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Books > Humanities > History > American history
Founded in 1666 by stalwart Puritan settlers along the Passaic
River, Newark has evolved over the centuries from an ecclesiastical
hamlet into a metropolis renowned as a center of industry and
opportunity. The history of Newark is an engaging tale of American
ambition, resolve, innovation, and spirit, propelling the city into
a premier role on the world's economic and cultural stage. From
Newark's initial settlement to the present, this
Located in the southwest corner of New Hampshire, Surry is an unspoiled town that in spite of major change retains the qualities of a nineteenth-century village. Framed by natural beauty, Surry was similar to other quiet New England hill towns until the hundred-year floods of the 1930s necessitated a dam. Bidding farewell to its routine of farm and mill, mine and turnpike, the town accepted the construction of the Surry Mountain Dam in 1938 and evolved swiftly into a desirable recreational and residential community. Surry is a stunning compilation of photographs anchored in two core portfolios. One is the work of James E. Harvey, who captured Surry during the transitional first decade of the twentieth century. The second collection is the archive of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which documents the construction of the dam from its initial survey to completion, 1.2 million cubic yards of stone and concrete later. Here is the inside story of how a force of nature-the Ashuelot River-was dammed.
Located where the Pequonnock River empties into the Long Island Sound, Bridgeport became an important coastal city before land transportation was significant. It developed a thriving sea-based trade and industry, and with its proximity to New York City, invited visitors who were looking for excitement and people who were searching for a place to settle. Bridgeport on the Sound portrays Bridgeport as not only an interesting and beautiful coastal city but also a historically significant one. By showing how the early inhabitants lived, worked, and played, it offers insight into how the past affects those connected with the city today. While coastal trade was booming, Bridgeport played an important role in the manufacture of wartime equipment during World Wars I and II. However, Bridgeport may be best known as the chosen hometown of America's greatest showman, P.T. Barnum, and as the site of a grand oceanfront park designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
On a barrier island near the southern tip of the Jersey shore lies the borough of Stone Harbor. Resting between the shore and the salt marshes, Stone Harbor was recognized in the early 1900s as a natural summer retreat. Stone Harbor presents the development of this popular vacation destination with historical pictures and the previously unpublished photographs of Percy J. Cole. As seen through the lens of this talented photographer, Stone Harbor in the 1930s through the 1970s represents days remembered as those of ideal summers at the shore. Stone Harbor has the distinction of being one of the earliest planned resorts. The Risley brothers were responsible for transforming idyllic dunes into broad avenues for a town that boasted all the modern utilities. Photographs of the construction scenes that brought about this change, architectural overviews of the first "cottages," other scenes from the then sparsely populated town, and wildlife photographs from the only town-supported heronry in the United States are just part of what make up this beautiful collection. Stone Harbor includes a look at the nautical life of this seaside resort, which is home to the Comet class sailboat.
The high-tech paradise just north of San Francisco, known as the Redwood Empire, was once a land of vineyards, chicken ranches, orchards, and dairies. Using their own words and vintage photographs, here are the stories of the area's residents and their 100 years of history, from the lost glitter of the Gold Rush to end of World War II. The stories recalled here come from the reflections of the people who kept their towns and farms running on a daily basis. Among the voices heard in these chapters are Healdsburg's Ferguson family, pioneer survivors of the westward trail, and David Wharff, who brought the first chickens to Sonoma County, helping create the World's Egg Basket. Through the great Santa Rosa earthquake of 1906, to the devastating flu epidemic of World War I, to the Santa Rosa-Petaluma "Big Game" riot of 1943, these diary, interview, and newspaper accounts cover a century of rich history in the Redwood Empire.
Originating almost a quarter of a century prior to the Civil War,
Mercer County, West Virginia was named
A picturesque community in North Central West Virginia, Marion
County is well-known for its winding waterways and rolling hills.
Rapidly becoming a center for technological advancement, the county
once depended on coal mining and oil drilling as its main
industries. The near-depletion of these resources forced residents
to seek new opportunities,
The founder of Sea Isle City, Charles K. Landis, was a man of action. He had a dream of what the ideal seashore resort should be. In the 1870s, his dream began to take shape. It has been said, "Each age is a dream that is dying or a dream that is coming to life." This is the fascinating story of how Sea Isle City, located along the New Jersey coast in Cape May County, evolved. Sea Isle City is a pictorial tour of the founding and early history of this resort by the sea. Almost overnight the island town became accessible by railroad and by turnpike. Hotels and cottages appeared throughout the island. The Braca, Busch, Cronecker, Dever, Kehner, Pfieffer, and Rey families played a vital role in the growth of the town. Another family, the Hafferts, formed the Garden State Publishing Company, which contributed significantly to employment and economic stability. Commercial fishing became an important industry in the development of the town with the coming of the "Hatmen" at the beginning of the twentieth century. The influential people who shaped the community and countless other families, schoolchildren, and local legends are finally brought together in Sea Isle City.
In a gripping, moment-by-moment narrative based on a wealth of
recently declassified documents and in-depth interviews, Bob Drury
and Tom Clavin tell the remarkable drama that unfolded over the
final, heroic hours of the Vietnam War. This closing chapter of the
war would become the largest-scale evacuation ever carried out, as
improvised by a small unit of Marines, a vast fleet of helicopter
pilots flying nonstop missions beyond regulation, and a Marine
general who vowed to arrest any officer who ordered his choppers
grounded while his men were still on the ground.
Winding through the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, the former Native American footpath known as Route 7 has long been an icon of beauty, vitality, entertainment, change, controversy, and even humor. The scenic towns and villages nestled along this historic highway have many common bonds. Stretching north from Canaan, Connecticut, to Williamstown, Massachusetts, Berkshire Route 7 provides a roadside rich in history. Artist Norman Rockwell's studio once stood proudly alongside this road; the first practical electrical transformer for alternating current was developed in a laboratory next to Route 7; legendary civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois was born just a block from the highway; President Theodore Roosevelt was injured in a trolley accident on a busy stretch of the road; humorist Josh Billings's large tombstone overlooks Route 7; the first woman to vote legally in the United States cast her ballot just a stone's throw from the road. As Route 7 redefined itself from dusty footpath to asphalt avenue, postcard makers and photograph takers captured the changes along the way. Old Route 7 contains more than 225 vintage images, many of which date back as far as the 1870s. Open this book and take a stroll along old Route 7. You will see many incredible sights: forgotten quarries, old drive-in movie theaters, trolley-car diners, full-service gas stations, and roadside tourist stops such as Red Bat Cave in New Ashford. Family farms, welcoming woodlands, majestic mountains, beautiful waterways, and even an occasional stately elm remain to remind us of how quickly these treasures could be lost.
In the brief 100 years since its inception, Miami, which began its life on the shores of the Miami River, has been transformed into an international city that continues to blossom under the warm South Florida sun. Home to just 30,000 pioneering souls in 1920, the greater Miami area has grown to be 2.1 million residents strong and boasts a unique heritage made up of grand hotels and skyscrapers, aviation and marine history, as well as famous people and places.
In America "the streets were paved with gold." That was the
mistaken notion of many an immigrant to the United States in the
late 1800s and early 1900s. On Long Island, deluded sojourners from
Italy were to find that in fact there were few streets and that
they themselves were to be the ones to build them.
For motorists traveling in Dutchess County on the Taconic State
Parkway, the dominant impression is the beauty of a seemingly
unchanged natural landscape. Nestled under the shadow of the
Taconic (Berkshire) Mountains to the east with views west to the
Catskills, the parkway follows a ridge halfway between the towns
and cities on the Hudson River and those in the Harlem Valley
bordering New England. The parkway, as envisioned by a commission
appointed in 1925 and initially chaired by Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, was built ato open up a very beautiful section at
present inaccessiblea and ato provide a new through road from New
York City.a Roosevelt later claimed the road as his ainvention.a
Taconic Pathways shows in part what has happened to the parkway and
to five remote towns that it opened to accelerated growth and
considerable change. In the beginning, the parkway was a leisurely
recreational
Tulsa, Oklahoma, "the oil capital of the world," has a long and varied history. Evidence of a possible Norse presence dates to 1000 AD. An ancient people known as the Mound Builders populated the area, then disappeared just prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 1540s. Osage Indians, as well as other members of the Five Tribes, called this part of Oklahoma home. French trappers made a brief appearance. Finally, outlaws like "Pretty Boy" Floyd and "Machine Gun" Kelly cooled their heels in Tulsa while running from the law in the 1930s. What Tulsa is really known for, however, is oil. The discovery of oil fields in Tulsa at the turn of the century caused an economic and social revolution. The formerly small town became a center of power, and fortunes worth millions of dollars were gained and lost. J. Paul Getty got his start in Tulsa along with his father, who was one of the first to ride Tulsa's tsunami-like oil wave. The town boomed through the 20s and 30s, and oil money built the town of Tulsa into the city it is today. Tulsa currently hosts a population of 380,000 people, and, in honor of its oil legacy, is home to one of the most prominent petroleum schools in the world.
For more than 150 years, the White Mountains have attracted untold numbers of visitors from all over the world. The lofty peaks offer unlimited panoramas--the view from the summit of Mount Washington extends for more than 100 miles in all directions and includes 33 other mountaintops, each with an elevation exceeding 4,000 feet. Framing the Presidential Range are Crawford Notch, Franconia Notch, and Pinkham Notch, three of the most impressive wonders in the eastern part the country. The White Mountain region has numerous other points of interest: the Flume, the Pool, the Basin, the Old Man of the Mountain, Glen Ellis Falls, the Lake of the Clouds, Echo Lake, Profile Lake, and the White Horse Ledge, to name a few. The stereo technique dates from the earliest years of photography. Stereo photographs are two images of the same view taken from slightly different points, which when observed through special glasses appear as one with an added dimension of depth. Photographers took these three-dimensional views to exemplify and to preserve in print the beauty, wonders, and wealth of nature. Stereoscopic Views of the White Mountains contains more than 200 reflective stereos of the region's mountains, lakes, rivers, and streams. These breathtaking views of the landscape, the resorts, and the villages were taken during an excursion on the early railroads. They recall the romance and idealism of the rail and stagecoach era.
Avon, located beside the Farmington River in the fertile Connecticut River Valley, was incorporated in 1830. The proud new town had 1,200 residents, two Congregational meetinghouses, the Farmington Canal, taverns, and a hotel. The busy Talcott Mountain Turnpike connected Avon with Hartford and Albany, New York. Avon shows the town's dynamic changes from 1830 to 1950, including dairy and tobacco farming, the town center, the railroad, the fuse factory, immigration, and Avon Old Farms School. The outstanding photographs in Avon, most published here for the first time, are from the collections of the Avon Historical Society, the Avon Free Public Library, the Avon Congregational Church, the West Avon Congregational Church, Avon Old Farms School, Heublein Tower, the Avon Police Department, and individuals. Of note are remarkable glass plate negatives by Clinton and Frank Hadsell. Featured are collections of lifelong residents John Anthony O'Neill and Carl Candels. The meticulously researched text of Avon fully explains each photograph. There are views of families, farms, and fires, Main Street, Secret Lake, St. Ann's Church, and an 1835 Avon map from the Connecticut Historical Society.
In 1903, successful candy maker Milton Hershey began a new enterprise that many people thought was doomed. He planned to build the biggest chocolate factory in the world, and a town to house its employees. The location he chose, near his birthplace in rural Derry Township, Pennsylvania, was most unlike the traditional urban factory settings of the era. Hershey is the pictorial history of what happened next. Through period photographs, many of them in print for the first time, and engaging narrative, Hershey reveals how the place, the people, the industrial age, and Milton Hershey himself contributed to the success of his scheme. Hershey includes an introduction to the history of Derry Township, tracing it from Milton Hershey's birth in 1857 to his return in the early 1900s. The book follows the intertwining stories of Milton Hershey's life, the growth of his chocolate company, the development of the school for needy boys that he endowed with his entire fortune, and the evolution of his model company town. The transformation of Hershey into a tourist destination and its survival after the death of its founder in 1945 conclude this chronicle of an American dream come true.
Seven miles of beautiful waterfront and a colorful legacy of famous residents and venerable industry have made Brewer a treasured and prosperous city for more than two hundred years. Since its founding in 1771 along the lower Penobscot River, Brewer has flourished in business and architecture, and yet has retained its scenic landscape. Brewer is a unique look at the development of this city. A wide range of photographs spanning a century and a half bring to life its vibrant history. Figures such as Gov. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who was also an important Civil War general, and Col. John Brewer, the early settler for whom the city is named, are among the residents highlighted. One image showcases the family home of Deacon John Holyoke, which some believe was a station on the Underground Railroad. Ice harvesting along the Penobscot River, brick making, and ship launchings are pictured, including the tiny 3-cent Bon Ton ferries that linked Brewer to Bangor before a second bridge was built. Fourth of July celebrations, soapbox derby races, and events like the devastating flood of 1902 are all captured in this enviable history.
Hardy Gloucester men and large fishing vessels known as Gloucestermen were ever-present along the busy waterfront of the North Shore city between the mid-19th century and the early years of the 20th century. As part of the giant fishing industry, the vessels, which were owned by Yankee, Portuguese, and Italian fishermen, were a dramatic and colorful accent along the inner harbor. In the 1830s, artists discovered the charms of the fishing port of Gloucester and around forty years later, others were in Rockport. The art colony at Rocky Neck in East Gloucester is the earliest in America and was visited, or lived in, by many prominent painters. Tourists of the past also took delight in the attractive areas of Cape Ann where they could while away a summer vacation in a fancy hotel along the rugged shore, explore the local sites, view the mysterious former settlement of Dogtown, or inspect the many granite quarries that were active from the 1820s to the Great Depression.
Arlington: Twentieth-Century Reflections celebrates the new
millennium with a unique reflection of the last one hundred years
in this dynamic town. As the century opens, the prizes awarded to
local farm products are still making frequent newspaper headlines.
But by 1910, Arlington has already reached major crossroads and
with astonishing speed, starts down the path towards its ultimate
destiny as a residential suburb. Over two hundred evocative images
have been selected to show the evolution of Arlington from 1900
through the late 1990s. Through these photographs we witness boom
times and wartimes,
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