Arcadia Bestsellers

The Hartford Whalers began their existence in Boston as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association (WHA).

The Whalers played in every season of the WHA's seven-year existence, even becoming the league's first champions. Although their games were well-attended in Boston, the upstart league was never serious competition for the powerhouse Bruins. In 1975, they moved to Hartford, and in 1979, along with Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Quebec, joined the National Hockey League. After a series of successes in the '80s, by the '90s a dissatisfied new owner, unhappy players, and diminishing returns all contributed to the team's move to North Carolina following the 1997 season and won the Stanley Cup as the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.The Hartford Whalersis a pictorial tribute to this beloved and much-missed Hartford institution.

U.S. Route 44 stretches across New England from Massachusetts to Connecticut before completing its circuit in New York State, 237 miles later. Along the way, travelers may encounter the infamous Bridgewater Triangle, take a haunted tour of Plymouth, or see the ghosts of Chepachet.

Follow in the footsteps of famous science fiction horror writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft from Providence to Glocester, Rhode Island. Follow the road through small towns and dark forests where sightings of UFOs and cryptids have surprised travelers for years.

Join authors Tom D’Agostino and Arlene Nicholson as they explore the dark corners of New England’s most haunted highway.

Since 1938, when the Merritt's first 7-mile section was opened to traffic, millions have shared a fascination for Connecticut's Merritt Parkway and its bridges.

A survey made in 1928 called for a two-lane macadam highway to run from Stratford to Greenwich; with $1 million of state money, construction started on the Merritt Highway in 1932. Opened for 38 miles on September 2, 1940, it became known throughout Fairfield County as the ""Queen of Parkways."" Discover the beginnings of this groundbreaking advance in American travel in Traveling the Merritt Parkway. This pictorial history preserves and pays tribute to the history of the Merritt, and explores the construction of the parkway, as well as the little-known parent highway for which the earliest bridges were constructed, including White Plains Road in the town of Trumbull.

PEZ is an American classic and a staple of many childhood memories. Take an inside look, through words and vintage images of this iconic brand.

Yet it originated in Austria, where PEZ began in 1927 as compressed peppermint tablets marketed as an alternative to smoking. Upon arrival in the United States in 1952, PEZ quickly took a new direction, adding fruit flavors and three-dimensional character heads to top the dispensers. Now produced in Orange, Connecticut, the iconic PEZ brand is available in over eighty countries, selling more than sixty-five million dispensers annually and inspiring collectors and fans worldwide. Join the world's first and only official PEZ historian, Shawn Peterson, on a journey of sweet proportions for an inside look at the world's most cherished interactive candy.

Decorated with a breathtaking landscape and a treasured collection of diversely styled bridges, the Merritt Parkway runs thirty-seven and a half miles through Fairfield County.

From its complicated beginnings to the present, authors Laurie Heiss and Jill Smyth navigate the hard-fought yet picturesque path of this beloved road. Meet the bridge artist, the landscapers, the politicians and the activists whose involvement in the Merritt transformed Fairfield County from farms and country estates to one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. With the dedication of preservationists and conservationists, the Merritt Parkway today remains both functional and beautiful, holding a unique place in the heart of Connecticut's drivers.

Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies.

Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the "Greatest Show on Earth" quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, the tent collapsed on those still struggling to escape below. A total of 168 lives were lost, many of them children, with many more injured and forever scarred by the events. Hartford and the surrounding communities reeled in the aftermath as investigators searched for the source of the fire and the responsible parties.

In 1650, Middletown earned its name due to its location, halfway between the mouth of the Connecticut River and the first Connecticut settlement of Windsor.

Growing from a key Native American village into a colonial one, then into a major seaport, Middletown eventually became the wealthiest town in Connecticut by the mid-1700s. In the early 1800s, although international disputes adversely affected Middletown's seafaring trade, manufacturing prospered. Factories turned out everything from ship hardware and textiles to sleigh bells and sidearms for Union army officers. Trolleys encouraged suburban expansion while railroads, and later highways, greatly influenced commercial development, while many immigrants from Europe made Middletown their home around the turn-of-the-century. Today, Middletown is perhaps best-known as the location of Wesleyan University, one of the "Little Three'? liberal arts colleges.

The historic images in Candlewood Lake illustrate the history of the lake basin from its beginnings to the present day.

At the turn of the century, the Rocky River valley was a quiet, productive farming community nestled in the foothills of Connecticut's Berkshire Mountains. On July 15, 1926, the Connecticut Light and Power Company's board of directors approved a plan to create a lake for the purpose of producing electric power, a decision that changed the face of the valley forever. Plans moved quickly, and the company bought the valley land and built several dams to contain the water. On February 25, 1928, the fill-up began, and in a mere seven months, Candlewood Lake was born.

Founded in 1641, Stamford is one of the oldest towns in New England. The images in this book date from the Civil War through the end of World War I.

Founded in 1641, Stamford is one of the oldest towns in New England. The resulting influx of immigrants and industrial expansion that followed transformed Stamford from a rural community into a bustling city. Although once a stopping place on the stagecoach route between New York and Boston, Stamford remained largely agrarian until the coming of the railroad in 1848. The images in this book date from the Civil War through the end of World War I, from the earliest available photographs to the established use of the automobile. It is a time that saw the gristmills become factories and old frame trading posts be replaced by imposing brick structures. During these years the people of Stamford supported the Union Cause and voted for Grover Cleveland; they built new homes, churches, schools, and parks; they established a hospital and a library; they joined the YMCA, went yachting, and always turned out for a parade.

Connecticut's witch hunt was the first and most ferocious in New England, occurring almost fifty years before the infamous Salem witch trials.

Between 1647 and 1697, at least thirty-four men and women from across the state were formally charged with witchcraft. Eleven were hanged. In New Haven, William Meeker was accused of cutting off and burning his pig's ears and tail as he cast a bewitching spell. After the hanging of Fairfield's Goody Knapp, magistrates cut down and searched her body for the marks of the devil. Through newspaper clippings, court records, letters and diaries, author Cynthia Wolfe Boynton uncovers the dark history of the Connecticut witch trials.

While Mohawk Mountain is known as a small, family-friendly ski area, many are unaware of the large impact this mountain had on the sport. Its founder, Walt Schoenknecht, changed the face of modern skiing when he helped create the first snowmaking machine in 1950. That “artificial snow” machine, first tested at Mohawk, received the first U.S. patent for such a device. Today, Mohawk is one of the few surviving family-owned ski areas in the United States, and Schoenknecht's daughter, Carol Lugar, remains its president. Mohawk has had to survive a devastating tornado, challenging weather and economic headwinds to compete with larger corporate-owned ski resorts. Today, the small mountain in Cornwall, Connecticut remains a favorite, with new lifts, expanded snowmaking, more ski school lessons, snowtubing and night skiing. Local author James Shay reveals the unique contributions of Mohawk and Walt Schoenknecht to the sport of skiing.

Barbara Austen and Barbara Bryan compiled this set of images to bring Fairfield's past into focus, helping us to envision more clearly the bright future of the area.

In the fall of 1639, Roger Ludlow, a founder of the colony of Connecticut, led a small group of men and a large herd of cattle to the shore of Long Island Sound, where they established a settlement that became known as Fairfield. With this exciting new photographic history, the members of the Fairfield Historical Society have created a unique look back in time. More than 200 rare photographs in this book document the dramatic changes that have occurred in Fairfield's landscape and population during the last 130 years of its 350-year history. Agriculture dominated Fairfield's economy from its founding to the mid-nineteenth century. With the rise of neighboring Bridgeport as an industrial center in the 1860s to 1920s, laborers and business owners moved to Fairfield, and the once-rural landscape was transformed into suburban home lots. Today the town's population is a vibrant mix of commuters, local business people, and young families.

On August 22, 1914, Milford, Connecticut, celebrated its 275th anniversary. An estimated crowd of 20,000 celebrated on the Milford Green alongside open-air horseless buggies.

The celebration started at sunrise with a cannon salute and the sounding of church bells and factory whistles. Milford just recently celebrated its 375th anniversary.