Pioneers in Newaygo County were motivated by the call of adventure and a chance to make a fortune in the vast wilderness. The first settlers came to lumber the virgin white pine that grew in the Newaygo forests. The Muskegon River flowed through the region and, along with the White River and many creeks and lakes, offered a major waterway to float logs to Lake Michigan. As early as 1837, Newaygo loggers were floating logs to market, becoming large...

The story of Barrington, Rhode Island, began in the 1640's with a small outpost on the shores of Narragansett Bay. Despite its total destruction during King Philip's War in 1675-1676, by 1717, it was incorporated as a town named Barrington after the brother of the governor of Massachusetts. During the 18th century, Barrington grew into a strong agricultural community. In the 1850's, the brickyard became a full-scale industry, and the new railroad...

Since the 1850s, the soothing countryside hamlets of Sonoma County have beckoned settlers of every stripe-farmers, homesteaders, businesspeople, and commuters. Sebastopol has always been among the county's loveliest towns, retaining its small-town feel even as its population has steadily grown. This book of vintage photography presents Sebastopol's journey through time, the early Mexican land grants and initial settlements, Luther Burbank's far-ranging...

Marshall Field III was 28 years of age and one of the richest people in the world when he came upon the idea of replicating the environment in which he had spent his youth. Raised and educated in England, Field sought the life of an English gentleman here in the United States. In 1921, Field purchased almost 2,000 acres of waterfront property on Long Island's North Shore, which would become Caumsett. Forty years later, Field's third wife, Ruth, opened...

Nestled among the rolling hills of the Mohawk Valley, the town of Rotterdam was formed in 1820 from the Third Ward of the city of Schenectady. Its history, chronicled in Rotterdam's two hundred images, begins much earlier and is essentially the story of people past and present. The original settlers, mostly of Dutch origin, turned the wilderness into farmland. Their descendants and those who followed expanded into other livelihoods, producing goods...

Located in the southwestern corner of Minnesota, Nobles County was first established in 1857. However, a financial panic and concerns about Indian conflicts delayed the area's settlement until the 1870's. Railroad companies had only recently expanded their rail networks to this part of the state. Meanwhile, hundreds of people, including many Civil War veterans, began migrating to the region to make their homestead claims. They were attracted to these...

Controlling wildfires has been a significant mission for the state and federal governments since the early 1900's. During this time, the agencies responsible for wildland fire management have worked jointly in many ways to minimize losses from fires and to constantly improve firefighting and fire management techniques. In 1967, a new organization was established among the 20 states within the northeastern area of the United States to unite the forest...