One year after Santa's Village was dismantled, the man who reigned there as Santa Claus for two decades has traded in his red stocking cap for two new hats: published author and would-be developer.

The story of Ahwatukee Foothills’ favorite 16,283-acre playground is an interesting one – and one you can enjoy, thanks to the efforts of a Valley husband-and-wife team.

Going out on a limb here, but most mail is plain junk.

I am a sucker for old photos that provide a window to the past. And over the years, I've read and recommended several local history photo books in the Arcadia Publishing Images of America series.

I 'm enjoying the brand-new book, "The Norconian Resort," by Norco authors Kevin Bash and Brigitte Jouxtel.

As H. Christine Reed tells it, whenever patrons of the Pinal County Historical Society Museum looked to purchase a book about the history of Florence, they had a limited selection from which to choose.

Sandra Alcott Erickson has found during her 13 years of working at Camp Ripley that people are interested in its history.

Arcadia Publishing's "Image of America" local history series continues with three more regional books.

Beginning in 1912, the year Arizona became a state, families settled on homesteads around the San Tan Mountains, with about 30 miles of desert between them and Phoenix. "The hardships of the early settlers are almost unimaginable," said David Salge, president of the San Tan Historical Society.

When Milwaukee's grandest parks were first imagined more than a century ago, they were considered refuges from the hustle and bustle of the city; rural-style retreats for the common person.

For local author Carol Jensen, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Her recently released pictorial account of East County offers a sentimental look back at the area’s rich and diverse history through photographic postcards.

The chapters in a new book take readers through Cameos of the Past; A Stroll Downtown; Pills, Portions and Blood (Brothers); War; and Stormy Weather.

Rev. Daniel Joseph Jenkins’ ghost may be hovering over Daniel Island this weekend, smiling and tapping his feet, as the Second Annual Charleston Chazz Fest gets under way at Family Circle Tennis Center. The event taps into a deeply rooted Charleston musical tradition that started with the Jenkins Orphanage Band[s] and the Avery Normal Institute. Aficionados can now read about it in a book recently released by Arcadia Publishing, Charleston Jazz, by Jack McCray.

SINCE SAN JOSE has always been a city of neighborhoods, and since Arcadia Publishing continues to jam out exquisite photo books on different local zones of this place, now is a perfect time to celebrate yet two more books in their Images of America series. You may have come across these books--they're small, 6-by-9-inch black-and-white photo gigs, usually $19.99 and about 130 pages or so. Display sections in bookstores and car-wash gift shops have fully showcased 'em.

Freelance writer Craig Jolly knows lots of stories about old Birmingham, including one of his favorites about singing legend Paul McCartney's kids dousing well-heeled passersby.

In 2007 it's Theriot to DeRosa to Lee. In 1908 it was Tinker to Evers to Chance.

By juxtaposing vintage and modern images, author and photographer Dennis Garrels sheds light on Route 66’s evolution in Macoupin County.

It's like a family album, a trip through the history of generations and their imprint that's now in the fabric of a community.

The history of Mountain Home Air Force Base comes to life though hundreds of photos in this new addition to Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America Series," which offers a visual history of towns and cities across the country.

MOKELUMNE HILL - Folks around here are going on a history binge, thumbing through a new local history book filled with images of stern-faced miners from a century or more ago and a few shaggy-haired men from not so long ago, including California's current lieutenant governor.

WAUKESHA – There was a time in Waukesha’s history when celebrating Mexican Independence Day – Sept. 16 – was almost as popular as the Fourth of July.

NORCO - At one time, it was the most elegant establishment in the Inland Valley. Today it stands mostly empty or surrounded by barbed wire, a classic example of bad timing.

The Green Mansion - the stately granite building that stands at the corners of Academy and Main streets in Newark - graces the front cover of a new book about the city.

TAZEWELL - A pair of local authors have again collaborated on a book highlighting part of the history of the county.

In November 2006, South Carolinabased Arcadia Publishing, the leading publisher of books on local history in the United States, released Whitestone, part of its "Images of America" series, by Jason D. Antos.

What drove Warner Blake to spend all day every day for months combing through last century's newspapers and photos of people long dead?

Prolific author and Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph senior writer William R. “Bill” Archer uses historic photographs and pithy captions to tell the story of a remarkable engineering achievement in “The Virginian Railway” (Arcadia Publishing, 128 pages, $19.99).

Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford said the Shoals is so rich in history that many residents often take it for granted.

JOHNSON CITY -- The first official book signing since release of a new book on East Tennessee State football was supposed to be inside Sunday at Barnes & Noble's Booksellers in Johnson City.

It was a place where every day was Christmas and Santa Claus was there to hear the wishes of good boys and girls.

Susan Collins of Marshall, Michigan and her co-author, Jane Ammeson, will be signing their new book Saturday, September 8th from noon to 5:30, in conjunction with the 44th annual Marshall Historic Home Tour. They will be in front of Green Street Arts at 115 East Green Street.

YREKA – Local writers Bernita L. Tickner and Gail Fiorini-Jenner are celebrating the release of their second book about the State of Jefferson. The book, “The State of Jefferson: Then & Now,” was released Aug. 13. Tickner and Fiorini-Jenner appeared at The Book Store for book-signing yesterday.

Lillian Gong-Guy calls the story of the Chinese pioneers in Santa Clara Valley "very important and very forgotten."

In its heyday from 1910 to the Depression, "There were some good-sized resorts here." Sister Lakes "was a happening place," the author of a new postcard book said at Southwestern Michigan College Wednesday night, leading off the museum's fall lecture series.

Yancy D. Mailes, the historian at Mountain Home AFB, has published a book from the Arcadia Press Images of America series on Mountain Home AFB.

Over the years, I’ve had the thrill of accompanying now-retired Artondale Elementary School teacher Mike Stork and groups of his kids on tours of the U.S. Coast Guard’s huge icebreaker Healy when it was in Seattle, the Port of Tacoma, control cabins at the tops of enormous cranes, lifting containers onto railroad cars, humongous container and cargo ships in the Alaska trade and other adventures – all maritime in nature.

Lillian Gong-Guy and Gerrye Wong, founders of the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, have delivered a fascinating look into local history with their book, "Chinese in San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley."

On the morning of Oct. 28, 1915, 21 young girls lost their lives in a tragic fire at the St. John’s School in Peabody. The blaze, which began in the basement during morning prayers, plowed through the Catholic school’s three stories in less than five minutes, enveloping the main exit.

In 1999, Wilmington entrepreneur Andrew Koeppel published Wilmington Then and Now, a coffee table book comparing contemporary.

The Oregon State Fair is 142 years old, and it's ready for its closeup.

In his new book, Racine historian and author Gerald Karwowski said he tried to cover things people could relate to. Karwowski achieved his goal with the photographic history he compiled in "Racine," one of the newest additions to Arcadia Publishing’s Postcard History Series. The book is full of postcards that document Racine’s history.

FAIRMONT — Have you ever thought you would like to take an afternoon sometime and go visit one or more of Fairmont’s cemeteries and learn about some of the interesting people buried there?