Perkasie, named after William Pennas country manor in Upper Bucks County, was a boomtown that sprang up along the North Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 1870s. From the 1880s to the 1920s, Perkasie grew rapidly, becoming a transportation and cultural center and drawing crowds with commerce, industry, summer retreats, and even an amusement park. Through nearly 200 vintage postcards, Perkasie chronicles the expansion of this once small town as well as its impact on neighboring rural communities such as Rockhill, Bedminster, and Silverdale. The postcards in this book re-create a visual memory of the economic and social changes that worked to shape this dynamic community.

"An American Hometown" is the first comprehensive early history of Perkasie, Pennsylvania-a town created by the Victorian era that survived losing its cigar industry, fires, the Great Depression, and other struggles to remain a vital community today.The story begins with William Penn's early meeting at "Perkasie Indian Town" and concludes in August 1945, with World War II's end. Inside Perkasie's story of survival and growth are the experiences of former cigar makers who faced challenges and overcame them in difficult times. The book also includes details about the events leading up to Perkasie's recognition as a village in July 1871, using extensive primary sources unearthed from archives."An American Hometown" also uses contemporary accounts and federal census data to depict small-town life, and it includes images and records not seen before in public to tell the social and economic history of a typical American town.