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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.

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.

Go inside the people, places and events of Jersey City with over 200 fascinating photographs that bring its past to life!

Author Patrick Shalhoub takes us on a journey into Jersey City's past. We see the farming communities which dominated the locality from the 1660s through the middle of the 19th century when the area was part of the larger Bergen Township. We then experience the arrival of the immigrants, the advent of industrialization, and the rapid growth of Jersey City from a cluster of farmsteads and villages into the second largest city in New Jersey. Immigration has been the lifeblood of Jersey City's history and through the images selected, here we witness how Jersey City sprang to life with the influx of immigrants between 1830 and 1920. At first it was Irish, German, and British, and, later, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, including Italians, Poles, Russians, and Slovaks. African-Americans were present in Bergen Township from the early days of the city, but their numbers increased with the migration of laborers from the South in the first half of the 20th century and their important contribution to the city continued. In recent decades, new communities have grown in Jersey City, including Latin American, Asian Indian, Egyptian, Filipino, and Haitian communities. Shalhoub brings to life the people, places, and events which have created the city's vibrant and colorful history over the centuries.

Historical photographs, previously unpublished, portray historical Long Beach Island of New Jersey, from beaches to resorts to fishing.

Long Beach Island stretches for eighteen miles alongside the southern New Jersey mainland. A barrier island, it has a vivid history that includes wild game and bountiful fish, early whalers and tragic shipwrecks, paddle-wheel steamboats and grand hotels. With its rare and previously unpublished images, Long Beach Island portrays the unforgettable place that today is known for its white sandy beaches, fresh seafood, and bright red and white lighthouse. Shown are islanders engaged in pound fishing and salt hay harvesting, and, later, visitors crossing Barnegat Bay to the island resorts called Barnegat City and Beach Haven.

Ocean City, which calls itself ""America's Greatest Family Resort,"" is best known for its clean beaches and yearly bayfront celebration called the ""Night in Venice.""

Founded in 1879 as a Christian seaside resort, the island community still maintains some of its early traditions including prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages--while striving to continue its long-standing reputation as a family-oriented resort. This remarkable new photographic history features such historic sites as the home of the town's firstresident and famous old-time restaurants like Chris', Hogate's, and Watson's. Several rare pictures of the shipwrecked Sindia and its cargo are also included, as well as photographs of Ocean City's most well-known citizens, Princess Grace Kelly and author Gay Talese.

By the 1920s, a change came over the township. Its proximity to New York City made River Vale's land more valuable for recreation than for farming, and the township became known for its summer charms, golf courses, and ice arena. Visitors arriving in bus caravans traveled from urban areas to enjoy the pleasures of Herrmann's Grove, and fishermen flocked on opening day to angle for trout in the clear waters of the Hackensack River and the Pascack Brook. It was this very appeal that led to tremendous change as River Vale became one of North Jersey's attractive bedroom communities.

Discover the history of Barnegat Light and journey through time with Author and Curator for the Barnegat Light Historical Society & Museum, Reilly Platten Sharp.

At the mouth of Barnegat Inlet, Native Americans, whalers, pirates, fishermen, and revolutionaries once lazed, fished, fought, and died on Barnegat Light's sands before modern progress and big-city developers tried to build the next Atlantic City. Treacherous shoals just offshore claimed the lives of thousands of immigrants seeking new starts in America before the current lighthouse was designed in 1856 by the later victorious general of Gettysburg, George Meade. The Ashley House, one of the first shore resort hotels in the country, went up in 1821. In the 1880s, Benjamin Archer and William Bailey of Camden built bigger hotels, cottages, and roads in town, even bringing the railroad. Barnegat Light never became a bustling tourist town like her developers dreamed, but a close-knit community of fishermen, lifesavers and their families have endured for generations to call the still small town of Barnegat Light home.

Hoboken's history as a link to Manhattan and a town rich in Italian-American and immigrant culture, industry, and families is revealed here in pictures and anecdotes.

Incorporated as a city in 1855, Hoboken's history as a ferry terminus dates back to the eighteenth century, with the first horse-powered ferries to lower Manhattan. The city's history is entwined with that of Col. John Stevens and his family. He was the inventor of the t-rail and a pioneer in steam-generated power and navigation. Prior to the city's growth as a transportation hub, it was a scenic locale favored by city dwellers who could arrive by ferry and enjoy a riverside promenade, partake of water drawn from a natural spring, and watch a cricket or baseball game. Hoboken eventually grew to become a bustling city, with an active waterfront as well as a home and place of work for tens of thousands of immigrants and families. In Hoboken, the pattern of early development is described, giving the reader a sense of the city in the mid-nineteenth century. Landmarks of the terminal area, downtown (Washington Street), and ferry terminals are highlighted in this photographic tour of the city. Chapters are devoted to the great rail, ferry, and trolley terminal at Hudson Place, the commercial center, the waterfront before and after industrialization (including boat and yacht clubs), and the memory of some of Hoboken's residents.

The twin river hamlets of Lambertville, New Jersey, and New Hope, Pennsylvania, hold a special place in America's history.

The tiny pocket of land on which they sit borders the Delaware River on the east and west, and it is this famous waterway that has fostered life as far back as the days when the Lenni Lenape fished and hunted here. Much has changed since the land was purchased by representatives of King Charles II in the late seventeenth century, but what continues to make Lambertville and New Hope special are their deep and enduring ties to the past. This intriguing visual history documents the proud heritage of these riverfront communities from the dawn of photography to the early 1900s through two hundred carefully selected images accompanied by detailed and informative text. Photography is perhaps the most remarkable of all our historic records because it brings history to life for so many people. The images collected for this book provide a window into the past that is both intimate and learned. One image tells of the human toil and ingenuity that went into the digging of the canal system, while another takes us into the carefree world of two young lovers setting out with parasol and oars to spend some quiet moments together on the Delaware in the Victorian era.

Ocean, emotion, and constant promotion--Take a walk through Atlantic City's history told through hundreds of unique photos.

Few American resort cities rival the romantic splendor of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Since 1854, this island has evoked dreams and memories of days lived amid white sand beaches, a vibrant boardwalk, exciting amusement piers, and grand hotels. For decades, it was a place where teenagers fell in love, returned for honeymoons, and later brought families. Atlantic City is a nostalgic return to the pre-casino days that now seem relatively innocent. The founders believed that the city would become a grand health resort, featuring healthful sea breezes and balmy days. Nearly deserted when the first train loaded with day-trippers arrived on July 1, 1854, Atlantic City, by 1900, was known throughout much of the world as ""The Queen of American Resorts."" With huge hotels lining the Boardwalk and unique amusement piers jutting into the ocean, the city thrived on what one promoter called ""ocean, emotion, and constant promotion."" Those were the days when bathers frolicked on the beach in drab clothing, when the Boardwalk was alive with throngs of happy visitors, and Miss America actually strolled the Boardwalk amid the crowds. Images like those, and of course of the annual Easter Parade, one of the East Coast's premier social events, are among the nearly two hundred photographs carefully selected for this long-awaited book.

Newark is an engaging history of this New Jersey community.

Newark, New Jersey's largest city, was founded in 1666 by a small band of Puritans from Connecticut. It grew to be a major manufacturing center for leather articles, carriages, beer, thread, Celluloid, jewelry, and literally thousands of other items. With the development of the Passaic River region, Newark also became a transportation hub. The Morris Canal, major highways, and train lines cut through the city, and the Newark airport in the meadows became, for a time, the world's busiest. People from every corner of the world came to the town seeking jobs, education, entertainment, and friends. They established ethnic neighborhoods, churches, synagogues, stores, and theaters, where their native languages were spoken.

In rare photographs, the book reveals the history of the people and places in the communities of Franklin, Hamburg, Ogdensburg, and Hardyston.

Franklin, Hamburg, Ogdensburg, and Hardyston chronicles the settlement and life of the Wallkill Valley area of northern New Jersey. Beginning entirely as Hardyston Township, the area developed into four communities, each with distinctive qualities. Franklin is the ""Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World,"" as declared by the U.S. Congress, and with its zinc mines, is known as the ""Model Mining Town of America."" Hamburg from early times was a crossroads and business district. Ogdensburg possessed several mines and Thomas Edison interests. Hardyston, with its lakes for summer visitors and still-thriving farmland, retains the beauty of its natural surroundings.

With the turning of each page, you will journey back into an earlier time.

Have you ever wondered what Verona was like a century ago? Do you enjoy looking through boxes of memorabilia? If you answered yes to these questions, then you will be fascinated with Old Verona. This remarkable new photographic history focuses on the early years of the community and provides vivid images of a time long forgotten. Focusing on the early settlement of Verona and including information on the borough's schools, churches, industry, transportation, and historic homes, the photographs in this book primarily span the period from the 1870s to the 1920s. Old Verona contains little-known information about the borough, including captions relating to Verona Lake's genesis from a mill pond to a recreational hot spot and the railroad tunnel that was abandoned in the 1870s. With the turning of each page, you will journey back into an earlier time.

Poet Walt Whitman proclaimed his adopted home of Camden, in its heyday, "the city invincible," a powerhouse of industrial might destined for greatness.

Camden resurrects that fascinating era of invincibility through powerful images of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge construction; Cooper Hospital's nearly ill-fated founding; and the momentous birth of Campbell Soup Company, Victor Talking Machine Company/RCA, and New York Shipbuilding. Also included are images of Camden's neighborhoods, community life, and bustling downtown district, as well as the newsmakers and lawbreakers who defined the "biggest little city in the world."

Manalapan Township and Englishtown Borough-- originally a part of the township--share a long and rich history dating to the Revolutionary War.

From the late 19th to the mid-20th century, the township was composed of several small villages that sustained themselves through farming. In creating this book, author Richard J. Dalik seeks to preserve the significance of this thriving stage of the communities' heritage. The collection includes fascinating photographs, engravings, and postcards illustrating the early rural way of life in these areas, as well as some early views highlight the Battle of Monmouth--fought mostly on the farmlands of Manalapan Township--and other historical landmarks of that period. Vintage images of farms, mills, houses, schools, churches, streets, and families are presented together with informative captions to transport the reader to an earlier time and another Manalapan.

The seaside resort of Cape May was named for Dutchman Cornelis Mey, who sailed past this part of southeastern New Jersey in 1616.

Originally known as Cape Island, the area was settled by a handful of English-speaking farmers and whalers in the 1690s. By 1776, it was advertised as a popular, healthy place for bathing in the ocean. The first boardinghouses were erected in the early 1800s, and by 1850, the town boasted nearly two dozen. Vacationers came from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and even the Deep South, many building summer cottages along the shore. The establishment of rail service in 1863 brought a new era of growth and even more hotels. Although a devastating fire in 1878 destroyed several of the oldest, they were soon replaced by new hotels and cottages boasting broad porches and eaves lavished with gingerbread trim. Today, most of Cape May City is a National Historic Landmark in recognition of its well-preserved collection of Victorian-era buildings. Cape May showcases the rich architectural and recreational heritage of this coastal New Jersey town.

The years that followed are beautifully detailed in Township of Hamilton. These rare vintage photographs make it possible to visit the township in its early days, to stroll into E.C. Bartha's store, or to get a haircut and even a cigar at Underhill's. The kilns at the brickyards are hot, and production at the many shipyards has picked up again in this exceptional history. The faces of our ancestors and early neighbors appear at places such as Gaskill Park, the Little Red School House, and at many other scenes throughout the Township of Hamilton.