In 1765, when Joseph Rotch sailed across the bay from Nantucket, he brought with him the skills and knowledge to start New Bedford's whaling industry. By 1830 the town was a larger whaling port than Nantucket, with an immense fleet employing more than 10,000 people.

Author and historian Anthony Sammarco reveals the fascinating history of Boston's beloved Jordan Marsh.Jordan Marsh opened its first store in 1851 on Milk Street in Boston selling assorted dry goods. Following the Civil War, the store moved to Winthrop Square and later to Washington Street between Summer and Avon Streets. The new five-story building, designed by Winslow & Wetherell, unveiled the novel concept of department shopping under one roof. It attracted shop...

The iconic restaurant chain that defined Americana by introducing twenty-eight flavors of ice cream, "tendersweet" clam strips, grilled "frankforts," and more.Popularly known as the "Father of the Franchise Industry," Howard Johnson delivered good food and fair prices—a winning combination that brought appreciative customers back for more. The attractive white Colonial Revival restaurants, with eye-catching porcelain tile roofs, illuminated cupolas, and sea blue sh...

Nestled between the Neponset River and the Blue Hills Reservation is the postcard-perfect New England town of Milton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1640, its gentle riverbanks were soon transformed by some of the first mills in the colonies, and later an industrial boom drew tides of immigrants from across the seas. Local author and noted historian Anthony Sammarco brings together a fascinating collection of his best columns from the Milton Times to chronicle the remarkable history of Milton. ...

Jamaica Plain: Then & Now is a fascinating photographic history of a Boston neighborhood once referred to as the "Eden of America." At one time a part of Roxbury and later West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain was annexed to the city of Boston in 1874. During the next five decades, the neighborhood expanded due to the railroad and streetcars and became known as one of the "streetcar suburbs." In this lavishly illustrated book, vintage images placed alongside contemporary photographs show well-known ...

Boston's financial district is considered the heart of New England's banking and finance. It is a veritable overlay of sleek modern office buildings and elegant high-rise structures of the early twentieth century. In the center of this contemporary skyline is evidence of the financial district's long history. Boston's first skyscraper, the Boston Custom House tower, stands high from where it was built in 1915 on top of the original 1849 custom house building.Boston's Financial District chr...

Roxbury, annexed to Boston in 1867, has seen tremendous change as a result of land development and a shifting population. Today Roxbury is a 'streetcar suburb' of the city and a thriving nexus of cultures, religions, and races.

Laid out in 1848 as a rural garden cemetery by Henry A. S. Dearborn, Forest Hills Cemetery celebrates its 160th anniversary in 2008 as Boston's premier arboretum cemetery. Since the mid-19th century, its 250 magnificent acres have been the resting place of people of all walks of life, ethnicities, religions, and races. Among these are poets Anne Sexton and E. E. Cummings, playwright Eugene O'Neill, and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Forest Hills's landscape is a museum of sculpture, ...

The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Order Sons of Italy in America was chartered in 1914 and is one of the oldest lodges in the United States. The lodge recently celebrated its centennial with a long list of events that extolled the preservation and promotion of Italian heritage and culture that has endured since its inception. Founded by Italian immigrants and continued by their descendants, the organization has seen local lodges and junior lodges spring up across the commonwealth with the ...

Discover the true story behind America's first chocolate company, formed in pre-Revolutionary New England.In 1765, the story goes, Dr. James Baker of Dorchester, Massachusetts, stumbled upon a penniless Irish immigrant named John Hannon, who was crying on the banks of the mighty Neponset River. Hannon possessed the rare skills required to create chocolate—a delicacy exclusive to Europe—but had no way of putting this knowledge to use. Baker, with pockets bursting, w...

Boston is a city rich in the history of residents from all walks of life, every country and every ethnicity imaginable. From 1840 to 1925, Boston's diversity created a city with a thriving nexus of people who wove together a community that reflected their own unique heritage. In this lavishly illustrated book with over 200 thought-provoking and evocative photographs, Anthony Mitchell Sammarco and Michael Price have created an important book chronicling the determination, strength, and ofte...

Since Boston's settlement in 1630, the North End has developed from a neighborhood of residences and artisan shops. Known for the nationally important Paul Revere House, which is the oldest standing building in Boston, and the Old North Church, the North End is a destination for tourists.