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The New York Ontario & Western Railway
in Postcards by Joe Bux
The
New York, Ontario and Western Railway was the first class-one
railroad in the United States to be abandoned in its entirety.
Whereas other rail lines were closed gradually, the federal
government closed down the railroad on March 29, 1957, for its
failure to pay employee withholding taxes. The railroad went into
bankruptcy in 1937 after its main shipping commodity, coal, was
rapidly replaced by oil for home heat. As time passed, the interest
in this abandoned railroad grew, and much of the company’s records
have been recovered and preserved. Today, with 750 members, the
Ontario and Western Railway Historical Society Archives Center
houses this unique corporate record collection. In addition, there
are extensive private collections of everything from locomotives,
passenger cars, lanterns, and tools to company passes and railroad
police memorabilia. There are 224 postcard images, maps and drawings
Author:
Joe Bux
Price
$21.95
Mamakating
Author: Monika A. Roosa
Book Description: At first glance, Mamakating appears to be an
unassuming township in southeastern New York State, but upon closer examination,
it is found to be the home of some landmark sites: the first recognized road in
America, now Route 209; the groundbreaking spot for the first million-dollar
private corporation formed in the United States, the D&H Canal; and the oldest
soaring airport in the country, the Wurtsboro Airport. Mamakating offers a
historical perspective of this friendly lake-and-mountain town in the Catskill
region that many New York City residents chose, first as a vacation spot and
later as their permanent home. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Monika A. Roosa has lived in Mamakating all of her
life and has served her community in many ways: as a teacher, a director of
Wurtsboro Renaissance, an editorial board member of the Wurtsboro Good News, and
a member of the Wurtsboro Board of Trade. She is also a member of four
historical societies: Mamakating, Huguenot, Minisink Valley, and Sullivan
County. For Mamakating, she has drawn upon a hidden wealth of photographs in
private collections throughout the township that best reflect the history of the
community.
Middletown
Author: Marvin H. Cohen
Book Description: Located in the heart of Orange County, the city
of Middletown was first settled c. 1760. The hamlet became a village in 1848 and
a city in 1888. Long noted for its dairy farming, Middletown gained its
reputation as a railroad center beginning in 1843 with the coming of the New
York & Erie Rail Road. That reputation remained until 1957, when Middletown's
other major railroad, the famed New York, Ontario & Western Railway, was
abandoned. With more than two hundred historical images, Middletown celebrates
the people, places, and event that over the years helped shape this progressive
community. Picture are period street scenes, homes by noted local architect
Frank Lindsey, Clemson Park with is famous Japanese garden, and highly ornate
buildings that are still in use, such as the Orange County Community College and
the Middletown Thrall Library. All of these centered around a thriving business
district, strong industries, and up-to-date transportation. Pages:
128
Author Bio: To illustrate this fascinating history, author Marvin
H. Cohen has selected the finest images from the collection of the Historical
Society of Middletown and the Wallkill Precinct, of which he is president and
curator. A lifelong resident of Middletown, he is proud to share his deep
knowledge of the community, gained in part from his fifty-year membership in the
Middletown Fire Department and his decades of research as a railway historian.
Port
Jervis
Author: Matthew M. Osterberg
Book Description: A picturesque city, Port Jervis nestles in the
Shawangunk Mountains at the confluence of the Delaware and Neversink Rivers,
where three valleys and three states meet. This southeastern corner of New York
State, adjacent to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, evolved over the decades into a
prosperous tri-state urban center. A tiny village in 1840, Port Jervis had
developed into a city by the early 1900s. Port Jervis traces the community's
evolution through its succession of eras-horse and wagon, dirt road, trolley
car, paved street, small city. The city was named for John B. Jervis, whose
engineering skills led to the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal in
1828, and whose foresight led to the expansion of the Erie Railroad in 1847. The
canal and the railroad introduced opportunities for communications and commerce,
attracting entrepreneurs such as Samuel Fowler, who published a newspaper that
still exists today and created the Front Street business district. In Orange
Square Park, renowned American author Stephen Crane interviewed Civil War
veterans and wrote the masterpiece The Red Badge of Courage. For a century and a
half, the true heroes, the industrious residents, founded six fire departments
and built architecturally significant churches and schools, including the
Deerpark Dutch Reformed Church in 1869 and the Church Street School in 1899.
Pages: 128
Author Bio: Historian Matthew M. Osterberg is the author of Images
of America: Matamoris to Shohola. For Port Jervis, he has selected more than two
hundred images preserved by the Minisink Valley Historical Society and the
townspeople. Using these treasured images, he has compiled a fascinating history
that traces the transformation of this unique community from small village into
influential city.
Sullivan
County: Borscht Belt
Author(s): Irwin Richman
Book Description: Sullivan County, the Borscht Belt, the
Catskills-all are synonyms for the greatest American Jewish resort area, the
playground of about one million visitors a year during its peak from 1920 to
1970. The Sullivan County of Borscht Belt legend really consists of the eastern
part of Sullivan County and a bit of southern Ulster County. Here are the large
towns of Liberty, Monticello, and Ellenville and the small towns of Woodbourne,
Hasbrouck, South Fallsburg, Livingston Manor, Fallsburg, Loch Sheldrake,
Greenfield Park, Mountaindale, Accord, Ulster Heights, Kiamesha Lake,
Kerhonkson, Swan Lake, Glen Wild, Hurleyville, Ferndale, White Sulphur Springs,
Rock Hill, Parksville, Woodridge, and White Lake. In Sullivan County: Borscht
Belt, you will find the lost world of the kuchaleins and bungalow colonies and
the hotels, great and small. This was a world to be enjoyed, whether swimming in
the Neversink River, watching unmatched entertainment, or eating the legendary
Borscht Belt meals. Join us on the lawn, on the handball court, or at the
Ping-Pong table. Dive into the pool. Welcome to day camp. All of this and more
are here in Sullivan County: Borscht Belt. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Irwin Richman has assembled more than 200 photographs,
postcards, hotel menus, and other memorabilia to tell the story of the Borscht
Belt. It is a story that he knows well, as he has spent all or part of 64
summers in Sullivan County, where his family owned a small bungalow colony in
Woodbourne. Also the author of The Catskills in Vintage Postcards (Arcadia,
1999), he is a professor of American Studies at the Pennsylvania State
University/Harrisburg. In Sullivan County: Borscht Belt, he takes us to the
heart of what once was the country's premier Jewish resort area.
Scranton
Author(s): Cheryl A. Kashuba, Darlene Miller-Lanning,
Alan Sweeney
Book Description: In 1840, George and Selden Scranton, with
William Henry, established their iron furnaces on the banks of Roaring Brook in
the wilderness of northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1847, they successfully
mass-produced iron T rails and later emerged as the nation’s third largest steel
manufacturer. Anthracite, locomotives, silk, and lace soon followed. Scranton
traces the growth of Slocum Hollow through its rising industrialization into its
emergence as the bustling Electric City. In all its urban complexity, Scranton
attracted European immigrants and cosmopolitan investors as well as labor leader
John Mitchell and entertainer Buffalo Bill. Joseph Albright Jr., a Scranton-born
philanthropist, endowed a public library, and Raymond Hood, the architect of
Rockefeller Center, designed the Masonic Temple. The footprints of these
achievements remain an enduring testament to this important industrial and
cultural center. Pages: 128
The
Nyacks
Author(s): The Historical Society of the Nyacks, The
Nyack Library
Book Description: Settled on the Hudson River more than 300 years
ago, Nyack has a long and interesting history, a history that has always been
defined by the river. The Nyacks portrays that history, with more than 200
stunning photographs from the archives of the Nyack Library. Nyack, Upper Nyack,
and South Nyack lie some 25 miles north of New York City and in early days were
the center for boatbuilding and shoe manufacturing. In the late 19th and early
20th centuries, Nyack’s thriving downtown attracted residents from other parts
of Rockland County. Nyack went on to become a popular destination for travelers,
with several hotels and educational institutions, including a female seminary
and a military academy. Nyack is also the birthplace of artist Edward Hopper and
the longtime residence of actress Helen Hayes and writer Carson McCullers.
Pages: 128
Author Bio: The Historical Society of the Nyacks and the Nyack
Library are jointly presenting The Nyacks in appreciation of the history of this
community. Today, with its diverse population, civic organizations, schools,
houses of worship, and waterfront activities, Nyack retains its Victorian charm
in its downtown streets and in its many lovingly restored homes.
The
Ontario and Western Railway Northern Division
Author(s): John Taibi
Book Description: The New York & Oswego Midland
Railroad-reorganized in 1879 as the New York, Ontario & Western Railway-was born
out of necessity and a desire to populate and industrialize the interior regions
of New York State. The railroad meandered down from Oswego, traversed the north
shore of Oneida Lake, and then took a southerly route through Oneida and Norwich
before turning east for a mountainous crossing to gain the village of Sidney.
The railroad was not a success in its time. The New York, Ontario & Western
brought a degree of financial stability to the northern division, and the line
functioned through the late 1950s. The Ontario & Western Railway Northern
Division features photographs of the Ontario & Western, a railroad long on
scenery but short on freight. The Ontario & Western inherited a railroad in
search of revenue and a circuitous route that passed through one small community
after another. Small wooden country depots dotted the line, locomotives of
meager proportions pulled the trains, and dedicated employees did their best to
keep the railroad solvent. The railroad is still fondly remembered today by
those who rode its cars and witnessed its passing trains. Pages:
128
Author Bio: This is John Taibi's fifth book about the New York,
Ontario & Western Railway. He is a past trustee of the Ontario & Western Railway
Historical Society, a popular speaker at historical societies in central New
York, and the owner of an old Ontario & Western depot, where this book was
written.
The
Fonda, Johnstown, & Gloversville Railroad:
Sacandaga Route to the Adirondacks
Author: Randy L. Decker
Book Description: Return to the fondly remembered glory days of an
upstate New York railroad in The Fonda, Johnstown, & Gloversville Railroad:
Sacandaga Route to the Adirondacks. This innovative line, a source of great
interest for railroad enthusiasts, served its communities for over 100 years,
using the finest and newest equipment available. Here is the chance to view it
like never before, through the eyes of early photographers in many previously
unpublished images. Included in this collection are the communities through
which the railroad traveled along its 130 miles of operation, captured in images
from the 1870s to the 1980s. Thanks to early historians with the foresight to
preserve such records, we are able to return to the heyday of the railroad, when
the FJ&G stopped at splendid Victorian stations and boasted some of the most
advanced equipment in the country. The railroad used an extensive steam division
as well as an electric division and frequently traveled to the beautiful
Sacandaga Park near Northville, New York. A popular destination for thousands of
tourists to the southern Adirondacks in the late 1800s, the park is one of the
many FJ&G stops included in this impressive collection of images. Pages:
128
Author Bio: Author Randy L. Decker brings his lifelong love of
railroads to this unique historical work, as well as his memories of growing up
in Gloversville during the 1960s. He has spent many years traveling throughout
the communities along the route, collecting vintage images and countless stories
from the people who worked on the railroad and the passengers who relied on it
for transportation. Discover a true historical gem, a reminder of our nation’s
past, and a source of pride for the people of upstate New York in this valuable
addition to the Images of America series.
Long
Island Rail Road Stations
Author(s): David D. Morrison, Valerie Pakaluk
Book Description: Chartered in 1834 to provide a route between New
York City and Boston, the Long Island Rail Road ran from the Brooklyn waterfront
through the center of Long Island to Greenport. The railroad served the
agricultural market on Long Island until branches and competing lines eventually
developed on the north and south shores of the island and several hundred
passenger stations were built. After Penn Station was opened in 1910, the number
of passengers commuting between Manhattan and Long Island began to multiply.
Today, one hundred twenty-five stations serve the Long Island Rail Road. Long
Island Rail Road Stations contains vintage postcards of the old Penn Station,
which was demolished in the mid-1960s; the Grand Stairway at the Forest Hills
Station, where Theodore Roosevelt delivered his famous unification speech on
July 4, 1917; and the Amagansett station building, where Nazi spies boarded a
train bound for New York City on June 13, 1942. Many of the historic stations
featured in this book have been preserved by local preservation groups, while
others have been replaced with modern buildings to accommodate the passengers
who commute on the nation's largest commuter railroad. Pages:
128
Author Bio: David D. Morrison is a retired Long Island Rail Road
branch line manager and the author of two other railroad histories. He is the
chairman of the Oyster Bay Station Restoration Committee.
The
Long Island Railroad 1925-1975
Author(s): David Keller, Steven Lynch
Book Description: Chartered on April 24, 1834, as a route from
Brooklyn to Boston, the Long Island Rail Road commenced in 1836 with service
between Brooklyn and Jamaica, New York. The railroad has linked Long Island and
New York City through several periods of increasing immigration and population
beginning in the 1880s. Farmers and fishermen have depended on the railroad for
their livelihood, and every summer thousands of tourists flock to Long Island
beaches on the Long Island Rail Road. It is still the nation’s largest commuter
railroad, transporting an average of over two hundred fifty thousand commuters
daily. The Long Island Rail Road: 1925–1975 offers a behind-the-scenes look at
freight and passenger activities and the people who worked on the railroad.
These one-of-a-kind photographs depict structures no longer in use, such as
towers, water tanks, and crossing shanties, as well as electric motive power and
other facets of a working railroad. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Author David Keller has photographed and collected
memorabilia of the Long Island Rail Road for over forty years, and his work has
been published in a number of railroad publications. While attending college, he
worked as a ticket clerk and special services attendant for the Long Island Rail
Road. Author Steven Lynch, also a former resident of Long Island, is an avid
rail fan, modeler, and writer who has researched and followed the Long Island
Rail Road for twenty-five years.
Revisiting
the Long Island Rail Road:
1925-1975
Author(s): David Keller, Steven Lynch
Book Description: Planned and chartered on April 24, 1834, the
Long Island Rail Road commenced operations in 1836 to provide a route to Boston.
Stretching 110 miles east of New York City, the Long Island Rail Road has been
the backbone of population growth and suburban development for over a hundred
years. Electrification was begun on the Long Island Rail Road in 1905. Whether
it was commuter, freight, or special trains, third-rail operations played a
major role in the Long Island Rail Road’s development as well as the people,
places, and industries it served. This book offers an insider’s view of the
Morris Park shops and photographs of the varied passenger operations found on
the Long Island Rail Road. Pages: 128
Author Bio: While attending college, David Keller worked as a
ticket clerk and special services attendant for the Long Island Rail Road. He
has photographed and collected Long Island Rail Road history for over forty
years. Steven Lynch, also a former resident of Long Island, has been an avid
railfan, modeler, and writer who has researched and followed the Long Island
Rail Road for twenty-five years. Keller and Lynch coauthored the companion book
The Long Island Rail Road: 1925–1975.
Metropolitan
New York's
Third Avenue Railway System
Author: Charles L. Ballard
Book Description: Metropolitan New York’s
Third Avenue Railway System features never-before-published photographs
documenting the final years of this streetcar system, from 1940 to 1957.
Chartered as the Third Avenue Railroad Company in 1853, the system provided
streetcar service on Third Avenue from Ann Street to 61st Street. The line
eventually extended north to Harlem and across 125th Street and, in its heyday,
north of Manhattan into the Bronx and northern Westchester County. Individual
lines, such as the Yonkers Railroad, the Westchester Electric Railroad, the
Queensborough Bridge Railway Co, and the Union Railway, are featured in this
book. Metropolitan New York’s Third Avenue Railway System recalls the bygone
street scenes of Manhattan, as well as some of the car barns and work cars and
the car-scrapping yard employed by the system. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Charles L. Ballard commuted into Manhattan from Mount
Vernon via the New Haven Railroad to 125th Street and on the Third Avenue
streetcars to Columbia University. While completing his master’s degree in
transportation, Ballard documented many of the streetcars that appear in this
book.
The
New York Central System
Author: Michael Leavy
Book Description: A full generation has passed since a New York
Central emblem dashed across the countryside on a railroad car, but few could
ever forget "the greatest railroad in the world." The New York Central System
grew from an amalgamation of smaller lines stretching from Albany to Buffalo in
the 1830s. Twenty years later, the lines were gathered into a single company.
Its phenomenal success did not go unnoticed by Cornelius "the Commodore"
Vanderbilt. In his late sixties, when most men retire, he methodically started
acquiring railroads in the New York City and Hudson River region. He then
acquired the New York Central and merged it with his Hudson River Railroad. The
Commodore and his son William, the foremost rail barons of their age, forged
ahead with one of the most dynamic future-directed endeavors in the world-a
railroad empire that traversed 11 states and 2 Canadian provinces.
Pages: 128
Author Bio: The New York Central System brings back to life the
fading steam whistle, the ticking of the station clock, the click of the
conductor's ticket punch, and the bellowing of the line's mammoth locomotives.
Using more than 200 rare images, author and historian Michael Leavy takes
readers on an unforgettable journey beginning in the 1850s to the railroad's
undignified end in the 1970s.
The
Rahway Valley Railroad
Author: Donald A. Maxton
Book Description: Many residents of Union and Essex Counties in
New Jersey fondly recall the whistles of the Rahway Valley Railroad trains that
rolled through the picturesque stations of Roselle Park, Kenilworth, Union,
Springfield, and Summit. The Rahway's steam and diesel locomotives supported
local commerce, provided passenger service, and carried a vast array of goods to
and from local businesses. It connected the area with larger railroads, such as
the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Lehigh Valley, and the Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western. One of the shortest yet most prosperous of American
railroads, the Rahway Valley helped transform a rural region into one of New
Jersey's most vital and populous areas. The Rahway Valley Railroad presents the
story of this colorful short line with rare, vintage photographs of locomotives,
passengers, stations, and train crews. It recounts how the Rahway Valley evolved
from the New York and New Orange Railroad, linking Union County towns with
Newark Heights (Maplewood), in adjoining Essex County. Images in this book
include passengers riding Rahway Valley trains to picnics, church outings, and
Springfield's world-famous Baltusrol Golf Club. Readers will learn how this
feisty little line competed successfully for many years against the trucking
industry and the interstate highway system during a time when many small
railroads were dying out. The Rahway Valley Railroad tells the distinctively
American story of a proud short line that competed with forces larger than
itself and faithfully served the local merchants and residents who now remember
it so fondly. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Author Donald A. Maxton, a lifelong resident of Union
and Essex Counties, grew up alongside the Rahway Valley Railroad and has written
numerous articles on local New Jersey history.
Railroads
of Hoboken and Jersey City
Author: Kenneth French
Book Description: With over two hundred historical photographs,
Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City explores the cultural and commercial
effects of railway travel in two important New Jersey cities. Because of their
unique location directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Hoboken and
Jersey City have long been centers of transportation activity. When the railway
industry was booming in the early twentieth century, four major passenger
terminals dotted the left bank of the Hudson from the Jersey Central to the
Pennsylvania to the Erie to the Lackawanna. Thousands of people streamed through
these terminals every day to the ferries that then took them across the river to
New York City. Additionally, tons of freight were brought through the vast train
yards along the waterfront. Railroads of Hoboken and Jersey City tells the
history of the railroads between the mid-1800s and the 1970s. It also explores
how the once vibrant waterfronts of Hoboken and Jersey City went through
tremendous decline and how, over time, the waterfront has been restored and
redeveloped. New residential and commercial buildings have sprouted along the
old Pennsylvania and Erie properties, the Lackawanna Terminal has been restored,
and the Central Railroad Terminal is now part of Liberty State Park, one of New
Jersey's most popular tourist destinations. Pages: 128
Author Bio: A native of Jersey City, Kenneth French is also the
author of Jersey City, 1940-1960: The Dan McNulty Collection. He is the
librarian at St. Peter's Preparatory School and the former head librarian at the
New Jersey Room of the Jersey City Public Library. A longtime supporter of the
preservation of local historic sites, such as the Loew's Jersey Theater, the
Apple Tree House, and the Bergen Arches, Kenneth French is pleased to present
this look at the railroads in Jersey City and Hoboken.
Railroads
of Monmouth County
Author(s): Tom Galio, William B. Longo
Book Description: The railroads of Monmouth County provided a
means of transporting goods and people to and from points from within and beyond
New Jersey and New York City. Once part of a vast network of steel tracks
cutting through the rich farmlands of the Garden State, the railroads were a
part of everyday life. Many residents worked for the railroad companies or
indirectly provided supplies, equipment, and services needed by the railroads to
serve customers. Commuters rode into New York City, Newark, and Jersey City to
their employment. Many others traveled by rail to enjoy the cool breezes of the
Jersey Shore and other attractions such as horse racing. These attractions led
many to settle here. However, railroad excursion packages could only slow the
loss of business that was a result of automobile ownership. In this changing
society, only the most utilized tracks were left in service. Pages:
128
Author Bio: Tom Gallo, a lifelong resident of Keyport, grew up
next to a branch line, catching rides and learning about railroad operations at
age 12. William B. Longo, a lifelong Hazlet resident, lived within walking
distance of a station. As a bicyclist, he rode around photographing railroad
operations. In their travels meeting railroad employees, the authors collected
many images of the vast rail network.
Steam
to Diesel in New Jersey
Author: Charles P. Caldes
Book Description: At the end of World War II, the nation's
railroads were eager to replace their abundance of war-weary steam locomotives
with sleek new diesel engines. From Cape May to Bayonne, New Jersey's tracks
were soon humming with diesels while the old steamers were nudged onto the scrap
tracks of the Central New Jersey, the Erie, and the New York, Susquehanna &
Western Railroads, among others. Powering a commuter train to Dover or a sand
train to Millville's Wheaton glass plant, the diesels instantly proved their
worth, praised by railroad employees for their ease of running and maintenance.
In an era when most clothes were dried outside, the public accepted the new lack
of trackside coal ash with gusto. Steam to Diesel in New Jersey presents the
mixed era of late-steam and early-diesel power on the big and small railroads of
New Jersey, from the mid-1940s to the end of the 1950s. From the Baldwins to the
Alcos, the steam-spewing Behemoths to the smooth-running RS series, this
engaging collection of vintage photographs remembers a time filled with wonder
and change. With nearly two hundred images, Steam to Diesel in New Jersey
showcases the departing steam engines and the emerging diesels that ushered in a
new period of railroad history. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Charles P. Caldes, raised in Ridgefield, New Jersey,
has written extensively about the abandoned railroads of New Jersey. He is a
member of the Bergen-Rockland and the West Jersey chapters of the National
Railway Historical Society. For Caldes, exploring the state's many abandoned
rights-of-way is a lifelong task of enjoyment.
The
Delaware and Raritan Canal
Author: Linda J. Barth
Book Description: For nearly one hundred seventy years, the
Delaware and Raritan Canal has meandered across the narrow waist of New Jersey
through bustling cities, suburban towns, and rural landscapes. One of the most
successful towpath canals in the United States, the Delaware and Raritan carried
more tonnage in 1866 than the famous Erie Canal. Transporting mainly anthracite
coal, the Delaware and Raritan also stimulated industries as diverse as
Roebling's wire-rope factory in Trenton, Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals in
New Brunswick, and Fleischmann's Distillery in East Millstone. Today, as the
centerpiece of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, the canal provides the
people of central New Jersey with both a water supply and a premier recreational
facility.The Delaware and Raritan Canal introduces you to this manmade waterway
through some two hundred historical photographs and postcards. In these pages,
discover the locks, aqueducts, and machinery that enabled the waterway to
transport military men and supplies between New York and Philadelphia during
three wars. See how inventor John Holland used the canal to deliver his Holland
VI submarine to Washington for its naval trials and how luxury yachts, including
J.P. Morgan's Tarantula, cruised the waterway. The Delaware and Raritan Canal
documents a historical and recreational gem in the heart of New Jersey.
Pages: 128
Author Bio: Linda J. Barth grew up in the canal town of South
Bound Brook. For nearly two decades, she has served on the board of the Canal
Society of New Jersey and has also been the curator of the Mule Tenders Barracks
Museum in Griggstown. A retired teacher, Linda J. Barth is the author of many
canal and travel articles and leads canal tours throughout the Northeast.
The
Delaware and Raritan Canal at Work
Author: Linda J. Barth
Book Description: The Delaware and Raritan Canal connected the
Chesapeake Bay with New England ports, allowing a wide variety of vessels to use
the waterway and avoid the treacherous Atlantic Ocean. The unusual machinery of
the canal—locks, swing bridges, aqueducts, spill gates—is depicted in detail in
The Delaware and Raritan Canal at Work. The book focuses on many of the
businesses that operated along the canal, including farms, food-packing
companies, rubber-reclaiming plants, coal yards, quarries, Johnson & Johnson,
and Atlantic Terra Cotta. It includes scenic views along this famous waterway,
one of the most successful towpath canals in the United States. Pages:
128
Author Bio: For The Delaware and Raritan Canal at Work, Linda J.
Barth selected vintage images from the Canal Society of New Jersey, the Franklin
Township Public Library, and private collections. The author of Arcadia’s first
book on the Delaware and Raritan Canal, as well as numerous canal and travel
articles, she grew up in the canal town of South Bound Brook. A longtime member
of the board of the Canal Society of New Jersey, she leads tours on canals
throughout the Northeast.
The
Morris Canal:
Across New Jersey By Water and Rail
Author(s): Robert R. Goller
Book Description: The Morris Canal was not the longest canal in
the world, but it did have one superlative to its credit—it climbed higher than
any other canal ever built. In its time it was world famous, visited by tourists
and technical people from as far away as Europe and Asia. For nearly 100 years
it crossed the hills of northern New Jersey, accomplishing that feat with 23
lift locks and 23 inclined planes. From Lake Hopatcong, the canal ran westward
through the Musconetcong valley to Phillipsburg, on the Delaware River, and
eastward through the valleys of the Rockaway and Passaic rivers to tidewater at
Newark and Jersey City—a little over 100 miles horizontally and a total rise and
fall of nearly 1,700 feet vertically. The Morris Canal, once an important
soldier in the American Industrial Revolution, has been gone for most of the
twentieth century, but its memory lives on in the many photographs, postcards,
and other memorabilia that its unique presence inspired. Pages:
128
Author Bio: Bob Goller has been following the canal’s story since
1962 and has written about it extensively. Here, with more than 200 images
assembled from his own collection and from other sources, he takes readers on a
historical journey to those countrysides and settlements of northern New Jersey
where mule-drawn boats were once a familiar part of the daily scene.
Delaware
and Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad
Author: Matthew M. Osterberg
Book Description:
From the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania at Carbondale to the Hudson River in
New York near Kingston, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company and the Gravity
Railroad transformed long tracks of wilderness into thriving economic areas.
Conceived as an inexpensive way to transport anthracite coal, the canal began
hauling loads in 1828 to the Hudson River, where barges to New York City took
over. A leader in the technologies of the time, the canal company used the first
telegraph system in America, and when Delaware & Hudson engineer Horatio Allen
ran the locomotive Stourbridge Lion in Honesdale, he became the first to run a
commercial steam locomotive on tracks in the Western Hemisphere. The Delaware &
Hudson Canal was privately funded, and when stock was offered for sale in 1825,
it soon became the first American company capitalized at $1 million. The
Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad uses fascinating vintage
photographs to tell an amazing piece of American history. It shows the mules,
the canal boats, the locomotives, and the men who ran this technological wonder,
boasting one hundred eight locks over one hundred eight miles, plus four
suspension aqueducts built by John A. Roebling of Brooklyn Bridge fame. The
Gravity Railroad is shown as well, hauling coal from Carbondale to Honesdale
over the Moosic Mountains, a rise of more than one thousand feet. The Delaware &
Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad tells the story of an American industrial
masterpiece.
Author Bio: Historian Matthew M. Osterberg, author of Arcadia's Matamoras
to Shohola and Port Jervis, has used historical photographs from the Minisink
Valley Historical Society and private collectors to compile this history of a
commercial endeavor that helped transform a nation. Pages: 128
Erie
Canal
Author(s): Erie Canal Museum, Martin Morganstein, Joan
H. Cregg
Book Description: The building of the Erie Canal was the
engineering marvel that unleashed the growth of the young nation that was the
United States. Spearheaded by the vision of Gov. Dewitt Clinton, New York State
built the waterway that opened the West to settlement and made New York City the
center of finance and commerce. Opened in 1825, the canal proved so commercially
viable that construction of an enlarged Erie Canal began just eleven years
later. The success of the canal spawned the growth of cities, towns, businesses,
and industries along its route in upstate New York. Erie Canal takes you on a
ride through the heyday of the old Erie Canal. You can swim with the Volunteer
Life Saving Corps as they sharpen their skills, view images of mule-drawn boats
wending their way through scenic countryside, and marvel at the engineering of
the bridges, aqueducts, and locks that facilitated the functioning of the canal.
Erie Canal travels a step back in time and illuminates the people whose lives
were shaped by the canal. Pages: 128
Author Bio: The Erie Canal Museum, founded in 1962, seeks to keep
Erie Canal history and heritage alive. Martin Morganstein, development director
of the museum, and Joan H. Cregg, volunteer guide and researcher at the museum,
have carefully selected from the museum's extensive collection over two hundred
images that depict life on the Erie Canal. These early images highlight canal
cities and towns and the people that gave these places their spirit and
vibrancy. They display the beauty of nineteenth-century rural New York and take
your imagination on a trip through a bygone era on the Erie Canal.
Palisades
Amusement Park
Author: Vince Gargiulo
Book Description: High atop the Palisades cliffs in the boroughs
of Cliffside Park and Fort Lee once stood the home of the famous Cyclone roller
coaster, the Tunnel of Love, and the world’s largest outdoor saltwater pool. The
place was called Palisades Amusement Park, and even today, several decades after
it closed, the park is warmly remembered. For those who ever visited the park,
this book is sure to bring back cherished memories and re-create the thrills,
laughter, and joy that was Palisades. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Vince Gargiulo grew up in Cliffside Park under the
glow of the famed amusement park. He is the founder and executive director of
Palisades Amusement Park Historical Society, author of an earlier Palisades
history, and writer and co-producer of an award-winning Palisades television
documentary. His excitement and eagerness to keep the park’s memories alive are
reflected on every page of Palisades Amusement Park.
New
York State's Covered Bridges
Author: Richard R. Wilson
Book Description: New York State's Covered Bridges explores the
old timbered spans that crossed New York waters. The state at one time had more
than two hundred fifty such bridges; today, it has only twenty four original
covered bridges remaining, plus some replicas. Vintage postcards, many of which
are extremely rare, bring back into view the old ones, beginning with the first
built in 1807, and ending with those of the mid-1900s. Pages:
128
Author Bio: Richard Wilson is the president, historian, and
publications editor of the New York State Covered Bridge Society. Every year
since 1970, he and his wife have led tours along covered bridge routes in New
York or New England and beyond. He has been collecting historic postcards since
the 1960s, and his images have appeared in historic publications, calendars, and
a guidebook.

Hudson River Bridges
Author: Kathryn W. Burke
Book Description: The Hudson River Valley, an invaluable
connection between New England and the rest of the colonies during the American
Revolution, continues to be a major crossroads today. The Hudson River bridges
were architectural marvels of their time. The Bear Mountain Bridge was the
longest suspension bridge, while the Newburgh Beacon second span was built with
a new type of weathering steel. The bridges were constructed during important
times in history. The Bear Mountain Bridge was built as the automobile became an
integral part in the country’s development, and the Mid-Hudson Bridge was built
during the Depression. Labor disputes helped develop labor laws, and world wars
led to changes in activity on the bridges. Through historical photographs from
sources including the New York State Bridge Authority and the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey, Hudson River Bridges documents how these structures
remain beautiful testaments to cooperative efforts during trying times in
America’s history.Pages: 128
Author Bio: Kathryn W. Burke, educator and author, drew upon
historic photographs and archival documents to share the past through this
publication. Her interest in the Hudson River bridges stems from living most of
her life in different parts of the Hudson River Valley.
The
Statue of Liberty
Author: Barry Moreno
Book Description:
The Statue of Liberty is an awesome visual journey that begins with the
fantastic proposal of a French professor to give the United States a monument to
commemorate the Revolutionary War alliance between the thirteen colonies and
France. It documents the gift’s taking symbolic form of the ancient goddess of
liberty and its designation as the tallest metal statue in the world. Highlights
include Liberty’s construction history, her changing symbolism over the years,
and her use in popular advertising and political activism. Her upraised arm has
saluted scores of ships as they have passed by. Her dignity has welcomed
Americans returning home from foreign parts and has given hope to newcomers
seeking a fresh beginning in the land of liberty. Pages: 128
Author Bio: Author Barry Moreno works in the Museum Services
Division at the Statue of Liberty National Monument. He is the author of Arcadia
Publishing’s Ellis Island and several other books, including The Statue of
Liberty Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Ellis Island.
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