New Book Releases

Experience the old farming days of what was once the agricultural community of Gravesend, Brooklyn and how the town has transformed into the urban neighborhood it is today.

Permanently settled in 1645, the farming town of Gravesend, Long Island, was annexed to the city (now borough) of Brooklyn, New York, in 1894. Few reminders from Gravesend's rural days survive around the urban landscape it has become. Even its more recent past is quickly disappearing.

Take a tour of the dynamic central business district of Silver Spring, Maryland, and its surroundings.

In 1840, journalist and politician Francis Preston Blair discovered a sparkling mica-flecked spring that would serve as the centerpiece of his country estate, Silver Spring. In just over a century, this bucolic woodland, located across the border from Washington, D.C., became known as downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. Author Jerry A. McCoy, founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society and a special collections librarian at the D.C. Public Library's Washingtoniana Division and Peabody Room, takes you inside of how it came to be.

In 1870, the communities of Astoria, Dutch Kills, Hunters Point, Ravenswood, and others, merged to form a new municipality: Long Island City.

The once independent city continued to exist as an incorporated city until 1898, when all of Queens was annexed to New York City. The factories that supported Long Island City throughout most of the 20th century have been all but abandoned, but since the beginning of the 21st century, large-scale gentrification projects have been undertaken, such as Hunter's Point South. As high-rises replace single-family homes, Long Island City would be unrecognizable to people of the early villages and hamlets that created it. The Greater Astoria Historical Society and photographer Gary Vollo explore the unique places that have shaped Long Island City's development.

Queens offers a rare look at New York City's largest borough, featuring many never-before-seen images.

The borough of Queens, New York, has seen many historical and geographical changes. Marshlands, woods, and farms gave way to factories, thriving communities, and the nation's premier arterial highway system.

Named after the operator of a primitive ferry that in Colonial and Revolutionary days transported citizens across the Hudson, Dobbs Ferry is an integral piece of New York City history.

Dobbs Ferry takes its name from the operator of a primitive ferry that in Colonial and Revolutionary days provided the first passage across the Hudson River north of New York City. In the 19th century, the river and the new castles built on its banks attracted tourists who christened the area ""the heart of the American Rhine."" Judith Doolin Spikes, writer, and Anne Marie Leone, photographer, coauthor a weekly then-and-now column in the Rivertowns Enterprise.

Established in 1776, Montgomery County, Maryland, grew from a land of towering forests and rolling farmland into one of America's most vibrant communities.

Ranked among the 50 most populous counties in the nation and one of the top 10 wealthiest counties, Montgomery also boasts the most educated workforce in the United States, with nearly 30 percent of adults over the age of 25 holding a postgraduate degree. Through the juxtaposition of old and new photographs, noted author and historian Mark Walston chronicles the progression of Maryland life in all its variety, offering historical insights into how modern Montgomery came to be.

The long and turbulent history of Three Villages is revealed here.

From its roots in the 17th century through the turbulence of the Revolutionary War, the Three Village community of New York has faced the challenge of maintaining its own identity in a constantly shifting world.

Springfield chronicles the town's history from 1890 to the present with over two hundred historic photographs collected by author Harry Laybourne over the past 43 years.

Referred to as Champion City, Home City, and City of Roses, Springfield's diversity and pride inspires various nicknames from its residents.First settled in 1799, Springfield quickly grew to become one of Ohio's most important industrial towns, the products of its great factories encirclingthe globe.  Laybourne gives the reader a chance to experience what Springfield was like in the Good Old Days with fascinating scenes of its people and places—the lively downtown area, its beautiful parks, theaters and opera houses, swimming beaches, universities, bustling factories and businesses, as well as views of several buildings that no longer line the streets of downtown Springfield.