Kennett Square, the mushroom capital of the world, began its long history as a mere crossroads on the Philadelphia to Baltimore road in the early 18th century. With the arrival of the railroad in 1859, the area grew to become a major agricultural and manufacturing center. It also produced some noteworthy individuals, including author Bayard Taylor, New York Yankee Herb Pennock, and several inventors. Kennett Square highlights many postcard and photographic...

Chester County was one of the three original counties established by William Penn, giving it a long history of settlement and growth. Around Avondale and West Grove features historic postcards from Avondale, Baker's Station, Chatham, West Grove, and the surrounding area. Jennersville, located in Penn Township, has close ties to the rose industry begun in London Grove. This area was a rich agricultural district that had many nurseries (including one...

Hopkinsville is an enlightening collection designed to inform, entertain, 0and educate history buffs with images of the Pearl of the Pennyroyal." In this volume, authors William T. Turner and Donna K. Stone have teamed up to present more than 200 vintage images from Turner's personal collection to bring to life the people, events, communities, and industries that helped to shape and transform Hopkinsville. Portrayed in this postcard collection is...

"Williamsburg is a stronghold of the past, a sort of enchanted ground, lovely and quiet as a dream." Williamsburg may no longer be quiet as a dream, but it is certainly lovely and unquestionably a stronghold of the past, more so now than Miss Hildegarde Hawthorne could have dreamt when she penned these words in 1917. After Virginia's capital moved from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780, the city sank into one and a half centuries of sleepy obscurity...

Muncy, a small river town founded shortly after the French and Indian War, was the earliest European settlement in the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River. By 1769, land speculator Samuel Wallis had acquired more than 7,000 acres, so he sold much of this land to pioneers in search of a better way of life. By 1772, the West Branch Canal made Muncy a business thoroughfare and lumber boomtown. Like most Pennsylvania river towns, Muncy suffered...

Penn State University was founded in 1855. Then known as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, the 400-acre campus had only one main building. With almost 100,000 current students (including students at the Commonwealth Campuses) and having the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world, Penn State continues to be a world leader in education. Since its founding, picture postcards have been published to showcase the buildings and highlight...

Santa Monica was founded in 1875 and by 1887, the area was caught up in the real estate frenzy of the time with advertisements suggesting that it had "one of the grandest panoramic views the human eye has ever rested on . . . " In over 200 vintage postcards, here is Santa Monica in all its coastal splendor, including views of the bathing beaches, the Roosevelt Highway, and private citizens' beautiful Chinese Gardens.

Bristol was incorporated in 1785 and quickly became recognized as a clock-manufacturing center and home of the E. Ingraham Company's "dollar watch." The town grew with the many immigrant workers who arrived to work for local knitting mills, spring companies, and brass manufacturers. By the 1890s, the strong growth of the town brought an influx of people with different skills who established the Bristol Press, banks, local neighborhood shops and markets,...

Ridgefield has long been a destination-for tourists seeking a picturesque country village, for city dwellers looking for a weekend and summer retreat, and for immigrants in search of a new life. In the first half of the twentieth century, a period that corresponded to the heyday of the picture postcard, hundreds of views were published, depicting the beautiful Main Street, the many inns and resorts, the mansions, estates, village shops, churches,...

For nearly four centuries, St. Mary's County has been called "the land of pleasant living." The county's fertile fields and pristine waters invite visitors and natives alike to revel, relax, and renew. As the "Mother County" of Maryland, St. Mary's has a rich written history dating from 1634, when George and Leonard Calvert established the first American settlement founded on the principle of religious tolerance. After surviving British raids during...