Postcard History Series

The American Postcard history series books explores the history of an area through vintage postcards. Go fishing in the Salton Sea, tour the iconic Hollywood Studios during their golden age, and then take one of New York City’s subways back in time. From early Denver to the Grand Canyon National Park, these postcard books send greetings from the past to eager readers with a passion for history. [View all Postcard History Series books]

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Newport in Vintage Postcards

Castalia, Cold Creek, and the Blue Hole

Shreveport in Vintage Postcards

$24.99

Peabody in Vintage Postcards

$24.99

Harrodsburg and Mercer County

$24.99

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Midland

9781467134460

$24.99

Midland was a young farming and ranching community on the southern edge of the Llano Estacado when the real-photo postcard era began near the opening of the 20th century. Businesses, residents, and promoters embraced this new technology to produce images capturing Midland's unusual rural-and-cosmopolitan mix. As postcards changed to linen and chrome, Midland also underwent dramatic changes. The city on the plains worked hard to become an indispensable part of the vast 1920s Permian Basin oil industry. In post-World War II years, Midland grew into an urban center of West Texas, positioned strategically at the midpoint of Interstate 20's path from Fort Worth to El Paso.

Clearfield

9780738511139

$24.99

Cearfield brings to life a time when carriages traveled the streets, lumber floated down the river, William Jennings Bryan visited Curwensville, Houtzdale's "Alley Popper" railway was running, and people enjoyed fine dining and dancing at the Dimeling Hotel. Postcards, once a convenient and easy way to communicate, inadvertently became an important way of preserving history. The cards of this exciting new collection bear witness to many moments in Clearfield history, including World War I soldiers marching down Market Street, the 1936 flood, the collapse of the Nichols Street Bridge, and the aftermath of the Opera House fire.

Newport in Vintage Postcards

9780738518121

$24.99

Newport's recent revitalization gives its citizens all the more reason to remember the city's storied past. Before Newport boomed with tourism, it was dubbed "the Sin City of the South," infamous for its abundant casinos and nightclubs. Prior to that, though, Newport thrived as a street car suburb and an industrial hub, relying on the Ohio River for transportation. Along with its neighbor, the Queen City of Cincinnati, Newport blossomed into the vibrant community that it is today. The vintage postcards in this volume depict the fascinating legacy left by Newport's people and places.

Greensburg

9780738554808

$24.99

Named for the late Gen. Nathaniel Greene and serving as the county seat of Westmoreland County, Greensburg has a history over 200 years in the making. By 1850, Greensburg was a growing county seat with inns, small businesses, and hardworking residents. With the coming of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the discovery of large areas of coal nearby, and the Lincoln Highway running through the heart of town, Greensburg soon became a large prosperous community and a center for commercial activity. Featuring more than 100 years of postcards, Greensburg showcases the city's sprawling homes, churches, schools, industry, and daily life.

Around Utica

9780738549385

$24.99

Around Utica features the work of A. J. Manning, who traveled with his camera through picturesque central New York in the early 1900s. Manning recorded historic events, such as Sherman Notification Day in 1908, honoring William Howard Taft's vice presidential nominee James Schoolcraft Sherman; catastrophes, such as the fires at Utica Free Academy and the YMCA; and nostalgic scenes of everyday life. His images were produced in small quantities as real-photo postcards, which today are quite rare and much sought after by collectors.

Petersburg

9780738542850

$24.99

The postcard collection included in this volume portrays Petersburg as both a progressive 20th century city and as a community with deep historical roots. Landmarks such as Old Blandford Church, the Hustings Courthouse, and the United States Custom House and Post Office (now City Hall) are highlighted in this book. Petersburg's Civil War history is also strongly represented with images of the Crater and surrounding battlefield and fortifications, as well as monuments, memorials, and museums that sprang up after the war.

Sayre

9780738573762

$24.99

Sayre dates to 1783, when a gristmill was built along Shepard Creek. Greater Sayre began around 1870 at a railroad junction near the Susquehanna River. Activity at that junction led to the community eventually named Sayre. Sayre experienced phenomenal growth with the expansion of the Lehigh Valley Railroad operations. Its reputation as a railroad town began to fade after World War II, ending with the demise of the railroad by the 1970s. In its place, Guthrie Healthcare now provides the strongest influence on the town. Today the hospital's position in Sayre is as important as the railroad was in its heyday, both serving as the keystones of a town that thousands call home.

The Saco River

9780738573595

$24.99

From its source in New Hampshire's White Mountains to its mouth at Saco-Biddeford, the Saco River draws visitors and residents alike to swim, fish, canoe, and white-water kayak. The Saco brought tourists to the White Mountains and influenced the development of both large and small towns, shaping their history and creating bustling centers of industry. The Saco River documents the river through postcards from 1905 to the 1940s, when mills dominated the landscape.

Lynn, Massachusetts

9780738589862

$24.99

From the 1890s through the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this "golden age" can today be considered works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of local children only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history. This fascinating new history of Lynn, Massachusetts, showcases more than two hundred of the best vintage postcards available. Drawn largely from the extensive archives of the Lynn Historical Society, the images in this informative volume take the reader on a tour of Lynn's beaches and parks, streets and squares, churches and schools, even into the sky for some intriguing bird's eye views, giving a glimpse of everything an earlier generation loved about Lynn.

Castalia, Cold Creek, and the Blue Hole

9780738550534

$24.99

Over the past hundreds of years, trillions of gallons of pure, crystal clear water have flowed through the subterranean aquifer system under Huron and Erie Counties in Ohio. The water comes to the surface at the Castalia Springs and the famous Blue Hole, both popular tourist destinations receiving thousands of visitors. Artificial canals were dug in the early 1800s to convey the water northward from Castalia to Venice to power flour mills, subsequently transforming the muskrat marshes into rich farmland. Water was also piped to Sandusky for brewing Crystal Rock beer. The fastmoving waters of Cold Creek provided a favorable environment for raising game trout. This resulted in the establishment of several private troutfishing clubs renowned throughout Ohio. Castalia, Cold Creek, and the Blue Hole offers a pictorial journey through the history of Cold Creek from Seneca Caverns near Bellevue to the carp pens in Venice on Sandusky Bay.

Hopkins County

9780738588056

$24.99

Postcard History Series: Hopkins County portrays the fantastic history of its cities, including Dawson Springs, as unveiled through postcards of the lavish hotels and businesses that once brought thousands of people across the nation to sample the healing water from the wells of the city in the early 1900s. Showcased are glimpses of the coal mining industry, downtown memories, institutions, and leisure activities in Earlington, Madisonville, Nebo, Hanson, Mortons Gap, and St. Charles. This book also includes information about two different businesses that were contracted by the government of the United States of America; one received an order for two million units of cigars and other visited the White House annually with a truckload of trees from Hopkins County.

Hingham

9780738537818

$24.99

The established neighborhoods of Hingham make up a seashore community that has retained much of its historic charm. The Old Derby Academy, Old Ordinary Tavern, and the Old Ship Meetinghouse church are all local treasures. A trip down Main Street affords extraordinary views of fine Victorian homes and Colonial farmhouses. Hingham was also home to the U.S. armed forces buildup during World Wars I and II. This Colonial settlement truly remains a celebrated all-American town.

Martinsville

9780738552309

$24.99

Based on vintage postcards, this new book is a unique and welcome addition to the small number of works devoted to the history of Martinsville.

Captured here in more than 220 postcard images is an important chronicle of the past 100 years in the "City of Mineral Water." This visual record showcases the sanitariums--including the glorious Home Lawn and its sibling, the Martinsville--industries and businesses, buildings and people, courthouse square, and special events that shaped the past and influenced the present. This fascinating retrospective is an indispensable companion to and expansion of Morgan County, the authors' first book in Arcadia's Postcard History Series.

Around Crockett

9780738559278

$24.99

The territory around Crockett may seem little more than a nook along the Carquinez Strait in West Contra Costa County, but it was once home to many small towns. Although independent, each town relied on the others for goods and services. Using vintage postcards, readers will take a trip through the region's past, visiting Crockett, the Selby Smelting and Refining Company, Vallejo Junction, Carquinez Bridge, Valona, C&H Sugar Factory, Scow Town, and Port Costa along the way.

Shreveport in Vintage Postcards

9780738517469

$24.99

Between the end of the 19th century and the present day, roughly 2,000 postcards were produced depicting scenes and landmarks in the city of Shreveport and the surrounding area. Most of these were made and distributed during the golden age of postcards, from approximately 1905 through the 1920s. In all, more than half of Shreveport's 170-year history is represented on postcards. Ranging from advertising and promotional cards to scenic views and fold-out souvenirs, the cards showcased the community's growth and development.

Peabody in Vintage Postcards

9780738509624

$24.99

Peabody was settled in 1626 as Brooksby Village and was originally a part of the town of Salem. In 1752, citizens joined in the area of town known as Salem Village to form the town of Danvers. The separation of the two towns into Danvers and South Danvers took place in 1855. In 1868, the name of South Danvers was changed to Peabody to honor its native son George Peabody.

In Peabody, vivid postcards offer a contrasting view of what it was like to live and work in a community having two distinct characters: the town center, with its bustling tanning industries, which soon earned Peabody the sobriquet of "Leather Capital of the World," and the pastoral farming villages of Brookdale, Locustdale, Brooksby, and West Peabody, which portray a sense of life in rural America during this same era.

Harrodsburg and Mercer County

9780738598635

$24.99

Dedicated exclusively to the oldest town in Kentucky, Postcard History Series: Harrodsburg and Mercer County presents what Fort Harrod looked like when it was established in 1775. High Bridge, spanning the Kentucky River between Mercer and Jessamine Counties and only miles from Shakertown, was an engineering wonder of its age. As the highest railroad bridge in the world at the time, it was the subject of hundreds of postcards. Summer visitors came from all over the country to enjoy Harrodsburg's Graham Springs Resort, known as the "Saratoga of the West." Views of nearby Dix Dam and Herrington Lake were made into postcards for vacationers to send to their friends and family.