The unique history of Effingham County is closely tied to the development of transportation through America's heartland. Beginning with the old National Road, through the golden age of railroads, onward to today's interstate highway system, the county has developed alongside the nation's great transportation innovations. Given the county's location between Chicago to the north, St. Louis to the west, and Indianapolis to the east, it is easy to justify the "Heart of the USA" and "Crossroads...

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.

New Paltz was established in 1678 by a small group of Huguenot refugees and their families. These pioneers settled into the fertile Wallkill River Valley with the majestic Hudson River to the east and the Shawangunk Mountains defining the western border. These families endured what today would be insurmountable odds, yet for generations they survived and constantly improved their quality of life. The homesteads of these patentee families still stand along historic Huguenot Street and are 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 ...

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...

William Bond became the first Warrensburg settler, when he arrived in the Echo Lake area, in 1787. Shortly thereafter, Warrensburg became known as "the Bridge" because it was the location of the only bridge in the area that crossed the Schroon River. In February 1813, the town of Warrensburg was formed from part of Thurman. By the mid-1800s, A. C. Emerson and B. P. Burhans had moved to Warrensburg and begun to harness the waterpower of the Schroon River and utilize the nearby timber resour...

Bordentown Revisited highlights the memorable growth of an area located at the kink of the Delaware River. The city of Bordentown and neighboring Fieldsboro share a stretch ofriverfront, and that waterfront location brought them great prosperity during the industrial years. The rural township traded its agricultural occupation for housing development. Then, as old paths and byways became streets and highways, businesses, motels, and restaurants emerged along the roadside.

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...

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Ewing Township, New Jersey with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it. The origin of Ewing Township is directly attributed to Thomas Hutchinson, an English Quaker who purchased property c. 1676 to help colonize America. By 1687, Hutchinson owned almost thirty percent of today's Ewing Township. In the early days, many settlers were drawn to the area because of its proximity to the Delaware River a...

Located in the lower Hudson Valley, Middletown was first settled in 1760 and quickly grew into a thriving dairy farming center. With the arrival of the pioneering New York and Erie Rail Road in 1843, Middletown continued to flourish, and by 1888, it became a city. Hundreds of residents found employment in the growing railroad industry as well as at the sprawling Middletown State Hospital, with its advanced facilities at one time boasting over 100 buildings. Middletown Revisited documents t...

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...

Mingo Junction, a working-class town in the upper Ohio River Valley, has a rich mix of ethnicities and races with a history going back to the Mingo Indians, including visits from George Washington in the 1770s. Early settlement came as the coal mining industry flourished, followed by iron and steel foundries and accompanying railroads and river barge traffic. Mingo�s chief industry is its steel mill, first Carnegie Steel Mill, then Wheeling-Pitt Steel Mill for over 100 years. The town�s de...