Though early settlement in Iowa followed the rivers, it was the advent of the railroads, starting in the late 1850s, which opened up the remainder of the state for development -- bringing goods to residents and sending their crops and products out to the world. Railroads formed the backbone of middle America, with dozens of trains -- freight and passenger -- reaching out to nearly every small town in the region. This collection of photographs from the 1800s to the present day celebrates the railroads and railroaders of southeast Iowa.

When residents of Wapello County, Iowa, mention Chief Wapello, sometimes they mean the Native American who is the county's namesake - chief of the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes and the successor of Chief Black Hawk of Black Hawk War fame. And sometimes they mean the sheet-copper statue of a Native American which stands atop the roof of the Wapello County Courthouse. Though he's affectionately called Chief Wapello, the statue wears a war bonnet of a sort that the peace-loving chief of the Sac and Fox would never have donned. Chief Wapello: The Man, The Leader, The Statue looks at the real chief's life and his leadership at the time when the land which became Iowa was transferred out of Native American hands. And it surveys the history of the statue which has become his namesake, standing atop the courthouse for 120 years before a windstorm knocked him from his pedestal, through the major restoration needed before he once again took his place overlooking the Des Moines River Valley. Includes many COLOR illustrations of the chief, the statue, and the memorial park. Illustrations courtesy of The Lemberger Collection. For more information about the collection, which has been called the largest and best-documented privately-owned photography collection in the world, visit www.mlemberger.com.

Businesses pay for advertisements to inform consumers and persuade them to buy products - but years later, those same advertisements are like a time capsule of a community. Ads show how a business develops, how commerce changes, and how the economy waxes and wanes as years go by. The ads reproduced in this book were originally published in city directories listing residents and businesses in Ottumwa, Iowa, and show the development of a community through 90 years of advertising.

Ottumwa, Iowa has been a river town from the moment settlers chose the spot along the banks of the Des Moines River in 1844. Islands come and go; water levels rise and fall; floods sweep through; bridges are built, taken down, and rebuilt. The river changes and even moves, but it continues to provide water, food, and fun, supporting industry and transportation - and remaining the heart of the community. Illustrations courtesy of The Lemberger Collection. For more information about the collection, which has been called the largest and best-documented privately-owned photography collection in the world, visit www.mlemberger.com.

A sandstone church built by Irish immigrants who quarried the stone by hand and hauled it with teams of oxen, St. Patrick's Georgetown has anchored the faith and memories of its people for 150 years. The history of the church is etched not only in the carved sandstone of the building but in the granite and marble in the nearby cemetery. Published here for the first time is the most complete and up-to-date list available of burials in St. Patrick's Cemetery since it was established in 1860.

1890 - Ottumwa, Iowa: The nation's only Coal Palace has just finished its first season, with another exhibition scheduled for 1891. Finishing touches are being put on the Opera House at the corner of Main and Jefferson. The new post office has just gone into service. Churches, schools, businesses and hotels are busy; houses from simple to grand march up the hills on the north side of the Des Moines River and spread across the plain on the south bank. Originally published in 1890, Illustrated Ottumwa is a time capsule of the city's progress and history just decades after its founding. More than 100 years later, few copies of the book exist to show the high hopes, big dreams, and excitement to be found in Ottumwa, Iowa. This edition contains all the text and photographs to be found in the original, along with added illustrations from the 1890s. Text has all been reset for added clarity, and photographs are reproduced in a larger size than in the original.

Built in 1857, Mars Hill is the oldest log cabin church still in use in the nation. It is also one of the largest log buildings to have been constructed in Iowa. Though it is now an interdenominational chapel, it has been called the mother church of all Baptist faiths west of the Mississippi River. Severely damaged by an arson fire in 2006, Mars Hill has been rebuilt with original and period materials.