Name: Botanica
Brand: Keith Wondra
SKU: 9781467114097
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Botanica

9781467114097

$24.99

Growing from 4 gardens in 1987 to 29 in 2015, Botanica, The Wichita Gardens has become a regional attraction. The dream of a botanical garden in Wichita started in the early 1970s with John Firsching, superintendent of landscape and forestry with the Board of Park Commissioners, and in 1987 the gardens opened on the site of Wichita's Sim Park. Images of Modern America: Botanica, The Wichita Gardens tells the story of the people, events, and stories that have shaped Botanica into Wichita's garden. Included are images of Botanica throughout the gardens' 28-year history and the earlier history of Sim Park, many of which have never been published before.

Marian Coffin Gardens at Gibraltar

9781467107549

$23.99

Marian Cruger Coffin (1876-1957), one of the first American women to work as a professional landscape architect, may not be a household name; however, with designs at some of America's foremost horticultural institutions, it should be. While Coffin's designs can be seen at locations as varied as Winterthur, New York Botanical Garden, Mount Cuba Center, and the University of Delaware, Gibraltar is perhaps one of her most important commissions. In 1916, Coffin was introduced to the owners of Gibraltar, a country estate home situated high on a roughly six-acre site in Wilmington, Delaware, by her longtime friend Henry Francis duPont. Beginning that year, Coffin transformed the grounds of the early-19th-century estate into a paradise of romantic gardens that seamlessly merged the Beaux-Arts classicism of her Massachusetts Institute of Technology training with the complex flower garden style of Beatrix Farrand, whom she much admired. While the gardens fell into disrepair following the death of their first owner, they were eventually restored and are now open to the public, allowing all who visit to enjoy their beauty.

Ogden Dunes

9781467111898

$24.99

Ogden Dunes, incorporated in 1925, is the largest and most residential of the three Porter County lake-front communities established in the 1920s.

Although it began as a highly restricted resort community with the largest man-made ski jump in North America, it became a middle-class residential community after 1945. Because of its proximity to Gary and Chicago, Ogden Dunes was also a battleground between the forces that wished to conserve the dunes and those that pushed for industrializing them. Alice Gray, Diana of the Dunes; Dorothy Buell, who led the fight to create a national park; and Dale Messick, the creator of comic strip Brenda Starr: Girl Reporter were important members of the community. Over the years, Ogden Dunes has provided a creative and supportive environment for children and adults, especially those with artistic talents and interests.

Chicago's Parks

9780738507163

$24.99

No other city in the world has a park system as great as Chicago's, which includes over 550 parks totaling more than 7,000 acres. Each park has its own story, as well as unique characteristics and history, and yet the majority of Chicagoans are not aware of the wealth, variety, and sheer number of parks that exist, to say nothing of the ideas they
project, the history they commemorate, and the origins of their names. Chicago's Parks: A Photographic History seeks to remedy this oversight. From Chicago's first park, Dearborn Park, to its more famous parks of Grant and Lincoln, this book provides a wealth of information concerning the origins of the names and plans of these Chicago landmarks. A formal plan for the creation of a park system was developed in 1869, and soon Chicago had some of the greatest parks to be found anywhere in the world. When Chicago was founded in 1837, the city's fathers adopted the motto urbs in horto, or "the city set in a garden." Despite the numerous changes that have taken place over the past 160 years, Chicago is still a city set in a garden. Chicago's Parks: A Photographic History captures the growth of that "garden" with its nearly 200 historic photographs.

Jekyll Island

9780738505725

$24.99

Since the 1940s, Jekyll Island has gone through a transformation from an exclusive private club where America's wealthiest families vacationed to a state-owned resort enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. The changes that came to Jekyll brought both
disappointments and triumphs, and involved people from all walks of life--the former employees of the Jekyll Island Club who remained after its closing in 1942, the military servicemen who were stationed on the island in the early 1940s, the legislators divided over the State of Georgia's purchase of the island in 1947, and the tourists who continue to enjoy this coastal community into the twenty-first century.
Within these pages, the story of Jekyll's transformation unfolds. Historic photographs of the island, its early residents, and devoted beachcombers recall the early days when the island was accessed only by ferry and when the elite club reopened as a hotel. Included are images of the island's continued development, prompted by the 1950 formation of the Jekyll Island Authority, which remains today as the island's governing entity. Hotels, parks, restaurants, golf courses, and a host of other attractions are featured in this unique retrospective.

Patapsco Valley State Park

9781467129565

$24.99

Immerse yourself in the stunning flora and fauna, trails, ruins and other wonders the Patapsco Valley State Park provides.

Patapsco Valley State Park is nestled in four Maryland counties - Carroll, Baltimore, Howard, and Anne Arundel. From its humble beginnings in 1907 as a 43-acre forest reserve to its expansion to over 16,000 acres today, this hidden gem has become a refuge for wild animals and native vegetation and a retreat from suburban and city life. With its eight developed recreation areas and over 200 miles of trails, more than a million visitors annually explore this vast area rich with history. Visitors have discovered the park's National Historic Landmark, the Thomas Viaduct, which remains in use today with modern trains passing over the first multiple-arch stone railroad viaduct in the United States. Other marvels from the past include remains of 19th-century mills and mill towns, the Civilian Conservation Corps' Camp Tydings, and the popular and scenic swinging bridge. Visitors to the park today continue to experience the joy of the great outdoors like millions before them.

Hubbard Park

9781467105835

$24.99

Nestled on the western edge of the Connecticut traprock ridge known as the Hanging Hills, Hubbard Park is an expansive 1,800-acre municipal park in the historic city of Meriden. Gifted to the city from industrialist Walter Hubbard, the park was dedicated on October 29, 1900. It is a striking tract of land that combines rugged wilderness and sylvan beauty with scenic vistas, outdoor recreation, and historic structures. High above Hubbard Park and capping the soaring East Peak is the landmark Castle Craig Tower. This stone observatory, conceived by Hubbard, provides spectacular views from the highest point within 25 miles of the coastline from Maine to Florida. Nearly 1,000 feet below, the park's centerpiece, Mirror Lake, boasts fountains and cascades that complement the picturesque mountains and woodlands. The park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Hubbard Park tells the remarkable story of one of New England's largest and most celebrated parks.

Moraine State Park

9781467125260

$24.99

Venture into flora and fauna of Pennsylvania's Moraine State Park and uncover the hidden histories behind its natural treasures.

About 20,000 years ago, the late Wisconsinan glaciation reached its maximum extent. Glacial deposits identify the moraine, or farthest area covered by the glacier. Muddy Creek was a north-flowing stream that was blocked by the south-advancing glacier, forming a huge lake that lasted until the glacier dam began to retreat. The lake rapidly drained, eventually exposing the vast Muddy Creek basin. Dr. Frank Preston envisioned recreating the ancient glacial lake and worked with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to begin the project that became 16,725-acre Moraine State Park. Its centerpiece, man-made Lake Arthur and the surrounds, provide outstanding outdoor recreation and relaxation opportunities.

Giant City State Park

9780738584188

$24.99

Anyone wanting to understand how Giant City State Park in rural Makanda earned its name need only hike on the Giant City Nature Trail. Here they walk through the park's namesake rock formations, carved 20,000 years ago by the melting waters of a Pleistocene glacier that stopped a mere 1.5 miles from the park. Yet it wasn't until 1933 to 1941, when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated its three work camps, that man blazed his most notable trail in the park's history. The CCC's work since then has been enjoyed by millions of park visitors to its stone picnic shelters, trails throughout the park, and the massive Giant City Lodge.

Virginia State Parks

9780738587189

$24.99

Pres. Franklin Roosevelt's establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 had lasting conservation impacts across the nation. Virginia joined this effort when Will Carson of the Virginia Conservation Commission convinced Roosevelt to use the Civilian Conservation Corps to build a state park system. Virginia is distinguished as the only state in the nation to open a system of state parks on one day. On June 15, 1936, the first six state parks--Douthat, Seashore (present day First Landing), Hungry Mother, Fairy Stone, Westmoreland, and Staunton River State Parks--were opened. From these humble beginnings, the commonwealth has developed over 35 diverse, award-winning state parks. From seashore to mountains, take a journey across Virginia through a vast array of landscapes and unrivaled natural and cultural resources.

Breakheart Reservation

9780738597799

$24.99

Comprising over 600 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and hilly terrain, Breakheart Reservation has expansive views that reach south to Boston, north to New Hampshire, and east to the Atlantic Ocean. What began as a parcel of common land awarded to new settlers arriving in Saugus in the early 1700s is today considered a gem in the Massachusetts state park system. In the 1890s, businessman Benjamin Johnson and two friends bought the land to create a private hunting retreat called Breakheart Hill Forest. The tranquil forest was catapulted into the limelight in 1900 when their caretaker was brutally murdered. Three decades later, Johnson and his partners sold the land to the state. It became a camp for the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps and was later transformed into a recreational area.

Kansas City's Parks and Boulevards

9781467112598

$24.99

A fast-growing frontier community transformed itself into a beautiful urban model of parks and boulevards. In 1893, East Coast newspapers were calling Kansas City "the filthiest in the United States." The drainage of many houses emptied into gullies and cesspools. There was no garbage collection service, and herding livestock through the city was only recently prohibited. Through the diligent efforts of a handful of recently arrived citizens, political, financial, and botanical skills were successfully applied to a nascent parks system. "Squirrel pastures," cliffs and bluffs, ugly ravines, and shanties and slums were turned into a gridiron of green, with chains of parks and boulevards extending in all directions. Wherever the system penetrated well-settled localities, the policy was to provide playgrounds, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, pools, and field houses. By the time the city fathers were finished, Kansas City could boast of 90 miles of boulevards and 2,500 acres of urban parks.

Around Susquehanna State Park

9780738518183

$24.99

In 1608, Capt. John Smith navigated the waters of the Susquehanna River and named it "Smith's Falles." At that time, the surrounding land was occupied by the Susquehannock Indians, and after their departure, land grants were awarded to English colonists. These early settlers hewed timber from the dense forests for shelter and
cultivated the land to grow crops of corn, wheat, and tobacco. The waterway served as a means of travel and as a source of food for these adventurers. They fished from the river and nearby streams and harnessed water power to operate their flint and grist mills.

Baltimore's Patterson Park

9780738543659

$24.99

Patterson Park is an urban oasis, a sacred green space surrounded by red brick row homes and generations of diverse cultures and neighborhoods. This refuge is also an urban emerald with many facets.

For almost 180 years, Baltimoreans have picnicked under tall tulip poplars, strolled the deeply curved paths, and enjoyed the rich architectural design of this 137-acre East Baltimore park. Patterson Park is not simply beautiful landscapes, scenic vistas, and tree-lined pathways. Patterson Park has served as the defenses of Baltimore during the War of 1812, a Civil War surgical hospital, and a picturesque home to herons, wood ducks, and painted turtles. Patterson Park has a free outdoor gym with tennis courts, volleyball nets, and an ice rink, as well as paths for relaxing walks around the boat lake. Since its beginnings in 1827, Patterson Park has been a prime example of how urban open spaces can complete and unify diverse communities.

Badlands National Park

9780738532264

$24.99

The South Dakota Badlands seldom fails to stir a sense of wonder to those who encounter its surreal landscape for the first time. From a distance, the eroded formations look like the ruins of an alabaster city, but upon closer inspection, the sculptured terrain appears rough and rugged. Within these pages of historic photographs, the remarkable story of the Badlands unfolds. After the process of geological changes, Indians came to the Badlands on seasonal hunting trips. In the mid 1800s, fur traders, fossil hunters, and freight haulers passed through to places more hospitable. Cattlemen and homesteaders arrived in the 1890s, intent on staying, but most gave up and left. To preserve its grandeur, Congressman Peter Norbeck and his associate Ben Millard worked for many years to set aside thousands of acres of the unyielding land for a national monument in 1939. The Badlands became a national park in 1978.

Fort Worth Parks

9780738578668

$24.99

Fort Worth sits on a blend of timber and prairie land that is transected by the Trinity River and its tributaries. These physical attributes invited the creation of parks to preserve scenic landscapes and to provide Fort Worth residents with access to nature. Generous land donations as well as the foresight of city leaders allowed for the acquisition of park land, particularly after the formation of the park department in 1909. Local architects and such well-known names as George E. Kessler, Hare and Hare, Philip Johnson, and Lawrence Halprin have left a rich legacy of nationally recognized parks and recreational amenities. These include the Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the Water Gardens, Heritage Plaza, Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, and Fort Woof, the city's first dog park.

New Jersey's Palisades Interstate Park

9780738549729

$24.99

New Jersey's Palisades Interstate Park was created in 1900 to preserve the majestic Palisades of the Hudson River from being defaced by massive stone quarries. In the generations since its creation, it has served as an oasis of beauty, recreation, and tranquility in the midst of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. The park has an archive of over 3,000 images of the Palisades. Photographs show the area decades before the park's creation and through the 1930s and 1940s, when thousands sought recreation as an escape from hard times during the Great Depression and World War II and hundreds of men worked in the park for New Deal agencies.

Philadelphia's Fairmount Park

9780738537948

$24.99

Philadelphia's Fairmount Park focuses on the more than four thousand acres of land along the east and west banks of the Schuylkill River and into parts of the Wissahickon Valley that comprise one of the world's largest urban parks. Historically and architecturally important structures and buildings are chronicled, such as the famous waterworks, the many bridges that span the park's waterways, the Zoological Gardens, and Boathouse Row. Numerous fountains, monuments, and artistic sculptures that dot the landscape are also documented. Rich in natural beauty, the park's meadows, gardens, lush vegetation, rugged ravines, and wooded areas will capture the eye. Philadelphia's Fairmount Park is a nostalgic view of the park as it was enjoyed by visitors during the first quarter of the twentieth century.

Harriman State Park

9780738572932

$24.99

Once home to Native Americans and mountain settlers, Harriman State Park is today a 73-square-mile wilderness and recreation area lying 30 miles north of New York City. Offering over 200 miles of hiking trails, swimming, boating, fishing, and camping, it has been an oasis for city dwellers for 100 years. During the 1800s, the land was home to hardworking farmers, miners, and woodcutters. As the new century dawned, it evolved into a park of stunning beauty. Part of the Palisades Interstate Park System, it is the second-largest state park in New York.

Asbury Park

9780738537733

$24.99

Using postcards from the late 1800s on, Asbury Park recounts the history of one of New Jersey's most popular summer resorts. Here are more than two hundred spectacular views of Asbury Park as a thriving city for both businesses and vacationers. Shown are hotels of all descriptions, unforgettable downtown shops, and the beachfront--a beautiful city carved out of sand dunes and pine forests.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

9781467123075

$24.99

Cape Hatteras National Seashore was authorized by Congress on August 17, 1937, and established on January 12, 1953. As the nation's first national seashore, it encompasses 30,000 acres and crosses three islands, Bodie, Hatteras, and Ocracoke, for approximately 70 miles. Nearby Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, located within the authorized seashore boundary, is 5,880 acres. Over the centuries, the seashore has witnessed major historic events, including the landing of the first English explorers, the death of Blackbeard the pirate, Civil War battles, German U-boat attacks, hundreds of shipwrecks, and devastating hurricanes. Descended from horses brought over by Spanish explorers, the Ocracoke ponies still roam the landscape. This National Park Service unit also includes the majestic Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke Lighthouses. The seashore is a haven for wildlife and recreational beachgoers. Cape Hatteras National Seashore showcases the rich natural and cultural heritage of America's first national seashore.

Wah-Tut-Ca Scout Reservation

9780738549781

$24.99

Wah-Tut-Ca Scout Reservation opened its gates on July 4, 1937, for its first summer season. Drawing the camp's name from a Native American phrase meaning "friends and brothers," the Massachusetts community of Greater Lowell built the camp in Northwood, New Hampshire, with the vision of creating a place where young men could go on a "voyage of discovery" and eagerly search for "what is over there." Thousands of young people have walked down the trails, gazed at the sunsets, and set out on adventures in the camp's 300 acres. Wah-Tut-Ca Scout Reservation tells the story of how this community developed, built, maintained, and expanded its Boy Scout camp through difficult times, including war and rationing. Now the largest camp of the Yankee Clipper Council BSA, Wah-Tut-Ca receives scouts, families, and adult scouters from more than 50 communities.

Branch Brook Park

9780738550381

$24.99

Branch Brook Park, located in Newark, was America's first county park. The park was established in 1895 as the cornerstone of the Essex County Park System. The vision for Branch Brook Park came in 1867, when Newark park commissioners retained Olmsted, Vaux, and
Company to identify a site for a park in the city. That vision matured into a reality that is now, 140 years later, woven into the urban experience of Newark and its neighboring towns. The significance of
Branch Brook Park has been nationally recognized with its placement on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. Home to the Newark Cherry Blossom Festival, organized long-distance runs
and bicycle races, picnics, the Chrysanthemum Show, the New Jersey Symphony Under the Stars, boating on the lake, prom pictures, and sports activities from baseball to bocce to soccer and tennis, Branch Brook Park remains a constant source of great beauty.

Hacklebarney and Voorhees State Parks

9780738536798

$24.99

Hacklebarney and Voorhees State Parks recounts the history of two beautiful natural sanctuaries at the southwestern end of New Jersey's Highlands. Managed as a single unit by the state park service, the two parks are Hacklebarney, 977 acres along the Black River corridor, and Voorhees, 640 acres of gently rolling farmland. Their stories are similar: both parks were created in the 1920s on privately donated land and were developed by the federally operated Civilian Conservation Corps. With more than two hundred unique photographs, many published here for the first time, Hacklebarney and Voorhees State Parks shows life at the CCC camps, the building of trails and roads by hand, and the repair of forests.

Historic Charleston Gardens

9780738552781

$24.99

This volume in the Images of America series preserves through vintage photographs the gardens that, by their very nature, are impermanent. Although Charleston's contemporary gardens are well documented in other sources, those of past generations are depicted here, reminding readers that Charleston was primarily a city of family homes where life was enjoyed in the garden. From more traditional formal designs to surprisingly informal yards, these 19th and 20th-century photographs detail gardening life from bygone eras. Beyond the peninsula, informal country gardens were a small but important part of working farms, and summer cottage yards were intended for recreation and relaxation.

Castle Garden and Battery Park

9780738549613

$24.99

From theater to landing plce for immagrants, this is the photographic hsitory of 200 year old Castle Garden and Battery Park.

Few buildings in Manhattan have had a richer and more varied life than 200-year-old Castle Clinton, the magnificent red sandstone structure that lies in historic Battery Park. Although originally built as a fortress just before the outbreak of the War of 1812, its actual fame rests on the years when it was known worldwide as Castle Garden, a name that underlined its intimate connection with the surrounding park. Under that name, it served successively as Manhattan's preeminent public events hall and theater (1824-1855), then as America's first great landing place for millions of immigrants (1855-1890), and finally as the oldest and grandest municipal aquarium in the United States (1896-1941). Castle Garden and Battery Park invites readers to step back in time and dip into this legendary monument's dramatic story and learn how it has managed to survive into the 21st century.

Tacoma's Parks

9780738548968

$24.99

When civic benefactor Clinton P. Ferry donated a graceful, elliptically shaped plot of land in 1883 for the first park in Tacoma, he hoped his adopted hometown would do him proud and become a veritable city of parks. The young community did not disappoint. Landmarks such as Wright Park, Lincoln Park, and Point Defiance Park graced the landscape by 1900, a testament to Tacoma's appreciation for beauty, conservation, and recreation, which continues to this day. In 1907, residents voted to establish the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma, Washington's first independent parks municipality, to act as steward of these civic treasures. A century later, Metro Parks Tacoma embraces some 57 parks covering 2,700 acres, as well as swimming pools, sports complexes, community centers, and recreational programs for all ages.