Arcadia Publishing: 7502 books

Chicago�s Near West Side was and is the city�s most famous Italian enclave, earning it the title of �Little Italy.� Italian immigrants came to Chicago as early as the 1850s, before the massive waves of immigration from 1874 to 1920. They settled in small pockets throughout the city, but ultimately...

The Portola has a long and unique history dating back to the late 1800s. Too often misidentified with neighboring districts, it has its own story to reveal. Originally settled by Jewish immigrants, the area evolved into a community populated by nurserymen and their families who grew much of the city�s...

Established in 1811, Amherst has been actively engaged in the quarrying of high-quality sandstone since before the American Civil War. The products of the town's quarries have graced buildings and other structures in the United States and around the world. The promise of work at the quarries drew potential...

Rancho Ca�ada de Guadalupe, La Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo was named in July 1777 by a party of Spanish priests and soldiers who lost their way in heavy fog while en route to the Presidio. Now called Visitacion Valley, this area was the only Mexican land grant within San Francisco deeded to an Anglo....

The Long Beach Fire Department�s adaptability has been tested by a wide variety of disasters that have marked it as a unique firefighting force on the West Coast. Thousands of residents and others have owed their very lives to thedepartment since its 1897 formation. The LBFD moved into action during...

The fascinating tale of Hollywood powerhouse Paramount Pictures--beginning with its birth in the 1910s through the turbulent decade of the 1930s--was told in Early Paramount Studios by Marc Wanamaker, Michael Christaldi, and E.J. Stephens. Now the same authors are back to tell the next 60 years of...

For hundreds of years, Portuguese explorers have swept across the globe, many of them landing in California in the 1840s as whalers, ship jumpers, and Gold Rush immigrants. Gold was the lure, but land was the anchor. San Jose became home toPortuguese immigrants who overcame prejudice to contribute to...

Art Deco design is a jazzy celebration of the Machine Age, mass production, geometry, and the straight line. In Palm Beach County, sleek themes are seen representing tropical, nautical, masculine, and stylized motifs that reflect speed and technology. Elements include eyebrows, flat roofs, porthole windows,...

Bristol was originally a tightly held and uninhabited portion of Farmington and was known in its early days as the West Woods. Settlers did not arrive until the 1720s and, after building their small community, they sought and received status as the New Cambridge Parish in 1742. Their numbers continued...

Grafton, Berlin, and Petersburgh captures a vivid picture of a long lost way of life in upstate New York. Filled with unforgettable photographs by James E. West, the book artistically portrays the proud people, quiet streets, and breathtaking panoramas of eastern Rensselaer County from1880 to 1915. For...

The United States is considered the world's foremost refuge for foreigners, and no place in the nation symbolizes this better than Ellis Island. Through Ellis Island's halls and corridors more than twelve million immigrants-of nearly every nationality and race-entered the country on their way to new...

Route 66 in Arizona is a ribbon tying together spectacular natural attractions such as the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, and the Meteor Crater. There were plenty of man-made diversions along the way, too. Roadside businesses used Native American and Western imagery to lure travelers...

Woodland Park, at an altitude of nearly 8,500 feet, is located 18 miles west of Colorado Springs along the north slope of Pikes Peak in eastern Teller County. Much of the history of the West passed through this area on the old Ute Trail�now Highway 24�as hunters, trappers, cowboys, Native Americans,...

During the early years of the 20th century, American families witnessed amazing changes in their daily lives�the arrival of plumbing and electricity in their homes, the first automobiles, and thanks to the Eastman Kodak Company, the first affordable, portable, photographic instrument, the box camera....