Central Kansas Library System

Located in the southern region of the White Mountains, Campton was granted its charter in 1767 by Gov. John Wentworth, who was in office between 1767 and 1775. Early settlers from Connecticut and Massachusetts were lured by the beauty of the rivers and mountains and beckoned by the fertile fields and virgin forests. Generations that followed the Abenaki Indians transitioned from an agrarian society to one now dominated by the hospitality industry,...

The story of Barrington, Rhode Island, began in the 1640's with a small outpost on the shores of Narragansett Bay. Despite its total destruction during King Philip's War in 1675-1676, by 1717, it was incorporated as a town named Barrington after the brother of the governor of Massachusetts. During the 18th century, Barrington grew into a strong agricultural community. In the 1850's, the brickyard became a full-scale industry, and the new railroad...

Nestled among the rolling hills of the Mohawk Valley, the town of Rotterdam was formed in 1820 from the Third Ward of the city of Schenectady. Its history, chronicled in Rotterdam's two hundred images, begins much earlier and is essentially the story of people past and present. The original settlers, mostly of Dutch origin, turned the wilderness into farmland. Their descendants and those who followed expanded into other livelihoods, producing goods...

Wilkinsburg, named for Gen. John Wilkins Jr., was incorporated as a borough in 1887. The village was founded on a 266-acre parcel purchased in 1789 by Col. Dunning McNair, who also laid the central street plan. After McNair's death in 1825, the village was purchased by James Kelly. Caring deeply about the social life of the community, Kelly donated the land for most of the schools, churches, and residences for the elderly. When Wilkinsburg was annexed...

Marshall Field III was 28 years of age and one of the richest people in the world when he came upon the idea of replicating the environment in which he had spent his youth. Raised and educated in England, Field sought the life of an English gentleman here in the United States. In 1921, Field purchased almost 2,000 acres of waterfront property on Long Island's North Shore, which would become Caumsett. Forty years later, Field's third wife, Ruth, opened...

Since the 1850s, the soothing countryside hamlets of Sonoma County have beckoned settlers of every stripe-farmers, homesteaders, businesspeople, and commuters. Sebastopol has always been among the county's loveliest towns, retaining its small-town feel even as its population has steadily grown. This book of vintage photography presents Sebastopol's journey through time, the early Mexican land grants and initial settlements, Luther Burbank's far-ranging...

Located in the southwestern corner of Minnesota, Nobles County was first established in 1857. However, a financial panic and concerns about Indian conflicts delayed the area's settlement until the 1870's. Railroad companies had only recently expanded their rail networks to this part of the state. Meanwhile, hundreds of people, including many Civil War veterans, began migrating to the region to make their homestead claims. They were attracted to these...

Oregon traces its beginnings back to 1841, when Bartley Runey built a log cabin just south of the village of Oregon along the Old Lead Trail. Primarily settled in the mid-1840s to 1850s, Oregon became a vibrant farming community. The railroad arrived in 1864 and provided a means of travel and transit, making Oregon the center of a much enlarged trade territory. By 1870, the population was 1,500, and many merchants, artisans, and tradesmen set up shop...