Bücher veröffentlicht von Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

From the Calusa Indians to the travelers who used boats for transport in the early 1900s and up to the prosperous farms and cattle ranches of today, the Everglades has evolved into a mecca for fishing, birding, and hiking. The smell of orange blossoms entices the settler to an untamed land where bears, deer, and snakes still inhabit the wilderness and where alligator hunting and fishing are still popular sports. Lake Okeechobee is 110 miles around from Pahokee to Canal Point, Okeechobee, Lakeport, Moore Haven, Clewiston, South Bay, and Belle Glade. To cross Florida from the Atlantic to the Gulf, a boat starts in Stuart and ends at Port Mayaca, crossing Lake Okeechobee to the Moore Haven lock and out the Caloosahatchee River past Lake Hicpochee and west to Fort Myers. Around Lake Okeechobee presents images from the Clewiston Museum, Lawrence E. Will Museum, state archives, and private collections, painting a history of the boom and bust, the boaters and farmers, and the cattlemen and ranchers who have settled and raised their families here.

It is likely that most fans of bluegrass music would concede that no state should be more associated with bluegrass music than Kentucky--and rightly so. Bluegrass music draws its name from the band that Kentuckian Bill Monroe formed during the late 1930s and 1940s. Bill named his band Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys to honor his home state. Eventually, the music these bands and others like them were playing came to be known as bluegrass music. Later, another Kentuckian, Ebo Walker, while playing with the Bowling Green-based bluegrass band, New Grass Revival, coined the phrase "newgrass" to describe the band's progressive style of music. Other Kentuckians such as Bobby and Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Dale Ann Bradley have become bluegrass stars. Some of the musicians from Kentucky covered in this book are quite famous--some are not. Famous or not, all of them have a deep-rooted passion for the music they play.

With its pristine waterways, abundant forests, and teeming wildlife, Haywood County is referred to as a kind of Eden in Cherokee mythology. All natural water flowing through the county originates within its borders. More than a dozen of its peaks rise above 6,000 feet, including Cold Mountain, made famous by the best-selling Charles Frazier novel. Established in 1808, Haywood County developed into a series of farming communities. Waynesville, the county seat, was the site of the last shot of the Civil War east of the Mississippi River and later grew into a popular tourist destination after rail lines were laid through the county in the early 1880s. On the eastern end, Canton thrived with one of the largest paper mills in the nation, still in operation after more than a century. The county is also home to sections of the Appalachian Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Of Delaware's three counties, New Castle County is the smallest in the area, even though two-thirds of Delaware's residents call it home. Aldous Huxley once mused that "the charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different." Certainly this is true of New Castle County. Images of America: New Castle County begins in 1875, as steamboats plied the waters of the Christina and Delaware Rivers and farmers worked the county's fertile farmland. Over the next 100 years, the population skyrocketed 400 percent, and suburban shopping centers and housing developments covered what had been farmland. By 1975, New Castle County boasted corporate giants, the world's largest twin-span bridge, and the stories of individuals as varied as DuPont family members; Emily Bissell, who introduced the Christmas Seal; and thousands of blue-collar workers making automobiles. New Castle County's history is as rich and colorful as the changing of the seasons and the imaginations of those who have lived here.

Once described as "a place where God and man went fifty-fifty to produce perfection," Rock Springs Park remained a landmark along the Lincoln Highway in Chester until 1970. In its heyday, this panhandle playground captivated 20,000 visitors daily with attractions including the World's Greatest Scenic Railway, the Cyclone Roller Coaster, and a hand-carved 1927 Dentzel Carousel. Images of America: Rock Springs Park features over 200 rarely seen images and portrays the lifespan of the park from its history as Native American hunting grounds to its development as a local trolley park and full-fledged amusement park. The park hosted business and community picnic excursions and countless celebrity entertainers. Performer Bobby Vinton remembers the era of dances at the park as "a very romantic time . . . almost like something in the movies. There was the carousel, the guys in white shoes and girls that were all dressed up with their crinoline skirts."

The Panhandle's first railroad, the Southern Kansas Railway of Texas, was constructed in 1886. Reaching Amarillo in 1889, the railway pulled cars filled with immigrant families and their belongings. The settlers were farmers from the east and south who came west to find water and cheap land. George Tyng, an adventurous fortune seeker, began leasing ranch land in 1887. A rail station was constructed, and Tyng eventually settled on the name "Pampa," a South American word that means "plains." Tyng was fond of saying that someday Pampa would be the "Queen City of the Plains."

Located in the picturesque Texas Hill Country, Bandera County was named for nearby Bandera Pass, a naturally occurring passageway through the neighboring hills. Near the pass, the Medina River weaves its way through the county. In 1853, a group of settlers arrived and set up camp to make shingles from the huge cypress trees that grew along the river. Soon immigrant workers from Poland were recruited to work at a newly built sawmill. The beauty and abundance of resources also attracted an early group of Mormons, who established a nearby colony. The town of Bandera was designated the county seat at the formation of Bandera County in 1856. Bandera became a staging area for cattle drives up the Western Trail, and today the county still maintains its frontier character. The Western way of life prevails as visitors from around the world come to sample cowboy living on local dude ranches and enjoy honky-tonk music and dancehalls.

Pinellas County's railroad heritage began in 1888 and lasted almost a century. Today few people who walk, run, or bike the 41-mile Pinellas Trail realize the importance of this path as they travel through Pinellas County railroad history. Railroading in Pinellas County transports the reader through 100 years. History is brought to life through photographs of the individuals who brought to Pinellas the railroad, railroad stations, railroad engines, passenger and freight cars, railroad companies, employees, and industries such as tourism that utilized this form of transportation. These photographs were culled with the assistance and permission of local historical societies, county and state archives, and various private collections.

Fort Worth is called the city "Where the West Begins," and 100 years ago, the neighborhood known as Fairmount was where the south side ended. Now considered inner city, the Fairmount Southside Historic District is actually numerous smaller subdivisions including the largest, the Fairmount addition, and the smallest, the dubiously named Swastika Place. The neighborhoods were home to early merchants, lawyers, judges, artists, and small-business owners-many of whom went on to local and national fame. Today that legacy continues. Fairmount welcomes new generations of urban pioneers and benefits from a neighborhood renaissance that has brought this historically and architecturally significant gem of the city back from the brink of extinction.