Arcadia Publishing: 7502 books

When Lea County was created in 1917 from Eddy and Chaves Counties in the far southeastern corner of New Mexico, it was virtually a blank canvas for new settlers, with few roads, towns, or amenities. At that time, the area was little more than vast pasture lands for cattle, though a handful of hardy folk...

The first lookouts were rustic camps on mountaintops, where men and women were stationed to keep an eye out for wildfires. As the importance of fire prevention grew, a lookout construction boom resulted in hundreds of cabins and towers being built on Oregon's high points. When aircraft and cameras...

Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. Complete with more than 100 miles of surveyed cavern passageways below ground and 28,295 acres of diverse ecology above, Wind Cave National Park is an American treasure with an impressive history. The first recorded discovery of Wind...

One of the nation�s fastest growing cities and a center for the aerospace and defense industries, Palmdale began in 1886 with the doomed colony of Palmenthal in a land plentiful with Joshua trees and jackrabbits but very little water. The gateway to the southern Antelope Valley, Palmdale has enjoyed...

Tropical Storm Agnes, along with the unprecedented flooding which resulted from it, is arguably the most significant event to have transpired in the Harrisburg area in the last 150 years. Over the course of June 21 and June 22, 1972, Agnes drenched the region with more than a foot of rain. As a result,...

Early travelers coming up the Cowlitz River saw a large rock formation next to the river, which they named Castle Rock. It was here, nestled between the Willapa Hills and the Cascade Mountains, that William and Eliza Huntington made their homestead in 1852. Theirs and several other early land grants...

The Kansas Flint Hills stretch across a dozen counties in the eastern half of the Sunflower State. The region boasts rolling hills covered in native grasses, including the tallgrass varieties unique to the area. Dubbed the �Great American Desert� by pioneers facing the prairie�s vastness, the rich...

Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast�s Camp Alice Chester (CAC) on picturesque Booth Lake first opened its doors in 1924 after a successful fundraising effort led by Alice Chester, the first president of the Milwaukee Girl Scouts. Thousands have walked its well-worn trails, cooked over campfires, and...

Situated at the base of the Continental Divide and surrounded by the Lemhi and Salmon River Ranges, Lemhi County, Idaho, provides a fascinating look at the �Old West� as it makes its precarious transition to a new order. Traditional homeland to the people of Sacajawea, Lemhi County became a destination...

In March 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois was ordered to Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas, with a used Wright Brothers aeroplane and a small contingent of enlisted men. His mission was to teach himself how to operate this primitive flying machine and begin demonstrating the practical uses it might...

On February 23, 1863, Pres. Abraham Lincoln signed the bill creating the Territory of Arizona. The first Arizona Territorial Legislature established the capital at Prescott and met in September 1864. They divided the territory into four counties: Mohave, Pima, Yavapai, and Yuma. Yavapai County, the �mother...

Kyle, Texas, was founded in 1880 when settlers from the nearby established communities of Blanco and Mountain City purchased lots in the 200-acre township deeded to the International-Great Northern Railroad by David E. Moore and Fergus Kyle, who gave his name to the new city. Beneath a live oak tree,...

Fort Worth, originally named Camp Worth, was founded as an Army outpost in 1849, and the old cavalry stables became Fort Worth�s first hotel. The Texas & Pacific Railroad arrived in Fort Worth in July 1876, bringing the need for more lodging. Shortly after its arrival, boardinghouses and simple accommodations...

The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the Prohibition era, Chicago mayor �Big Bill� Thompson and Gov. Len Small were the two most powerful political...