In 1831, Rev. Allen Tibbits and Joseph Hanchett arrived in the area that would become Coldwater. Together, they platted out a village and named it Lyons after their hometown in New York. Potawatomi Indians called the area �chuck-sey-ya-bish,� which translated to �cold water,� and within two years the settlers followed the Indians� example in naming the village. Many pioneers traveled on the Historic Sauk Trail (now US Route 12), which connects Detroit to Chicago, putting Coldwater on the m...

Branch County, home to the historic communities of Bronson, Union City, Quincy, Coldwater, and Sherwood, was named for John Branch, President Jackson�s Secretary of the Navy. The original county seat was Masonville, in 1830, followed by the Village of Branch in 1831, and finally, Coldwater, in 1842. By 1836 there were 30 inns between Sturgis and Quincy along the Sauk Trail. Railroads first traveled through Branch County in 1850, and the presence of trains facilitated further growth and set...

The Coldwater area was first settled on the historic Sauk Trail in the 1830s. Coldwater became a village in 1837, and after the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s, it became a city in 1861. Majestic homes and buildings were constructed, churches and schools were established, and a vibrant community began to take shape. The 1900s brought more growth and challenges, as residents encountered the Great Depression, World War II, and subsequent eras of transition, renewal, and expansion. This...

Monticello was founded by the White County commissioners in 1834 on a bluff above the Tippecanoe River. They named it after the mansion ofThomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. It was incorporated as a town in 1862. The county seat grew more rapidly when the railroads cameto town before the Civil War. Then the town grew large enough to become a city in 1909, and a mayor was elected. The area around the city became atourist destination in the 1920s after dams created th...

The town of Ogden and the village of Spencerport were considered pioneer country when the first settlers arrived in 1801 from Connecticut, seeking more fertile farmland. The two communities witnessed the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and survived through the rise and fall of the importance of that waterway. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, many farms produced and sold vast amounts of produce, shipped via the canal. Since the time of their agrarian roots, Ogden and Spencerp...

On April 7, 1870, an act of the state legislature created Lincoln County, named for Pres. Abraham Lincoln, from Lawrence, Franklin, Copiah, Pike, and Amite Counties. Settlement began more than 50 years earlier with Samuel Jayne's small trading post on St. Stephens Road. Extensive timber resources, the arrival of the railroad in 1857, and the 1859 founding of Whitworth Female College put the county on the map. Logging, lumber mills, and other industries brought scores of people to the regio...

Portland is located in �the big bend� of the Connecticut River near the center of the state, where natural resources provided a prosperous livelihood for generations of residents. First settled as part of Middletown, the area was incorporated as Portland in 1841. The town is known for its brownstone quarries, the Gildersleeve shipyard, and shade-grown tobacco. Meshomasic, the first state forest in New England, is located here. In Portland, historic photographs drawn from the archives of th...

It seems unlikely that a place as far off the beaten track as Aiken, South Carolina, would become the preferred wintering location for the denizens of New York society. But from the late 1800s, the most recognized names in America�the Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, and even the Roosevelts�began coming to this charming Southern city to escape the cold, relax among the oaks, and play. And play they did, establishing Aiken as an international polo capital and a premier place to ride, hunt, and go...

Settlers from Stratford first camped under a white oak tree in Ancient Woodbury in 1673. Over 300 years later, the bustling and near-suburban community of Southbury takes its place. Farming was integral to the economy throughout this time period, and small industries flourished utilizing the numerous waterways. The advent of railroad transportation, followed by the interstate highway system, brought more people to this thriving rural community for commerce. Beautiful rolling hills and seve...

The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America’s beloved and distinguished historian.The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson—and dramati...

The name "Luneburg" was coined for King George II of England, who was also the duke of Luneburg, Germany, in 1727. The final name, Lunenburg, was probably a result of misspelling in the early records of the town. On August 1, 1728, Lunenburg was officially granted township but, as early as 1726, a variety of industries had been started and twenty-six houses had been built. In the late nineteenth century, the town returned to predominately agriculture and, today, is a rural residential comm...

Over 200 never before published photographs are presented in this pictorial history, which spans the early 1800's through the early 1950's. As we approach the end of the century, this new book looks back at over one hundred years of Canandaigua's history, with photographs of the people, places, and events that have defined the proud and vibrant community we know so well today. Readers will be fascinated by the immense changes that have occurred since the early days, but will also draw conn...