Name: Ghosts of Martha's Vineyard
Brand: Tom Dresser
SKU: 9781467146463
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Ghosts of Martha's Vineyard

9781467146463

$21.99

Martha's Vineyard has always been known as a charming seaside destination. But on this island, a cautious tour reveals darker tales that lie beneath its familiar exterior. Walk by the House of Correction, where Old Joe patrols the cells in the afterlife. Savor spirits at the Kelley House, where the ghost of the widow of a whaleman rolls Christmas ornaments across the floor and appears by the fireplace. Meander into the Victorian Inn, now The Christopher, where a honeymooning couple was spooked by towels flung on the floor and a rug that wiggled from beneath their four-poster. Local author and historian Thomas Dresser explores haunted happenings from all six island towns, as well as tales of pirates, murder and the afterlife.

Bridgewater

9780738586502

$24.99

The story of Bridgewater is one of survival. Since its founding in 1835, this community has endured six major floods, economic crises, and a war that took place on its own soil. Despite the adversity it faced, the town has not only prevailed but has grown into one of the strongest and most progressive towns in Virginia.

LGBTQ Cincinnati

9781467105118

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

Cincinnati's LGBTQ history is a study in riveting contradictions. Seen as one of the more conservative cities in Ohio, Cincinnati is also the home of the first Pride march in the entire state. A strong move to censor the LGBTQ-related art of Robert Mapplethorpe at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center resulted in a nationally publicized trial where freedom of expression emerged victorious in the face of those who zealously sought to suppress the LGBTQ community's voice. The passage of Issue 3 in 1993 epitomized the tenet that minority rights should never be up for majority vote, while the repeal of Article XII eleven years later displayed the sheer power of mobilization. Through protests, celebrations, and demonstrations of unadulterated pride, Cincinnati has proven itself over and over again as a community of individuals trying to make the Queen City live up to its royal--and decidedly LGBTQ--name.

Clifton Park

9780738554617

$24.99

Travel through more than a century's worth of images and memories of Clifton Park, New York.

Vivid and entrancing, the images of Clifton Park contained within this volume span more than a century of memories. Residents of the area, both natives and newcomers, will find a strong connection with the faces and places presented. Rare photographs of Clifton Park, many never before published, provide a glimpse of life from 1875 to 1950. We experience the area's gradual transition, from its agricultural roots through the era of the Erie Canal and the railroads to the early years of the automobile. Through pictures of local industries, shaded dirt roads, homes, and amusement parks, we learn how early Clifton Park residents worked and played. The book also features views of local taverns, general stores, churches, and schools--all the foundations of a changing, strong, and growing community.

Northport

9780738594002

$24.99

The name Northport reminds people that "North Port" was the northern-most point river traffic could navigate the Black Warrior River in the early years. Settled in 1816, Northport was first known as Kentuck or Cane-tuck because it was a cane-brake wilderness. In the 19th century, the land was fertile and cotton was king. Warehouses were built along the riverbank to store cotton to be loaded onto steamships bound for market. Due to periodic flooding, the center of town was relocated several blocks away from the river around 1830; Northport was incorporated 41 years later. The current buildings along both sides of Main Avenue were primarily built after the Civil War. Over time, several fires, flooding, and a tornado have changed the downtown landscape. As reported in the Tuscaloosa News after the March 21, 1932, tornado, "It looked as if Northport had been bombed."

St. Louis Aviation

9780738584102

$24.99

For a little more than 60 years, from 1904 to 1967, St. Louis was considered the world's air capital for balloon racers, parachutists, airship aeronauts, air-traffic controllers, scheduled airlines, solo-flight adventurers, fighter pilots, and astronauts. At many times, the United States has led the world in aviation development and technology, and St. Louis was one of the biggest contributors with many aviation firsts. A U.S. president first flew in an aircraft here. St. Louis can arguably be credited with the world's first parachute jump, along with the world's first air-traffic controller. The city was the epicenter for international balloon racing, and of course most people know that the city was home to Charles Augustus Lindbergh. The Cold War and subsequent conflicts might have turned out quite differently if a St. Louis aircraft manufacturer had not existed. The world's largest airline may have never gotten off the ground if not for a U.S. mail contract that was awarded to a St. Louis company in the mid-1920s. This book provides a brief view of these firsts in aviation, as well as the development and impact of aviation in the city and beyond.

Long Island Food

9781626198463

$21.99

Beyond its crowded highways, Long Island serves up a plentiful, eclectic bounty with a side of history. Enticing appetites from Nassau to Montauk, food writer and Long Island native T.W. Barritt explores how immigrant families built a still thriving agricultural community, producing everything from crunchy pickles and hearty potatoes to succulent Long Island duckling. Experience the rise and fall of Long Island's bustling oyster industry and its reemergence today. And meet the modern-day pioneers--in community agriculture, wine, cheese, fine dining and craft spirits--who are reinventing Long Island's food landscape and shaping a delicious future.

The Westminster Arcade

9781467145244

$21.99

The stately Westminster Arcade was built in 1828, and this landmark building has been a part of Providence ever since. Now known as the Arcade Providence, it is the oldest surviving shopping mall in the United States, and it was recognized from the beginning as an innovative and beautiful structure. It has survived near-demolition, fires, hurricanes, consumer trends, city planners and commercial developers. Within its walls are fascinating stories of the people who made their livelihood between its double façades. Through archival records, interviews and personal accounts, author Janet Mansfield Soares reveals the challenges faced by its tenants from its beginnings as a competitor to Cheapside to its many transformations that mirror Providence's own volatile history.

Old Point Comfort Resort:

9781596294851

$24.99

The Chamberlin Hotel still stands today as a dominant landmark along the Hampton Roads Harbor. This restored hotel symbolizes the days when Old Point Comfort was the premiere health and holiday resort in the South. The Hygeia and Chamberlin were grand hotels that lavishly catered to invalids, travelers and vacationers seeking relief from the summer's heat during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Steamships and trains brought hundreds daily to enjoy Old Point Comfort. These elegant buildings combined a luxurious health resort and waterfront atmosphere with military bands, parades, promenades, historic sites, fresh breezes and the promise of courtship. Longtime Fort Monroe resident and Hampton historian John Quarstein has woven together tales and images, recipes and artifacts to tell the wonderful story of the Old Point Comfort Resort.

Monongahela City

9780738576350

$24.99

Monongahela City is a gentle, residential community located 17 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. With origins dating back to 1769, it is the oldest settlement in the Monongahela Valley. The town takes its name from the Monongahela River, called "sliding banks" by the ancient Adena people. In the early 1700s, Joseph Parkison and the DeVore brothers built competing ferries on the Monongahela, and pioneers started their westward journeys here. It was in Monongahela City that the turning point of the Whiskey Rebellion occurred, carborundum was discovered, European immigrants arrived to work the mines and mills, and the Anton brothers manufactured miners' lamps that were sold around the world. Monongahela is the birthplace of countless leaders, including the 31st US Army chief of staff, inventor of the Nerf football, an NFL hall of fame quarterback, a winner of the National Book Award, and the first federal judge in Pennsylvania to go through the merit selection process.

Springfield

9780738556772

$24.99

Springfield is a city rich with history and a tradition of innovation. Dubbed the "City of Firsts," it has been influencing change since 1786, when the city was the site of Shays' Rebellion, the revolutionary uprising that prompted early Americans to form the Constitutional Convention. The city is the birthplace of the first American gas-powered car and the American motorcycle. In the 1930s, the pioneering Granville Brothers manufactured the airplanes that tore up the skies over Springfield during the golden age of air racing. Spring field is also the home of Dr. Seuss, the counter-culture hero Timothy Leary, and the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The Great Passion Play

9780738553245

$24.99

The Great Passion Play in historic Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was first performed on July 15, 1968. Since that day, over seven million visitors from all over the world have witnessed the largest outdoor drama in the United States. The play ambitiously dramatizes the last week of Jesus's life and his ascension. The staging incorporates over 200 cast members, live animals, period dress, and numerous special effects. Surrounding the Great Passion Play are the sacred projects of the Elna M. Smith Foundation, which were the vision of Gerald L. K. Smith and Elna M. Smith. These projects include the seven-story Christ of the Ozarks statue, the Sacred Arts Museum, the New Holy Land, and the Bible Museum. On average, over 100,000 people are drawn to these attractions every year.

Montpelier Chronicles:

9781467118576

$21.99

Four years after the American Revolution, in 1787, Colonel Jacob Davis became the first to clear land in the new settlement that had been chartered as Montpelier. The name honored France for its support of the American patriots. Disasters, industries and larger-than-life personalities helped shape the city's identity. And it didn't take long for Montpelier to make a name for itself--its location created a prime manufacturing hub, and the Vermont Central Railroad made travel convenient. The city also became the scene of the fire of 1875 and the Gould-Caswell murder. Join local historian Paul Heller as he compiles significant moments of Montpelier's past.

Sagamore Beach

9780738511832

$24.99

Framed by a two-mile pristine beach with Victorian homes on an overlooking bluff, the Sagamore Beach area has a long history, beginning with the Native American trail that was the forerunner of today's Route 6A. Settlement began when the internationally known Christian Endeavor Society chose the area for a summer colony in 1905. Soon, it was a combined vacation, recreation, and religious community, as well as a haven for families, that hosted numerous activities, including speakers of national fame, conferences, and a traditional swim at eleven every morning. Among stories of colony life in Sagamore Beach are several early attempts to create the Cape Cod Canal. Sagamore Beach became a prime site for viewing the construction of jetties for the canal's east end, the building of Sagamore Bridge, and the first ships transiting the canal.

Historic Tales of Windham

9781467135641

$21.99

The natural beauty and fertile lands of Windham drew first the Pawtucket Indians and then Scotch-Irish settlers. The town's rich history is full of intriguing stories, including Wallace Fessenden's unscrupulous baseball umpiring, the return of a native son after his burial at sea in Indonesia and the poetic life of the Rustic Bard, Robert Dinsmoor. Tourism boomed as early as the 1850s, when visitors flocked to the waterside temptations of Canobie Lake and later Cobbett's Pond, where eccentric millionaire Edward Searles built his famous castle. Local historian Derek Saffie weaves together a collection of historic stories from the settlement's roots as Nutfield to the town of Windham.

Carroll County

9780738588018

$24.99

Carroll County, Maryland, has been a crossroads of cultures since the 18th century. Carroll's structures and town plans reflect English and Pennsylvania-German influences. Mile-long streets punctuated by town squares are lined with a variety of stone and brick buildings of various eras. Though progress has altered these plans, the survival rate allows modern viewers to glimpse and compare multiple eras of local history.

Belchertown State School

9781467105019

$24.99

In the first decade of the 20th century, the state of Massachusetts established itself as a leader in the education of individuals with disabilities. The third state school for the feebleminded was built in rural Belchertown, in the western part of the state. Opened in 1915, Belchertown State School would eventually encompass almost 900 acres of land and would become the largest employer in town. For nearly 60 years, the state school educated individuals with disabilities who were otherwise excluded from public education, training the "residents" to become independent members of their families and of society. The model was a success until reports of abuse and neglect began to surface, culminating in the landmark 1972 Ricci v. Greenblatt case, which ultimately led to the state school's closure in 1992. The state school's rich history, maintained and curated by the late Donald LaBrecque, chronicles the rise of special education and developmental services and the ultimate collapse of the state school system.

Murder & Mayhem in Boston

9781626197978

$21.99

Boston's history is checkered with violence and heinous crimes. In 1845, a woman lured into prostitution was murdered at the hands of her jealous lover who used sleepwalking as his defense at trial. A leg was found floating along the Boston Harbor, wrapped in a burlap bag that would later be connected to a woman who was brutally murdered and dismembered by her handyman. In the 1970s, a string of seemingly unconnected murders led to a killer who became known as the Giggler. Christopher Daley explores the tragic events that turned peaceful Boston neighborhoods into disturbing crime scenes.

Erie

9780738576169

$24.99

Erie grew from the discovery of coal in the mid-1800s. Its mines became the largest suppliers of lignite coal in the northern Colorado coalfield. Unions quickly moved into Colorado to push for improved working conditions and miners' rights to participate in decisions affecting their jobs. When mine owners refused to honor their requests, miners went on strike, and owners hired scab labor from Europe, Asia, and Mexico. Tensions mounted, and local miners sabotaged mines by setting explosives and otherwise damaging property. Colorado's governor established a special militia to deal with the strikers. The armed militia wounded and killed miners and their families in southern Colorado's Ludlow Mine and Erie's Columbine Mine. Government intervention and the sympathetic viewpoint of the owner of the Columbine Mine led to the first Colorado coal company to unionize. Miners fought for working conditions that characterize many of today's best-run companies. With the closing of the last mine in the area in 1979, Erie has grown to become a bedroom community in the Denver-Boulder metropolitan community.

Stratford

9780738500669

$24.99

In 1639, the Reverend Adam Blakeman and his small congregation settled on the north shore of Long Island Sound at a spot known to the Native American tribes who spent their summers there as Cupheag. Over the past 360 years, the town has experienced tremendous growth and progress. Although Stratford covers only 19 square miles, the town is home to over 50,000 residents. Before the 20th-century manufacturing boom, the lifestyles of Stratford citizens centered on river and shoreline activities and agriculture. With the development of next-door Bridgeport (once part of Stratford) as an industrial center in the late 19th century, Stratford became a suburban recreation area; as large farms were divided into small house lots, individual property owners moved in and housing developments sprang up throughout.

Distilled in Oregon

9781467137720

$24.99

Early Oregon fur traders concocted a type of distilled beverage known as "Blue Ruin," used in commerce with local Native Americans. Drawn by the abundant summer harvests of the Willamette Valley, distillers put down roots in the nineteenth century. Because of Oregon's early sunset on legal liquor production in 1916--four years before national Prohibition--hundreds of illicit stills popped up across the state. Residents of Portland remained well supplied, thanks to the infamous efforts of Mayor George Baker. The failed national experiment ended in 1933, and Hood River Distillers resurrected the sensible enterprise of turning surplus fruit into brandy in 1934. Thanks in part to the renowned Clear Creek Distillery triggering a craft distilling movement in 1985, the state now boasts seventy distilleries and counting. Author Scott Stursa leads a journey through the history of distilling in the Beaver State.

Randy Trabold's Northern Berkshire County

9780738511771

$24.99

Randy Trabold was the chief photographer for the North Adams Transcript from 1935 until he retired in 1979. Randy Trabold's Northern Berkshire County documents his formidable capacity to record the pulse of the northern Berkshire area-from tragedy to laughter and from the bizarre to the incredibly beautiful. While the book features familiar landmarks, such as North Adams, Williamstown, the Mohawk Trail, and Mount Greylock, it also takes a tour of the region's beautiful landscape, revisits the Fall Foliage Festival, and explores the frustrations and humor of Berkshire winters.

Randy Trabold's Northern Berkshire County

Southwest DC

9781467124218

$24.99

Southwest DC is a unique quadrant in the nation's capital. After a massive 1950s and 1960s urban renewal project demolished much of the area's buildings, Southwest DC began anew with a clean slate. Capitalizing on the waterfront location and utilizing modern architecture, large high-rise buildings were constructed to house thousands of new residents, who would later fight to preserve the architecture in this new planned community located close to the US Capitol. This tight-knit community would once again witness a large-scale construction boom after the turn of the 21st century, as upscale hotels, most noticeably the Mandarin-Oriental, and high-end condominiums were built, complemented by new restaurants, shops, and services. The waterfront area--home to a community of live-aboard houseboats and sailboats--would also later completely transform, anchored by The Wharf project. Biking and walking trails also introduced Washingtonians to this hidden jewel in the capital. Southwest DC remains a community-minded neighborhood with a thriving arts scene, important religious institutions, and nonprofit organizations, as well as government offices.

The Nantahala River

9781467141536

$23.99

Most everyone who comes to western North Carolina has heard of the Nantahala, but few know its history. Long before it was a mecca for rafters and thrill seekers, it was traveled by naturalists and explorers from William Bartram to John C. Frémont. After the Cherokees were driven out, settlers arrived and began exporting the wealth of the mountains in the form of timber, talc and minerals. Tourists arrived on the Western Turnpike soon after, and the railroad brought more around 1890. The federal government began purchasing land for the new Nantahala National Forest, and the need for aluminum to fight World War II precipitated the construction of Fontana Lake and Nantahala Lake. Local author Lance Holland has crafted an enlightening and entertaining narrative history of this unique region.

El Camino Real de los Tejas

9781467131940

$24.99

The Royal Road of the Tejas Indians, El Camino Real de los Tejas, was born hundreds of years ago when the Native Americans followed routes used by buffalo and other animals, realizing that these early creatures knew the best paths to take. Also known as Kings Highway, it later became a major thoroughfare used by travelers from the East coming to Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico. In 2004, El Camino Real de los Tejas took on new meaning when the historical road was designated as the 19th National Historic Trail in the United States. Development is guided by El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association housed in Austin, Texas.

Nemasket River Herring:

9781626196629

$21.99

Every spring, the Nemasket River welcomes thousands of migratory river herring that thrash and leap as they fight their way upstream from Mount Hope Bay. Of all non-domesticated animals, the river herring--or alewife--has arguably had the greatest impact on the towns along the river in southeastern Massachusetts. The area was called Nemasket," or "place of fish," by Native Americans, and its earliest English colonists were dependent on river herring for their very survival. They provided a livelihood for generations of families in Middleborough and Lakeville, shaping their culture and the course of the region's development. Today, herring fishing is banned, and the community is working toward protecting and preserving the river so the herring have a place to return each year. Join historian Michael J. Maddigan as he explores the big story of the small fish that shaped life along the Nemasket River."

Independence

9781467112611

$24.99

Independence, Kansas, is the perfect picture of Americana. Where else can one find a small town that holds an annual theatre festival named in honor of one of its own natives, William Inge, or celebrates the early settlers in the Little House on the Prairie novels? Where can one find the site of the first-ever night game in organized baseball or the first team of one of baseball's most prolific hitters, Mickey Mantle? What other town in America can claim achievers like safari traveler Martin Johnson, oil magnate Harry Sinclair, presidential candidate Alf Landon, and even an astronaut chimp named Miss Abel? Lastly, where else can one find a town that holds a weeklong festival with the whimsical name Neewollah ("Halloween" spelled backward)?

Haunted History of Delaware

9781467148825

$21.99

Delaware native and paranormal historian Josh Hitchens invites you on a spooky road trip through the First State, telling scary stories of the most frightening phantoms that lurk in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties.

Read the legend of Fiddler's Bridge, meet the ghosts in the Governor's Mansion, learn the truth behind the Selbyville Swamp Monster and many more terrifying tales that will chill your bones. Combining historical facts with fearsome folklore, The Haunting of Delaware: Ghosts and Legends from the First State is sure to keep you reading long past midnight…if you dare. Experience Delaware's ghostly history and the echoes it creates in the present day, places where the souls of the dead have not yet found rest.

Legendary Locals of Asheville

9781467101677

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

Like all great cities, Asheville's story is one of people, not institutions or industries. For more than two centuries, deep in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, extraordinary women and men have created a truly unique American city. Legendary Locals of Asheville tells the stories of the people who founded, built, and rebuilt Asheville. From the first woman elected to state office in the South, who won her primary before women had the right to vote, to the grandson of a famed railroad magnate who built a 250-room chateau that became the largest home in America, to the entrepreneur who helped ignite the city's renaissance when he risked opening an art gallery downtown when most of it was still boarded up, Ashevillians are an amazing lot. Likewise, there are stories of extraordinary groups like the renowned faculty of an experimental college that redefined the American arts or the brave high school students who joined together to fight segregation. Their stories are as touching and fascinating as they are varied.

Sacramento's Midtown

9780738546568

$24.99

As Sacramento's neighborhoods grew eastward from Fifteenth Street to Thirty-first Street (later Alhambra Boulevard), the area evolved into a complex mix of housing and businesses known as Midtown. Sutter's Fort was still popular, and community groups like the Native Sons of the Golden West restored its last remnants for future generations. In 1927, the city built Memorial Auditorium, a tribute to fallen soldiers, as a large central venue that continues to serve as an important setting for graduations, concerts, and conventions. The J and K Street business corridors expanded from downtown, and identifiable neighborhoods such as Poverty Ridge, Boulevard Park, and New Era Park developed as people settled and established businesses in these growing areas. Today's Midtown supports numerous Victorian mansions and Craftsman bungalows, as well as the legacies of such employers as the California Almond Growers' Exchange, California Packing Corporation, Buffalo Brewery, Sutter Hospital, and the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

Painting the Town Orange:

9781626194397

$24.99

Houston's sprawl has come with controversy, but it has created a blank canvas for the public art community. It all started in the Telephone Road Place subdivision, where retired mail carrier Jefferson Davis McKissack built the Orange Show, an extraordinary and eccentric monument to self-reliance, hard work and, yes, the fruit itself. McKissack's installation spawned more of its kind in the Bayou City, like the Beer Can House, the Flower Man's House, Pigdom--one woman's shrine to swine"--and a flourishing art scene committed to preserving Houston's art environments. Author Pete Gershon tells the stories of these sites, their creators and the members of Houston's unique art community, all set against the backdrop of the city's quirky history.."

Nashville Ghosts and Legends

9781596293243

$21.99

Beneath Music City's welcoming exterior lies a ghoulish and ghastly past....
Nashville is one of the South's truly haunted cities. From the bloodshed between the Cherokee and the white settlers to the slaughter of soldiers on Civil War battlefields, Nashville's murderous past has given rise to an extraordinarily haunted present.
Authors Ken Traylor and Delas House Jr. use their years of experience as ghost tour guides and owners of Haunted Ghost Tours of America to steer readers on a journey through Nashville's eeriest sites, from the steps of the state capitol to the halls of Ryman Auditorium. Revealing the chilling secrets of the city's spookiest honky tonk haunts, Traylor and House share the gruesome details of Nashville's wicked past in their unique collection of shocking stories.

Quincy, Illinois

9780738507835

$24.99

When John Wood built his first log cabin in 1822 at what is now Front and Delaware Streets, he began a settlement that would become Quincy, Illinois.

To the east was a high bluff, and to the west, the Mississippi River. As the town grew, it moved eastward onto the bluff. In Qunicy's early days, the settlers depended on the Mississippi River for their livelihood. Today's residents still depend upon the Mississippi, but now more for transportation and for pleasure. It is difficult today to imagine what the area looked like in those early years. As with many American towns, Quincy has experienced change through the years, dramatic and subtle, both captured here in the unforgettable images of Then & Now: Quincy, Illinois.

Bloomfield Revisited

9780738545417

$24.99

Bloomfield was founded by Dutch farmers in 1691. The town grew in the 1700s, as the children of Connecticut Puritans, who had settled Newark, moved west to gain their own farmlands and build homes. The original township, formed in 1812, was 20.5 square miles and included Montclair, Nutley, Belleville, Glen Ridge, and the Woodside section of Newark. Aided by its location, excellent transportation facilities, and the availability of a large, skilled workforce, the town mushroomed from an agrarian community to a population of 47,000 with modern industries and attitudes.

Cover image for Bloomfield Revisited, isbn: 9780738545417

Legendary Locals of Greene County

9781467101486

$24.99

Greene County was created in 1800 from parts of Albany and Ulster Counties, and it is named after Gen. Nathanael Greene of Revolutionary War fame. Early on, the economy of the county was primarily agricultural with a few small mills and most of the settlements located along the Hudson River and its tributaries. In the early 19th century, the economy took off: people from New England began settling the mountains to the west, the Susquehanna Turnpike opened, leather tanning and brick- and pottery-making became prominent, ice was harvested and shipped to New York City, ship-building gained importance, and tourism started to be popular. Today, tourism is still important to the area, and the county features two major ski resorts. Much of Greene County is also part of the Catskill Mountain Park, which attracts many nature-lovers all year round. Over the years, county natives and transplants have made many contributions to industry, entertainment, government, military, recreation, and the arts.