During the 1850s and '60s, by far the most prominent author in all of New York State was the writer, editor, and publisher Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–1867). Nearly as prominent as Willis himself was his Hudson Valley estate, Idlewild, where literary elites gathered and about which Willis himself wrote and published extensively. In 1846, Willis founded the Home Journal, which would go on to become Town and Country. In Out-Doors at Idlewild, first published in 1855, Willis chronicled the creation of his estate at Cornwall-on-Hudson (near West Point), as well as life amid its countryside. The land afforded brilliant views of the river and the mountains to the East. Calvert Vaux, the famed architect of both landscapes and houses, designed the elaborate and ornate Gothic Revival home, which Willis named Idlewood (whereas he called the estate Idlewild), and into which the Willis family moved in July of 1853. Here, Willis wrote a series of papers for the Home Journal documenting life at the seventy-acre estate. These papers were gathered together in Out-Doors at Idlewild, a celebration of Willis's home and estate.

Idlewild and SoakZone has charmed people across Western Pennsylvania and beyond since the late 1800s. The park was developed by Pittsburgh's Mellon family as a picnic grove to boost traffic on the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. When C.C. Macdonald took the helm in 1931, rides, entertainment and other attractions came to Idlewild over the next half century, along with the adjacent Story Book Forest. After joining the Kennywood family of amusement parks, Idlewild added a Wild West town, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a water slide complex. Author Jennifer Sopko tells the heartwarming history of a Pennsylvania amusement park that continues to delight generations of families.

Once considered the most famous African-American resort community in the country, Idlewild was referred to as the Black Eden of Michigan in the 1920s and '30s, and as the Summer Apollo of Michigan in the 1950s and '60s. Showcasing classy revues and interactive performances of some of the leading black entertainers of the period, Idlewild was an oasis in the shadows of legal segregation. Idlewild: Black Eden of Michigan focuses on this illustrative history, as well as the decline and the community's contemporary renaissance, in over 200 rare photographs. The lively legacy of Lela G. and Herman O. Wilson, and Paradise Path is included, featuring images of the Paradise Club and Wilson's Grocery. Idlewild continued its role as a distinctive American resort throughout the 1950s, with photographs ranging from Phil Giles' Flamingo Club and Arthur Braggs's Idlewild Revue.

Located in the scenic Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania, America's third oldest amusement park, Idlewild, was founded in 1878 as a picnic ground along the Ligonier Valley Rail Road. Its tranquil setting quickly established Idlewild as the premier place for church, school, and corporate picnics, as well as a recreational getaway for families. Idlewild added new amusements and facilities as its crowds continued to grow, but it always strove to maintain the picturesque landscape of the site. Soon a full-fledged amusement park was in operation, with throngs of visitors disembarking the trains from such places as Latrobe, Greensburg, and Pittsburgh. Home to unique attractions like Story Book Forest, the Rollo Coaster, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and the SoakZone, Idlewild has been the backdrop for generations of fond memories. Idlewild's proximity to the Lincoln Highway helped the park survive the abandonment of the railroad, and careful development by the Mellon and Macdonald families and the Kennywood Entertainment Company continue to help it thrive. This collection of photographs tells the story of how one of America's most beautiful theme parks has grown throughout the years.

Portrays an author, architect, and landscape architect who greatly influenced antebellum American culture.

This lovingly prepared anthology contains an abundance of poems and excerpts from novels and essays describing the Hudson River, work and travel on it, and life alongside it before the twentieth century. Some of these documents are the creations of well-known writers such as Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, Edgar Allan Poe, and Walt Whitman. Others were written by lesser-known writers whose work has long been out of print or available only as part of their collected works. From Whitman's "mast-hemm'd Manhattan" to Nathaniel Park Willis's "sabbath solitude" on upstate riverbanks, the modern reader will find still-accurate descriptions of the physical river itself. The many excerpts that describe particular aspects of Hudson life--Indian canoes, Dutch farms, steamboat excursions, and the majestic scenery--allow the modern reader to visualize the river at a time when it dominated life in eastern New York. By providing an especially vivid impression of New York State's history and heritage, this volume will fascinate and inform residents of the Hudson Valley and all those who love its river.

This text portrays the American suburbs from their beginnings in the mid-1800s to the onset of World War II and focuses on their appearance, people's reaction to them and their importance to society.