New Book Releases

Williamsport was once known as the lumber capital of the world, claiming to have more millionaires per capita living there than anywhere else in the world. Made fashionable by visionary Victorian-era entrepreneur Peter Herdic and his talented personal architect Eber Culver, Williamsport's West Fourth Street became the place to live and visit celebrities and socialites, including Annie Weightman Walker Penfield, the richest woman in the world in her day. These vintage postcards feature scenes varying from the lavish Victorian homes the nouveau riche built from the spoils of the bustling lumbermills and offshoot industries to the resplendent houses of worship where the rich and the poor stood side by side. Williamsport's Millionaires' Row records the pinnacle of Williamsport's wealth and glory days, highlighting the homes of the Millionaires' Row National Register Historic District.

A collection of images celebrating the extravagant and historic mansions of Pittsburgh, PA.

In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city's East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside. Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area's prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

Following the drilling of the world's first oil well in 1859 just south of town, the small village of Titusville exploded into a bustling city. Through the early 1870s, newly prosperous citizens built stores, banks, hotels, and churches, as well as hundreds of residences. Into the 20th century, residents remodeled or built anew, leaving Titusville with a crop of Victorian buildings, many of which still stand today. The nearby cities of Petroleum Center and Pithole developed at significant oil production sites. As production moved elsewhere in the 1870s, both cities were abandoned and soon vanished completely. Using vintage images from the unmatched collection of the Drake Well Museum, Oil Boom Architecture: Titusville, Pithole, and Petroleum Center documents the rich architectural history of these three boomtowns.

Architect Horace Trumbauer (1868-1938) is well known for the wide range of residential, commercial, and civic structures he designed in and around Philadelphia.

His works can be found along Old York Road and the Main Line, as well as in Philadelphia and Springfield Township, Montgomery County. During the American renaissance in architecture, Trumbauer masterfully interpreted the classical styles, designing many of the area's most notable structures. Captured in stunning exterior and interior photographs, The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer highlights the architect's most significant works, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Keswick Theatre, the Widener Building, Whitemarsh Hall, Lynnewood Hall, and Ardrossan.