Roanoke in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

Officially chartered in 1882, Roanoke is nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains and is often referred to as the "Star City of the South." The history of this remarkable community is captured here through the images of the picture postcard. With the construction of each new bank, school, bridge, and church, the postcard became a convenient way to promote and celebrate the achievement; now, these images preserve a collective record of Roanoke's heritage. See how the area looked in the early 1900s, with its dirt streets, trolley tracks, horse-drawn wagons, and Model Ts. Postcards of succeeding decades frame the growth of Roanoke from a railroad town to the center of commerce and industry in Southwestern Virginia.




Salem and Roanoke County in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

In 1800, James Simpson, a Botetourt County landowner, purchased 31 acres of land for $100 and dedicated half of the purchase to plotting a new town. The Town of Salem was officially established when Simpson recorded his ownership at Fincastle Courthouse in October 1802, and it later became the government seat when Roanoke County was carved from Botetourt County in 1838. Today, Salem is an independent city, boasting a rich tradition of educational, commercial, and residential success. Roanoke County, like Salem, has emerged from its agrarian past to become a suburban county that embraces the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, as well as the strength and success of corporate centers and residential communities.




The Outer Banks in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

The Outer Banks of North Carolina have been a destination for seasonal visitors since Algonkian Indians hunted and fished on the islands. In 1584, English explorers arrived and before long were promoting the area as a land of natural abundance and beauty, pleasant weather, and kindly natives. Not much has changed in that respect. By the beginning of the 20th century, visitors and residents alike were using postcards to share the things that make the Outer Banks unique with family and friends in other places.




The Roanoke Valley in the 1940s


Book Description

The history of the Roanoke Valley during the 1940s has largely been unexplored until now. This significant decade bore witness to the birth of the local civil rights movement, the impact of World War II and the postwar boom in public projects and private development. The J-Class locomotives, Carver School, Woodrum Field, Victory Stadium, Carvins Cove, the Roanoke Star, the end of streetcars, and the advent of drive-in theaters all marked the decade. Crowds thronged to see the biggest names in radio, film and music at the American Legion Auditorium, the Academy of Music and the Roanoke Theatre, while Major League baseball and professional football brought exhibition games to Maher Field and Victory Stadium. Local historian Nelson Harris provides a detailed account of this dynamic decade along with 300 archival photographs.




Hidden History of Roanoke


Book Description

Author Nelson Harris delves into the annals of history to uncover these marvelous and mostly unknown stories of the Star City of the South. How did a Roanoke neighbor's secret upend North Carolina politics and why did a weeding scandal in Big Lick make front-page headlines in New York? These questions and many more are answered in this exciting volume of hidden stories and forgotten tales from the Star City. Discover why a Roanoker was found frozen in the North Atlantic and what Mother's Day crime and trial shocked the city in 1949. Meet the Black Cardinals, a semi-pro African American baseball team that played in the 1930s and '40s, and find out how a fistfight at Shenandoah Life helped save the company.




Suffolk in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

After 20 years as a trading center on the Nansemond River, the town of Suffolk was chartered in 1742. Originally dependent on naval stores and the river, it would be railroads and peanuts that eventually put Suffolk on the map. After Amedeo Obici brought Planters Nut and Chocolate Company to Suffolk in 1913, the town was soon recognized as the world's largest peanut market. It was also in the center of a large agricultural region with trains passing in and out of town each day. Postcards began to travel around the country with news and greetings from the bustling Suffolk.By the middle of the 20th century, Suffolk had seen many changes. Railroads gave way to highways, and grand old hotels were replaced with motels. Yet within these pages the old Suffolk endures, depicted in the views and paintings of a vivid collection of postcards.




Chicago Skyscrapers in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

The skyscraper has changed the face of urban architectureand it all started in Chicago. Born out of the ashes of Chicagos 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 and the taller skyscrapers that would follow. Much has changed in skyscraper construction since 1885. But Chicagos impressive urban landscape has maintained its important place in architectural history and today boasts the tallest skyscraper in North America, at 110 stories.




Kansas City in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

Kansas City, Missouri, has long been a bustling center of activity in the heart of the Midwest, hosting the railroads that rambled through its stockyards and the jazz pioneers who made a lasting mark on music history. This collection of vintage postcards from the late 1800s through the 1950s brings to life the people, places, and events of old Kansas City. The unique postcards printed in this book capture the historic downtown area and the Country Club Plaza as well as the private notes of a homesick visitor, paying homage to a time long gone, but not forgotten.




Virginia Tech


Book Description

130 years after its opening, the once small agricultural college has become Virginia's largest university- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. When Charles Minor opened the doors of his new land-grant institution in late 1872, there were only 29 students, 3 faculty members, and a single building in the town of Blacksburg, Virginia. From the humble beginning of donated livestock, seeds, machinery, and books, the university now known as Virginia Tech has emerged as a leading research university that is consistently ranked among the nation's best colleges. In addition to housing some of the top engineering and business schools, the university also has a tremendous athletic program that continually produces many of the nation's top ranked athletes. The Campus History Series: Virginia Tech illustrates the university's evolution through over 200 archival photographs, including rare and fun bites of campus history, such as the old cadet rat parades, the first ring dance, the Highty-Tighties, the Huckleberry, and even the evolution of the school's mascot, the Hokie Bird.




Bluefield in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

Nestled at the foot of East River Mountain in the southern tip of West Virginia, Bluefield calls itself "Nature's Air-Conditioned City" and is a place of great cultural, industrial, and natural wealth. The early to mid-1900s were a booming time for the city, thanks to coal mining and the Norfolk and Western Railway. For the many people who lived in or traveled through the region during that era, postcards provided a simple and convenient way to send both personal correspondence and business communications. Today, Bluefield continues to change and evolve but maintains a strong sense of history, with many of its buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places.