"Dives deep into Midwestern literature, unpacking the mythology of the region and how today's writers are complicating our simple idea of the Heartland." — Huffington PostIn the public imagination, Midwestern literature has not evolved far beyond heartland laborers and hardscrabble immigrants of a century past. But as the region has changed, so, in many ways, has its fiction. In this book, the author explores how shifts in work, class, place, race, and cul...

Despite its modest size, the village of Lyons has played a key role in the growth of nearby Chicago. In 1673, French explorers Fr. Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet learned of a Native American portage route connecting the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan, and that path helped make Lyons an important stop for fur traders and other businessmen throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1834, the town boasted just �a saw mill, three houses, and a tavern,� but by the 1830s and 1840s...

Waukegan, Illinois has a long history, with a rich and varied heritage. Countless individuals, businesses, and organizations have contributed to that heritage, and continue today to contribute to the legacy of this community. One of Waukegan's most notable citizens was Jack Benny. Throughout his long career he regularly cited his hometown and its influence on him, and he often contributed to the city with his many appearances. But he wasn't the only person to bring fame to Waukegan. Edward...

The rich heritage of descendants of English, Dutch, and German settlers in the Hunterdon County population centers of Clinton, Flemington, and Lambertville is presented here. Life among the rolling hills of northwest New Jersey and in the three small towns that became centers of that area's population has been faithfully recorded by residents since the Civil War, capturing the rural character of their landscape.

Postcards are an important element of understanding our past, for they provide future generations a rare glimpse into a world that many times has disappeared under the aegis of expansion and progress. This book, containing over 200 vintage postcards, allows readers to see one of the South's most historic cities as it looked in the earlier part of the twentieth century'a time when the city was experiencing unparalleled growth. Spartanburg, South Carolina contains scenes of early textile mil...

In 1837, Henry Janes applied for a post office called Black Hawk for the southern Wisconsin settlement where he ran a ferry across the Rock River. The postmaster general, however, noticed a town already by that name in the Iowa part of Wisconsin Territory, and he assigned the name Janesville, with Janes as postmaster. Two years later, Janes moved his family west, but the community grew to become the Rock County seat, and by 1860 it was Wisconsin's second-largest city. Today more than 62,00...

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 ...

The history of York College of Pennsylvania begins shortly after the Revolutionary War. The college traces its lineage directly to three ancestral schools. The foundation was York County Academy, an English classical school chartered in 1787. The academy merged in 1929 with York Collegiate Institute, founded in 1873. Under one roof, both schools survived the Great Depression. In 1941, the charter was amended to allow two years of college-level courses and the institution became York Junior...

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...

From 19th century trading post to one of the world's great financial, business, and entertainment districts, experience the growth and changes of the Windy City.Chicago's famed Loop is said to have gotten its name from the route of a cable car that looped the central business district in 1882. Since then, much has changed.This book captures the evolving urban landscape of the Chicago Loop, with a collection of over 100 vintage ima...

Around Hornell tells the tale of western New York's "Maple City" and its neighbors, the rural towns of Canisteo, Dansville, Fremont, Hartsville, Hornellsville, and Howard. The region is set in the dramatic countryside between the Finger Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains, home to the deep gorges of Stony Brook State Park. Great arks floated down the Canisteo River to markets in Baltimore, and for more than a century, Hornell roared with round-the-clock work in the Erie Railroad shops. Hor...

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Brownsburg, Indiana with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it. In 1835, William Harris sectioned off his land--the area now known as Main and Green Streets in Brownsburg--for the purpose of establishing a town. Harris used beech trees, elm trees, and hickory stumps to define the town's boundaries; he called it Harrisburg. The name Harrisburg was already in use elsewhere in Indiana, so Brownsburg...