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Sharon E. Karr uses rare vintage images from a variety of local sources to celebrate the rich history of Sisters, Oregon.

Located at the foot of the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains is the charming town of Sisters, Oregon, named for the three majestic, snow-covered peaks, North, Middle, and South Sisters, known as Faith, Hope, and Charity. Sisters saw its beginning only a short time after the early central Oregon pioneers settled to the north at Camp Polk. Geographically, Sisters encompassed communities now long gone – Cloverdale, Gist, and Plainview. These small communities depended on Sisters for mail, supplies, groceries, and other services. The development of Black Butte Ranch and the Metolius recreation area contributed to today’s tourism hub. By stepping back in time, the reader can explore the past of ranching and irrigation and trace the logging, rodeo, and recreation history of those who came before today’s travelers and tourists. Sisters is more than just a place. What sets Sisters apart is the bond of friendship that permeates every facet of this small town. A feeling of community and unity that fosters an unyielding spirit of what is home and creates the extraordinary place it is today.

Sharon E. Karr is a retired technology writer and a graduate of the University of Oregon with a bachelor of arts in history and a master’s degree from Santa Clara University. She brings history alive with the help of longtime residents, research, and local historical societies.  

With this glimpse into Beverly Shores' past, readers of all ages will delight in discovering the unique heritage of this town in northwestern Indiana. From developer Frederick Bartlett's introduction of the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture, to Robert Bartlett's most enduring publicity stunt of buying pieces of the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair and stationing them in the town, this architectural study includes nearly 200 vintage images of the evolution of this suburban dunes resort community.

Briarcliff Lodgeis a record of a New York landmark that disappeared from the landscape in a spectacular fire in September 2003.

When it opened in 1902, Briarcliff Lodgewas America's premier resort hotel. Located some thirty miles north of New York City, this magnificent Tudor-style building was surrounded by dairy barns and greenhouses, all built by Walter Law, the laird of Briarcliff Manor.

Here, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were hosted, as were Tallulah Bankhead, Johnny Weissmuller, Jimmy Walker, Babe Ruth, and other luminaries. The hotel business declined in the 1930s, here and at other nearby resorts, but Briarcliff Lodgecontinued in use as the home of the Edgewood Park Schoolfrom 1936 to 1954 and as the King's Collegefrom 1955 to 1994.

Rob Yasinsac is a lifelong Westchester County resident who documents neglected historic sites throughout the Hudson Valleyin an attempt to save them. He works for Historic Hudson Valley, serves as a trustee on the boards of the Westchester Countyand Irvington Historical Societies, and is a member of numerous other historical organizations.

Explore the history of Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan as two camp staff members Ian Hopkins and Matt Horbal detail the adventures and adversities of the camp throughout the years.

Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan opened in the summer of 1929 with a vision of providing an outdoor experience for young people. It is owned and operated by the Northeast Illinois Council, Boy Scouts of America (BSA), in Highland Park, Illinois, and located in Pearson, Wisconsin. The camp's name comes from the Native American phrase meaning ""spring fed lake"" and originated in a contest won by a Scout from the North Shore Area Council, BSA. Thousands of young people and adults have hiked the trails, boated on the lakes, developed their scouting skills, and had countless adventures at the camp. The stories of how the camp was developed, built, and maintained by the North Shore Area Council, BSA, during difficult times, including war and the Great Depression, are shared within. Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan still serves young people, adults, and families from more than 40 communities.

Travel through a history of accomodations where Catskills tourists lodged during their excursions through one of America's most famed resort areas.

According to the Catskill Institute, there were over 1,000 hotels spread across the mountains of Greene, Ulster, Delaware, and Sullivan Counties at one time. The Catskills were an exciting world full of pleasures to be enjoyed, with summer and winter activities characterized by entertainment, food, sports, card playing, and food again. Catskill Hotels, with a collection of some 200 images, tells the story of this world, which began with America's first resort hotel, the Catskill Mountain House, continued with places such as the world-famous Grossinger's, and can still be found today at Kutsher's Country Club, the Mountain House at Lake Mohonk, and a few other hardy resorts.

In the 1880s, Oscar Townsend and the Cleveland, Lorain, & Wheeling Railroad developed a prosperous vacation resort, eventually called ""Chippewa Lake Park,"" on the banks of Ohio's largest natural lake.

The Great Depression and extinction of interurban service crippled the park, but in 1937, Parker Beach purchased the resort, and it enjoyed a swinging Golden Age through 1969, as he kept the park's ballroom filled with dancers and famous bands. In 1978, after more than 100 years of operation, Chippewa Lake Park joined the ghostly ranks of the last traditional amusement parks. Chippewa Lake Park keeps the memory of one of Ohio's longest-lived and best-loved amusement parks alive through vintage images and captivating history.

Explore the once quaint farming town of Historic Monte NE. With images throughout the centuries, witness its transformation into a tourism hotspot during the 1920s.

Situated in a lush, spring-fed valley, the town of Silver Springs in Northwest Arkansas was once home to a small community of people who farmed, enjoyed the riches of rural life, and gathered at the local auditorium, gristmill, or tavern. Their world was forever changed in 1900 with the arrival of William Hope ""Coin"" Harvey. A fervent supporter of the ""free silver"" movement in the 1890s, Harvey had become disgruntled with the American financial system. Retreating to the pastoral valley, Harvey purchased 320 acres, renamed the community Monte Ne, and began to build a grand resort. It attracted visitors from across the country with its fertile landscape, large hotels, and private rail line. By the 1920s, Harvey had turned his attention to building a large ""time capsule"" pyramid, of which only the foyer, or amphitheater, was completed.

Before Disneyland, Hunt's Pier was the premier destination for vacationing families and fun-seekers alike.

With the completion of the Garden State Parkway and a prospering society's increased mobility in the years following World War II, the Wildwoods transitioned from a remote barrier island along the southern New Jersey coast to a vacation mecca. Featuring free bathing beaches, state-of-the-art motels, endless nightlife, and a honky-tonk boardwalk lined with entertainment options of all kinds, the resort would thrive for the better part of the 20th century. During that golden era, Hunt's Pier became known as a fun-lover's paradise of themed custom attractions; whether it was a child challenging the Flyer roller coaster's intimidating plunge or a child-at-heart exploring the dark caverns of the Golden Nugget and the haunted decks of the pirate ship Skua, anyone who visited the Oceanic Wonderland wouldn't forget it. Hunt's Pier captures the magic of the famed seaside amusement park through historical photographs, many published here for the first time.

Manhattan has long been renowned for the diversity of its offering of hotels--from some of the best in the world to some of the worst.

Around 1880, the entire nature of the hotel experience began to change. Formerly, hotels had been just a place to stop between here and there for a hot meal and a warm bed. Suddenly, the hotel itself became the destination. New affluence, new technologies, and new fashion all came together in the decades between 1880 and 1920 to influence the demands of hotel guests, eventually changing the hotel themselves. This book gives a glimpse into the hotels of the super rich, the not-so-rich, the middle class, the Bohemians, and the workers. In a city as dynamic as New York, it should come as no surprise that so many hotels have a juicy tidbit or two of historical gossip attached to them. Manhattan Hotels: 1880‚-1920 may well be the most extensive work in print on the subject of the city's hotels in this period. Far From being a book for specialists, however, it is designed to bring Manhattan and its hotels of this era to life for all those who have been captivated by the electric excitement of the place.