Spooky Season Reads

Named after the operator of a primitive ferry that in Colonial and Revolutionary days transported citizens across the Hudson, Dobbs Ferry is an integral piece of New York City history.

Dobbs Ferry takes its name from the operator of a primitive ferry that in Colonial and Revolutionary days provided the first passage across the Hudson River north of New York City. In the 19th century, the river and the new castles built on its banks attracted tourists who christened the area ""the heart of the American Rhine."" Judith Doolin Spikes, writer, and Anne Marie Leone, photographer, coauthor a weekly then-and-now column in the Rivertowns Enterprise.

Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2018.

Begun in 1918 as the Eastern Division of the Indiana State Normal School, Ball State remained a branch campus of Indiana State until 1929 when it became Ball State Teachers College, Indiana's fourth public institution of higher education. In 1965 the teachers college became Ball State University. Throughout its history, Ball State's distinguishing characteristic has been the positive interactions between students, faculty, and members of the community. This book will show how these interactions have worked out at Ball State in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in social organizations such as student government, fraternities, sororities, and clubs throughout the region. The book will also show how the members of the Ball family have played a major role in the growth and development of the university.

This colorful history of Pocono Mountain town Honesdale describes its beginning as a transport hub for coal, as well as its illustrious citizens.

Honesdale, Pennsylvania, nestled in the Pocono Mountains, is known for its picturesque views and colorful people. Named after Philip Hone, mayor of New York City and president of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, the area formerly known as Dyberry Forks was selected as the site to transport anthracite coal from the Wyoming Valley to New York City by gravity railroad and canal. Honesdale is the home of the Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive to run on commercial tracks in the Western Hemisphere. Helping to shape Honesdale were such notable people as songwriter Dick Smith, five-star general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer, artist Jennie Brownscombe, and authors Homer Greene and Washington Irving. Honesdale is noted for having the world's smallest Jewish temple, and during the canal days, it had the world's largest stockpile of coal.

Although often overshadowed by Milwaukee's brewing reputation, Green Bay has its own rich and proud brewing heritage.

Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Blesch, Rahr, Hochgreve, Hagemeister and Van Dycke pioneered the art of brewing and brought the love of beer to the city and beyond. When Prohibition struck, some breweries couldn't make it, others could and some pushed the limits of the law to bring people the beer they wanted.Today, Green Bay is a thriving beer city once more. The names are different--Titletown, Hinterland, Badger State and more--but the love and passion for tasty suds remain the same. Grab a pint and join author Cameron Teske on his beer journey from 1850 through today.

"C.C.A. Baldi ruled Little Italy, and everyone who wished to deal with the Italians knew it."

Go back to turn of the century Philadelphia and discover the incredible immigrant success story of C.C.A. Baldi and his brothers as they build a business empire while pathing a path for the Italian community and becoming the King of Little Italy.

Montvale is a small borough of approximately 4.5 square miles in the picturesque Pascack Valley in northeastern Bergen County, New Jersey.

How the borough grew from a small farming community to a population of nearly 9,000 in 2019 is told through the use of vintage photographs. Pictures of 18th-century Dutch Colonial sandstone houses, a 19th-century octagon house, a cider mill that made "Jersey applejack," horses and buggies, and antique cars all have stories to tell, as do advertisements and posters. In one for an 1896 social and basket picnic, folks were invited to "bring your team, wife and children," but there would be "no swearing or fighting.'' Turn-of-the-century postcards tell of the hundreds of summer visitors escaping the city heat. After Montvale became the last stop in New Jersey on the Garden State Parkway, the western section of the borough changed from farmland to the headquarters of some of the most prestigious national and international corporations, including Benjamin Moore, KPMG, Sharp Electronics, and Western Union, as well as home to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Glen Allen, a suburb of Richmond, began as a farming community and today is rich in history and legend.

Walkerton, a famous tavern, was built around 1825. Rail service arrived in the 1830s, and the previously unnamed settlement became known as Mountain Road Crossing, Allen's Station, and finally Glen Allen. Then came John Cussons, an English adventurer, soldier, and entrepreneur. In the 1880s, he built Forest Lodge, a magnificent hotel and 1,000-acre park where celebrities reveled in splendor. In 1892, Virginia Randolph, a visionary African American educator, established a school that served generations of Black youth. With fascinating scenes of daily life, Glen Allen traces the community's history from its early rural years to the crisis it faced in the 1980s; its landmarks were in decline and its future at stake. Yet Glen Allen emerged with thriving new cultural, recreational, and tourism venues--a triumphant retake on its renowned hospitality of two centuries ago.

Cary Holladay writes short stories, novels, and essays. Her work has won an O. Henry Prize and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Images in the book have been gathered from museums, libraries, the files of Henrico County, and private collections and include rare photographs of Forest Lodge and the Virginia Randolph Training School.

The food scene in Hamilton County, Indiana sprang from humble roots and evolved into a dynamic culinary community.

Early restaurateurs made modest livings at mom-and-pop joints like Aunt Bea's Chicken in Noblesville and Brown's Drugstore in Carmel. Teen romances bloomed at the Blue Ribbon Dairy Drive-In and Burger Chef. Then Chef Dieter Puska's elegant eatery the Glass Chimney took dining to a whole new level. Local chefs carry on his legacy with new farm-to-table restaurants featuring ingredients from a multitude of growers and farmers' markets. The craft beer scene is booming, too, with exceptional breweries like Four Day Ray, Mashcraft, Books and Brews and Barley Island. Take a trip down memory lane and embark on a modern-day culinary adventure with local food writer Karen Kennedy as she presents the hardworking restaurant owners and culinary superstars who built and continue to grow Hamilton County's vibrant food culture.

Discover through historic photographs how a little theater that traveled from pillar to post with costumes, props, and flats became the Lakewood Theatre Company at Lakewood Center for the Arts.

In 1952, a small group gathered at the home of Dorothy Peetz in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and thought it would be fun for the community to have a little theater. They began to organize what was then known as the Oswego Players. Today, the nonprofit theater attracts 40,000 patrons annually. Lakewood Center for the Arts, home of the city's annual Festival of the Arts, coordinates a large multi-exhibit arts education event to inspire and awe 25,000 visitors every year. Generations of people have made the Lakewood Center for the Arts a part of their daily lives through volunteerism or by attending classes, everything from ancestry to Zumba. Young actors that performed on Lakewood Theatre Company's stage later returned to direct their own productions.

Jen Avila-Langford created visual presentations for the Lakewood Theatre Company. In an attempt to make the workshops more engaging, she delved into Lakewood's archives and local history. Photographs, never before published, of the theater founders, the original playwrights, and the classics are brought to light from 70 years of archives.

Since the end of the American Revolution, Native Americans, pioneer farmers, industrialists and factory workers settled across the county in hamlets, villages and towns of all sizes.

Nearly one hundred distinct settlements existed in what we now call Delaware County. Some of these communities survived the ebb and flow of history to prosper, while others disappeared, becoming lost in the collective memory. Today, many residents would only recognize the city of Muncie and the towns of Albany, Daleville, Eaton, Gaston, Selma and Yorktown. A few might know of villages such as Desoto, New Burlington, Smithfield and Wheeling. Most have probably never heard of Dogtown, Gate's Corner, Granville and Soccum. Drawing on years of research, local historian Chris Flook uncovers the stories of these lost towns.