Name: San Luis Obispo County Architecture
Brand: James Papp
SKU: 9781467160049
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

San Luis Obispo County Architecture

9781467160049

$24.99

California is rare among states and nations in having two cultural capitals--Los Angeles and San Francisco--and San Luis Obispo is smack in the middle. In the middle of nowhere or equidistant from everywhere, its architecture is a riot of variety: samples of practically every 19th- and 20th-century form; experiments by local builders; and one-offs by nationally known architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Julia Morgan, Richard Neutra, Edla Muir, and Warren Leopold ("Not A Licensed Architect" engraved on his tombstone), all without anxiety of influence from the outside. Where Santa Barbara, rebuilt after an earthquake during the City Beautiful movement, celebrates Spanish, Mission, and Moorish Revival, and Palm Springs embodies Mid-Century Modern, San Luis Obispo is California's capital of the eclectic. Wright's one Usonian office; Morgan's biggest and smallest commissions: Hearst Castle and her cab driver's daughters' playhouse; the world's only Greek Revival Streamline Moderne movie theater across from the Roman Revival PWA Moderne County Courthouse, like Ginger and Fred; the world's first industrial desalinization plant in a power plant modeled after an Egyptian Temple and sheathed in aluminum; Art Beal's bricolage Nitt Witt Ridge: all have an extraordinary story. Author James Papp is an architectural historian and writer of walking tours as well as a principal with Historicities, a cultural resources consultancy in San Luis Obispo. He is a member of the Oceano Economic Development Council Advisory Board, the Education Committee of the California Preservation Foundation, and the City of San Luis Obispo Cultural Heritage Committee.

A History of Chicago's O'Hare Airport

9781609494346

$21.99

The history of one of the most important airports in the US comes to life in over 150 historical photos.

In 1942, a stretch of Illinois prairie that had served as a battleground and a railroad depot became the site of a major manufacturing plant, producing Douglas C-54 Skymasters for World War II. Less than twenty years later, that plot of land boasted the biggest and busiest airport in the world. Many of the millions who have since passed through it have likely only regarded it as a place between cities. But for people like Michael Branigan, who has spent years on its tarmac, they know that O'Hare is a city unto itself, with a fascinating history of gangsters and heroes, mayors, presidents and pilots.

Taming Big Sky Country:

9781626198524

$21.99

Drives this breathtaking did not come easy. Cruising down Montana's scenic highways, it's easy to forget that traveling from here to there once was a genuine adventure. The state's major routes evolved from ancient Native American trails into four-lane expressways in a little over a century. That story is one of difficult, groundbreaking and sometimes poor engineering decisions, as well as a desire to make a journey faster, safer and more comfortable. It all started in 1860, when John Mullan hacked a wagon road over the formidable Rocky Mountains to Fort Benton. It continued until the last section of interstate highway opened to traffic in 1988. Montana Department of Transportation historian Jon Axline charts a road trip through the colorful and inspiring history of trails, roads and superhighways in Big Sky Country.

Cheyenne

9781467109963

$23.99

Cheyenne, Wyoming, was founded in 1867 and is young compared to cities on the Eastern Seaboard. Cheyenne exists because of the expansion of railroads from coast to coast, and although it was originally a tent city, solid structures began to appear as people settled in the area. It was wild and lawless in the beginning, but with the introduction of the cattle industry, it became a wealthy and refined community.

Carson City

9781467160094

$24.99

Established in 1858 on the brink of the Comstock Lode discovery, Carson City quickly became a hub for industry and transport in western Nevada. Following the turn of the 20th century, Carson City's proximity to the Lake Tahoe area was attractive for early tourists and recreation enthusiasts, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Lincoln Highway down the city's main street. Carson City's landscape continues to change with new businesses and expanded infrastructure. Alexis K. Thomas is an architectural historian who has worked in Carson City as well as the rest of Nevada.

Washington State Capitol Campus

9781467106764

$23.99

The Washington State Capitol Campus is the heart of state government. Olympia was designated the capital of Washington Territory in 1853. The territorial legislature first met in rented quarters before moving to a simple wooden capitol building. After becoming a state in 1889, the government began building an elaborate capitol building until the Panic of 1893 halted construction. As a temporary solution, the state purchased the former Thurston County Courthouse. Over a period of decades, a new group of permanent capitol campus buildings were constructed. Since then, the campus has continued to grow, meeting the changing needs of government. However, the history of the campus is more than a tale of buildings. It is also the story of the workers, legislators, and visitors who have made this place a community.

Bangor

9781467109789

$23.99

Bangor's landscape has changed considerably since its settlement in 1769. Old buildings have vanished, while new ones have replaced them. Even still, the Queen City of the East retains its historic charm, captured in thousands of photographs dating to the mid-19th century.

Whittier

9781467109567

$23.99

"Ye Olde Friendly Towne of Whittier" grew from a small colony of Quaker pioneers who arrived in 1887 into a center for the production of agriculture and oil around the time the city was incorporated in 1898, and not long after that into a commercial hub, college town, and flourishing Los Angeles suburb. Whittier's beginnings also coincided with the so-called "Golden Age of Postcards," when folks everywhere mailed and collected billions of the then new medium, and Whittier boosters and civic leaders published dozens that celebrated the things that made their Whittier one-of-a-kind--a trend that continued throughout the 20th century. This book features many of these vintage postcards, selected by Whittier historians Erin Fletcher, Mike Garabedian, and Tracy Wittman from public archives and private collections. Described with an eye toward remembering the past--including long-gone landmarks--the book also charts Whittier's trajectory through the unique features and places in town of which 20th-century Whittierites themselves were proudest.

Walla Walla

9781467108102

$23.99

Walla Walla is a town that has seen elegant buildings erected during a period of early prosperity and has benefited from a determined commitment to preserve these architectural treasures more than 100 years later.

Catalina by Sea:

9780738531168

$24.99

A fancy flight of lyrics specifies that Santa Catalina Island is "26 miles across the sea." But mapmakers put the distance at 19.7 miles from the closest island point, Doctor's Cove (near Arrow Point), to the closest mainland locale, Point Fermin at San Pedro. Today boats and helicopters operating out of the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach, and Dana Point transport musing songwriters and everyone else to Catalina for the song's much-promised "romance, romance, romance, romance," as well as fishing, sightseeing, and gainful employment. But the history of getting to and from the island's ports of Avalon and Two Harbors has been an epic across centuries of business and pleasure, involving a collective flotilla of side-wheelers, yachts, lumber schooners, steamships, water taxis, converted military vessels, crew boats, and today's fast and convenient jet boats.

Sloss Furnaces

9780738566238

$24.99

Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark is currently the only 20th-century blast furnace in the nation being preserved and interpreted as an industrial museum. Since reopening in 1983, Sloss Furnaces has become an international model for similar preservation efforts and presents a remarkable perspective of the era when America grew to world industrial dominance. At the same time, Sloss is an important reminder of the dreams and struggles of the people who worked in the industries that made Birmingham the "Magic City." Today Sloss is not only dedicated to preservation and education but serves as a center for community and civic events. Site tours and public presentations provide insight into Sloss's industrial heritage as well as a rare glimpse of an early Birmingham that has all but disappeared.

Lower Brazos River Canals

9781467132244

$24.99

Communities have spent more than 100 years mastering the mighty Brazos River and its waterways. In the 1800s, Stephen F. Austin chose the Brazos River as the site for the first Texas colony because of its vast water and fertile soil. Within 75 years, a pumping station would herald the way for crop management. A sugar mill that was eventually known as Imperial Sugar spurred community development. In 1903, John Miles Frost Jr. tapped the Brazos to expand the Cane and Rice Belt Irrigation System while Houston newspapers predicted the infrastructure marvel would change the region's future--and it did. Within a few decades, the Texas agricultural empire caused Louisiana to dub Texas farmers "the sugar and rice aristocracy." As the dawn of the industrial age began, the Brazos River and its waterways began supplying the Texas Gulf Coast industry.

Raleigh's Reynolds Coliseum

9780738514413

$24.99

Take the best seat in the house for this thrilling history that's so much more than the story of a building: discover the triumphs, the tears, and the tenacity of North Carolina sports and its legends.

For more than half a century, William Neal Reynolds Coliseum was at the forefront of college basketball. When filled to capacity, 12,000 fans joined together to create the noise and heat that defined game night. Indeed, Reynolds Coliseum brought big-time basketball to the South. Most area residents know Reynolds as home to the popular Dixie Classic basketball tournament and the North Carolina State University's Wolfpack championship sports teams. Surprisingly, this building was not constructed specifically for basketball. Like the state of North Carolina, the coliseum's origins grew from agriculture, and it was significantly shaped by the impact of World War II. As home to the long-standing Friends of the College series, the coliseum helped extend cultural events to the general public by promoting ""seven shows for seven dollars."" It has hosted presidents and protesters, circuses and symphonies, tractor demonstrations and rock concerts. And yes, for one ten-year stretch, more people watched college basketball games in Reynolds Coliseum than in any other campus arena in America. This volume captures more than 50 years of North Carolina history from the best seat in the house, highlighting the people and events that shaped the building as much as any architect's pencil.

Downtown Providence

9781467107891

$23.99

Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, became an important business center in New England beginning in 1866 due to an increase in immigration, urbanization, municipal planning, public and private investments, and new technologies. The business buildings of the past, some of them gone, still coexist with the modern structures of today in the 21st century.

Louis Azar II chronicles the history of the commercial downtown with historic postcards and present-day photographs from his collection along with images from the Providence Public Library and research from the Rhode Island Historical Society.

New Jersey's Masonic Lodges

9781467103138

$24.99

Across New Jersey, thousands of men have entered through the doors of Masonic Lodge buildings, also known as "temples," over the fraternity's more than 250-year history in the Garden State. These buildings, from humble meeting spaces to elaborate single-purpose centers, stand tribute to the memory and influence of one of the oldest fraternities in the world, founded on the tenets of faith, hope, and charity. From governors and US Supreme Court justices to carpenters and stonemasons, Freemasonry has welcomed men from all walks of life, and the temples they built have played important roles in the civic, social, and charitable life of many towns. Although some lodges have been lost, many still remain and are presented here for the first time through photographs and images collected from various historical societies, museums, libraries, and Masonic organizations. This book attempts not to serve as an encyclopedic source but rather to catalog and organize the development of the Masonic temples in New Jersey.

Westminster

9781467109680

$23.99

Westminster Colony was founded in 1870 by Presbyterian minister Rev. Lemuel P. Webber. The colony, based on Protestant Christian tenets and temperance, was one of the earliest settlements in what would later become Orange County, California. It developed into an important agricultural area until farmlands gave way to suburban tract homes during the county's population boom of the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1947, it became the background for the important Mendez v. Westminster case, which helped pave the way for the national dismantling of segregation in schools. A little more than a century after the first settlers arrived in Westminster, Little Saigon became the heart of Orange County's Vietnamese immigrant community. This latest group of settlers continues to make notable and unique contributions to this historic city.

Building the Caldecott Tunnel

9781467131810

$24.99

Today, the Caldecott Tunnel connects Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The original two bores of this tunnel opened in 1937, the same year as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and changed Contra Costa County from an area of small rural communities into one of growing suburbs. But this was not the first tunnel to connect these counties. The Kennedy Tunnel, opened in 1903, was accessed by steep and winding roads and located several hundred feet above today's tunnel. A third bore of the Caldecott Tunnel was opened in 1964 and a long-awaited fourth bore in late 2013. The tunnels have not been without disaster and tragedy over their hundred-plus years of existence, yet they remain an integral part of the commercial, social, and historic fabric of the region.

The New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica

9781467148429

$21.99

Known as "Old Main," the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica opened in 1843 as the first institution of its kind to treat madness as a medical illness, not a curse. A series of groundbreaking administrators sought to save mentally ill New Yorkers from lives of confinement in sordid conditions and create a safe haven. A sense of normalcy was established for patients through Old Main's Asylum Band, the Opal monthly publication and other arts programs. The infamous Utica Crib was invented at the asylum, and visitors from around the world sought to tour the facility and its utopian structure. Though closed in 1978, Old Main was placed in the National Register of Historic Places, and its iconic columns still mesmerize the public today. Author Dennis Webster charts the history of the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica.

Chenango Canal

9781467124812

$24.99

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.

A History of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal

9781596298644

$21.99

A thousand hands shaped its banks and a thousand ships have traversed the waters of a canal that defined a region. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal has both provided an important route between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and acted as a secondary and unofficial boundary between the North and South. Yet this historic waterway almost failed before the first shovel struck earth in 1804. Local historian David Berry tells the fascinating story of the C&D Canal, from the tenacious Gilpin family's sixty-year struggle to open the shipway to the canal's role in the Civil War as a vital path for Union troops and supplies to quickly cross the Delmarva and travel down the Chesapeake.

A History of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal

Brooklyn's Central Library

9781467124447

$24.99

Brooklyn, New York, is home to the Brooklyn Public Library, the fifth-largest library system in the United States, with 60 neighborhood branches serving the 2.5 million residents of the borough. The Central Library--the main hub of this far-reaching institution--has, for 75 years, occupied a prime triangle of land at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. Originally proposed in 1888, the unique Art Deco building with an "open book" design was not completed until 53 years later in 1941. Since then, the library has seen millions of eager readers pass through its iconic gilded doorway. While the technologies of learning have changed dramatically in the years since the Central Library opened, the mission of the institution remains the same--to ensure the preservation and transmission of society's knowledge, history, and culture, and to provide the people of Brooklyn with free and open access to information for education, recreation, and reference.

One-Room Schoolhouses of New Hampshire:

9781626195233

$21.99

The quaint one-room schoolhouses dotting New Hampshire formed the backbone of the early Granite State education system. Education-minded communities began building these bare-bones schools in the late seventeenth century. In a modest log or clapboard structure, a single teacher faced the challenge of instructing students of all grades through farming seasons and the daily rigors of rural life. Often, these determined educators were limited to instructing students from whichever books pupils brought from home. Despite this, education was highly valued, and students trekked through the weather of all seasons and endured corporal discipline to become literate and learned. Author Bruce Heald explores the evolution of New Hampshire's one-room schoolhouses and shares the firsthand accounts and memories of former pupils.

Purdue University's Ross-Ade Stadium

9781467151382

$24.99

Give the ball to Leroy,” the “Carmel Connection,” “Holy Toledo!” & More

Over its century in existence, Ross-Ade Stadium hosted thousands of memorable moments. Here are the 100 greatest games from the stadium’s first 100 years. Go inside Ross-Ade as Purdue clinches the 1929 Big Ten Championship and Bob Griese plays a perfect game against top-ranked Notre Dame in 1965. Relive Drew Brees leading the Boilermakers on a dream-come-true Rose Bowl season in 2000 and a former walk-on quarterback sinking #3 Michigan State with an epic passing performance.

From Jack Mollenkopf to Jim Young, Tiller Time to the Brohm Squad, Rod Woodson’s epic Old Oaken Bucket battle to the Tyler Trent game, author and Purdue alum gathers the moments in Ross-Ade when legends were made.

Cover image for Purdue University's Ross-Ade Stadium, isbn: 9781467151382

Newberg

9781467160674

$24.99

Newberg has experienced significant growth in the last century, with a notable uptick in the 1990s. This growth can largely be attributed to increased employment and education opportunities. George Fox University along with ADEC and the ever-expanding wine industry have significantly contributed to Newberg's growth. For much of the 20th century, Newberg was removed from urban life and was simply a place people stopped on their way to the coast. Today, it is a thriving community in the heart of Oregon wine country. Manufacturing advancements in the dental industry were pioneered by the Austin family and their ADEC business. Additionally, as Newberg wines gained worldwide recognition, people began moving to the region to plant their own vineyards. The tourism industry throughout the Willamette Valley grown largely because people come to taste world class wines. Additionally, George Fox University continues to offer a top-notch education and has seen continual enrollment growth since the 1990s.

Historic Texas Gyms

9781467141598

$21.99

For generations of small-town Texans, the school gymnasium was the hub of the community. If it was a Tuesday night in Texline, most folks could be found in the old tin barn of a gym, rooting for their Tornadoes against the arch-rival Adrian Matadors. Transcending the role of a sports arena, the gym also provided a place to gather in celebration or shelter in crisis. Sadly, with the dramatic reduction of school districts around the state, many of the polished floorboards that once hosted graduations and beauty pageants now splinter beneath the weight of storage, farm equipment and guano-covered junk. From the pickup basketball game Elvis played in Hawkins to the tragic account of four Ennis war heroes, Jackie McBroom recounts stories from these beloved halls.

Croton Point Park

9781467152389

$23.99

Less than an hour by train from New York City...

Croton Point Park encapsulates the history, beauty and promise of the Hudson Valley. The Westchester County Park encompasses miles of Hudson River shoreline with astonishing views and remnants of the region’s past. Incredible shell mounds shed light on the Native peoples who inhabited the area generations prior to European colonization. The remains of the first commercial vineyards in the Northeast are just steps away from historic brickyards that helped build Manhattan. The Point served as a dumping ground for years until local efforts restored the park into a model of environmental conservation. Today, bald eagles have returned to nest alongside visitors exploring remarkable landmarks, sailing the waters of the Hudson or enjoying a scenic picnic.

Authors Scott Craven and Caroline Ranald Curvan present Westchester’s crown jewel, Croton Point Park.

Cover image for Croton Point Park, isbn: 9781467152389

Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres

9781467107242

$24.99

Los Angeles County’s San Gabriel Valley and the adjacent Inland Empire, encompassing San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, boasted a wealth of movie theatres throughout the 20th century. 

Entertainment options proliferated as people flocked to both areas, which were famed for their wealth-producing citrus groves and vineyards, their position along Route 66, and their mountain and desert resorts. Residents and vacationers could enjoy films at nickelodeons, picture palaces, drive-ins, and other venues; some still operate. Due to the regions’ proximity to Hollywood and their more rural and suburban settings, local cinemas frequently held studios’ test screenings (including for Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz); audiences there thus influenced what moviegoers elsewhere watched. Film exhibition’s history there reflects cultural, social, and demographic trends in these areas and the United States.

Kelli Shapiro, PhD, is a public historian and preservationist who has lived in both regions. She holds degrees from Pomona College, Texas State University, and Brown University. She wrote the Los Angeles Conservancy’s successful California Register of Historical Resources nomination for Route 66’s Azusa Foothill Drive-in Theatre—as well as Historic Movie Theatres of West Virginia, another Images of America book. This book’s images came from multiple museums, archives, and collections.

Cover image for Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley Movie Theatres, isbn: 9781467107242

Historic Movie Theaters of Delaware

9781625858474

$24.99

From the opera house and movie palace to the modern multiplex, the big screens in Delaware have been delighting moviegoers for more than a century.

Hollywood legend Cary Grant visited the Playhouse Theater in 1955, fondly recalling his days on its stage as a child actor. Clint Eastwood came to Wilmington for a secret test screening of his film The Gauntlet at the Branmar Cinema. The groundbreaking history of Star Wars includes a Delaware theater that was one of only forty-five in the country to open the film. Author Michael J. Nazarewycz recounts the cinematic history of Delaware's grand movie theaters.

Lost Vincennes

9781467153850

$23.99

The closures of local stores, factories, schools, and movie theatres over the decades have left residents of Vincennes with only memories of what once was. Many fondly recall working at the Brown Shoe Factory, shopping at Gimbel-Bond, watching the latest movie at the Pantheon, or enjoying the rides at Uncle John's Kiddieland. Some significant buildings, such as the Pantheon, have survived and are now used for other purposes, but others have been razed, or otherwise destroyed, and disappeared with hardly a trace except for perhaps a historical marker. Collecting more than seventy period images, Sun-Commercial columnist Brian Spangle tells the story of these once thriving Vincennes landmarks that long ago passed from the scene.

Placer County

9781467109734

$23.99

Placer is the Spanish word for gravel deposits containing gold. Placer County was formed in 1851 from portions of Sutter and Yuba Counties and was aptly named for its rich gold deposits. A decade later, new railroad lines accelerated the county's growth. Today, Placer is a thriving, growing county steeped in natural beauty and history.

Yakima

9781467108126

$23.99

Arising from sagebrush in 1884, Yakima, Washington, became an instant city within its first year of existence. With the initial placement of more than 100 moved structures and rapid construction of new ones, the city's downtown vicinity expanded rapidly in its first few decades. Along with the city's business growth, its population size also exploded. Just shy of a century and a half later, Yakima's downtown vicinity has changed dramatically, often leaving only photographs as evidence of its early thriving years.

Milford

9781467109017

$23.99

Considered by many to be the heart of the Souhegan Valley in southern New Hampshire, Milford serves as the shopping and business hub for several surrounding towns. Milford has expanded over the years but has kept its small-town charm, drawing people from near and far to live.

Scottish Rite Cathedral

9781467127332

$24.99

The Scottish Rite Cathedral, easily the most prominent edifice in Lawrence County, overlooks the city below and consummated the dream of 6,000 dedicated Masons in 1925. Home to nearly a dozen Masonic organizations, the building contained the largest stage between New York and Chicago and the earliest cantilevered balcony in Pennsylvania. The 2,800-seat auditorium hosted notable performers like Johnny Cash, Benny Goodman, Reba McEntire, Jerry Seinfeld, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Its kitchen and dining rooms served meals to more than 1,800 at various times. Unbelievably, the construction of the Scottish Rite Cathedral required 2,000,000 common bricks and 600,000 face bricks, and the insurance company appraised the building at a replacement value of more than $65 million.

Historic Buildings of Washington, D.C.

9781938700484

$14.95

Discover iconic buildings and buildings off the beaten path that give shape to Washington, D.C., our nation's capital. Collect your crayons, colored pencils, pens, or markers and reimagine the White House, Union Station, and other architectural landmarks. Make a mark with your own colorful and creative expression!

Boston's South End

9781467128056

$24.99

Bordered by Back Bay, Roxbury, and Chinatown, the South End was once a tidal marsh with a narrow strip of land connecting the Shawmut Peninsula (today's Downtown Boston) to the neighboring mainland town of Roxbury. Known as the "Boston Neck," that strip of land was the foundation upon which the neighborhood was created in the 19th century. Boston's South End recounts the history of the neighborhood from its inception as a wealthy residential district to a vibrant immigrant community in the early 20th century.