New Book Releases

With Around Oswego, readers are invited to experience satisfying glimpses of over one hundred years of history and change.

Active as a busy commercial port city in the 1880s, Oswego would redefine itself as a recreation and tourist destination by the 1980s. This evolution is witnessed through text and pictures, as factories, textile mills, lumber docks, coal trestles, and schooners were replaced with pleasure boats, marinas, hotels, restaurants, and parks. Familiar as well as rare and previously unpublished images document changes in the local landscape. Readers will meet some of Oswego's citizens, from international industrialist Thomas Kingford and Medal of Honor recipient and reformer Dr. Mary E. Walker, to soldiers and factory workers. Celebrate the opening of a turn-of-the-century playground, watch a circus parade, and enjoy a quiet picnic scene on a since-vanished shore line. Discover the outside world's interest in Oswego with photographs from United Nations Week in June 1943, and the World War II refugee center at Fort Ontario.

Rediscover the magic of the Enchanted Forest in this history of Maryland's Storybook Park, the first children's theme park on the East Coast.

The history of the Enchanted Forest is one of magical beginnings. When it first opened in 1955, Ellicott City's storybook land became the first children's theme park on the East Coast. Young visitors could climb aboard rides like the Little Toot tugboat, Mother Goose and Ali Baba or encounter animals like peacocks and burros. Upon its closing in 1989, Marylanders who cherished memories of the Enchanted Forest were deeply disappointed. However, many of the park's beloved figures were moved to nearby Clark's Elioak Farm, where they were restored and displayed to the delight of new generations. Even today, the farm is a popular destination that evokes the whimsical spirit of the iconic park. Local author Janet Kusterer and Martha Anne Clark of Elioak Farm trace the park's history through vintage images and interviews with the Harrison family, former employees and visitors. Join Kusterer and Clark to rediscover the magic of the Enchanted Forest.

In April 1775, a small band of men set out from Hartford and traveled swiftly north toward the shore of Lake Champlain, recruiting men to their expedition along the way.

Within only a few days, this loyal group of volunteers arrived in Vermont and, joining forces with Ethan Allen and his legendary Green Mountain Boys, launched a daring attack to capture more than one hundred cannons stored at Fort Ticonderoga. In this comprehensive look at ""America's First Victory,"" Richard Smith traces the Patriots' route from Connecticut, through the towns of western Massachusetts and the Berkshire hills and north to Bennington, Vermont, and Lake Champlain. He chronicles the rival expedition led by Benedict Arnold, his confrontation with Allen and the surprise attack that changed the course of the American Revolution.

Eerie Erie explores the dark and bizarre corners of this county's creepy history, from vampire crypts to phantom ships.

A tall creature that howls on the devil's backbone near Harbor Creek Township, phantom ships that erupt into flames and melt into darkness, UFOs on Presque Isle—these are some of the strange tales from the lakeshores and shadowy woods of Erie County, Pennsylvania. Local paranormal expert and author Reverend Robin S. Swope explores the dark and bizarre corners of the county's history, from the forgotten 1812 dead of the brig Niagara and the mysterious earthen mounds that dot the landscape to the legend of the ravenous Storm Hag and the rumored vampire's crypt in Erie Cemetery. Join Swope as he searches for answers in the lost pages of Erie County history and lore.

Collected in this intriguing visual history are over 200 photographs which bring to life the rich and diverse history of Bayonne, New Jersey.

Bayonne has made a number of significant contributions to American culture: from the country's first "rock band" and its first independent movie studio, to its first air-mail delivery and fast-food restaurants. This visual history brings these little-known contributions to light while also focusing on the everyday lives of the people of Bayonne. In this fascinating journey into the past, we move from disasters such as the Standard Oil fire of 1900 to celebrations such as the arrival of a Wild West Show at the 8th Street station. Views of the lighthouses and the old New York Bay shore document the continued importance of the city's two shores, even as it transformed itself from being the "Newport on the Hudson" to the "Peninsula of Industry." Jump into Bayonne's history from the years 1860 to 1940.

The only comprehensive history of one of America's most infamous prisons, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA.

Looming on the horizon like a storm cloud made of stone, the Eastern State Penitentiary spent more than a century as the fortress that both the law-abiding and criminal feared. In this superbly balanced and thoroughly researched volume, Paul Kahan presents the history of this revolutionary penitentiary, from its inception as a model of the revolutionary Pennsylvania System of incarceration in 1829 to the demands for its closure in the wake of ever-increasing violence in 1971. Through tales of spectacular escapes, official corruption, reformation and retribution, Kahan chronicles the tensions that plagued Eastern State since the arrival of its first prisoners.

When Buffalo was incorporated as a city, the East Side represented a vast forested area and farmland that would one day be booming with industry.

By 1832, the beginnings of the major arterials of Genesee, Sycamore, Broadway, William, Clinton, and Seneca were there. These streets were laid out in 1826 and represented the seeds of the East Side's explosive growth. The development of railroads and the Buffalo Belt Line, constructed in 1883, created a semicircle pattern that outlined the East Side. Industries began sprouting up, eager to use their proximity to the belt line to transport wares all over the country. Immigrants from Germany, Poland, and Ireland, along with African Americans from northern and southern states, began establishing their lives around these industries. Access to land, water, roads, and rail lines and eager immigrants and natives looking for work led to the development of Buffalo's East Side industry, an immensely diverse industrial base and workforce.

With timeless images and a thoroughly researched and informative text, Patchogue is sure to be enjoyed by young and old, resident and visitor alike

As a continuation of the first volume, Patchogue Volume II returns to the beginning of the century to explore the town's development as a business center for the eastern region of Long Island and to provide another fascinating glimpse into the history of Patchogue and the lives of its residents. Patchogue Volume II serves as a legacy for future generations and a valuable tool in teaching the history of the town.

The residents of Harlem Valley have shaped both the history and culture of our nation with bravery and integrity.

Quakers in the Harlem Valley stood firm against slavery, and the Amenia Conference, organized by Joel Spingarn, strengthened the NAACP. The Harlem Valley served as a transportation center, linking New England to the west, and was also a major supplier of iron ore in the eighteenth century. Well known for their educational endeavors, the residents of Harlem Valley established one of the oldest libraries in the state of New York. The images in this collection were made available through the efforts of many groups in the Harlem Valley area, including the historical societies of North East, Little Nine Partners, Amenia, Dover, Dutchess County, and Pawling and Quaker Hill. Join Joyce Ghee and Joan Spence for a remarkable trip down memory lane to the wonders of the Harlem Valley. This historic collection of images will serve as a valuable tool in discovering and understanding the area's history as well as appreciating its beauty. Harlem Valley Pathways is sure to be enjoyed for generations to come.

A literary and pictorial stroll through the charming and history-filled streets of New York's West Village reveals the history and little known tales of this fascinating and picturesque neighborhood.

Greenwich Village is a tourist's dream and a favorite weekend destination for New Yorkers. A part of Manhattan Island that holds its own amid the noise and confusion of the twenty-first century, it still retains much of the character of the old farming community that was part of the original settlement of Manhattan. The West Village, the northwest section of the neighborhood, is bounded by the Hudson River on the west and Greenwich Avenue on the east and is where it all began. Famous people such as Sinclair Lewis, Fiorello LaGuardia, William ""Bill the Butcher"" Poole, Frank Serpico, James Baldwin and Jackson Pollock, among dozens of others, called this neighborhood home. Stroll down the back streets and along the waterfront and peer behind the facades of these historic structures to discover its fascinating history, hidden secrets and little-known tales.

City founder James Prendergast and other industrious pioneers were drawn to the outlet of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State because of its abundant waterpower and virgin forests.

The skills of these settlers, coupled with the area's natural resources, led to the emergence of industrial Jamestown, known worldwide for its diverse manufacture of quality products, including furniture, metal, and textiles. The authors have chosen more than two hundred vintage images based on historic markers for Jamestown. Thorough research and oral histories reveal contributions made by trailblazing immigrants, philanthropic families, diverse ethnic groups, earnest businessmen, and three hometown notables who achieved global fame: Lucille Ball, Roger Tory Peterson, and Robert H. Jackson.