Catalog Search Results
21) Will County
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Later that same year, workers broke ground for the nearly 100-mile-long Illinois and Michigan Canal between the Illinois and Chicago Rivers. The opening of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the movement of industry away from Chicago caused manufacturers to turn their attention to Will. As the county's population grew, the unincorporated area between Joliet and Chicago's southern suburbs continued to shrink. The transportation ties linking Chicago...
22) Joliet
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In 1673, Louis Jolliet and Fr. Jacques Marquette were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi and the Illinois River valleys. Their explorations took them through what is now Joliet. Founded in 1834 as Juliet, the settlement's future was shaped by several important developments. The Des Plaines River provided an early waterway, and its power gave rise to mills and manufacturing. Native limestone rock beds helped build a 19th-century city, while...
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The skyscraper has changed the face of urban architecture--and it all started in Chicago. Born out of the ashes of Chicago's Great Fire of 1871, the first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building located at the northeast corner of LaSalle and Adams Streets, was completed in 1885. Designed by William Le Baron Jenney, the nine-story building had a metal load-carrying structural frame, the development of which led to steel-frame skeletal construction...
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Lake Geneva was originally called Kishwauketoe by the Oneota tribe, a name meaning clear or sparkling water. Carved out by a glacier, this same crystal water has attracted residents and tourists for centuries, and continues to be a retreat for many in every season. Through a collection of vivid vintage postcards, authors Carolyn Hope Smeltzer and Martha Kiefer Cucco provide an overview of Lake Geneva's rich history, rendered in views of mansions,...
25) Chain O' Lakes
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New Britain Township, founded in 1723, was a rural farming community originally settled by Welsh Baptists and German Mennonites. This changed dramatically in 1856 when the North Pennsylvania Railroad was built. Two train stations were built in the township and were named Chalfont and New Britain. The villages next to these stations attracted numerous new residents and businesses. The local picnic grove was even converted into an amusement park, which...
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"From the mid-17th century to the present day, herding sheep, carding wool, spinning yarn, dyeing with native plants, and weaving on iconic upright looms have all been steps in the intricate process of Navajo blanket and rug making in the American Southwest. Beginning in the late 1800s, amateur and professional photographers documented the Diné (Navajo) weavers and their artwork, and the images they captured tell the stories of the artists, their...
27) Grundy County
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In 1673, Louis Jolliet and Fr. Jacques Marquette were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River and the Illinois River valleys. With their canoes loaded with furs, pelts, and other goods on their return trip to Montreal, their explorations through much of the interior of Illinois included encounters with Native American tribes and took them through what is now Grundy County. Over 150 years later, the first permanent residents, including...
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Ho for California! The terminus of the first overland immigrant pack train destined for California was John Marsh's adobe, Brentwood. Since 1841, East Contra Costa County has been a grain and fruit basket to the world, a recreational playground for resort living, and a home for health and family life. Its wheat was exported for brewing Guinness beer, and fresh apricots, peaches, and cherries still bring produce fanciers for summer harvest. Weekenders...
29) San Francisco
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The golden age of postcards coincided with several momentous events in San Francisco history, including a major earthquake and fire destroying over one third of the city, rapid reconstruction, strikes, political upheaval, parades, festivals, and a world's fair. From World War I through World War II, jazz-age San Francisco experienced a building boom of houses, skyscrapers, and engineering marvels such as the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge, creating...
30) Long Branch
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In days gone by, Long Branch was filled with the mansions of millionaires, a business district bustling with commerce, and an oceanfront dotted with glittering gambling casinos and the finest hotels. At the dawn of the 20th century, everyone flocked to Ocean Avenue, either as a resident or visitor just taking in the sights. Some of these people were well-known actors, politicians, and business tycoons of the day. Others were day-trippers here to enjoy...
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Home to more than 10 million people, modern Los Angeles County bears little resemblance to the largely agricultural landscape, dotted with small towns, of just over a century ago. Los Angeles County has surged forward on a path of phenomenal growth and constant transformation. Over this course, much of what was both famous and familiar to Angelenos 100 or even 50 years ago has been lost in the name of progress. This collection of more than 200 vintage...
32) Carolina Beach
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Carolina Beach, North Carolina, has been a destination for beachgoers, boaters, and fishermen since the 1880s. Visitors came first by the combination of river steamers and a train and later by automobiles to seek respite from the summer's heat and the daily grind. This book shares the history of this seaside community through the postcards its visitors sent home. From the early hand colored cards printed in Germany to the modern chrome cards of today,...
33) Vineland
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In 1861, Charles K. Landis carved the village of Vineland from the western edge of the Pine Barrens. The community quickly attracted a diverse population who farmed and manufactured. A network of railroads enabled the town to ship its produce and products to markets along the East Coast. Vineland was recognized as a cultural mecca as well as a center of civil rights and women's suffrage. Physically the largest "small town" in New Jersey in square...
34) Augusta
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Built in 1754 on the eastern bank of the Kennebec River, Fort Western became one of the first permanent settlements in what would eventually become Augusta and, in 1827, the capital of Maine. Through innovations in publishing by Gannett & Morse and Vickery & Hill, textiles by the Edwards Manufacturing Company, and lumber production along the Kennebec, Augusta thrived and prospered. Water Street flourished into the business and cultural center of the...
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The people of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, the "plain people," avoid manifestations of modern culture, preferring to live a simple life in accordance with their interpretation of the Bible. The Old Order Amish are considered the most fundamentalist, shunning electric appliances, gasoline-powered vehicles, modern dress, and engaging primarily in agriculture. Since the Pennsylvania Dutch Country is a favored vacation destination, postcard publishers...
36) Walker County
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Founded in 1846, Walker County is a scenic, sprawling territory of 800 square miles located in the southeastern region of Texas. Huntsville, the county seat, serves as home to Sam Houston State University, the Texas State Penitentiary, and Huntsville State Park. New Waverly, Riverside, and other smaller towns dot the landscape, which remains rustic and beautiful, with rolling hills, open prairies, and piney woods. Visitors to the area may find museums,...
37) Corning
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In the 1830s, when a feeder branch of the Erie Canal linked up with the Cheumung River, Corning first became connected to the rest of the world. By the 1880s, Corning had become a railroad town with trains going in all directions. Industrial growth in the 1890s led to the rise of businesses and factories, such as Corning Glass Works. Because Corning produced so much glass, it became known as the crystal city and grew into a tourist destination. A...
38) Swannanoa Valley
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The Swannanoa Valley lies to the east of Asheville, North Carolina, and is surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the eastern United States. The eastern boundary of the valley follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and travelers entering through the Swannanoa Gap emerge into the beautiful "Land of the Sky." In the 1900s, multiple large religious assemblies were founded here. Montreat, Ridgecrest, the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, and Christmount...
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Over the past hundreds of years, trillions of gallons of pure, crystal clear water have flowed through the subterranean aquifer system under Huron and Erie Counties in Ohio. The water comes to the surface at the Castalia Springs and the famous Blue Hole, both popular tourist destinations receiving thousands of visitors. Artificial canals were dug in the early 1800s to convey the water northward from Castalia to Venice to power flour mills, subsequently...
40) Durango
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This collection presents a postcard tour of Durango and its environs and provides keen insight into the history and colorful character of this area, which has been a vibrant center of Southwestern Colorado for more than a century. A brief history of postcards as a convenient medium for sharing messages--and as a revolutionary departure from Victorian-era long letters--is included here as well. The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College...
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