Excerpt from Troy's One Hundred Years: 1789 1889 In 1786, the site of the city of Troy was the seat of five or more farms, crossed by roads intersecting a highway running north and south, near the river. At that time Albany, named a city in 1686, Poughkeepsie, founded in 1735, Lansingburgh, laid out in 1771, and Hudson, incorporated in 1785, were all comparatively populous places. When three years later the small body of settlers at Troy publicly advertised their confidence of its becoming "at no very distant period as famous for its trade and navigation as many of the first towns," this boldly advanced expectation may have been regarded by the inhabitants of the older settlements on the Hudson as highly presumptuous and improbable of realization. However, in a short time creditable evidences of the enterprise and growth of the place began to be noted by observant travelers. One, seeing the advantageous situation of the village at the head of navigation, declared that it would not only be "a serious thorn in the side of New City (Lansingburgh), but in the issue a fatal rival." Another, cognizant of the success attending the business ventures of its emulous merchants, remarked that those of Albany viewed "this growing prosperity of their neighbors with an evil eye," and considered it as "an encroachment upon their native rights." Another, discovering in 1807 the extensive trade which "Troy had opened with the new settlements to the northward, through the states of New York and Vermont, as far as Canada," observed that "in another twenty years it promises to rival the old established city of Albany." These initial forecasts of the "ultimate ascendancy" of Troy became more significant as the village gradually expanded its area and enlarged its trade. The public spirit and local undertakings of its people began to be commended as exemplary and highly laudable. A distinguished metropolitan journalist, visiting the city in 1835, wrote: "Troy has been a pattern for all other places in respect to its industry and enterprise. Lansingburgh, four miles above, had attained almost to its present size when the first building was erected in Troy, and Albany, six miles below, had been in existence one hundred and eighty years. And yet Troy, far outstripping the former in a very short time, is now rapidly advancing on the latter." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

“[A] scrupulously researched and beautifully crafted account of how nineteenth-century Americans went in search of health, rest, and diversion.” —Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, coauthors of The Beach. The History of Paradise on Earth In First Resorts: Pursuing Pleasure at Saratoga Springs, Newport, and Coney Island, Jon Sterngass follows three of the best-known northeastern American resorts across a century of change. Saratoga Springs, Newport, and Coney Island began, he finds, as similar pleasure destinations, each of them featuring “grand” hotels where visitors swarmed public spaces such as verandas, dining rooms, and parlors. As the century progressed, however, Saratoga remained much the same, while Newport turned to private (and lavish) “cottages” and Coney Island shifted its focus to amusements for the masses. Fifty-nine illustrations enliven Sterngass’s unique study of the commodification of pleasure that occurred as capitalist values flourished, travel grew more accessible, and leisure time became democratized. These three resorts, he argues, served as forerunners of twentieth-century pleasure cities such as Aspen, Las Vegas, and Orlando. “An engaging, creative book replete with evocative illustrations and witty quotes . . . a pleasant read.” —Thomas A. Chambers, New York Academy of History “Sterngass’s discussions about privacy, community, commercialization, consumption, leisure, and the desire to be conspicuous are important and new. With its well-chosen illustrations, this is a handsome book as well as an important one.” —Kathryn Allamong Jacob, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University “Having mined every conceivable source about his three sites, Sterngass has presented a wealth of interesting material not only about the resort experience but also about the residents, politicians, and entrepreneurs who built them.” —Journal of American History

The journals of the New Hampshire family that became the best-known musicians of the day chronicle not only their performances and adventures first hand, but explore the social, economic and cultural life of the time.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, North and South quickly saw the need to develop the latest technology in naval warfare, the ironclad ship. After a year-long scramble to finish first, in a race filled with intrigue and second guessing, blundering and genius, the two ships -- the Monitor and the Merrimack -- after a four-hour battle, ended the three-thousand-year tradition of wooden men-of-war and ushered in "the reign of iron." In the first major work on the subject in thirty-five years, novelist, historian, and tall-ship sailor James L. Nelson, acclaimed author of the Brethren of the Coast trilogy, brilliantly recounts the story of these magnificent ships, the men who built and fought them, and the extraordinary battle that made them legend.

This is a comprehensive history of the world's midwinter gift-givers, showcasing the extreme diversity in their depictions as well as the many traits and functions these characters share. It tracks the evolution of these figures from the tribal priests who presided over winter solstice celebrations thousands of years before the birth of Christ, to Christian notables like St. Martin and St. Nicholas, to a variety of secular figures who emerged throughout Europe following the Protestant Reformation. Finally, it explains how the popularity of a poem about a "miniature sleigh" and "eight tiny reindeer" helped consolidate the diverse European gift-givers into an enduring tradition in which American children awake early on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. Although the names, appearance, attire and gift-giving practices of the world's winter solstice gift-givers differ greatly, they are all recognizable as Santa, the personification of the Christmas and Midwinter festivals. Despite efforts to eliminate him by groups as diverse as the Puritans of seventeenth century New England, the Communist Party of the twentieth century Soviet Union and the government of Nazi Germany, Santa has survived and prospered, becoming one of the best known and most beloved figures in the world.