Aquarena Springs was the culmination of a dream shared by two men: Arthur Birch (A. B.) Rogers and his son Paul J. Rogers. The Spring Lake Park Hotel opened at the headwaters of the San Marcos River in 1929. Soon, Aquarena Springs would become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Southwest. Attractions such as glass bottom boats, a Swiss sky ride, Texana Village, and the world's only submarine theater delighted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. From special events like...

Shortly after European colonists landed at Jamestown in 1607, they established a settlement in Northampton County. Settlers caught fish and shellfish in the shallow bays and creeks along the seaside and bayside and distilled salt from seawater to help preserve this bounty through the winter. Since 1608, Northampton has provided food for Virginia and the world. Fishing, crabbing, and clam aquaculture today are still an important part of the economic backbone of Northampton, but Northampton ...

Building the St. Helena II tells the story of the 1970 reconstruction of an authentic, operational 1825 canal boat. The narrative unfolds in the small village of Canal Fulton, Ohio, along the surviving one- mile section of the 333-mile Ohio & Erie Canal, which in the 1820s connected the new nation’s western frontier to the thriving coastal states. Canal Fulton was at the leading edge of a national environmental movement to reclaim, restore, and reuse historic U.S. canals for educa...

The seaside resort of Cape May was named for Dutchman Cornelis Mey, who sailed past this part of southeastern New Jersey in 1616. Originally known as Cape Island, the area was settled by a handful of English-speaking farmers and whalers in the 1690s. By 1776, it was advertised as a popular, healthy place for bathing in the ocean. The first boardinghouses were erected in the early 1800s, and by 1850, the town boasted nearly two dozen. Vacationers came from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and even ...

The mountain snows melted and the rains came. In 1853, thousands fled the rising water; in 1889, two days of torrential rain ravaged the city; and in 1936, the infamous St. Patrick's Day flood saw a swell of ten feet. Perched on the banks of the Potomac River, the city of Cumberland, Maryland, has been plagued by devastating floods since its foundation. Time and again, deluges have brought the city to its knees. Yet the Queen City has always risen triumphant and undimmed from the raging wa...

Cincinnati�s Great Disasters explores catastrophes from 1905 to 1937, featuring floods, tornadoes, fires, explosions, winter storms, and crashes. Although tragic, disasters became popular postcard subjects in the early 1900s, with many of these photograph postcards being taken by professional photographers. The postcards documenting the 1907 and 1913 floods make up the bulk of this book, as these disasters dramatically affected Cincinnatians� lives and led to innovative flood prevention pl...

You are holding a ticket to one of the largest and most magnificent celebrations of all time -- the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair!For seven months nearly twenty million visitors from around the globe flooded the fairgrounds of Forest Park. Many explored the twelve mammoth palaces (made of plaster and horsehair!), which showcased amazing exhibits. Others enjoyed watching the first Olympic Games in the United States, keeping cool all summer with a new treat that became an instant hit -...

The Pennsylvania Railroad's Horseshoe Curve is known worldwide as an engineering wonder. This landmark, located just west of Altoona, opened to traffic on February 15, 1854, and it enabled the Pennsylvania railroad line to climb the Allegheny Mountains and the eastern continental divide. The Horseshoe Curve's construction impacted railroad design and development for mountainous terrain everywhere, enabling access to coal and other raw materials essential for the industrial age. J. Edgar Th...

This account of the first president's trip to unite a young America "follows Washington's travels day-by-day with detailed information about each stop" ( Daily Herald).Newly elected president George Washington set out to visit the new nation aware that he was the singular unifying figure in America. The journey's finale was the Southern Tour, begun in March 1791. The long and arduous trek from the capital, Philadelphia, passed through seven states and the ...

True stories, fun facts, and photos that reveal the little-known secrets of New York's Long Island.Long Island's history is filled with fascinating firsts, magnificent mansions, and colorful characters. From Glenn Curtiss, the first pilot to fly a plane on the island, to Earle Ovington, who carried the country's first airmail, the area has been known as the cradle of aviation. Millionaire William K. Vanderbilt's Long Island Motor Parkway, remnants of which still re...

Constructed as the Easton and Amboy Railroad, opened by 1875, the Lehigh Valley Railroad was instrumental in developing commerce and communities of central New Jersey. Thout it no longer runs, it was originally built to haul unending trains of "black diamonds" from Pennsylvania to Perth Amboy, the Lehigh Valley Railroad became so much more than a conduit for shipping coal. In building across the state, it became instrumental in not only hauling produce to New York City markets but also for...

The author of Legends & Lore of Cape Cod delves deeper into the colorful local history of Massachusetts's quaint seaside region.Cape Cod may be a popular tourist destination, but it has a strange and distinctive history. The Pukwudgies were two- to three-foot beings with smooth gray skin, hairy faces and horns. These shape-shifting, mischievous "little people" are connected to Wampanoag Indian mythology. Edward Rowe Snow, a New England historian who was al...