prospered, adding industrial muscle. But global economic changes brought the machine to a sudden halt. In Then & Now: Wheeling author Seán Duffy and photographer Paul Rinkes explore a city still recovering from that trauma, a city with a proud past and an uncertain but hopeful future.

Home to Yale University and once inhabited by Native Americans and settlers, New Haven has a long and fascinating history.

Originally inhabited by the native Quinnipiac, the Puritans traded blankets and wares in 1638 to acquire land destined to be a prosperous mercantile port. New Haven became a manufacturing center and was the carriage and corset capital of the world, while also being a leader in clocks, firearms, hardware, and oyster harvesting. Charles Goodyear and George W. Bush once called this city home, and Yale has attracted famous people such as Eli Whitney and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Within New Haven, antique and modern views are juxtaposed and vividly display the effects of mass redevelopment and industrial decline in the Elm City, while showing the development of community and economic prosperity in the 21st century.

Downtown Boston captures many of Boston's intriguing changes with photographs of the past and present. Since the advent of photography one hundred and fifty years ago, Boston has seen many topographical changes, such as the infilling that created new land in the Dock Square and Long Wharf areas and the rebuilding of the Financial District with magnificent structures that have become a representation of Boston's banking and investment endeavors. At the height of commercial success, the Great Boston Fire of 1872 brought mass devastation-forty acres of the business area were destroyed and downtown Boston had to be rebuilt. Downtown Boston magnificently portrays Boston's rebuilding and rise as a historically beautiful city.

Discover Wilmington's enduring spirit in these images of past and present.

Since 1739, Wilmington has seen centuries of change along the banks of the Cape Fear River to the beaches of the Atlantic. Through the years much has been lost to war, neglect, and progress, but in many places the past is well preserved and still visible today.

Authored by the Palatine Historical Society and Alice Rosenberg, Palatine, Illinois: Then and Now illustrates how the area looked when it was first settled, how it developed through the years, and what it has become. From the generations of Palatine residents who lived, worked, and played in the area to the thriving municipality they created, the images contained in this book bring to life a fascinating evolution.

In an alternate universe, Boston's Dorchester neighborhood would be the Big City, as it was founded several months before the more famous Beantown.

Established in 1630, the population grew exponentially with the ease of transportation via the Old Colony Railroad revolutionized Dorchester in the period between 1850 and the Civil War. Primarily still a rural town with a population of about 12,000 by 1870, the town was annexed to the city of Boston, and by the turn of the century, Dorchester was one-fifth of the entire city. This fantastic collection places vintage images alongside contemporary photographs to explore the history of this community's public schools, places of worship, transportation, streetscapes, and historic houses, such as the "three-decker'? apartment building, a trademark of the Dorchester community.

A fascinating visual history Arlington, a streetcar suburb of Boston.

Incorporated in 1807 as West Cambridge, the rural town of Arlington adopted its name in 1867, just prior to emerging as a streetcar suburb of Boston. Then & Now: Arlington commemorates this town's bicentennial by offering a visual journey through the many changes that have dramatically transformed the man-made and natural features of this community over time.

In his third book on South Boston, Anthony Mitchell Sammarco chronicles the changes that have taken place in this fascinating neighborhood.

South Boston, once a part of Dorchester, was annexed to the city of Boston in 1804. Previously known as a tight-knit community of Polish, Lithuanian, and Irish Americans, South Boston has seen tremendous growth and unprecedented change in the last decade.

Then and Now: Scituate connects Scituate's past and present in a way that no book has before. Nineteenth-century photographs lead to historic Front Street in Scituate Harbor, where shipping entrepreneur George F. Welch helped rebuild the town after the once prosperous North River shipbuilding era came to an end. In Then and Now: Scituate, Abigail and Rebecca Bates are commended for saving the town from a ransacking by the British during the War of 1812, and the grounds of Dreamwold are opened for a tour of the country's best-stocked Victorian-era farm.

Over the centuries, Yonkers, New York, has evolved from a small village to a dynamic industrial powerhouse.

The city firmly established itself as one of the largest cities in the state in the post-Civil War era, with downtown Getty Square as its bustling center. Culling images form the collections by Yonkers Historical Society and Blue Door Artist Association, uncover Yonkers throughout history.

An evolving community overlooking the New York Bay, Bay Ridge began to change in the 1900s.

Rapid population growth in the 20th century caused the community to shift from an agrarian society to a prime urban center of stores, houses of worship, homes, and mass transportation.

Many of the older images in Then & Now: Concord have been given to the authors especially for this publication. Many are part of the Concord Free Public Library's Special Collection. Most of the modern photographs have been made by photographers Claiborne Dawes and Alice Moulton. Their images show such compelling comparisons as fathers and sons, old houses renovated or replaced with other structures, and the famous old authors with recent famous new ones. Then & Now: Concord will bring murmurs of reminiscence to residents and expressions of interest and curiosity to visitors seeking depth to their understanding of this important New England town.

Utica fulfilled a vital function in New York State's overall role as the gateway to the American West.

Vintage and contemporary photographs come together in this uniquie volume, portraying Utica's evolution from a wilderness crossroads to eventual stopover and tradelocation on the world-famous Erie Canal.

Eric Ferrara and David Bellel of the Lower East Side History Project explore a century of neighborhood history through rare photographs supplied by local museum archives and private collections.

New York City's legendary Lower East Side is one of the oldest, most historically significant and complex quarters in America. Though recent gentrification has displaced most multigenerational immigrant families and mom-and-pop shops, the district still retains some of the character that made it so unique to the rest of the city.

Springfield chronicles the town's history from 1890 to the present with over two hundred historic photographs collected by author Harry Laybourne over the past 43 years.

Referred to as Champion City, Home City, and City of Roses, Springfield's diversity and pride inspires various nicknames from its residents.First settled in 1799, Springfield quickly grew to become one of Ohio's most important industrial towns, the products of its great factories encirclingthe globe.  Laybourne gives the reader a chance to experience what Springfield was like in the Good Old Days with fascinating scenes of its people and places—the lively downtown area, its beautiful parks, theaters and opera houses, swimming beaches, universities, bustling factories and businesses, as well as views of several buildings that no longer line the streets of downtown Springfield.

This volume reflects on a time when horse-drawn carriages traveled on dirt lanes and when children were educated in one-room schoolhouses. Rutherford today enjoys modern modes of travel and national blue-ribbon schools of excellence. These pages trace the emergence of a diversity of churches and schools, tour significant homes, and explore the transportation system that helped shape the entire region. Most importantly, this history reflects on the people of Rutherford, including the town's connection to poet William Carlos Williams. Then & Now: Rutherford is an enlightening journey back in time to discover the people, places, and events that shaped this Bergen County community.