Then and Now

Flushing explores the dramatic changes of this ever growing city with many never-before-seen images. Jason D. Antos is the author of three other local Queens history books.

In the 1890s, electric lighting and improved roads were just the beginning of the changes about to take place in Flushing, New York. Once a rural village of wide-open farms and magnificent estates, Flushing transformed into a community of more than 200,000 people and quickly became one of the busiest neighborhoods in Queens.

In 1870, the communities of Astoria, Dutch Kills, Hunters Point, Ravenswood, and others, merged to form a new municipality: Long Island City.

The once independent city continued to exist as an incorporated city until 1898, when all of Queens was annexed to New York City. The factories that supported Long Island City throughout most of the 20th century have been all but abandoned, but since the beginning of the 21st century, large-scale gentrification projects have been undertaken, such as Hunter's Point South. As high-rises replace single-family homes, Long Island City would be unrecognizable to people of the early villages and hamlets that created it. The Greater Astoria Historical Society and photographer Gary Vollo explore the unique places that have shaped Long Island City's development.

It's called ""The Olympic Village,"" but Lake Placid, New York is so much more than that.

It is called ""the Olympic Village,"" and rightly so. In 1932, Lake Placid hosted the third Winter Olympics and hosted 13th edition of the famed event of 1980 when arguably the biggest upset in sports history, ""The Miracle On Ice,"" occured. Lake Placid has placed an athlete on all but one winter Olympic roster since 1924. This small community continually works to keep international winter sports on the calendar.

First settled as a farming community in 1800, it was home to the famous Lake Placid Club from 1895 to 1980. Today it is known for its beautiful setting amid the Adirondack peaks of New York and for its diverse summer activities making it a year-round international resort.

The year 2002 marks the 388th birthday of the settlement of a Dutch fur-trading fort on the west bank of the Hudson River. The year also marks the 350th anniversary of the founding of Beveryck, the permanent village that became Albany. Then & Now: Albany contains corner-by-corner views from four centuries. It focuses on the history as seen through the architectural transformation of a frontier village to a modern city. It is a pictorial field guide through the city's oldest streets.

Experience the old farming days of what was once the agricultural community of Gravesend, Brooklyn and how the town has transformed into the urban neighborhood it is today.

Permanently settled in 1645, the farming town of Gravesend, Long Island, was annexed to the city (now borough) of Brooklyn, New York, in 1894. Few reminders from Gravesend's rural days survive around the urban landscape it has become. Even its more recent past is quickly disappearing.

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.

Utica fulfilled a vital function in New York State's overall role as the gateway to the American West.

Vintage and contemporary photographs come together in this uniquie volume, portraying Utica's evolution from a wilderness crossroads to eventual stopover and tradelocation on the world-famous Erie Canal.

The long and turbulent history of Three Villages is revealed here.

From its roots in the 17th century through the turbulence of the Revolutionary War, the Three Village community of New York has faced the challenge of maintaining its own identity in a constantly shifting world.