Name: Lost Attractions of the Smoky Mountains
Brand: Tim Hollis
SKU: 9781467144124
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Lost Attractions of the Smoky Mountains

9781467144124

$23.99

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is among the most visited national parks in the country, and countless attractions around its borders have tried for decades to siphon some of those valuable tourist dollars. From ersatz western towns and concrete dinosaurs to misplaced Florida-type attractions and celebrity theaters, you will find them all preserved in this book. Author Tim Hollis showcases those businesses that no longer exist, from Hill-Billy Village in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg's theme parks on the Tennessee side to the motels of Cherokee and Ghost Town in the Sky on the North Carolina side.

Lost Attractions of Florida's Miracle Strip

9781467150330

$23.99

Beginning in the early 1950s, the 130 miles of Florida coastline stretching from Panama City to Pensacola were branded as the Miracle Strip. Between those cities, oddities sprang up: goofy miniature golf courses, neon-bedecked motels, reptile farms and attractions that sought to re-create environments ranging from the South Pacific to the ghost towns of the Old West. In total, it was a marketing effort that worked brilliantly. Tourists flocked to the Strip, and now they can return. Author Tim Hollis presents a colorful array of these now-vanished sights, from the garish Miracle Strip Amusement Park to such oddities as Castle Dracula and the Museum of the Sea and Indian.

Lost Attractions of Florida's Miracle Strip

Lost Myrtle Beach

9781626193925

$19.99

Myrtle Beach has long been a favorite vacation spot for families across America, giving parents and children alike a lifetime of memories. The Myrtle Beach Pavilion, considered by many to be the heart of the city since 1908, was demolished in 2007. The Ocean Forest Hotel was as beautiful as a castle, and resembled one, during its forty-four-year span. Members of World War II's Doolittle Raid trained at the Myrtle Beach General Bombing and Gunnery Range, which eventually became Myrtle Beach Air Force Base until its closure in 1993. Join author Becky Billingsley for a trip back in time as she examines some of the city's most memorable attractions.

Lost Lafayette, Colorado

9781467148238

$21.99

The gold rush of the 1850s turned Colorado's treeless prairie into platted towns with thriving centers of commerce. Lafayette's early "Main Street'? on East Simpson Street was once bustling with blacksmiths, jewelers, retailers and grocers. It included the Lafayette Bank, the Goodhue Building and a movie theater. The epicenter of organized labor's struggle for fair wages and a safe workplace, Lafayette expanded to include Japanese and Latino laborers in the 1920s. For fifteen years, the Ku Klux Klan dominated local politics, spreading fear and hate. From 1888 until 1956, the coal mining industry sustained the town. But dangerous work conditions in the fourteen coal mines took a toll. Flour mills, brick factories and electrical generating stations faded quickly. Author Doug Conarroe recounts inspiring tales of a diverse, austere and doggedly self-sufficient townspeople who challenged the status quo and survived trying and tumultuous times.

Lost Circuses of Ohio

9781467140690

$21.99

The nineteenth century was the golden age of the circus in Ohio. Before the Ringling brothers became synonymous with the American circus, Cincinnati's John Robinson and the Sells brothers of Columbus wowed audiences with stunning equestrian feats and aerial exploits. For good measure, the Sells brothers threw in a sharpshooting show with a young Ohio woman by the name of Annie Oakley. The Walter L. Main Circus of Geneva and a number of smaller shows presented their own unique spectacles with exotic animals and daring acrobats. But for all the fun and games, Ohio's circus industry was serious business. As competition intensified, advertising wars erupted and acquisitions began. Eventually, Ringling Brothers swallowed many of these circuses one by one, and they dropped out of memory. Author Conrade C. Hinds brings this fascinating piece of Ohio show business back into the spotlight.

Lost Hammond, Indiana

9781467142861

$24.99

In the heart of the calumet region, hardworking Hammond helped build America. Originally known as State Line Slaughterhouse, the city began as no more than a meatpacking plant for nearby Chicago. In time, the city grew, and at its industrial height, trains, chains, cigars, shirts, candy, nuts, player pianos, commercial wallpaper, concrete roof slabs, gutters, boilers, potato digging devices, screws and steel products poured from its many factories. Meanwhile, its many racetracks and casinos earned it the title of "Atlantic City on the Lake." The city also nurtured Jean Shepherd of A Christmas Story fame and was even home to an early NFL team. Hammond-born journalist Joseph S. Pete explores bygone landmarks like Phil Smidt's, Madura's Danceland, the State Theatre, the Woodmar Mall and the W.B. Conkey factory, all of which now live only in legend.

Vanished Downtown Hartford

9781609498955

$21.99

Early nineteenth-century illustrations of Hartford, Connecticut, show church steeples towering over the Victorian homes and brownstone facades of businesses around them. The modern skyline of the town has lost many of these elegant steeples and their quaint and smaller neighbors. Banks have yielded to newer banks, and organizations like the YMCA are now parking lots. In the 1960s, Constitution Plaza replaced an entire neighborhood on Hartford's east side. The city has evolved in the name of progress, allowing treasured buildings to pass into history. Those buildings that survive have been repurposed--the Old State House, built in 1796, is one of the oldest and has found new life as a museum. Yet the memory of these bygone landmarks and scenes has not been lost. Historian Daniel Sterner recalls the lost face of downtown and preserves the historic landmarks that still remain with this nostalgic exploration of Hartford's structural evolution.

Lost Cedar Rapids

9781467140652

$21.99

Cedar Rapids is the only city in America to house its government offices on an island. But tons of other iconic structures that defined the city are no longer around. The Little Gallery on First Avenue was created to showcase local artists. Yager's "moved up to bring prices down." The area was home to thirty-nine theaters, including two from 1928 that are still in operation. From the hotels to the factories, the ethnic districts to the depots, the dance halls to the amusement parks, these are the places that made a difference in the City of Five Seasons. Local author Pete Looney traces the history of the structures.

Lost Towns of Mason County, Michigan

9781467142656

$21.99

More than a century ago, Mason County was a much different, harsher place. Arriving by foot and boat to find a dense wilderness, hardy pioneers carved out tiny settlements stretching right to the coast of Lake Michigan. When the lumber industry arrived in Michigan, the settlements grew to boomtowns and new towns formed. To serve the lumber industry, the railroad spread across the county, and immigrants and settlers flooded in to have their chance at the American Dream. But when the lumber ran out, the mills closed down. Jobs disappeared, and so did these towns. Out of the thirty-nine settlements, only two cities and six fading villages remain today. Join local author Sandi Lewis-Malburg as she uncovers the towns that time forgot.

Lost Lake Pontchartrain Resorts & Attractions

9781467141567

$21.99

Pleasure seekers have visited Lake Pontchartrain destinations for more than two centuries. From grand resorts like the Pontchartrain Hotel to simple camps at Little Woods, these shores welcomed visitors by steamboat and train to dance, dine, drink and gamble. Milneburg was home to a noted hotel and bathhouses, while Mandeville was a popular spot to escape the heat. Entertainment included the contortionist "Happy Frog'? Holman, the Great Wallendas and Armand Piron's Jazz Orchestra. Join author Catherine Campanella for a fascinating look back at the camps, restaurants and amusement parks lost to nature, neglect and changing times.

Lost Lake Pontchartrain Resorts & Attractions

Yampa Valley's Lost Egeria Park

9781467143998

$23.99

Called the "Last Frontier," the "Land of the Last Pioneers" and the "Place that Time Forgot," Routt County was among the last places settled in the continental United States. Between 1820 and 1845, notable people such as Kit Carson, Jim Baker and Jim Bridger were all known to visit the Yampa Valley. But it wasn't until the removal of the Utes in 1881 that Egeria Park flourished. Stagecoaches, railroads, cattle, grain and sawmills followed. And despite the remote location, it grew into an agricultural and economic hub, the exact boundaries of which are still contested. Alas, Egeria Park dissolved with time. Author Rita Herold uncovers sketches of lost heroes, scoundrels and everyday characters who made history here.

Lost Restaurants of Napa Valley and Their Recipes

9781467144612

$21.99

Alongside its vineyards, the Napa Valley boasts restaurants celebrated for their pioneering spirit. Stroll through the memories of this region's mouthwatering eateries with tales of the enterprising women and risk takers who helped make Napa a foodie haven. The Empire Saloon made history by being the first business to serve food in the fledgling city of Napa, and a little over a century later, the Magnolia Hotel set the standard for fine dining in Yountville. The A-1 Café made Chinese cuisine a local favorite, and Jonesy's set the aviation community aflutter with its tasty special potatoes. Join author Alexandria Brown as she delves into the history of Napa County's gone-but-not-forgotten restaurants and their classic dishes.

Lost Restaurants of Napa Valley and Their Recipes

Lost Lake County, Ohio

9781467151313

$23.99

The past lies just under the surface in Lake County.

Interurban trains once carried wealthy Clevelanders to idyllic summer homes and resorts along the shoreline and up to Little Mountain. Stories abound of rum-running during Prohibition, enslaved people who were carried to freedom through the Underground Railroad, and stolen gold bars believed to be buried along a riverbank. Lake County was also once the site of a booming ship-building industry and a secret plant that created chemical warfare during World War I. Many residents fondly recall long-gone drive-in theaters and beloved drug store soda fountains and bakeries of the mid to late twentieth century.

Join author Jennifer Boresz Engelking as she reveals the history behind some of the county’s most intriguing people, places, and industries.

Lost River Towns of Boone County

9781596294721

$21.99

When Boone County was officially founded in 1799, a local population was already growing by the day. The Ohio River offered settlers access to this new frontier west of the Alleghenies, and soon many vibrant communities were established along the banks of the Ohio. Today, once thriving towns like North Bend, Belleview and Touseytown, built to last through generations, have all but vanished. The unforgiving current of the Ohio River washed many away, while modern transportation construction dispatched the remaining towns. Fortunately, through the efforts of editor Bridget Striker and a skilled team of local historians and archivists at the Boone County Public Library, these sunken homesteads have been unearthed. Peer into a bygone way of life through this comprehensive collection of vintage photographs and engaging historical accounts.

Lost Restaurants of Santa Cruz County

9781467143851

$21.99

Millions of people come to Santa Cruz every year to enjoy the beach and eat at one of the many popular restaurants. Favorite places have come and gone, but they haven't been forgotten. From the treasured Miramar Fish Grotto, in business for more than seventy years, to Nature's Harvest, local, seasonal food has always been a staple of this little slice of paradise. Food trends were embodied in places like the Wild Thyme Café and the Sāba Club alongside longtime fixtures such as the Tea Cup and Adolph's Italian Family Restaurant, catering to locals and tourists alike. Author Liz Pollock combines wonderful stories and classic cocktail recipes from bygone eras in this trip down memory lane.

Lost Fox Cities

9781467140331

$21.99

The lumber kings and paper barons of the Fox River Valley transformed a wilderness of vast, rich timberlands and raging river waters into empires of pine, paper and power. In Oshkosh, lumber dynasties such as Paine and Morgan helped rebuild a nation ravaged by fire and war. Four young Neenah entrepreneurs with no experience in papermaking formed Kimberly-Clark, one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world. H.J. Rogers of Appleton watched his home light up the night after he wired it with Edison's electric lightbulbs, the first in the world to do so utilizing hydroelectricity. These men ushered in an era of opulence shining with steamboat excursions along the river, palatial mansions in plush neighborhoods and lavish hotels and movie houses. Much of this bygone age now exists only in photographs, written accounts or memories. Local photographer and historian Scott Wittman recovers this vanishing history.

Lost Mill Towns of North Georgia

9781467143516

$24.99

The textile era was born of a perfect storm. When North Georgia's red clay failed farmers and prices fell during Reconstruction, opportunities arose. Beginning in the 1880s, textile industries moved south. Mill owners enticed an entire workforce to leave their farms and move their families into modern mill villages, encased communities with stores, theaters, baseball teams, bands and schools. To some workers, mill village life was idyllic. They had work, recreation, education, shopping and a home with the modern conveniences of running water and electricity. Most importantly, they got a paycheck. But after the New Deal, workers started to see the raw deal they were getting from mill owners and rebelled. Strikes and economic changes began to erode the era of mill villages, and by the 1960s, mill village life was all but gone. Author Lisa Russell brings these once-vibrant communities back to life.

Lost Hancock County, Ohio

9781467141352

$21.99

From a swampy forest, Hancock County grew to a hub of agriculture, industry and culture. The promise of free fuel and land brought numerous factories to Findlay. One, the Dalzell, Gilmore & Leighton Glass Company, left a lasting legacy of collectible glassware. The need to drain fields and presence of a ready supply of clay encouraged the growth of brick and tile factories in Rawson, Arlington, McComb and Findlay. Entertainment and culture arrived in many forms. Sam Reeves Park in Arcadia featured vaudeville shows, baseball games and amusement rides. At Findlay's Riverside Park, the Green Mills Dance Hall hosted everyone from the Glenn Miller and Count Basie bands to Naked Onion and Mixed Emotions. Join Teresa Straley Lambert as she presents the vanished heritage of mills, milking, masks, medicine and more.

Lost Bluegrass:

9781609492717

$21.99

The Bluegrass region has come to define what makes Kentucky a place unlike any other. What began as the homeland of native tribes developed into ideal farmland for early settlers. Development continued as the region evolved into the premier breeding grounds for world-famous thoroughbreds, helping to bring the Bluegrass international recognition as the epicenter of American horseracing and equestrian culture. Yet development of the region has never stopped. The rolling hills, limestone fences and legendary horse farms that once defined the landscape continue to vanish as suburban sprawl stretches into the far reaches of the Bluegrass. Join author Ronnie Dreistadt as he tracks the history of the Bluegrass, what's been lost and the ongoing efforts to save what remains.

North Williston:

9781609491895

$21.99

With the advent of the railroad in 1849, North Williston changed from a small collection of
farms to a thriving economic center in Chittenden County. Transportation access spurred industries such as Smith Wright's cold storage plant, a butter tub factory and a gristmill. The general store, with the telephone switchboard and the post office, served as the community's central gathering place during the village's prosperity. Richard H. Allen has drawn on a wide variety of sources to capture the essence of this era, and perhaps most enchanting are the words of North Williston residents who recall the time before rail service declined and the village all but disappeared.