At the Cape Cod celebration of 1839, a Harvard professor stated, "The duck does not take to water with a surer instinct than the Barnstable boy . . . It is but bound from the mother's lap to the masthead." These prophetic comments were realized most profoundly in Centerville, which originally derived its strength from a strong maritime economy. One of seven villages in the town of Barnstable on Cape Cod, Centerville has a history that is tied in with much of New England. Yet, it remains highly unique, as it was shaped by entrepreneurs and rugged individualists, who weathered not only dramatic economic and cultural changes but also natural disasters. Centerville will guide you through the village's picturesque winding rivers, salt marshes, and canopied dirt roads, where you will discover "the Barracks," the well-known home of Civil War veteran A.D. Ayling. You will explore the gardens that Frederick Law Olmstead designed for "Fernbrook," the church where Caroline Kennedy was married, and the site of the village's legendary speakeasy. Centerville will introduce you to James Delap Kelley, one of one hundred five sea captains who lived in Centerville; renowned composer Amy Beach; and sea captain Russell Marston, who left the coastal trade to become a famed Boston restaurateur.

From the moment that the surveyor set down his tools in 1846 to the instant that the Flying Farmers crossed the sky at the centennial celebration, the history of Centerville, Iowa, has gifted us with a unique insight into the mid-American experience. Though the population never exceeded 8,600, immigrants from more than forty different countries created a community that was both melting pot and crucible--just like the nation at large. The town forged an identity through the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, race relations, education debates and World Wars I and II while its people survived the dark history of Prohibition, crime, the Ku Klux Klan, the Mafia and the Depression. In this definitive history, Enfys McMurry captures both the particular feelings of Centerville's citizens and how they reflected and participated in the larger American story.