New Book Releases

The Bryn Athyn Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, is home to some of the most remarkable architecture in the Philadelphia area.

Bryn Athyn was founded in the late 19th century by members of a Christian denomination known as the New Church, and the buildings in the historic district reflect the religious faith and vision of some of the community's earliest residents. Cairnwood, an 1895 country house in the Beaux-Arts style, was built for industrialist John Pitcairn. Cairncrest was the residence of Harold Pitcairn, one of the foremost pioneers of early American aviation. Glencairn, a magnificent castle-like mansion, was designed by Raymond Pitcairn as a home for his family and art collections and built throughout the Great Depression. Bryn Athyn Cathedral was dedicated in 1919 and dubbed a masterpiece of architectural art.

For more than one hundred years, the Grit was small-town America's favorite family newspaper and a Sunday morning staple. Dietrick Lamade, a German immigrant and self-made man, founded the Grit and ushered it through early adversity and uncertainty, eventually initiating innovations such as direct mail and nationwide newsboy delivery, transforming the paper into a national institution. The Grit was one of the first newspapers in America to feature color photographs and fictional supplements. Williamsport: The Grit Photograph Collection documents momentous events from a turn-of-the-century city on the rise, through the end of the lumber boom, the world wars, and the great Depression, to modern times.

Dietrick Lamade, a German immigrant and self-made man, founded the Grit and ushered it through early adversity and uncertainty, eventually initiating innovations such as direct mail and nationwide newsboy delivery, transforming the paper into a national institution. The Grit was one of the first newspapers in America to feature color photographs and fictional supplements. Williamsport: The Grit Photograph Collection documents momentous events from a turn-of-the-century city on the rise, through the end of the lumber boom, the world wars, and the great Depression, to modern times.

Minersville documents the history of this Pennsylvania coal mining hub.

Minersville, aptly named for those who toiled in the coal fields of east-central Pennsylvania, embodies the very essence of the coal region. This town and surrounding areas, however, are much more than abandoned breakers and row after row of coal company houses. Although coal is no longer king, the people of Minersville still take pride in their heritage. The gridiron battles of the Pottsville Maroons, the much-disputed 1925 NFL champions, and the failed political campaign of Lewis Cass against Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore proved that more than coal could come from this region. Minersville provides a glimpse of the early days of coal, as well as the people of the area and their accomplishments of spirit.

African Americans of Harrisburg documents the history of the African American community in this town.

Harrisburg served as a refuge and passageway for many African Americans fleeing the South via the Underground Railroad and moving north in search of freedom and a better way of life. African Americans of Harrisburg opens the door to this culturally diverse city of the wealthy, middle class, and poor with every possible race, religion, ethnicity, and lifestyle, which makes the fabric of the community so rich.

In 1870, Mother Aloysia Lowe and five Sisters of Charity arrived in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to found a community of sisters for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Mother Aloysia purchased a 200-acre property in Greensburg in 1882 to accommodate the growing community. It became known as Seton Hill. The Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill have dedicated their lives in service of others. From the establishment of groundbreaking educational institutions, including Seton Hill University, to the operation of advanced health-care facilities and vital social service programs, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill influenced the lives of thousands. Their pioneering spirit, evidenced in their expansive mission work, culminated in 1960 with a mission to Korea. The Korean Province and the United States now unite the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill as an international congregation.

The picturesque community of Conneaut Lake formed around the lake of the same name, Pennsylvania's largest natural lake.

Founded by Abner Evans in 1793, the town was originally called Evansburg in 1858, but was renamed Conneaut Lake in 1892. As alien as it may seem to us today, ice was not always readily available at a moment's notice, and Conneaut Lake found success harvesting ice from the lake, wrapping the blocks in sawdust, and storing them in mammoth ice houses until it was time to ship the ice to large cities. Today, the large ship structure protruding from Oakland Beach is still a familiar sight to visitors, but the lake is used mainly for recreational purposes, such as skiing, boating, swimming, and fishing. The largest Muskie ever caught in the state of Pennsylvania was from the waters of Conneaut Lake!

In this book, early views of the famous Horseshoe Curve, the Gallitzin Tunnels, and the Mountain House are intertwined with photographs of homes, churches, and the people who made the area prosper and grow.

The Allegheny Mountains constantly challenged early settlers to use their creativity and skills to conquer what seemed an almost insurmountable barrier. The founding fathers recognized potential in the area both as a resort and as a thriving town that would attract industry. Through hard work and innovation, an all-rail route over the mountains was established, linking the area with important industrial and trade centers. Many people came to Cresson to enjoy the health and recreational benefits of its natural springs, and the area's pike afforded the first stage link between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. When the Pennsylvania Railroad established headquarters here, with a roundhouse, machine shops, and branch lines, the area entered an era of industrial prosperity. In this remarkable volume, over 200 rare images are combined with informative and insightful text. Readers visit Loretto, a town founded by A Prince-Priest, Demetrius A. Gallitzin, Apostle of the Alleghenies and they are transported to Portage and Lilly, areas of woodlands that gave rise to numerous sawmills.

Ambler, a working-class town located fifteen miles north of Philadelphia, boasts some of the grandest homes in Montgomery County.

Ambler's evolution is rooted in the mills that sprang up along the Wissahickon Creekin the 1680s. The town entered the industrial age when the North Penn Railwaypushed through in the 1850s. In 1856, a catastrophic head-on train collision killing fifty-nine created the heroine Mary Ambler, whose generous ministrations to the wounded caused the railroad in 1869 to rename its Wissahickon Stationin her honor. But it was Philadelphia manufacturers Henry G. Keasbey and Richard V. Mattison who changed Ambler's character forever. When they relocated their business to Ambler in 1881, it became the asbestos capital of the world.

Frank D. Quattrone, an editor at Montgomery Newspapers, has written extensively on the history of Montgomery County.Amblercaptures the lasting legacy of Mattison's thriving company town, with its array of fanciful and simple homes, churches, shops, and cultural institutions.

Take a trip back in time to when Clearfield County's woods were occupied by lumbermen and log drives filled the West Branch of the Susquehanna.

Through historic photographs, witness the growth of Clearfield, Curwensville, and Dubois despite terrible floods and fires; marvel at the growth from a loose collection of logging towns into prosperous and successful Pennsylvania county, well-known for its coal, quarries, the Gearhart Knitting Machine, and businesses such as Kurtz Brothers, Clearfield Furs, and Clearfield Cheese. The engaging photographs in Clearfield County also document how Kylertown Airport was once one of the busiest in the country and reveal how a few county residents, including Nora Waln, Philip Bliss, George Rosenkrans, and Tom Mix, found fame.

Although Pittsburgh is best known for the many steel mills that have dotted its landscape, it has also been a major center for the brewing of beer and ale throughout its history.

Since 1765, when common beer was first brewed for British soldiers at Fort Pitt, the city has produced a tremendous amount of beer to quench the thirst of steelworkers who toiled in the city's mills. Brands like Iron City, Duquesne (or ""Duke""), Rolling Rock, and Stoney's are still known in the area today, while old-timers might remember names like Fort Pitt, E&O, Carnegie, and Dutch Club, among others. Many towns surrounding Pittsburgh, such as McKeesport, Latrobe, and Aliquippa, were also home to breweries that thrived for many years. Through more than 220 historic images, Brewing in Greater Pittsburgh looks at the most prominent brewers in the Greater Pittsburgh area, covering Allegheny, Beaver, Westmoreland, and other neighboring counties.

From quiet rural village to major manufacturing center, Waynesboro's history of transformation will engage and interest any who read.

Developed in 1797 by Scotch-Irish settler John Wallace, Waynesboro was a quiet rural village in Pennsylvania's fertile Cumberland Valley. Until the 1850s, the town's chief distinction was its location astride two main roads, which enabled local farmers and artisans to deliver their goods to bigger markets, such as Baltimore. During the next half-century, the mechanical genius of George Frick, Peter Geiser, the Landis brothers, and other visionary industrial leaders transformed the sleepy village into a major manufacturing center and patented inventions still used worldwide today. Waynesboro's location amid rolling farmland and forested mountains, which made the surrounding area a popular resort destination at one time, ensured that industrialization did not come at the cost of scenic beauty. Around Waynesboro is a photographic treasure that documents the many historical milestones and individuals of the area.

Author Ryan C. Brown details the harrowing days of the Great Steel Strike of 1919 that rocked Pittsburgh and its seemingly impregnable "principality of steel."

In 1919, the steel industry of Pittsburgh was on the brink of war. Years of labor strife broke out into open conflict as steel workers launched the biggest strike to date in the United States, paralyzing mills from Youngstown to Johnstown and beyond. Radical unionists, anarchists and Bolshevik sympathizers set bombs, planned for revolution and fought police in violent battles. As the postwar Red Scare began to sweep the nation, federal agents used the strikes as an excuse to comb Pittsburgh's immigrant neighborhoods looking for communists.

Reading Trains and Trolleys documents the impact of railroad and trolley networks on Reading and adjoining communities.

Rail transportation has been part of daily life in Reading since the 1830s. Reading Trains and Trolleys portrays the good old days of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway (reorganized as the Reading Company in 1923), the Schuylkill Valley Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Mount Penn Gravity Railroad, the Neversink Mountain Railroad, the Reading City Passenger Railway, and the Reading Traction Company. The Reading Railroad gained widespread recognition as a property for sale on the Monopoly board, but the history of trains and trolleys in Reading goes well beyond that iconography. Reading Trains and Trolleys documents the impact of railroad and trolley networks on Reading and adjoining communities, including photographs of the interior of the locomotive shop and the carbarn at Tenth and Exeter Streets, views of the Walnut Street yard before and after the Outer Station was constructed, and views from the Swinging Bridge, which spanned the yard by the Outer Station. The Historical Society of Berks County's collection of rail photographs includes many never-before-published images of diverse scenes in and around Reading.