New Book Releases

Before rail and steam encroached on the pastoral communities of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, generations of farmers and miners traversed its green earth and burbling creeks. The dawn of the automobile brought unprecedented development, and the sleepy hamlets soon stirred to become the hub of the suburbs. Zandy Dudiak chronicles this fascinating evolution through tales of hardscrabble frontier living, the coming of the railroad and post-World War II prosperity. Dudiak reintroduces characters such as the tenacious tavern keeper Widow Miers and Harold Brown, who trained a generation of aviators on the airfields of Monroeville. Stories of lost amusement parks, the faded stars of the Holiday House and the glory days of the Ice Palace recall a Monroeville from days gone by.

An interesting cast of characters and stories reveal Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, also known as the center of Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Fiery Patriots, resourceful inventors and brilliant artists have all hailed from Lancaster County. The lives and deeds of such famous and ordinary folk of Pennsylvania Dutch country are chronicled by Jack Brubaker in this collection of fascinating vignettes drawn from his Lancaster New Era column, ""The Scribbler."" From tales of President James Buchanan's youthful antics to the attempted delivery of the nation's first airmail by hot-air balloon, Brubaker creates a compelling and entertaining narrative of the history of Lancaster City and County. Memories of the original Brunswick Hotel's shoofly pie and the Horse Thief Association of Intercourse will transport readers to a Lancaster from days gone by.

The towns of Northeast Philadelphia boast a rich and vibrant history, but many of their engrossing stories have been pushed into the background over time.

In this collection of historical columns, first published in the Northeast Times, Dr. Harry C. Silcox brings their narratives back into the spotlight. From the beginning, all major roads in the region went to Frankford, the site of the nation's first psychiatric hospital and the popular Unity Street open-air market. The town of Holmesburg offered shelter to the veterans of the stage in Edwin Forrest's Home for Aged Actors. Years before the civil rights movement, Greenbelt Knoll became Philadelphia's first planned racially integrated housing development. Even the nation's first solar energy-powered machine was developed in Northeast Philly. From tales of alligator wrestling to groundbreaking feats of aviation, Silcox weaves a fascinating tapestry of everyday American life.

The doomed Whiskey Rebellion, the Great Fire that destroyed a third of the city in 1845 and Lincoln's speech urging residents to shun talk of secession--all have made the pages of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and its predecessors. Since 1786, the paper has covered local events, and reporter Len Barcousky is a part of this long tradition. This collection of his "Eyewitness" columns draws on next-day stories to tell the history of the city, from President Coolidge's almost-silent visit in 1927 to a report on the first woman hanged in Allegheny County. Join Barcousky as he vividly recounts the compelling history of the Steel City.

With grit and gumption, the residents of Germantown propelled their community from a sleepy backwater to a thriving urban neighborhood. Through charming first-person accounts and fascinating narratives culled from
sixty years of the Germantown Crier, readers may catch a glimpse of the feisty Germantowners who proudly honor their past without ceasing to move forward. Meet cantankerous Ann Shermer, a nineteenth-century Bethlehem Pike tollkeeper who enforced the fare with the help of her trusty flintlock pistol, and the town's enforcer of morality, "civilizer" Samuel Harvey. Whether a tale from the storied King of Prussia Inn, which housed greats like George Washington and Gilbert Stuart, or a memory of a childhood encounter with Louisa May Alcott, each vignette in this collection crafts a poignant portrait.

Since its founding in 1751, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has been at the crossroads of history as the site of Washington's headquarters during the Whiskey Rebellion, a city shelled and occupied by Confederate forces and the home to Dickinson College and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. With lively vignettes and firsthand accounts, Joseph David Cress recounts the remarkable history of the borough. Tales of the McClintock Slave Riot of 1847 and the courthouse fire of 1845 stand alongside the legendary figures of Molly Pitcher and all-American athlete Jim Thorpe. Cress chronicles Carlisle's evolution from an outpost on Pennsylvania's rough-and-tumble frontier to a vibrant and thriving hub of the Cumberland Valley.

Through a series of fascinating vignettes from local storyteller Susannah Brody, discover how the people of Chester County affected and were affected by American history.

When Elizabeth Chad opened her door one foggy September day in 1777 to see the Continental army surrounding her property, little did she know that her home would soon be the scene of the Battle of the Brandywine, which led to a series of skirmishes from Paoli to Valley Forge. One hundred years later, the Great Tornado of 1877 destroyed towns and crops, and the famous Buffalo Bill caused a ruckus when he strolled into West Chester. Discover how the people of Chester County secreted slaves along the Underground Railroad, hosted witch trials and fought for women's suffrage.

The green hills and bustling boroughs of Lackawanna County have fostered a remarkable history of pioneering citizens and momentous events. Dr. Mary C. Nivison became the first female physician in the city when she opened her Scranton practice in 1871. Audiences were amazed in 1915, when Harry Houdini escaped from a large cask of beer at the Poli Theatre. The Pennsylvania county had its share of mayhem and tragedy as well. In 1923, the Laurel Line bandits held up the train between Moosic and Avoca, and nineteen years later, the flood of 1942 sent waters rushing down Carbondale's Main Street. From the stories of the Great Riot of 1877 to memories of the Club Burger at Carrol's Restaurant, local author Margo L. Azzarelli chronicles the history of Lackawanna County with this fascinating series of vignettes.