New Book Releases

Before the Flood

The lost town of Sopris lies silently beneath the depths of Trinidad Lake. Once a thriving mining community in the late 1800s, it was renowned for abundant coal deposits and a bustling population. Three generations called Sopris home. They fought in the Civil War, homesteaded and immigrated to work in the mines. Unfortunately, the town's fate took a drastic turn with the construction of the Trinidad Dam, which flooded the area and submerged the town. Authors Genevieve Faoro-Johannsen and Robert Daniel Vigil, Jr. preserve an enduring legacy of community and resilience through first-hand accounts, historic photos and never-before-seen maps.

From its 1858 birth, the Mile High City has undergone continuous change, with each successive generation putting its stamp on Denver’s architectural character. Along the way, landmarks initially considered first class were later deemed disposable by those who had different visions of what Denver should be. Beloved buildings like the Tabor Grand Opera House, the Windsor Hotel and the Republic Building vanished. Historian Mark A. Barnhouse revisits these lost treasures along with the lesser known and rarely explored, including an apartment building dubbed “Denver’s Bohemia,” the humble abode of one of the early twentieth century’s most successful novelists and the opulent mansion of a man who gave Denver three consecutive baseball championships.

From the stately Queen Anne mansions of the West Side to the hastily constructed shanties of Cabbage Patch, Lost Butte, Montana traces the city's history through its architectural heritage.

This book includes such highlights as the Grand Opera House, once graced by entertainers and cultural icons like Charlie Chaplin, Sarah Bernhardt and Mark Twain; the infamous brothels protested by reformer Carrie Nation, wielding her hatchet and sharp tongue; and the Columbia Gardens, built by copper king William Clark as a respite from the smoke and toil of the mines and later destroyed by fire. Through the stories of these structures, lost to the march of time and urban renewal, historian Richard Gibson recalls the boom and bust of Butte, once a mining metropolis and now part of the largest National Historic Landmark District.