As the local history specialist at Porter Public Library, Deborah Rossman was perhaps the perfect person to author Arcadia Publishing’s photographic history book of Westlake.

HAMMONTON -- Some vintage images of yesteryear Hammonton will be featured in an upcoming book of postcards being prepared by two local residents.

In the newest book by Steven and Ray Hanley, "Images of America: Arkansas County" published by Arcadia Publishing in 2008, the reader will be captivated by the history of Arkansas County from the French explorer Henri deTonti at Arkansas Post to the rice mill skyline of Stuttgart.

Letchworth State Park today is 17 miles of natural beauty and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state.

Meet some of the Proctor people whose historic homes or places of business are pictured in the book “Tacoma’s Proctor District,” by Caroline Gallacci and Bill Evans. Published by Arcadia Publishing, the book is available in local stores and through the publisher at www.arcadiapublishing.com.

WESTWOOD - The “Images of America: Westwood” has just been reprinted for the Westwood Historical Society. The author, Maureen Taylor, has autographed the books which are now for sale at Decor and More on High Street.

Portland, Maine- When the Portland Sea Dogs opened the 2008 season, it was the start of the 15th season of Sea Dogs baseball in Portland. Now a new book honors the history of the organization.

A sepia-toned photograph of a full horse-drawn carriage predating the city's incorporation graces the cover of a new pictorial history that transports readers back more than a century to Arcadia's beginnings.

HUNTINGTON BEACH Kai Weisser's new book takes a historical look at Huntington Beach lifeguards.

Without the Queensboro Bridge, the borough we know today would not exist. Before the bridge opened in 1909, although Newtown creek was fully industrialized and the Steinway piano factory complex of factories and a largely self-contained village of worker housing, churches and appurtenant facilities occupied 400 Astoria acres, Queens was mostly woods and farmland, with small clusters of villages and small towns scattered about this bucolic landscape.

The “Mosquito Fleet” that swarmed over the waters of Puget Sound for more than 50 years included steam-powered stern-wheelers, side-wheelers and propeller boats, delivering whatever needed to be moved by water.

Perhaps it was riding the rides, seeing Hal Holbrook introduce "Mark Twain Tonight" or dancing the polka to Larry Chesky's band. For almost a century, Mountain Park in Holyoke inspired memories.

Vintage photographs have a timeless allure: We carry them as souvenirs of the past and talismans to hold onto for the future, reminding us of where we came from and what we're going toward.

Viewing stereo cards was a popular pastime in Victorian American parlors. The cards were made of two photos of the same scene, side by side. When viewed through a stereoscope, the image appeared three-dimensional.

Remember the Buffalo Rock sign with the giant soda-pop bottle that poured a steady, glowing stream of ginger ale?

As a three-year-old child, Doug Garner gazed at the roller coaster at Westlake Park. That experience in West County, one of Garner’s earliest recollections, became part of a life-long love of amusement parks. Garner remembers family trips to the area’s amusement parks, including the Forest Park Highlands along Oakland Avenue and Chain of Rocks on the bluffs near Riverview Boulevard.

CANON CITY - Woodpeckers loved the inmates' bug-infested wooden grave markers, so the burial ground was called Woodpecker Hill.

Students looking for a few extra credit points this week received something else along with it - stories about the slavery, lynching and discrimination that occurred in their own backyard.

You might say that Jan Loomis married into Brentwood history. The author of the new book 'Images of America: Brentwood' (Arcadia Publishing) became interested in the subject following her wedding to Robert L. Loomis, the grandson of Arthur L. Loomis, whom she met while both were college students at Claremont.

SUMMIT COUNTY — Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series now has a Summit County edition.

For Mimi Peterson, postcards are more than vacation souvenirs. Over the past several years, the 43-year-old lifelong Evanston resident has amassed a collection of more than 300 vintage postcards of her hometown.

BELMONT, MASS. - Two orthopedic surgeons founded the Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children in 1893, hoping to create a learning environment for disabled children who couldn’t attend Boston schools.

IN THE "MORE things change, the more they stay the same" category, Boeing Field opened for business July 26, 1928. The first noise complaint was lodged two weeks later: A man on Orcas Street claimed that planes had caused his hens to stop laying eggs.

Larry J. Hoefling's "Images of America: Pittsburg County” (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99) is a collection of archival photographs and stories chronicling the development of Pittsburg County and McAlester. Many sources were solicited for information and pictures, including the Pittsburg County Genealogical Society and the Krebs Heritage Museum, with other sources such as articles and books by local historians.

Grover Beach resident Anita Shower, who has lived in the city since 1974, has given it its first history book.

Tailpipe missed those palmy scotch-on-the-rocks days when Fort Lauderdale was a civilized little haven for celebrities like Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason.

PEABODY — Traffic in Peabody Square isn't what it used to be. It's better.

Make no mistake about it: Evanston was in the midst of a building boom.

AUGUSTA — Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth Jr. has compiled a book of photographs by Henry Bailey of Augusta spanning the last third of the 19th century in Maine’s capital city.

If a picture still is worth a thousand words, this book might be invaluable. To local history buffs, it certainly is, regardless of the value of a picture.

LAKE COUNTY -- Local resident K.C. Patrick has produced a pictorial history book that shares photos and stories of Lake County Pomo tribes.

All it took was a box of old Vernors bottles in his parents' garage to focus Keith Wunderlich's interest in Detroit's history strictly on paraphernalia from the city's iconic ginger ale maker.

History books note the role of automobile titans such as Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone in transforming our culture early in the 20th century. Thanks to them, Americans today barely think twice about driving 60 miles for a restaurant dinner or 120 miles for a round of golf.

Photos of show-biz legends — Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Buffalo Bob Smith — line the bookshelves of Jack Drury's Fort Lauderdale office. A Howdy Doody doll rests on a chair outside his door.

Arcadia Publishing will release "Lead Mining Towns of Southwest Wisconsin," a photo history, by Carol March McLernon, on Monday, April 7.

In the 1800s, Richard Henry Dana pegged San Pedro's primitive mudflats and harbor as the "hell" of Southern California.

Recognized as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the state, Brady Street has long been a cornerstone of Milwaukee's East Side. One can spend an entire day traversing the length of this storied neighborhood, visiting the family-owned restaurants and shops, nearly all the way to the shores of Lake Michigan.

http://clients.videonetinc.com/outgoing/videonet/Authors.wmv

Ninety-nine years ago last Sunday, the Queensboro Bridge opened to traffic - and modern Queens was born.

Frederick W. Marazzo’s new photo documentary captures the lives and times of Italians who settled in the “Eden of the World,” a.k.a. the Santa Clara Valley of California.