Name: Bath, Maine's Charlie Morse:
Brand: Philip H. Woods
SKU: 9781609492748
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Bath, Maine's Charlie Morse:

9781609492748

$21.99

Born in Bath, Maine, in 1857, Charles W. Morse grew up on the Kennebec River with his family's tugboats, shipyards and trade in natural ice. After college he moved to New York City to handle the family's business affairs there. It took twenty years, but he created companies to form a monopoly on the sale of natural ice in New York City, making him very, very rich. He turned to coastal steamboats, again forming many companies into one large one. Creating these businesses and investing in banks made him a Wall Street insider. Using money from the banks made him the worst kind of speculator; in the end he paid dearly for his actions. Discover the remarkable story of this Maine man who became an "ice king" and Wall Street scoundrel.

Angola and Steuben County

9780738519166

$24.99

Past visitors to the famous lakes of Steuben County had a wide range of interesting images on postcards to send back home or to add to their collections. The favorite locations and activities of vacationers were chronicled in the postcards that have been passed down through generations.

Featuring more than 200 vintage postcards, Angola and Steuben County captures fleeting images that reflect the interesting and significant scenes of Steuben County's towns and day-to-day activities at the turn of the century. From thriving squares and bustling industries, to pleasant residential and lake areas, these postcards embrace the past and offer a glimpse into the lives and activities of a different era.

Tampa, FL:

9781439600658

$11.99

Do you know... WHY the Tampa area is especially attractive to so many birds? (Hint: Think "best nursery!) WHAT claim to fame makes Bayshore Boulevard so famous? (Hint: It goes beyond the beautiful views!) Find these answers and more in Cool Stuff Every Kid Should Know--an interesting little book about a very special place on the planet!

Arcadia Kids is a new series of fun, colorful, easy-to-read books for children ages 7-11 featuring attention-grabbing cover art, inviting conversational style content, and vivid full-color images of landmarks and geography. Parents, grandparents, and savvy shoppers will appreciate the feel good factor of purchasing books that are both fun AND educational.

Beacon Hill, Back Bay and the Building of Boston's Golden Age

9781596291614

$21.99

Venture back to the Boston of the 1800s, when Back Bay was just a wide expanse of water to the west of the Shawmut Peninsula and merchants peddled their wares to sailors along the docks. Witness the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution; learn how a series of cultural movements made Boston the focal point of abolitionism in America, with leaders like William Lloyd Garrison; and see the golden age of the arts ushered in with notables Longfellow, Holmes, Copley, Sargent and Isabella Stewart Gardner. Travel with local historian Ted Clarke down the cobbled streets of Boston to discover its history in the golden age.

Beacon Hill, Back Bay and the Building of Boston's Golden Age

Chinese in St. Louis:

9780738551456

$24.99

In 1857, Alla Lee, a 24yearold native of Ningbo, China, seeking a better life, came to St. Louis. A decade later, Lee was joined by several hundred of his countrymen from San Francisco and New York who were seeking jobs in mines and factories in and around St. Louis. Most of these Chinese workers lived in boardinghouses located near a street called Hop Alley. In time, Chinese hand laundries, merchandise stores, herb shops, restaurants, and clan association headquarters sprang up in and around that street, forming St. Louis Chinatown. Hop Alley survived with remarkable resilience and energy until 1966 when urban renewal bulldozers leveled the area to make a parking lot for Busch Stadium. A new suburban Chinese American community has been quietly, yet rapidly, emerging since the 1960s in the form of cultural community, where the Chinese churches, Chineselanguage schools, and community organizations serve as the infrastructure of the community.

The Sauquoit Valley

9780738502861

$24.99

This unforgettable journey through the Sauquoit Valley includes some history, some nostalgia, and some relevant facts and tales of local people and places. Situated south of Utica in central New York State, this unique rural valley is dotted with villages, beginning at the southern end with Cassville and ending with New Hartford. Of historical interest are the names of the villages: how Washington Mills came to be nicknamed "Checkerville"; how the naming of Clayville after Henry Clay resulted in his visit in 1849; and the way Toad Hollow, Paris Furnace, Eagle Mills, and Bethelville evolved into the names used today. The valley became the site of numerous early factories and mills--gristmills, sawmills, cotton mills, and silk mills. Often the same businessmen ran factories in several of the villages. Mill owners had a paternalistic approach to their employees, providing not only jobs but also homes, recreational facilities, and even schools--a sharp contrast to the downsizing and forced retirement of today. The Sauquoit Valley looks at village life in the early 1900s through the lens of traveling photographers, such as A.J. Manning of Utica. These photographers recorded men and women and children in the clothing and fashions of the day, at their homes and shops and workplaces. Many of the photographs became real photo postcards.

Atlanta's Druid Hills:

9781596293755

$21.99

The Druid Hills neighborhood is characterized by rolling hills, magnificent trees and shrubs and gorgeous, expansive houses. Its Ponce de Leon corridor bears the imprint of the founder of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. The brainchild of Joel Hurt, the neighborhood was brought to fruition by some of Atlanta's most prominent businessmen, including Asa Candler, founder of Coca-Cola. It was these movers and shakers of the city who lived in the neighborhood during the early decades of the twentieth century. In 1914, Druid Hills was permanently altered with the announcement that it would be the site of Emory University's new main campus. Now the residents coexist with what has become an international university community. Historian Robert Hartle Jr. has written an honest, impeccably researched tribute to Druid Hills, truly one of the jewels in Atlanta's crown.

Pembroke

9780738537627

$24.99

Bordered by three rivers, Pembroke is located just south of Concord in one of the fastest growing areas of the state. Like many towns in New England, Pembroke started out as an agricultural settlement and developed into a thriving mill town. Cotton cloth, paper, glass, and bricks were produced in the village's mills, mostly by French Canadian immigrant labor. Among other things, Pembroke is known as the residence of the reputed inventor of the revolver and the site of a grisly murder in 1875. Through vintage photographs, Pembroke chronicles the evolution of this New England town.

Bend Beer

9781626194670

$21.99

With more breweries per capita than any other Oregon city, Bend is a beer mecca. Prior to Prohibition, the state had a burgeoning brewing industry and plenty of saloons to cater to the needs of the hardy frontiersmen who settled Central Oregon. The teetotaling '20s brought all that to a screeching halt. Fifty years later, the arrival of pioneers like Deschutes Brewery and Bend Brewing Company breathed new life into Bend's beer and brought about the booming industry for which the area is known today. Author and The Brew Site creator Jon Abernathy traces Bend and Central Oregon's hoppy history from early settlement to the present day, sharing the stories behind its most famous breweries and the communities that have fostered the industry.

Bellamy's Bride

9781596292543

$21.99

Venture back to 1715, when a fifteen-year-old Cape Cod girl named Maria Hallett was seduced by a twenty-six-year-old Englishman named Samuel Bellamy.

Bellamy soon left her to become one of the most infamous pirates of his day--Black Sam Bellamy. Maria remained on the Cape but was forced to live in solitude after giving birth to Bellamy's child. Two years later, Bellamy returned to his love, and Maria watched from the dunes as his flagship, the Whydah, sank in the worst nor'easter in the history of the Cape. The legend of Maria Hallett has been passed down for over two hundred years, and Cape Cod writer Kathleen Brunelle brings a fresh breath of sea air to this epic tale in her search for Bellamy's bride.

Austin Beer

9781626190948

$23.99

Austin might be known for its live music, but its beer scene is just as vibrant and historic. As early as 1860, German immigrant Johann Schneider started brewing beer out of a saloon on Congress Avenue, later crafting innovative brew vaults, the first of their kind in the city. Proving that Austin taste buds were thirsty for something more dynamic than a Lonestar, the end of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first saw a huge boom in craft beer production by native Austinites and transplants alike, creating a culture of local beer advocates, homebrewing enthusiasts and innovators that could only come out of Austin. Join the ladies behind hilarious and informative beer blog BitchBeer.org as they explore Austin beer history, developments and culture--complete with read-along drinking games and local beer pairings.

Waterbury Trolleys

9780738538112

$24.99

Waterbury Trolleys traces the growth and expansion of the streetcar system throughout the Naugatuck Valley. This system became part of the Connecticut Company's extensive streetcar network, spanning 1,138 miles statewide at its peak in 1918. As automobiles became a primary mode of transportation, the streetcar lines in Waterbury transitioned to bus routes. By 1937, streetcars were officially replaced by buses. This wonderful collection of vintage photographs documents the network of streetcars that once thrived in Waterbury.

Belair Stud

9781609494810

$21.99

From their opening in 1740 through the 1955 closing, Belair Stud Farm became known as one of the most important stables in American racing. Although the high-profile murder of the farms final owner, Billy Woodward, eventually forced the farm to close, it did produce an extraordinary number of winning horses throughout its expansive history. The farm claims three Kentucky Derbies, three Preakness Stakes, and six Belmont Stakes, winning titles in several prestigious English races. It remains one of two stables to have produced more than one Triple Crown winner, and it is also the only stable to have produced father-son Triple Crown winners. Its list of legendary thoroughbreds includes Gallant Fox, Omaha, Johnstown, Granville, and Nashua. However in addition to the history of champion thoroughbreds, there is a second history devoted to the many interesting people whose own stories are part of the Belair Stud farm, including Samuel and Benjamin Ogle, Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, former slave Andrew Jackson, and even George Washington.

Fagan Sisters, The:

9780738502830

$24.99

The Fagan Sisters speaks of life in a county village in upstate New York. Sally and Agnes Fagan were born in the village of Copake Falls and lived there through almost all of the 20th century. Their experiences, however, were not confined to that village, located about 50 miles south of Albany near the Massachusetts and Connecticut borders. Even in their childhood, they frequently traveled by horse and buggy or train to visit relatives in neighboring states. The sisters talk about their people who left Ireland during the famine of the mid-1800s, arrived in the rural area, and found work in the mines and later on the railroads. They reminisce about their own school days, their wide circle of friends, and their simple and more elegant pleasures. They recall their first years as teachers in the classroom, where they experienced the prejudice that existed against Irish Catholics at that time.

New York Sluggers

9780738537856

$24.99

New York City was the original hotbed of baseball, so it is not surprising that fans in the five boroughs are very knowledgeable about the game. It did not take long after baseball was established in the city in the late 1850s for heavy hitters to rise in popularity. New York has continued to set the standard. When thinking about hitting, or better yet, smashing or crushing a baseball, the first team to come to mind is always the New York Yankees. Slugging was actually invented by the Yanks and was most prominently demonstrated by Babe Ruth. When Lou Gehrig joined the team in 1923, a one-two punch was established that set a standard seldom equaled in major-league history. Meanwhile, across the East River, the Giants manufactured lots of hitting, and the New York Nationals rattled the walls in the Polo Grounds. This book is a pictorial story of the sluggers that made history in New York, in both the American and National Leagues.

Calle Olvera de Los Angeles

9780738524993

$24.99

El mercado mexicano de Olvera Street y su plaza forman el hogar de la cultura Latina en la región de Los Angeles. En este sector de la ciudad donde se realizan muchas fiestas, incluyendo el Cinco de Mayo, todavia se mantienen en pie Avila Adobe, la iglesia de la plaza--La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles, Pico House, Sepúlveda House y L.A. Firehouse No. 1. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles fue fundado en 1781. La plaza construida en los años 1820 fue gobernada por décadas por el magnánimo Juez Agust n Olvera. Wine Street fue renombrada en su honor después de su muerte y tomo una dureza de callejón representada en las primeras pel culas de Hollywood. En los años 1920, Christine Sterling hizo una campaña para salvar Avila Adobe de una demolición y transformar Olvera Street en un destino turstico reconocido internacionalmente, el cual se inauguró en 1930. Hoy la antigua plaza y las tiendas de Olvera Street, junto con sus restaurantes, museos y vendedores atraen a un millón de personas anualmente bajo el auspicio de El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument.

Framingham's Civil War Hero:

9781609493783

$21.99

George Henry Gordon, who moved to Framingham, Massachusetts, at the age of five, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where his attitudes toward the country were shaped alongside classmates George McClellan, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant. Gordon went on to hold political and military offices in the North, and as a general in the Union army, he led his troops against Jackson in the Valley Campaign, at Antietam and at the Siege of Charleston. Join historian Frederic A. Wallace as he recounts the largely untold story of General George H. Gordon, Framingham's favorite son, with personal diary entries and letters that reveal a man of integrity and honor whose actions displayed an outright love for his country.

Genoa and Kingston

9780738584478

$24.99

In 1835, while Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle was exploring the Galapagos Islands, the northern Illinois municipalities of Genoa and Kingston were being settled. Pioneers arrived via the historic Chicago-Galena stagecoach trail. Thomas Matteson, a Revolutionary War soldier from Ohio, and his family traveled in three covered wagons and became Genoa's first settlers. Genoa was incorporated as a village in 1876 and as a city in 1911. Kingston became a village in 1886. In addition to sharing a boundary, the municipalities share the Genoa-Kingston Fire Department, Genoa-Kingston Middle School, and Genoa-Kingston High School. During the Civil War, 109 men from Genoa and 105 men from Kingston, roughly a tenth of the population of each municipality at that time, enlisted in the Union Army. Men and women from Genoa and Kingston have continued to serve in the U.S. military from World Wars I and II to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iranians in Chicagoland

9780738533902

$24.99

In 1893, Haj Mirza Mohammad Ali Moen-Ol Saltaneh journeyed to Chicago from Iran to visit the World Columbian Exposition. According to his memoirs, the Exposition's Ferris Wheel was one of the first things he saw. He visited the Persian Palace, Iran's exhibit at the Exposition, where he met Iranian workers and several French dancers posing as Persian women. These Iranians were likely the earliest group of Iranians who came to Chicago. They little imagined that by 2004, at least 10,000 Iranians would live in the city. Authors Hamid Akbari and Azar Khounani present a newly assembled collection of Persian Palace photographs coupled with Moen-Ol Saltaneh's observations of Chicago.

Forgotten Tales of Kansas City

9781609496159

$14.99

Meet the folks who slip out of history books like they're playing the Kansas City shuffle. In this fascinating collection of stories, Paul Kirkman has dug up all sorts of head-scratchers: how did Jesse James rob a bank with John F. Kennedy, and how could a Beatles concert in the 1960s fail to make money? Watch a cow explode in a kitchen, frogs rain down from the sky and dogs pay for a public library system. Learn how Harry Houdini was trapped in a phone booth, why Clark Gable haunted street corners in a clown outfit and what kept Kansas City in Missouri.

The Aviation History of Greater Riverside

9781609496302

$21.99

Ever since aircraft changed the scope of the First World War, flight became both a passion and business in Riverside. Early barnstormers needed places to park, refuel and service their aircraft, so airports started popping up. Alessandro Field became March Field in 1918. By World War II, seventy-five thousand troops were deployed at March. Today's March Joint Air Reserve Base has been a vital wartime training and relay installation and a sentinel of peacetime. In 1925, Roman Warren, known as the Cowboy Aviator," established Riverside Airport, which later became Flabob Airport. Take to the air with authors Marge and Tony Bitetti as they trace Greater Riverside's history of flight--from Banning, Corona and Riverside Municipal Airports to Perris Airport, Skylark Field and others."

The Aviation History of Greater Riverside

Hope Cemetery

9781467128575

$24.99

During the garden cemetery movement that swept the United States in the mid-19th century, the City of Worcester realized the need for a larger place to lay its dead. Worcester, which had become a city several years earlier, enjoyed a booming population caused by an influx of immigrants looking for work in its vast industrial sector. The city fathers took on the task of finding suitable grounds, and Hope Cemetery was founded in 1854 in a rural area of rolling hills and languid brooks. The space would hold the remains of a cross section of Worcester's residents, from the large mausoleums of prominent citizens to the small stones of young children. Hope Cemetery is a final resting place open to all citizens of the city--the rich, the poor, the notorious, and everyone in between. Today, Hope Cemetery is an active, "living" cemetery for the second-largest city in New England, as well as a place for loved ones and others to find solace and a place to stroll.

DeKalb County in Vintage Postcards

9780738519173

$24.99

The fleeting scenes of the train depot in Ashley, the Auburn Hotel in Auburn, and the Thompson Opera House in Butler were captured on postcards sent or collected by DeKalb County's residents and visitors. Showcased here on over 200 vintage postcards and images is the history of DeKalb County.

Offering a unique visual history of the area through preserved one-cent postcards, this book portrays the socials, events, buildings, homes, and residents of a by-gone era from the towns of DeKalb County, including Corunna, Garrett, Spencerville, St. Joe, Waterloo, and many other small towns and rural areas.

Gladwin County

9780738552477

$24.99

Gladwin County, named after a British commander of Fort Detroit, is situated in upper mid-Michigan. Settled at the beginnings of the Civil War, this area has been blessed with the ability to survive and thrive from its natural resources and the hardy pioneer and entrepreneurial spirit of its people. The white pine forests provided much of the wood for homes downstate, and the railroads brought in the people to fill lumber camps and towns with names like Cedar (now the city of Gladwin) or Grand Forks (now known as Beaverton) and long-lost crossroads such as Lyle, Hard Luck, and Podunk. As the lumbering era came to a close, the rails brought in farmers to replace the woodsmen. The horses came out of the woods to plow the fields. When the tractor replaced the horse, oil was discovered and a new boom began. But that soon went bust, and Gladwin once again reinvented itself by becoming the thermoforming capital of the world. The area is ripe with waterways, rivers, and lakes, both natural and man-made. Once clogged with logs and now bulging with watercraft, many of the lumber camps from a century ago today have become new recreational settlements.

Saint Mary's College

9780738518527

$24.99

Saint Mary's College compiles nearly 200 engaging images from the extensive Saint Mary's College Archives to create the first exclusively visual history of the college's prestigious 150 years.

The images in this work illustrate the story of one of the first Catholic women's colleges in Indiana from shortly after the Sisters of the Holy Cross arrived from Le Mans, France in 1843 to present day. Envisioned by these women of faith as a place to enrich the minds and spirits of the girls of the frontier, Saint Mary's began its tradition of pioneering education for women. This original mission enabled the college to adapt to the contemporary needs of its students and continue to grow and become a regional leader in science, education, and the arts.

As the number of students increased, and the community and world around the campus changed, Saint Mary's College evolved by continuing to honor tradition. The pictures reflect the evolution of the student body, campus, and academic life.

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

9780738552231

$24.99

An interesting collection of images traces the history of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

The Grand Traverse Lighthouse sits majestically at the entrance of Grand Traverse Bay, guiding vessels between Chicago and the Straits of Mackinac. For over 150 years, it has been an important beacon for all who have plied the waters of Lake Michigan. The original 1852 lighthouse was used for six years before being torn down. In 1858, a larger lighthouse with an attached nine-sided tower was erected on a site farther west. Over the course of its history, 66 lighthouse keepers, assistant keepers, and U.S. Coast Guard personnel have maintained the light. Today visitors tour the restored lighthouse, which is now a living museum filled with displays and exhibits depicting a simpler way of life. A climb to the tower where keepers once stood watch now provides an inspiring panorama.

Burlington Firefighting

9780738557489

$24.99

Burlington, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1799, began as a quiet farming community. For the first 100 years after the town's founding, no fire department existed, and by 1900, many important buildings had tragically been lost to fires. The loss of these historic landmarks prompted the beginning of a group of volunteer firefighters that protected the town until the first full-time fire department's establishment in 1951. Over the years, the department expanded to meet the demands of the town's rapid growth. Today the fire department consists of professionals constantly striving to improve the department and committed to serving the people of Burlington.

Walworth County Fair

9780738534459

$24.99

Dubbed the "Great Fair" in 1918, the Walworth County Fair is one of the largest in the United States. The fair festivities have been summer's final fling and a chance to welcome the coming autumn for generations of local residents and
visitors alike. Each Labor Day weekend, thousands of enthusiasts from across the Midwest flock to the city of Elkhorn; in early years, 19 special trains even shuttled visitors from southeastern Wisconsin and every town along the length of the state line. Through a collection of 200 vintage images, author Taylor Pipes details the fair's rich history from its founding in 1851 to the present. Photographs depict celebration and fire, 4-H judging and
showing animals, and the rides and food booths that form an integral backdrop for any fair.

Cajun Navy Ground Force

9781455625734

$19.95 $9.98 Save 50%

Follow author Rob Gaudet as he tells the gripping origin story of Cajun Navy Ground Force--a group of Louisianian civilians who band together to perform heroic acts of disaster relief. Cajun Navy Ground Force recounts how, beginning with the devastating flooding in 2016, the organization has provided assistance to disaster victims through technology and social media, and how the group works to focus national media attention on those in need. Learning how to operate within the guidelines of official authorities, Gaudet coordinated countless volunteer efforts through Cajun Navy Ground Force, from donation drives to search-and-rescue missions. The organization continues to teach communities across the country how to apply the same strategies of citizen-led relief to their disasters. Witness emotional rescues, understand how residents were able to rebuild in the face of tremendous tragedy, and find out how you can help in the next catastrophe.

The Historical, Statistical and Industrial Review of the State of Connecticut

9780738594613

$21.99

The following pages, which represent the constant labor of a corps of reporters, writers, editors, and printers for several months, is presented to the public. The general idea of a history is a large expensive volume, bound in heavy board covers, associated with a library and accessible only with more or less trouble. That of the publishers is to furnish a History of Connecticut and its representative industries at a low price and in such a portable shape that "he who runs may read." In order to do this at a profit, large editions are printed, enabling the publishers to furnish each part at a price so low that all who wish can possess it. It has been the aim to mention representative mercantile houses and manufacturing establishments in the cities and villages of which this part especially treats, that would be of interest to present and future generations.

The Historical, Statistical and Industrial Review of the State of Connecticut

Around Mulberry

9780738553702

$24.99

In the 1840s, pioneers settled on the picturesque lands surrounding the Alafia River. With glistening waters that gave life to plush foliage and citrus trees gracing its banks, the Alafia stretched westward before flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. Forty years later, phosphate was discovered in the Bone Valley area, and miners began arriving in what is now Mulberry, Florida. The industrial activity of the town encouraged economic growth and soon demanded the need for a railroad to accommodate Mulberry's expanding lumber and mining trade. In 1901, the town was officially incorporated, bringing a respected identity and well-deserved peace to the people of the area. Named for a lone tree that served as a local mail drop, the town of Mulberry was born.

Baltimore Beer

9781609494575

$21.99

Join Rob Kasper as he uses interviews, stunning vintage images and a few recipes to pop the cap on Charm City's brewing history.

Since Mary Pickersgill sewed Old Glory on the floor of a local brewery, Baltimore has been a beer-drinking town. At the turn of the nineteenth century, German immigrants erected elaborate breweries and leafy beer gardens, and the thirteen awful years of Prohibition only whetted the city's thirst for frosty pints. By the 1950s, Gunther and National Bohemian had joined advertising forces with the Orioles and the Colts in a spirited battle with American, Free State and Arrow for the palates and wallets of the Chesapeake Bay's burgeoning beer-drinking population. Baltimore beer scholar and journalist Rob Kasper traces the sudsy story from the days when alehouses lined the Jones Falls to the tales behind the current crop of local brewers who are fermenting a craft brew revival.

Along the Brandywine River

9780738509402

$24.99

This fascinating new history of the historical river that winds through Chester County, Pennsylvania, and the upper regions of Delaware and emptying into the Christina River in Wilmington, Delaware, showcases more than two hundred of the best vintage postcards available. The collected postcards show the countryside as it appeared during the Revolutionary War Battle at Brandywine through the time of nineteenth-century settlements in the region and into the twentieth century.

Ghosts of Atlanta

9781596295445

$21.99

? Do the ghosts of Civil War soldiers still march through the mists of Kennesaw National Battlefield on the outskirts of Atlanta?
? Can those who listen still hear the voices of the guests who died in the devastating Winecoff Hotel fire of 1946?
? Does the spirit of a young boy still ride the "black horse" on the Riverview Carousel at Six Flags Over Georgia?
Drawing on her work with the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute at Bauder College and Ghost Hounds Paranormal Research Society, elite psychic medium and cold case researcher Reese Christian writes of the tragic past and the haunted present of Greater Atlanta. From Peachtree Street in the heart of downtown to the plantations and battlefields surrounding the city, join her in discovering the twisted histories of some of Atlanta's most infamous landmarks and forgotten moments.

Baseball on the Prairie:

9781609499358

$21.99

At the close of the nineteenth century, railroad expansion in Texas at once shrank the state and expanded opportunities, including that of Texas League Baseball. Previously, the major cities monopolized Texas minor-league ball, but with the rails came small-town teams without which the league may have floundered. Sherman, Denison, Paris, Corsicana, Cleburne, Greenville and Temple teams produced some of the Texas League's greatest players and provided unprecedented statewide interest. The 1902 Corsicana Oil Citys was one of the most successful teams of the time, claiming the second-best winning percentage and baseball's most lopsided victory, 51-3 over Texarkana's Casketmakers. In its only year in the league, Cleburne won the league championship and team owner Doak Roberts discovered the great Tris Speaker. Kris Rutherford pieces together the Texas League's early days and the people and towns that made this centuries-old institution possible.