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A collection of images celebrating the extravagant and historic mansions of Pittsburgh, PA.

In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city's East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside. Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area's prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

Located about ninety minutes from three major metro areas - Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia - Gettysburg sits in the "fertile crescent," an area brimming with agricultural possibilities.

Founded in the 1700s by James Gettys, the little town became headline material during the Civil War, although area residents never expected to be at the forefront of that controversy. Fate, however, had its way with the town, and Gettysburg found itself on the map permanently. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower retired here, Gettysburg became the place to visit for international tourists as well as Americans. Today, the National Park Service maintains the Gettysburg National Military Park, and the town caters to its visitors. Still imbued with small-country charm, Gettysburg beckons visitors from far and wide and treats them royally.

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was the largest international exhibition ever built in the United States.

More than one hundred fifty pavilions and exhibits spread over six hundred forty-six acres helped the fair live up to its reputation as "the Billion-Dollar Fair." With the cold war in full swing, the fair offered visitors a refreshingly positive view of the future, mirroring the official theme: Peace through Understanding. Guests could travel back in time through a display of full-sized dinosaurs, or look into a future where underwater hotels and flying cars were commonplace. They could enjoy Walt Disney's popular shows, or study actual spacecraft flown in orbit. More than fifty-one million guests visited the fair before it closed forever in 1965. The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair captures the history of this event through vintage photographs, published here for the first time.

Falling in between the dark days of the Great Depression and World War II, the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair offered a refreshing prediction for "the World of Tomorrow."

There were exciting demonstrations of robot servants, computerized highways, color photography, and a new invention called television. Visitors could tour the latest in model homes, enjoy the marvel of air-conditioning, and watch the newest streamlined steam locomotive in action. America's largest corporations joined forces with nations from around the world to showcase the wonders of a future that was sure to come. There were also displays of past technical marvels, international culture and cuisine, and plenty of the innovative architecture that is a large part of these international expositions. Vintage photographs, most never published before, showcase what has been lauded as the most memorable world's fair of all time.

Oak Hill Cemetery is a unique gem: a premier example of a 19th century garden park cemetery hidden on a hillside in Washington DC’s oldest neighborhood: Georgetown. The hill that Oak Hill now calls home was once called Parrott’s Woods; a tree-covered park popular with Georgetown residents, and a favorite picnic location for the Fourth of July. In 1849, William Wilson Corcoran, a DC banker and philanthropist, purchased the land from a great-nephew of George Washington. Mr. Corcoran’s vision for Oak Hill Cemetery was that it was to be a place for families to bury and commemorate their loved ones while at the same time being in a place of great natural beauty and inspiration for all to enjoy.

Oak Hill was officially established by an act of Congress on March 3, 1849. W.W. Corcoran hired US Navy captain George de la Roche as master engineer to lay out the cemetery and design the Gatehouse. In 1850, Corcoran commissioned James Renwick Jr. to construct a small Gothic Revival Chapel; construction took three years. 

Oak Hill Cemetery is host to many notable historic figures and Washingtonians. Abolitionists, ambassadors, authors, artists, inventors, politicians, scholars, and soldiers rest safely in Oak Hill; and hundreds of stories have yet to be told. Today, Oak Hill is an active cemetery with a mission to serve the community, and preserve our historic grounds, structures, and records. 

The United States is considered the world's foremost refuge for foreigners, and no place in the nation symbolizes this better than Ellis Island.

Through Ellis Island's halls and corridors more than twelve million immigrants-of nearly every nationality and race-entered the country on their way to new experiences in North America. With an astonishing array of nineteenth- and twentieth-century photographs, Ellis Island leads the reader through the fascinating history of this small island in New York harbor from its pre-immigration days as one of the harbor's oyster islands to its spectacular years as the flagship station of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration to its current incarnation as the National Park Service's largest museum.

Throughout the United States, there is no single major metropolitan area more closely connected to organized crime than New York City.

With the federal prohibition on alcohol in 1920, Gotham's shadowy underworld began evolving from strictly regional and often rag-tag street gangs into a sophisticated worldwide syndicate that was--like the chocolate egg crème--incubated within the confines of its five boroughs.New York City Ganglandoffers an unparalleled collection of rarely circulated images, many appearing courtesy of exclusive law enforcement sources, in addition to the private albums of notorious racketeering figures such as Charles "Lucky'? Luciano, Al "Scarface'? Capone, Joe "The Boss'? Masseria, "Crazy'? Joe Gallo, and John Gotti.

Pictorial history of the grand estates, lush landscapes, and lavish lifestyles of wealthy families like the Vanderbilts, Rogerses, Roosevelts, Dinsmores, and Millses, who made Hyde Park famous.

Hyde Park was established in 1821 as a simple and small town on the Hudson River. Its claim to fame, however, and what attracts people still to this day, are the grand estates, lush landscapes, and lavish lifestyles of some of those who lived there. Wealthy families like the Vanderbilts, Rogerses, Roosevelts, Dinsmores, and Millses built homes to match their place in society. Hyde Park was a perfect location because of its easy access to New York City, where culture and society could be found, while providing country living along the Hudson for the many outdoor pleasures the wealthy enjoyed. One part of this collection by former town historian Carney Rhinevault and current historian Shannon Butler shows the wealthy river families, whose houses were built by prominent architects and filled with treasures from abroad while others show the families who worked as coachmen, gardeners, and parlor maids who made the lifestyles of the rich possible.

The Blizzard of 1977 is still remembered in Western New York, especially in Buffalo, which received the brunt of the storm. The blizzard occurred during the most extreme cold the area had ever seen, accompanied by some of the largest winter snowfalls on record. The blizzard struck with little warning on Friday morning, January 28, 1977, and the blowing snow and extreme cold paralyzed the Buffalo area until the first week of February. The storm made travel impossible and stranded thousands of people across the region, while snowdrifts buried houses up to the second story. This is a story not only of survival, but also of community. Neighbors helped neighbors, radio stations relayed messages and provided crucial information, and countless individuals donated their time and equipment to bring needed medicine or food to shut-ins across the region.

The blizzard occurred during the most extreme cold the area had ever seen, accompanied by some of the largest winter snowfalls on record. The blizzard struck with little warning on Friday morning, January 28, 1977, and the blowing snow and extreme cold paralyzed the Buffalo area until the first week of February. The storm made travel impossible and stranded thousands of people across the region, while snowdrifts buried houses up to the second story. This is a story not only of survival, but also of community. Neighbors helped neighbors, radio stations relayed messages and provided crucial information, and countless individuals donated their time and equipment to bring needed medicine or food to shut-ins across the region

Take a journey on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - the "superhighway" that went from one generation's tourist destination to the ridicule of another's.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened to traffic on October 1, 1940. Built using the right-of-way and unfinished tunnels of the never completed South Pennsylvania Railroad, it was a supreme achievement of civil engineering. The new highway immediately captured the public's imagination and proved to be an unqualified success. Motorists flocked from around the country to drive on the new "superhighway," and it became a tourist destination on its lonesome. But along with that success, the seeds were planted for its eventual fall from grace. Under-engineered, poorly maintained, and the victim of premature obsolescence, the highway became the object of public scorn in little more than a generation. Only since the turn of the 21st century were real efforts made to change that perception.

Images of America: Centralia chronicles many of the images and stories from this fascinating and colorful Pennsylvania community.

Centralia is the saga of a Pennsylvania community consumed by an underground mine fire. The town, founded in 1866, has often been embroiled in tragedy and controversy. Beginning with the infamous Molly Maguires, Centralia was confronted with the murder of its founder and an assault upon its Catholic priest, who cursed the town, saying, "One day this town will be erased from the face of the earth." Almost one hundred years later, a vein of coal that ran underneath the town caught fire and has burned since 1962. In the 1990s, the state of Pennsylvania declared eminent domain and forced most of the town's sixteen hundred residents to leave. Ten people remain in Centralia today.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, is a monument to the nation's 16th president, a commemoration of the country's post-Civil War reunification, and a setting for national events and quiet visits.

Demands for a national memorial to Abraham Lincoln began shortly after his 1865 assassination but produced nothing substantial until the early 20th century. Elevation of Lincoln to legendary status and an extended debate over location and design finally led Congress in 1913 to approve a memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Construction took another eight years. Since its dedication in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial has hosted civil rights demonstrations, presidential events, national celebrations, and day and night visits by millions of people who come to reflect upon one of the most consequential leaders in American history.

Kevin S. Schindler is a historian at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and has written six books about science and history. Brian Anderson is a Washington, DC, lawyer and Ford's Theatre Society trustee who previously wrote a book about the history of Ford's Theatre. Drawing upon Washington-area museums and research libraries, Schindler and Anderson have assembled a rich collection of historical images to tell the fascinating story of this American landmark.

A well-known destination for family fun and amusement, Hersheypark has entertained and engaged visitors for more than 100 years.

The park was an important part of Milton S. Hershey's plans for his new model industrial town, built for the workers of the Hershey Chocolate factory. In 1903, even before the factory was completed, he set aside land to be used as a park for picnics and family outings. While originally established as a community park, it soon developed into an amusement park as thousands of people flocked to Hershey each year to visit the chocolate factory and model town. This book portrays the origin of Hershey Park, its development as a trolley park, and its successful transition to Hersheypark, a themed amusement park, at a time when many traditional parks faltered and failed. Through period photographs and engaging narrative, Hersheypark explores the growth and development of the park; the vision of its founder, Milton S. Hershey; its successes and challenges; and how the park endured and transformed itself to become one of the East Coast's leading entertainment destinations.

Kaufmann's Department Store was a force in Pittsburgh retail from its humble beginnings in 1871 until its merger with Federated Department Stores in 2006.

The "Big Store" downtown was a landmark shopping emporium with 12 floors of everything from cosmetics and groceries to wedding gowns and lawn mowers. Under the leadership of Edgar J. Kaufmann and his wife, Liliane, the store became a forum for exhibitions of art, cutting-edge technology, and Parisian haute couture. Generations of Pittsburghers hold fond memories of meeting friends and family under the famous Kaufmann's clock to lunch at the Tic Toc Restaurant, pick up cookies at the Arcade Bakery, or peer into the store's enchanting Christmas window displays each December.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, went from relative unknown to an American dream come true thanks in large part to the risk taken by its founder, Milton Hershey.

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 a vision turned into reality.

Four distinct anthracite coal fields encompass an area of 1,700 square miles in the northeastern portion of Pennsylvania. Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region is a journey into a world that was once very familiar.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, underground coal mining was at its zenith and the work of miners was more grueling and dangerous than it is today. Faces blackened by coal and helmet lamps lit by fire are no longer parts of the everyday lives of miners in the region. These vintage photographs of collieries, breakers, miners, drivers, and breaker boys illuminate the dark of the anthracite mines. The pictures of miners, roof falls, mules, and equipment deep underground tell the story of the hard lives lived around the hard coal. Above ground, breaker boys toiled in unbearable conditions inside the noisy, vibrating, soot-filled monsters known as coal breakers.

It's a conveinent-store giant in the Mid-Atlantic region today, but Wawa's history dates back to its days as an iron manufactuer over 200 years ago.

Founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1865, Wawa has roots in the manufacture of cast-iron water pipes and decorative lampposts. Using the resources and surplus water power from the iron business, the family opened a cotton mill and began producing cotton piece goods, including Red Star diapers. The first Wawa milk plant opened in 1902 and by the late 1950s, the Wawa Dairy had expanded its home delivery business to include over 145 routes. The first Wawa Food Market opened on April 16, 1964. Today, the company is familiar to many as a chain of 545 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia that offers a wide selection of fresh foods, coffee, and gasoline. Wawa contains vintage images documenting the evolution of the company as it adapted to changing economic and social conditions. From the early days of iron manufacture to the opening of the first store in Folsom, Pennsylvania, Wawa brings to life the many facets of one of America's top privately owned companies.

The Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital was more than a building; it embodied an entire era of uniquely American history, from the unparalleled humanitarian efforts of Dorothea Dix to the revolutionary architectural concepts of Thomas Story Kirkbride.

After well over a century of service, Greystone was left abandoned in 2008. From the time it closed until its demolition in 2015, Greystone became the focal point of a passionate preservation effort that drew national attention and served to spark the public's interest in historical asylum preservation. Many of the images contained in this book were rescued from the basement of Greystone in 2002 and have never been seen by the public. They appear courtesy of the Morris Plains Museum and its staff, who spent many hours digitally archiving the photographs so that future generations may better know Greystone's history.

Valley Forge offers a variety of historical views and background into the site that became Pennsylvania's first state park. Highlights include Washington's Headquarters and the patriotic and inspiring Washington Memorial Chapel, as well as Revolutionary War artifacts that have found a home in Valley Forge. Thousands of books exist on the history of the American War for Independence, but few describe the events and people who have struggled to preserve that story of independence for people everywhere, as Valley Forge does.

Once called the home of the Jersey Devil, the Pine Barrens of New Jersey are more than meets the eye.

The Pine Barrens of New Jersey cover 22 percent of the most densely populated state in the country. It is the largest stretch of open space between Boston, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Virginia. It reaches across 56 municipalities and 7 counties. The name came from early settlers who thought the area was a vast wasteland, but it is anything but barren. Underneath this incredible natural resource lies almost 17 trillion gallons of some of the purest water on earth. Stands of pitch pine gave birth to the charcoal industry, and its acidic swamps were used first for bog iron and later for cranberry production. Many firsts came from this area, including cranberry sauce, cultivated blueberries, and grape juice. Numerous industries have risen and fallen over time. Remnants of forgotten ghost towns bear witness to that history, but the real stories come from the people who lived and worked there.

A significant site of United States industrial and economic history, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a birthplace and powerhouse of iron, steel, coal, and transportation.

From its early start as a small community on the fringes of the frontier, the town became an important terminus for the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal and an early site for coal and ore mining. It also grew into a major steel and iron producer renowned around the world for its output, know-how, and quality. At one time, Johnstown's industry helped spur the national drive to become an economic and industrial superpower.

Held in Philadelphia from May 10 through October 10, the 1876 Centennial Exhibition celebrated the 100th anniversary of American independence.

Philadelphia hosted 37 nations in five main buildings and 250 additional structures on 285 acres of land. The celebration looked backward to commemorate the progress made over the 100-year period, and it announced to the world that American invention and innovation was on a par with that of our foreign counterparts. Patriotism abounded, as did messages of industrial and commercial prowess that promised a brighter future for all. Over nine million people attended this awesome consumer spectacle, an event that set the tone for a long series of world's fairs yet to come.

In the spotlight with the publication of The Great Gatsby, the North Shore's Gold Coast boasted perhaps the greatest concentration of wealth in the country during the first half of the 20th century.

In its heyday, over 1,200 grand homes lined the shoreline from Eaton's Neck to Great Neck and as far south as Old Westbury. With inspiration from around the globe, as well as the development of many new American styles, an architectural renaissance occurred, bringing together the greatest artisans, architects, landscape architects, and designers to create an exclusive enclave that flourished until World War II. Captains of industry, founding families, and even royalty called Long Island home. Everyone from Morgan, Woolworth, Vanderbilt, Hearst, Field, and Phipps to the Duke of Windsor resided here. Lavish parties celebrated weddings, Lindbergh's transatlantic flight, and other events. Today, approximately one-third of these houses still survive in various states, providing a glimpse of what was the Gold Coast.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary of incorporation, Jenkintown captures many familiar sites and organizations as well as those that helped define the area but no longer remain. Marion K. Rosenbaum and the Old York Historical Society utilize images from the historical society’s collection to trace the rise of Jenkintown as a stop on the coaching lines to New York City along the Old York Road to a shopping, transportation, and cultural hub.

Originally part of Abington Township, Jenkintown became an independent municipality on December 4, 1874, with its own school district forming shortly thereafter. Jenkintown has also been the center for numerous social, civic, fraternal, patriotic, and religious organizations, commencing with the founding of the Abington Library Society (known today as the Jenkintown Library) in 1803.

Marion K. Rosenbaum, Jenkintown resident, graduated from Jenkintown High School (1964) and Beaver College (1968). She is a retired librarian, archivist, and genealogist with extensive experience researching history in local depositories in the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania areas. She collaborated with the Old York Road Historical Society, which was founded in 1936 to preserve and promote the history of the communities along and adjacent to the Old York Road. The society’s collections contain over 250,000 photographic images, of which a few were selected for this book, supplemented by photographs in private and institutional collections.

New York City, one of the world's premier urban centers, is also home to the world's most famous and storied municipal law enforcement service: the NYPD.

Policing in New York is as old as the city itself, although much has changed since the first Dutch rattle watch patrolled streets in the 1620s. Technological improvements, advancing professional standards, and historical moments like the 1898 consolidation of New York City and the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, have each profoundly changed the way New York City police officers do their jobs. Still, as New York City Police emphasizes, certain elements of ""the job"" remain true through the decades and centuries. Being a police officer in New York City has always involved a certain amount of danger, sacrifice, and public coordination.