Edison, named for its most famous resident, inventor Thomas Alva Edison, can be called the birthplace of modern life as we know it. It was here at his Menlo Park complex that Thomas Edison created the incandescent electric lightbulb and 300 other inventions, providing residents with not only a place of employment but also a source of national pride. Known as Raritan Township until 1954, Edison was a slow-paced agricultural community until the twentieth century, with farms remaining until t...

Located in central New Jersey�s Middlesex County,Metuchen was historically known for the stellarcollection of literary, artistic, and industrial talent who resided here, and earned the nickname the �Brainy Boro.� Since its beginnings as a village within Raritan township, Metuchen has matured from its roots as a commercial center for area farmers into a desirable suburban community. Metuchen compiles photographs from the rich collections of the Metuchen-Edison Historical Society, including ...

Incorporated on February 28, 1774, Ludlow, Massachusetts, was originally a part of Springfield. The origin of the name remains a mystery, though the most probable explanation is that it was named after Roger Ludlow, an early prominent New England citizen who played a great part in building up the town and taking care of its citizens. The Ludlow Manufacturing Company, formed around 1900 by Charles T. Hubbard, helped shape the town by providing housing, a library, schools, playgrounds, and e...

First settled in 1634, and incorporated in 1640, the Town of Braintree has a long and distinguished history. �Old Braintree,� which originally encompassed what is now Braintree, Quincy, Randolph, and Holbrook, was the birthplace of John Adams, John Hancock, John Quincy Adams, and Sylvanus Thayer. Primarily a farming community for almost three centuries, Braintree was also home to a number of water-powered mills and businesses, which prospered along the banks of the Monatiquot River. With t...

North Brunswick, a large town spread over 12 square miles, has a rich history extending back to the early 1600s, when its only occupants were members of the Lenni-Lenape tribe. Some of the earliest establishments included the Black Horse Tavern building, which in 1670 was a stagecoach stop, and the Lion Tavern. By 1750, a gristmill operated near where a dam is currently located on Farrington Lake and was later joined by a snuff mill and tannery. From 1775 through 1900, the area was almost ...

Milford, Delaware, is a unique town in the heart of southern Delaware with one foot in Kent County and the other in Sussex County. Location is a major thread of success for Milford-it is within 100 miles of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Baltimore and only a short 25-minute drive to the Delaware beaches. Greater Milford offers a rare blend of relaxed rural life and progressive, modern convenience. The historic district, riverfront greenway, and civic-minded residents lend a charm to M...

The first settlers came to the Brockport area soon after 1800. Located some twenty miles west of Rochester, the towns of Sweden and Clarkson, the village of Brockport, and a college were organized between 1814 and 1835. The Erie Canal, farm implement manufacturing, and higher education fostered their growth and prosperity in the mid-1800s. At Brockport, the United States became a continental nation, the Industrial Revolution came to agriculture, and popular literature came to American wome...

Woodbury possesses a rich heritage that reads like the story of America. Established in 1683 by Quakers seeking religious freedom, the community was occupied for three days by British troops under Gen. Charles Cornwallis during the Revolutionary War. In 1787, Woodbury became the county seat of Gloucester County, and it remains so to this day. It was home to Capt. James Lawrence, who coined the phrase "Don't give up the ship" during the War of 1812. Woodbury features views of the lavish hom...

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...

A fascinating look at the industrialization of America, through railroad expansion, in the small Ohio town of Alliance. Includes archival photography and images. According to local history, General Robinson, a railroad official from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, named this Ohio town Alliance in 1850. Known for a short time as The Crossing, Robinson believed that Alliance was a better name since the nation's two major railroads intersected here. The name stuck, and in 1854, the communities of W...

Originally known as the Union District or Langdon�s Quarter, the village at the western end of Farmington was officially named Unionville by the U.S. Post Office in 1834. Settling along the banks of the Farmington River, Unionville�s early residents were an industrious group, diverting water into canals to power numerous family-run mills and factories and producing a host of manufactured goods. Although smaller than the neighboring industrial cities of New Britain and Bristol, Unionville g...

In 1807, Christian Deardorff and Jesse Slingluff set out for the Ohio frontier. Before leaving, the men laid out the plat of a village that would sit at the banks of the Tuscarawas River. Over the next 10 years as Deardorff toiled away in his bachelor cabin, he held on to the dream of building his vision. The original plat map the two men devised contained 256 lots with land set aside for churches, schools, and a spacious downtown square. Today, over 200 years after Slingluff and Deardorff...