Northern Calaveras County stretches eastward from the valley towns of Wallace and Jenny Lind, through the Campo Seco and Mokelumne Hill gold country, to the county seat in San Andreas and finally extends to the upcountry mining camps and logging settlements of West Point and Railroad Flat. Historically water and trails connected these diverse regions. The Mokelumne River and its tributaries�diverted into flumes and ditches�brought water to the river bars, mines, ranches, settlements, and t...

The Angels Camp and Copperopolis regions offer a fascinating chapter in the history of the Mother Lode. Calaveras County�s southwest corner has many tales to tell, including one of the earliest settlements of the Native American in California; two of the most famous names in Americana, Mark Twain and Black Bart; and two major events in national history, the Gold Rush and the Civil War. An important Gold Rush town, Angels Camp gained even greater fame through Twain�s �The Celebrated Jumping...

Join Uncle John as he treks through every one of America’s National Parks!If you like the great outdoors, you’re going to love this book. We’re plunging into every national park, monument, site, and trail (more than 150 in all!) in true Uncle John fashion and uncovering some unique stories behind all of them. You’re sure to find hidden facets of each national park that you never imagined. Read about...* Yosemite’s firefall and why it came to a sudden end

The Pine Barrens of New Jersey contain more ghost towns, some say, than the entire American west. In Ghost Towns and Other Quirky Places in the New Jersey Pine Barrens author Barbara Solem-Stull tells the story of the towns that rose up around the iron furnaces, glass factories, paper mills, cranberry farms, and brick making establishments of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. A popular Pinelands speaker and tour guide, Solem-Stull has written much more than an armchair guide to the...

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ral...

Mastodons roamed the plains of Sequim and Dungeness in the years following the recession of the Cordilleran ice sheets. Millennia later, the villages of S'Klallam were home to those who saw settlers disembarking on the periphery of coastal wilderness. Ancient stands of spruce, cedar, and fir fell in the 1800s, clearing the land for agriculture. By the 1900s, the region exported wheat, potatoes, hay, and oats and became prime dairy land. This compilation of historic photographs illustrates ...

Kissimmee, Florida traces its name to the Jororo tribe, among the first to settle along the river valley. Riverboat captains, entrepreneurs, and speculators found Kissimmee and nearby Lake Tohopekaliga irresistible, and soon settlers followed. The 1880s marked this city's first brush with tourism, as the Tropical Hotel became the largest resort hotel south of Jacksonville. As the cattle town struggled to survive floods, the Depression, and downtown neglect in favor of spillover Walt Disney...

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ral...

Old Town, situated in north-central Maine, sits snugly along the mighty Penobscot River. Taking advantage of the river's vibrant woods and watershed, Old Town would become the country's leading producer of timber in its early history. Penobscot Indian tribes had inhabited the land for more than 6,000 years, but the area's resources were so vast that, by 1836, the first railroad in Maine had established a line from Bangor to Old Town, with many eager to access the town's wealth. Since its s...

The Rocky Mountain and Great Basin states are the heart of ghost-town country. Once-bustling pioneer outposts, mining camps, lumber towns, and railroad villages stand today as reminders of the glory days of gold rushes, industrial progress, and that pioneering spirit of the Old West. This book guides readers to the fascinating and scenic ghost towns of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Nevada. Varney highlights popular tourist destinations as well as out-of-the-way spots unfamil...

An ode to our national parks, timed for the centennial, by the beloved author of When Women Were Birds.Longlisted for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for ExcellenceA Washington Post Notable Book of the YearAmerica's national parks are breathing spaces in a world in which such spaces are steadily disappearing, which is why more than 300 million people visit the parks each year. Now Terry Tempest Williams, the author of the e...

"Every state has its own ghost. Every city has a few spirits. In Ghosts Coast to Coast, a friendly apparition named John takes the reader on a spirited journey through the fifty states visiting famous and obscure haunted houses throughout the United States. It's a haunting journey discovering the haunting activity of Ghosts Coast To Coast...."