Frederick
Local and National Crossroads
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Frederick has stood as the gateway to western Maryland since the 1740s, when German and English settlers moved into the area seeking fertile farmland. Site of the first official rebellious act of the American colonies, early Frederick Town shared the fortunes of the growing nation as proximity to the new capital in Washington and the port of Baltimore fed industry and culture here along the Monocacy River.
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
The citizens of Auburn, Indiana ensure that their city is truly special among the 22 Auburns in the United States. From the time of foraging hogs and cows roaming its streets to nude swimming at the YMCA pool, the landscape of this small town is ever changing and often surprising. Auburn's past is full of many exceptional instances of residents fighting against injustice, including hosting stops along the Underground Railroad and raising Company K of the 44th Indiana Volunteer Infantry to serve the Union during the Civil War. Even before Auburn became a city in 1900, her devoted people displayed how difficulties can be turned into opportunities, and they have always risen to the challenge. Auburn: The Classic City reveals these stories and much more about this big-impact city with the small-town feel. Once called "Little Detroit," Auburn featured prominently in the automobile era, producing 24 different makes of cars before 1937, a heritage now preserved in its world-class museums. This lush transportation history also earned the town the name "Home of the Classics." Featured here are highlights from this time as well as such tales as the raid on the police department by John Dillinger's gang. Readers journey alongside the persistent people who transformed this community into the DeKalb County seat where the tree-lined streets, historic residences, and beautiful city parks belie the city's illustrious tradition of industry and innovation. In Auburn: The Classic City, more than 100 never-before-published photographs accompany the artful narrative.
Northeast Georgia
A History
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
In the late eighteenth century, waves of intrepid settlers made their way down the Great Wagon Road into the virgin wilderness of Northeast Georgia to find new homes and opportunity for land and wealth. Against a dramatic mountainous backdrop, these pioneers carved out farms and small communities in perilous isolation and created an American experience vastly different from that of the plantation-style society established along Georgia's coast. Battling Creek and Cherokee warriors, government intervention, natural disasters, and a landscape not easily tamed, year after year, these men and women of Northeast Georgia stamped their self-reliance, their perseverance, and their industriousness upon generations to follow and upon the very geography they called home.In Northeast Georgia: A History, readers travel across several centuries of change, from the early American Indian tribes that once made this territory their hunting grounds to the present day, a time of unprecedented growth and expansion in both industry and population. Truly a world unto itself, Northeast Georgia has served as a haven and destination for all classes over the past two centuries: the bold gold miners of 1829, the stalwart sustenance farmers, the social elite enjoying fresh mountain air at the many summer resorts, a multitude of businessmen seeking opportunity in railroading, cotton, lumber, and poultry farming, and bootleggers finding the landscape convenient for clandestine whiskey-making and distribution. These stories and more provide insight into understanding a people and place unique in Georgia.
Detroit
A Motor City History
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
On July 24, 1701, Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac stood in the heart of the wilderness on a bluff overlooking the Detroit River and claimed this frontier in the name of Louis XIV; thus began the story of Detroit, a city marked by pioneering spirits, industrial acumen, and uncommon durability. Over the course of its 300-year history, Detroit has been sculpted into a city unique in the American experience by its extraordinary mixture of diverse cultures: American Indian, French, British, American colonial, and a variety of immigrant newcomers. Detroit: A Motor City History documents the major events that shaped this once-small French fur-trading outpost across three centuries of conflict and prosperity. Through informative text and a variety of imagery, readers experience firsthand the struggles of the nascent village against raiding Indian tribes and the incessant political and military tug of war between the colonial French and English, and then American interests. Like many other major cities across the United States, Detroit played a pivotal role in establishing the country's economic and industrial power in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, serving as a center for its well-known civilian and military mass-production resources. This visual history provides insight into Detroit's rapid evolution from a hamlet into a metropolis against a backdrop of important community and national affairs: the decimating fire of 1805, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and both world wars.
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Before Norwood, Massachusetts became a town in 1872, hardy settlers from Dedham left security and comfort behind and began building homes along the Neponset River and Hawes Brook. Living in an area still known as the South Parish, these hard-working citizens fought for their values in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The town encouraged industry and diversity, expanding its primarily agricultural base until the community could boast a stable, if ever changing, economy. Wealthy industrialists and working-class immigrants united to build this New England town and to foster its growth into the Norwood of today: a vital community that residents are proud to call home.Norwood: A History recounts stories of the visionaries produced here, such as Captain Aaron Guild, who "left plough in furrow and oxen standing" to join the April 19, 1775, battle at Lexington. The formation and success of the Civic Association and the hospital were due to the perseverance of the public-spirited population, guided by the charismatic and driven George Willett. Readers will discover how athletics helped put Norwood on the map, from the polo fields of W. Cameron Forbes to the reign of Roll-Land as one of the country's premiere roller-skating arenas. As tales of years gone by give way to progress, Norwood: A History also looks ahead to new enterprises, which have followed in the footsteps of companies such as Winslow Brothers and Smith and the Norwood Press.
Edgecombe County
Along the Tar River
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Edgecombe County, in the coastal plains of North Carolina along the Tar River, was once home to the Tuscarora tribes and was founded by English immigrants from Virginia. The county swelled as an agricultural center in the cotton and textile industries, bolstered by a wealth of lumber and sustained by a thriving inland river port and railroad. Though the residents struggled through natural, industrial, and economic upheaval, their courage and fortitude endured these hardships and unified their community.
Lake Winnipesaukee
by Dr. Bruce D. Heald, Ph. D.
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
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, resolute frontier men and women worked tirelessly to fashion homes and towns along the bays, tributaries, islands, and shoreline of the lake. Lake Winnipesaukee documents the history of the region from its early Native American heritage to the lasting legacy of the first American settlers. 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.
Sierra Vista
Young City with a Past
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
The story of Sierra Vista, Arizona begins with Coronado's explorations of the southwestern desert in the sixteenth century, long before the 1877 establishment of Camp Huachuca, home of the famed 24th Infantry "Buffalo Soldiers." Sierra Vista grew up in the fury of the silver and copper mining days surrounded by three stunning mountains and the San Perdro River. Once known as Fry, this frontier town bloomed from a virtually unpopulated settlement into the Hummingbird Capital of the World.
Bristol
Montaup to Poppasquash
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
The picturesque images and steadfast spirit of small-town America thrive within Bristol. One need only to look along its tree-lined streets and centuries-old waterfront and into its historic homes and buildings to see the romance of Rhode Island's past mingling with its present. Heritage and tradition, especially its long-running celebrations of the Fourth of July, are essential in understanding the character and identity of this little town on the bay. Bristol: Montaup to Poppasquash takes readers on a unique journey through the community's past, beginning with the voyages of early Norse explorers and detailing major events that shaped the town's history, including the King Philip's War, the Revolutionary War, and a variety of other military conflicts that took local men and women away from their homes. Not only evoking memories of yesteryear, this compelling illustrated history explores the evolving personality of Bristol over the passing decades, from its days as a small fishing village and a haven for privateers to its present status as a premier boat-building center.
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Surrounded completely by the city of Detroit, Hamtramck is today home to 24,000 residents, but its small size-just 2.1 square miles-belies its expansive history and the influence this remarkable community has had far beyond its borders. Founded as a township in 1798, Hamtramck remained primarily a rural area until the early twentieth century, when auto pioneers John and Horace Dodge opened a factory on the south end of town. In just 20 years, the city's population increased by a staggering 1,600 percent. The majority of these newest residents were Polish immigrants, who brought with them a strong work ethic, a rich culture, a genuine joy for living, and an intense appreciation for democracy. Legendary to this day for its fiery politics, the solidly Democratic Hamtramck openly flaunted Prohibition, received a visit from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, strongly supported the early labor unions, and even served as a key headquarters for the Communist Party in North America. In Hamtramck: The Driven City, an engaging narrative combined with more than 100 black-and-white images will take readers on a fascinating journey into the past and breathe new life into the memorable characters and events, the conflicts and scandals that formed the city's distinctive identity.
Fort Lauderdale
The Venice of America
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Like many Sun Belt cities, Fort Lauderdale has experienced phenomenal growth over the past several decades. Once a wilderness home for the Seminole Indians and a few hardy pioneers, the small community grew up around Frank Stranahan's successful trading post, a convenient stop for hunters, fishermen, and sightseers preparing to head into the Everglades. But much more was in store for this rugged outback camp. Surveying Fort Lauderdale's fascinating history chronologically, this pictorial retrospective begins with the 1890s, a time when this part of the country was still part of America's frontier, isolated and wild. With the coming of the railroad and the twentieth century, an agricultural economy developed, and, soon, the Florida land boom would bring thousands of new settlers to the area. Fort Lauderdale's glistening beaches and comfortable climate earned the city an early reputation as a tourist town and, eventually, as a Spring Break mecca.
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Located in the southeastern corner of Oregon, Harney County covers approximately 10,600 square miles and supports a population of just over 7,000 residents. The topography of the land has shaped the identity of the county as well as the character of the people who chose to make their livelihood here. Harney's vast and rugged landscape spans from the snow-swept summit of Steens Mountain to the green-forested slopes of the Ochoco and Malheur National Forests; from the lush valleys of the Blitzen, Silvies, and Malheur Rivers to the sagebrush- and juniper-dotted plains of the high desert. The geographic isolation of the county fostered a sense of independence among the early settlers as well as a great sense of community.
Napa: The Transformation of an American Town
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
With roots set deep in California history, Napa's story reaches back to the Bear Flag Rebellion and earlier, to the first contact between Spanish explorers and the Wappo Indians. Through the founding of Spanish missions and the grants of ranchos by the Mexican government, Napa flourished under the various cultures that helped it become one of the west coast's most dynamic cities. As it bloomed into one of the most recognizable names on the American landscape, Napa's residents confronted issues of war and peace, of open space and sprawl.
Chicago's Italians
Immigrants, Ethnics, Americans
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Since 1850, Chicago has felt the benefits of a vital Italian presence. These immigrants formed much of the unskilled workforce employed to build up this and many other major U.S. cities. From often meager and humble beginnings, Italians built and congregated in neighborhoods that came to define the Chicago landscape. Post-World War II development threatened this communal lifestyle, and subsequent generations of Italian Americans have been forced to face new challenges to retain their ethnic heritage and identity in a changing world. With the city's support, they are succeeding.
Florida's Seminole Wars
1817-1858
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Among the most well known of Florida's native peoples, the Seminole Indians frustrated troops of militia and volunteer soldiers for decades during the first half of the nineteenth century in the ongoing struggle to keep hold of their ancestral lands. While careers and reputations of American military and political leaders were made and destroyed in the mosquito-infested swamps of Florida's interior, the Seminoles and their allies, including the Miccosukee tribe and many escaped slaves, managed to wage war on their own terms. The study of guerrilla warfare tactics employed by the Seminoles may have aided modern American forces fighting in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and other regions. Years before the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Florida witnessed a clash of wills and ways that prompted three wars unlike any others in America's history, although many of the same policies and mistakes were made in the Indian wars west of the Mississippi.
Keyport
From Plantation to Center of Commerce and Industry
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
The first kiddie parks in North America were born in the lush forests of the Adirondack Mountains in the 1950s. These parks brought to life the characters of beloved fairytales, legends, and nursery rhymes through live performers, animated figures, and themed mechanical rides. Kiddie Parks of the Adirondacks contains images of some of the Adirondacks' most popular kiddie parks: Storytown U.S.A., Enchanted Forest of the Adirondacks, the Land of Make Believe, Magic Forest, and Santa's Workshop. Each park is home to various fantasy-themed amusements built to accommodate children rather than adults. Four of the five parks are still in operation and continue to entertain new generations of children every year.
Farmington and Farmington Hills
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Farmington, one of Detroit's oldest suburbs, was originally inhabited by the Potawatomi and was ceded to the government for sale to settlers beginning in 1820. Established as Quakertown and incorporated as Farmington, this "Crossroads Community" developed around a literal railroad stop, flourishing from an agricultural center to a thriving business district. A sense of community, family, and home inspired residents to overcome natural and social obstacles to carve a substantial and influential niche in the Michigan landscape.
Kissimmee
Gateway to the Kissimmee River Valley
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Kissimmee, Florida traces its name to the Jororo tribe, among the first to settle along the river valley. Riverboat captains, entrepreneurs, and speculators found Kissimmee and nearby Lake Tohopekaliga irresistible, and soon settlers followed. The 1880s marked this city's first brush with tourism, as the Tropical Hotel became the largest resort hotel south of Jacksonville. As the cattle town struggled to survive floods, the Depression, and downtown neglect in favor of spillover Walt Disney World business, committed citizens fought back and spiritedly rekindled the town into a favored tourist spot.
New Jersey Highlands
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Seated majestically upon a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Highlands, one of New Jersey's most famous and romantic coastal towns, has served, in turns, as sanctuary, battlefield, resort destination, and home to generations of Americans, both immigrant and native. Its history, in many ways, mirrors the epic tale of America's evolution: an untamed wilderness yielding under the determination and sacrifice of a people laboring to create an enduring community--and in Highlands, they succeeded. Highlands, Ney Jersey chronicles this town's remarkable journey across four centuries of adventure, adversity, and prosperity, from the first New World explorers, such as Verrazano and Henry Hudson, to the present-day men and women who work, live, and play along these picturesque shores. This illustrated volume provides a rare glimpse into the Highlands of yesteryear and introduces readers to a cast of unique characters against a backdrop of major local and nation events, such as the Revolutionary War, the luxury era of Highlands in the nineteenth century, its incorporation in 1900, and the gold rush of 1948. Through these stories and their vivid images, the personality and charm of Highlands come to life, reminding today's residents and visitors why this setting has served as a source of inspiration for scores of writers, artists, and businessmen over the years.
Lynchburg
A City Set on Seven Hills
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Once the primary hunting ground of the Monocan Indians and later a harmonious common area shared with the Quakers, Lynchburg was a crossroads for various cultures even before its founding following the French and Indian War. With roots in the prosperous tobacco fields, the City of Seven Hills became one of the nation's wealthiest communities by the Civil War. During the robust and arduous times to come, Lynchburg continued to thrive by developing diverse industries and eventually becoming a respected educational center.
Lockport
Historic Jewel of the Erie Canal
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
From its beginnings in the early 19th century at the site where "art triumphed over nature," when the Erie Canal's Flight of Five locks was one of the wonders of the world, Lockport burst almost overnight into a thriving community that eventually outgrew the canal that gave it life. After many years of challenge and change, the city now looks to its glorious past to ensure its future.
Northville, Michigan
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Located only a short distance from the cacophony and activity of Detroit's metro area, Northville has maintained its unique small-town charm and identity across the passing decades. Even before the town's official incorporation in 1955, Northville's citizens worked tirelessly to preserve their picturesque setting in rural western Wayne County, to maintain the elegant Victorian architecture in their homes and businesses, and to carve out a prosperous community, marked by excellent schools and a high quality of life. Northville, Michigan brings to life, through word and image, the different events and eras that shaped this small town's history and recalls the area's notable personalities and influences, such as auto industry legend Henry Ford, aviation pioneer Eddie Stinson, and Wayne County Road Commissioner Edward Hines, and their impact on the general character of the community. Most importantly, this volume highlights the everyday person's existence in the Northville of yesteryear, providing today's readers a rare opportunity to glimpse into the lives and worlds of their ancestors and to experience firsthand how they worked, how they worshiped, and how they played.
A Short History of Florida Railroads
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Florida's railroad heritage began in the 1830s amidst Native American upheaval and territorial colonization. Surpassing waterways as the primary mode of transport, the "Iron Horse" linked practically every town and city, carried tourists and locals, and ably conveyed the wealth of Florida's mines, factories, forests, groves, and farms. Nearly 175 years later, railroads still remain a dependable source of transport within the Sunshine State.
Greer
From Cotton Town to Industrial Center
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Originating as Greer's Station, a burgeoning settlement on the edge of an antebellum plantation, Greer prospered as a link in the cotton belt of the South. Agricultural hub and industrial powerhouse, the town flourished along the railroad and gained prominence as a bustling trading post. Greer has braved market manipulation, commercial competition, and agricultural decimation, but strives even today to preserve the continuity of its community identity.
Hawaii
A History of the Big Island
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Although its soils are the youngest in the Hawaiian chain, the Big Island's chronicles are at times epic, tragic, and heroic, but always fascinating. Modern Hawai'i is filled with tradition and mythology, accommodating influences as diverse as its inviting landscape. Kamehameha stood tall to mold this nascent region into a unified kingdom and others fought to sustain it, while outside forces molded and shaped this island in astonishing ways.
Cripple Creek District
Last of Colorado's Gold Booms
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
The Cripple Creek District, on the back of Pikes Peak in central Colorado, first found fame through Bob Womack, the cowboy who publicized his knowledge of gold in the high country and drew thousands to the area. Gold fever allowed the region to flourish, while strikes, fires, and economic hardships threatened the district's survival. The dwindling population's fortitude, plus innovative ideas to boost the economy, carried the city from a struggling gold-miners' paradise to a favored tourist spot.
Chesapeake, Virginia
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Although fairly new on the American scene of cities, Chesapeake possesses a long history dating back to the early 1600s, when the first intrepid settlers began establishing farms on the fertile soils of Tidewater Virginia. Over the centuries, the region divided itself into larger cities, such as Norfolk and Portsmouth, a number of small towns, and rural county governments. Combating the expansion of the City of Norfolk, the leaders and citizens of South Norfolk and Norfolk County agreed to merge their governing entities in 1963 to create the new city of Chesapeake. Chesapeake, Virginia chronicles the history of the young city, nestled between the Elizabeth and Indian Rivers, and explores the various towns and villages that provide the area with its unique charm and character. From Berkley and South Norfolk to Deep Creek and Great Bridge, readers will journey into the past and hunt with the early American Indians that inhabited this lush landscape, toil with the colonial fathers as they began taming the land for future settlement, battle with the Continental troops as they defeated the British at Great Bridge, strain with the workers as they dig the historic Dismal Swamp Canal, and so on across four centuries of struggle and prosperity into the twenty-first century.
Ocean City
America's Greatest Family Resort
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
Nestled along the New Jersey coastline and built to be one of the original seaside tourist destinations, Ocean City still sets the standard for resort living along the mid-Atlantic. What was once a whale-processing center in the 1700s emerged as a destination for sun and fun by drawing the biggest names and the classic American families of the early twentieth century. As our country's search for the ideal vacation grew, this 7-mile stretch of beach cultivated a rich history and a reputation as one of the most alluring communities on the East Coast.
Lexington
From Liberty's Birthplace to Progressive Suburb
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
From towns like Liberal and Beer City to Kismet and Arkalon, Seward County has been the home of a tough, yet imaginative, people. Seymour Rogers, who homesteaded in the southern portion of the county, hand-dug a well and provided travelers with free water. Before long, the "liberal well" became the town of Liberal. The late 1880s saw settlers making their way to southwest Kansas to claim their 160 acres and hopefully fulfill their dreams. Farmers, ranchers, newspaper editors, shopkeepers, and a few ne'er-do-wells populated Seward County. Liberal became the county seat after a battle between what are now the ghost towns of Fargo Springs and Springfield. Horrific dust storms, grinding depressions, blizzards, and droughts tested the pioneers. Those that stayed were eventually rewarded by returning rains, the discovery of oil and gas, and the construction of a B-24 Army Air Base. With a spirit borne of those sturdy pioneers, the people of Liberal and Seward County have come a long way.
Part of the Making of America (Arcadia Publishing) series
On July 4, 1845, the piercing sound of a steamboat's whistle along the banks of the Coosa River served as an exotic, technological proclamation for the beginning of a new era in Northeast Alabama. The landing of Captain James Lafferty's steamboat, the Coosa, marked the genesis of a new town and the realization of a shared vision of Gabriel Hughes, Joseph Hughes, and John S. Moragne. From that moment on, hundreds upon hundreds of pioneering men and women immigrated to Gadsden in the latter part of the nineteenth century pursuing the American dream of land and opportunity. Gadsden: City of Champions, with over 100 black-and-white illustrations, presents a comprehensive history of Gadsden's astonishing development and details the various stages of the city's evolution, from a neutral playing field between rival Cherokee and Creek tribes, to a wilderness stagecoach stop, to a humble village, to a major riverboat port, into a modern industrial city. Amid streetcars, opera houses, bustling mills, and unpaved streets, readers meet local figures, such as Colonel R.B. Kyle, Captain James M. Elliott Jr., Judge John H. Disque, Emma Sansom, and John W. Wisdom, and a host of colorful characters-riverboat pilots, theater managers, mill workers, Pulltight saloonkeepers, and bootleggers-against an epic backdrop of war, Reconstruction, depression, fire, and prosperity.