Conshohocken in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

The Lenni Lenape called this place gueno-sheiki-hacki-ing, meaning "beautiful or peaceful valley." Incorporated in 1850, Conshohocken's colorful history had its beginnings as Native American territory prior to 1684, when William Penn purchased the land from the Tammany people. Soon Quakers purchased land, built homes, and opened mills. Conshohocken begins with tales and images of early history and continues with rare views that capture some of the majestic mansions built by the founding fathers, the tree-lined avenues with trolleys and horse-drawn carriages, the firehouses and train station and schools, and the many families and faces that have brought Conshohocken to life.




Eastern Montgomery County Postcards


Book Description

Montgomery County was incorporated in 1784 from a portion of Philadelphia, County. The county's early settlements and land grants date back to the, founding of Pennsylvania in the 1680s. During the American Revolution,, Valley Forge and the Whitemarsh encampments took place here, making, Montgomery County nationally famous. Philadelphia's influences in art,, culture, and architecture have had a lasting impression in the county., The postcards and descriptive text in Eastern Montgomery County, illustrate the rich historical heritage of the area, dating back from its very, beginning up to the mid-twentieth century.




Reading in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

In the mid-nineteenth century, a transportation industry developed in Reading that put the city on the mapand on the Monopoly boardforever. Founded in 1748 by William Penns sons Thomas and Richard, Reading experienced rapid growth throughout the nineteenth century as the Reading Railroad (the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad) breathed steam into the citys industry. As the powerful railroads faded later, so did the citys economy. In recent years, Reading has become known as the birthplace and capital of factory outlet shopping and the hub of newborn manufacturing, financial, and agricultural enterprises.







Great Lakes and Midwest Catalog


Book Description







Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge


Book Description

Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge presents a portrait of the area that was originally the township of Abington, now a northern suburb of Philadelphia. The towns and villages that comprise the Abington area are captured in this timeless photographic history. From the days of the horse and buggy and the stagecoach, to the days of the grand estates, Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge portrays the area as it developed over the years. Pictured are many familiar sites, as well as those that helped define the area but no longer remain. From the long and distinguished histories of such venerable institutions as the Abington Friends' Meeting and Abington Presbyterian Church to the nationally known Willow Grove Park, Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge is a celebration of the area's legacy. Glimpses of the past are brought into focus with many rare and previously unpublished photographs. The fire companies, businesses, schools, people, and institutions that define Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge are included in this comprehensive photographic history.




Hollywoodland


Book Description

Established by real estate developers Tracy E. Shoults and S. H. Woodruff in 1923, Hollywoodland was one of the first hillside developments built in Hollywood. Touting its class and sophistication, the neighborhood promoted a European influence, featuring such unique elements as stone retaining walls and stairways, along with elegant Spanish, Mediterranean, French Normandy, and English Tudor-styled homes thoughtfully placed onto the hillsides. The community contains one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, the Hollywood sign, originally constructed as a giant billboard for the development and reading "Hollywoodland." The book illustrates the development of the upper section of Beachwood Canyon known as Hollywoodland with historical photographs from Hollywood Heritage's S. H. Woodruff Collection as well as from other archives, institutions, and individuals.




Ambler


Book Description

Ambler, a working-class town located fifteen miles north of Philadelphia, boasts some of the grandest homes in Montgomery County. Its evolution is rooted in the mills that sprang up along the Wissahickon Creek in the 1680s. Ambler entered the industrial age when the North Penn Railway pushed through in the 1850s. In 1856, a catastrophic head-on train collision killing fifty-nine created the heroine Mary Ambler, whose generous ministrations to the wounded caused the railroad in 1869 to rename its Wissahickon station in her honor. But it was Philadelphia manufacturers Henry G. Keasbey and Richard V. Mattison who changed Ambler's character forever. When they relocated their business to Ambler in 1881, it became the asbestos capital of the world. Ambler captures the lasting legacy of Mattison's thriving company town, with its array of fanciful and simple homes, churches, shops, and cultural institutions.




West Philadelphia


Book Description

The many neighborhoods west of the Schuylkill River across from William Penn's "Quaker City" were distinctly rural until 1860, when horsecar lines first crossed the river. The area soon became home to wealthy businessmen who built elegant mansions and villas in University City and Powelton Village. West Philadelphia's growth accelerated northward into Belmont and Parkside-Girard after the 1876 Centennial Exposition and westward into Cedar Park, Spruce Hill, and Walnut Hill in the 1890s with the introduction of electric trolley lines. West Philadelphia: University City to 52nd Street is the first photographic history of the area in the last one hundred years. Images of the typical, modest West Philadelphia row houses, which slowly took over the open farmland after the Market Street Elevated opened in 1907, tell the story of how Philadelphia became known as the "City of Homes." Countless, rarely seen photographs of the streets where people lived and worked fill this extraordinary history.