New York

Crane your neck at New York’s towering history for too long and you will look like a tourist.  Divide the Big Apple into boroughs and conquer Empire State history book by book. That offers room for proper admiration of Grand Central’s cavernous glory, the neighborly kindness that dug Buffalo out of a blizzard or just a ripping ride at Seabeeze Park. Plot General Herkimer’s winning strategy at the Battle of Oriskany and Vanderbilt’s methodical acquisition of New York rail. From Ellis Island to the Erie Canal, engage with an accessible introduction to New York history with our New York history books. [View all New York books]
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New York's Liners
New York's Liners
$24.99
Wooden Boats of the St. Lawrence River
Wooden Boats of the St. Lawrence River
$24.99
Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island
Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island
$21.99
The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound
The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound
$23.99
Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast
Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast
$23.99
Long Island and the Sea
Long Island and the Sea
$24.99
Hidden History of Islip Town
Hidden History of Islip Town
$21.99
Chenango Canal
Chenango Canal
$24.99
Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes
Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes
$21.99
Port Jefferson
Port Jefferson
$24.99
Mayday!
Mayday!
$19.99

New York's Liners

9781467123372

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For 175 years, passenger ships have crossed the Atlantic, linking the Old World with the New World. Between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants passed through the port of New York. National rivalries caused ships to grow in size, speed, and a comfort that had once been unimaginable. The advent of the passenger jet in 1958 changed how people travel. New York's harbor is now quieter, and there are no longer days with six liners ready to sail to fabled European ports. Happily, one can still sail to Europe, cruise the Caribbean, or take a world cruise from Manhattan aboard a new generation of liners like the Queen Mary 2. New York's Liners captures iconic images of the great ships from the 1890s to the present day.
New York's Liners

Wooden Boats of the St. Lawrence River

9781467124010

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The Thousand Islands' very name conjures up images of great natural beauty and nautical wonders. They are forested islands replete with storybook stone castles. Exquisite mahogany runabouts can be seen speeding across the placid surface of the mighty St. Lawrence. Names like Boldt, Bourne, Emery, Lyon, and Pullman are embedded in the Golden Age of the area, and it all comes to life in this pictorial history of the river. Images of America: Wooden Boats of the St. Lawrence River tells the story of the rich and powerful men who constructed castles and built classic wooden boats in the Thousand Islands. At the center of the story loom David and Charlie Lyon.
Wooden Boats of the St. Lawrence River

Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island

9781467145213

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From the North Shore to the South Shore and out to the East End, Long Island is home to a nationally recognized and historic boat building industry. The Steiger Craft boats of Bellport are a local household name, trusted for their ability to navigate the shallow bay waters of the South Shore. Freeport legend Al Grover sold boats around the world for generations, built Verity skiffs for gas-conscious consumers in the 1980s and holds the Guinness World Record for the first outboard motorboat crossing of the Atlantic. The Hanff and Clarke boat yards in Greenport are more than just world-class boat builders--at more than 150 years old, they are historic landmarks. Author and folklorist Nancy Solomon shares the history and stories behind Long Island's traditional boat yards and boat builders.

Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island

The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound

9781467150286

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Originally commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt as he built his maritime empire in New York, the Steamboat Lexington eventually became the most prestigious steamship on the heavily trafficked Long Island Sound... But in 1840 a fire broke out on the ship, igniting poorly placed bales of cotton which destroyed the ship in minutes. Emergency rafts sank and rescue boats were unable to reach the ship in time. Only four among the over one hundred and forty on board survived by clinging to bales of cotton. The incident would be the worst maritime disaster in Long Island history. Author Bill Bleyer presents the harrowing story of a ship's journey from glory to tragedy.
The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound

Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast

9781467160346

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Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast will explore many of the lighthouses and breakwater, pier, and reef lights in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Whether it is Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine or Fenwick Island Lighthouse in Delaware, then as now, people love to visit the lights while on holiday and send postcards back home. Many of these important navigational aids are still in existence and can be visited.


Lighthouses of the North Atlantic Coast

Long Island and the Sea

9781467138628

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For more than five centuries, the waterways surrounding Long Island have profoundly shaped its history.


Familiar subjects of lighthouses, shipwrecks and whaling are found alongside oft-forgotten oddities such as Pan-American flying boats landing in Manhasset Bay in the early days of transatlantic flight. From the British blockade and skirmishes during the American Revolution to the sinking of merchant vessels by Germany in World War II, the sea brought wars to these shores. By the later part of the 20th century, Gold Coast millionaires commuted in high-speed yachts to Manhattan offices as the island's wealth grew. Historian Bill Bleyer reveals Long Island's nautical bonds from the Native Americans to current efforts to preserve the region's maritime heritage.

Long Island and the Sea

Hidden History of Islip Town

9781467149617

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The patchwork of beach towns, villages and hamlets that make up Islip Town represents some of the most historic communities on the whole of Long Island. Local Secatogue Native Americans harrowingly saved the Dutch survivors of one of New York's first shipwrecks in 1657. New York City's infamous Tammany Hall leased an entire summer resort island in Islip Town for decades. In 1912, a young woman from Sayville sacrificed her own life for another on the RMS Titanic. Islip Town's founding father, William Nicoll, owned the largest parcel on Long Island's South Shore but was blocked from owning even a grain of sand on Fire Island. A penniless Dutch immigrant to Islip Town became the world's "Oyster King." Join author and historian Jack Whitehouse as he reveals buried stories from Islip Town's past.
Hidden History of Islip Town

Chenango Canal

9781467124812

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Chenango Canal: The Million Dollar Ditch chronicles the story of a central New York State canal and how it changed the region. In 1825, the Omnibus Canal Bill had called for a survey of a canal linking the Susquehanna River at Binghamton to the Erie Canal in Utica. The idea of a canal was well received in the Chenango Valley but was opposed by many outside it. After eight years of legislative battles, the canal was finally authorized in 1833 with a proposed million-dollar budget. Against seeming insurmountable odds, the 97-mile canal was completed in 1836. Touted as "the best built canal in New York State," the canal was never profitable for the state, but it did bring a measure of prosperity to the communities along its length, delivering cheap coal from Pennsylvania to emerging steam-powered factories.
Chenango Canal

Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes

9781626191471

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Beginning in the mid-1800s, steamboats carried people between New York City and the Albany area on the Hudson River. Romantic images lull us into believing it was a quiet means of travel, but a crowded river, faulty equipment and the bravado of the captains resulted in at least one major catastrophe every year. Night boats collided and sank, carelessness caused boiler explosions, races put passengers at risk and fires would quickly swallow the wooden vessels. The grand "Empire of Troy "suffered many collisions. The "Swallow" broke in two on a rock, "Reindeer"'s explosion took forty lives at once and the "Oregon" and "C. Vanderbilt" entered into an epic and dangerous race. Collected from eyewitness accounts, these are some of the most exciting and frightening stories of peril aboard steamboats on the Hudson River.
Hudson River Steamboat Catastrophes

Port Jefferson

9780738598178

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The history of Port Jefferson, a village on Long Island's North Shore, is rich with the lore of ships and the sea. Once called Drowned Meadow because of flooding at high tide, the town was renamed Port Jefferson in 1836. Those same harbor waters, which overran their banks, would become the natural resource that made Port Jefferson's first industry--shipbuilding--possible. By the mid-19th century, the village had become one of the principal shipbuilding centers on Long Island and a major port of entry. The names of many prominent shipbuilding families are preserved in the village's streets and institutions, including Mather, Jones, Bayles, and Hawkins. When the shipbuilding industry declined in the late 1800s, Port Jefferson used its seaside location to reinvent itself as a recreation destination, attracting notables such as Franklin Roosevelt. The community's heritage is evidenced today in the numerous well-kept historic homes and buildings that stand along the hilly, tree-lined streets overlooking the harbor.
Port Jefferson

Mayday!

9781596292475

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From valiant rescues to sorrowful disasters, the eastern shore of Long Island is home to a riveting collection of maritime lore.
Since the mid-1600s, eastern Long Island's shoals, sandbars and assorted submerged hazards have caused many an unlucky vessel to become shipwrecked. The frequency of wrecks rose to a grim crescendo during the
mid-nineteenth century as New York and New England peaked as shipping centers. Then came the dawn of the twentieth century and the arrival of advanced navigational aids. Although the number of wrecks declined, the high drama persisted as rumrunners and German submarines kept the coast humming with rumors and anticipation. In MAYDAY!, author Van R. Field painstakingly assembles a compendium of Long Island's most harrowing, amazing and notorious shipwrecks and ocean-going incidents.
Mayday!