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For centuries, people have been entranced by Clermont's spectacular beauty. Named after picturesque Clermont-Ferrand, France, the birthplace of an early settler, Clermont is often called "Gem of the Hills," referring to the area's sparkling lakes, rolling hills, and an early citrus brand. Clermont's history, like the countryside, includes many pinnacles and valleys--from millions made in land investments and citrus to devastating freezes and economic depression that brought the city to bankruptcy. It is an exotic history filled with adventure; steamboats; railways; freak weather phenomena; iconic tourist attractions; unparalleled golf, fishing, and hunting venues; visionary leaders; legendary athletes; a world-class library overlooking the city; and a historic village beside Lake Minneola. Coming off its 125th anniversary, Clermont flourishes as Lake County's largest city.

Since the first documented arrival of white men in its borders in 1769, Lewis County has morphed from a howling wilderness known simply as West Augusta, Virginia, to a major player in a hub of interstate highway transportation and a recreational area with a number of tourist destinations. Formed from Harrison County in 1816, Lewis County and its 17,003 citizens represent the best of central West Virginia. The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Jackson's Mill, Stonecoal Lake, and Stonewall Jackson Lake define the county by their unique place in history. The county's native sons and daughters have been industrialists, U.S. senators, Civil War generals, and nationally recognized athletes. They have been the fabric that makes America the great country it is today: the ordinary, everyday citizen who lives life to its fullest potential while enduring whatever struggle fate sets before them.

Bowling Green became the city of speed immediately after World War II as America began its love affair with the automobile. Stock car racing took the city by storm in its inaugural season of 1951, drawing crowds of up to 7,000 in a city of only 18,000. Soon thereafter, the city attracted the Chevrolet Corvette assembly plant followed by the National Corvette Museum. Images of Sports: Bowling Green Stock Car Racing documents the history of stock car racing in Bowling Green and the emergence of the raceway at Beech Bend Park.

The name Dunwoody developed from a spelling error. Soon after the Civil War ended, Maj. Charles Dunwody left nearby Roswell to settle in a new community and decided to start a post office. The post office added one "o" to his name, and from that moment, the area was known as Dunwoody. Beginning as a humble farming community, Dunwoody grew into a popular suburb of Atlanta. Careful growth control, under the supervision of the Dunwoody Homeowners Association, kept Dunwoody from becoming too developed. The Dunwoody Preservation Trust works to identify and save Dunwoody's historical landmarks. The Dunwoody Farmhouse, located at the central crossroads of the community, is one of the trust's success stories and is enjoyed by many.

Ijams Nature Center, on the banks of the Tennessee River, evolved from humble beginnings during the early 20th century into a natural showplace known as the Island Home Bird Sanctuary. Developed by Harry Ijams, Knoxville's leading ornithologist, and Alice Yoe Ijams, "First Lady of Knoxville Garden Clubs," the Ijams property has been a gathering point for birders and nature-lovers for more than a century. Girl Scouting has been a fixture at Ijams since 1923, followed by Camp Mary Ijams, and Camp Margaret Townsend in the Smokies was created in part through Ijams and Townsend family ties. Harry Ijams also helped establish the first official campsite on Mount LeConte and used his artistry as a commercial illustrator to promote the Smoky Mountains as a national park. Over the years, Ijams Nature Center has grown in size and stature to become the region's leading wildlife sanctuary and environmental learning center incorporating Mead's Quarry, which in its heyday produced Tennessee marble used both in local buildings and national monuments.

Kentucky's magnificent capitol building was constructed in the industrious early 20th century, considered the age of conspicuous consumption. Architect Frank Mills Andrews designed the striking 403-foot-long Beaux Arts edifice, faced with sublime Indiana limestone and Vermont granite and surrounded with 70 monolithic columns. Nearly five years of construction followed the August 14, 1905, ground-breaking, and an estimated 20,000 proud Kentuckians and dignitaries were present for the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the June 2, 1910, dedication of the $1.8-million "New Kentucky Home." Kentucky's landmark capitol building forever changed the landscape of Frankfort, its capital city, while presenting the commonwealth a monument to its progress since statehood in 1792.

The Colonial Parkway is a living timeline to the critical beginnings of our nation. Connecting a historic triangle of cities, the parkway winds along the James River overlooking Jamestown Island, where the first permanent English colony was established; through Williamsburg, the Colonial seat of government for the new country; and arrives in Yorktown, where the fledgling nation won independence from the British at the end of the Revolutionary War. The vision of the early directors of the U.S. National Park Service became the foundation for getting the approval to construct a road that would allow visitors to move from one historic place to the next without the disruptions of the modern world. Construction began in the early 1930s, and the final phase was finished in 1957 for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. While the parkway is a marvel in engineering, the area it covers also serves as a recreational locale for biking, fishing, and hiking.

Floyd County, named for Kentucky pioneer John Floyd, was formed in 1799. Originally encompassing all of the Big Sandy River Valley and much of eastern Kentucky, the boundaries included portions of what are now Pike, Martin, Knott, Magoffin, and Johnson Counties. Because of its river access, Floyd County developed earlier than many counties in eastern Kentucky. Prestonsburg, the county seat, became a major river port and center of trade in the region. With the coming of the railroad in 1903 and the coal industry, which began booming in the early 20th century, the county rapidly grew. This growth included a rapid rise in population due to the migration of native-born whites from around the country, European immigrants, and African Americans from southern plantations and coalfields. What had been an agrarian, white population suddenly took on a whole new face, one more reflective of the nation. The railroads and coal industry permanently changed both the economy and culture of Floyd County.

Blount County is the 10th county formed in the state of Tennessee. It was carved out of Knox County in 1795 and named for William Blount, the governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio. Maryville is the county seat and was named for Blount's wife, Mary Grainger Blount. The abundance of natural resources that once drew hardy settlers now attracts tourists from all over the world, especially to Cades Cove, a pioneer settlement in the Blount County section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Blount County has been home to the legendary Sam Houston; U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, who also served as Tennessee's governor; and Bessie Harvey, a world-renowned folk artist.

Phenix City, Alabama, on the western bank of the Chattahoochee River across from Columbus, Georgia, was officially incorporated as Brownville in 1883. However, its history can be traced through Girard, Knights Station, Summerville, Fort Mitchell, the Creek Indian town of Coweta, and several other communities within Russell County. Phenix City has provided a setting for many of the important events in Alabama's history from early Spanish explorers, to its rich Native American heritage, to its role in opening and settling the Southern frontier, to its adherence to King Cotton, to its rebirth after being regarded the "wickedest city in America." Phenix City has undergone profound change and yet has retained its rural charm.

When New Orleanians ask "Where did you go to school?" they aren't asking what university you attended but what high school. That tells a native a lot about you. For over 150 years, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart have educated the young men of New Orleans, giving them the opportunity to answer the question proudly by replying St. Stanislaus, St. Aloysius, Cor Jesu, or Brother Martin. Images of America: Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans showcases photographs, illustrations, and maps tracing the role of the institute in making New Orleans a vibrant and dynamic city, able to overcome even the worst of adversity. From their roots in the French Quarter, moving to Faubourg Marigny, and finally settling in Gentilly, the Brothers of the Sacred Heart continue to make a major contribution to metro New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana.

Religion spread swiftly across our new nation with the help of camp meetings where families, taking a break from farm labor, gathered for inspiration and socializing. The late-19th-century religious experience expanded the concept by adding educational and recreational opportunities. Permanent campgrounds appeared, the most renowned being Chautauqua in New York. In 1913, Southern Methodists created their own institution with the first conference at Lake Junaluska in western North Carolina. Capitalizing on the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains, Lake Junaluska Assembly, a conference center of the United Methodist Church, became an attraction for inspiration, instruction, relaxation, and recreation. Renowned preachers such as Billy Graham and speakers like Eleanor Roosevelt have filled its iconic round auditorium. Approximately 200,000 annual visitors join a residential community to make Lake Junaluska a destination in its own right amid the attractions of nearby Asheville, Waynesville, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

From the Calusa Indians to the travelers who used boats for transport in the early 1900s and up to the prosperous farms and cattle ranches of today, the Everglades has evolved into a mecca for fishing, birding, and hiking. The smell of orange blossoms entices the settler to an untamed land where bears, deer, and snakes still inhabit the wilderness and where alligator hunting and fishing are still popular sports. Lake Okeechobee is 110 miles around from Pahokee to Canal Point, Okeechobee, Lakeport, Moore Haven, Clewiston, South Bay, and Belle Glade. To cross Florida from the Atlantic to the Gulf, a boat starts in Stuart and ends at Port Mayaca, crossing Lake Okeechobee to the Moore Haven lock and out the Caloosahatchee River past Lake Hicpochee and west to Fort Myers. Around Lake Okeechobee presents images from the Clewiston Museum, Lawrence E. Will Museum, state archives, and private collections, painting a history of the boom and bust, the boaters and farmers, and the cattlemen and ranchers who have settled and raised their families here.

It is likely that most fans of bluegrass music would concede that no state should be more associated with bluegrass music than Kentucky--and rightly so. Bluegrass music draws its name from the band that Kentuckian Bill Monroe formed during the late 1930s and 1940s. Bill named his band Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys to honor his home state. Eventually, the music these bands and others like them were playing came to be known as bluegrass music. Later, another Kentuckian, Ebo Walker, while playing with the Bowling Green-based bluegrass band, New Grass Revival, coined the phrase "newgrass" to describe the band's progressive style of music. Other Kentuckians such as Bobby and Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Dale Ann Bradley have become bluegrass stars. Some of the musicians from Kentucky covered in this book are quite famous--some are not. Famous or not, all of them have a deep-rooted passion for the music they play.

With its pristine waterways, abundant forests, and teeming wildlife, Haywood County is referred to as a kind of Eden in Cherokee mythology. All natural water flowing through the county originates within its borders. More than a dozen of its peaks rise above 6,000 feet, including Cold Mountain, made famous by the best-selling Charles Frazier novel. Established in 1808, Haywood County developed into a series of farming communities. Waynesville, the county seat, was the site of the last shot of the Civil War east of the Mississippi River and later grew into a popular tourist destination after rail lines were laid through the county in the early 1880s. On the eastern end, Canton thrived with one of the largest paper mills in the nation, still in operation after more than a century. The county is also home to sections of the Appalachian Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Of Delaware's three counties, New Castle County is the smallest in the area, even though two-thirds of Delaware's residents call it home. Aldous Huxley once mused that "the charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different." Certainly this is true of New Castle County. Images of America: New Castle County begins in 1875, as steamboats plied the waters of the Christina and Delaware Rivers and farmers worked the county's fertile farmland. Over the next 100 years, the population skyrocketed 400 percent, and suburban shopping centers and housing developments covered what had been farmland. By 1975, New Castle County boasted corporate giants, the world's largest twin-span bridge, and the stories of individuals as varied as DuPont family members; Emily Bissell, who introduced the Christmas Seal; and thousands of blue-collar workers making automobiles. New Castle County's history is as rich and colorful as the changing of the seasons and the imaginations of those who have lived here.

Once described as "a place where God and man went fifty-fifty to produce perfection," Rock Springs Park remained a landmark along the Lincoln Highway in Chester until 1970. In its heyday, this panhandle playground captivated 20,000 visitors daily with attractions including the World's Greatest Scenic Railway, the Cyclone Roller Coaster, and a hand-carved 1927 Dentzel Carousel. Images of America: Rock Springs Park features over 200 rarely seen images and portrays the lifespan of the park from its history as Native American hunting grounds to its development as a local trolley park and full-fledged amusement park. The park hosted business and community picnic excursions and countless celebrity entertainers. Performer Bobby Vinton remembers the era of dances at the park as "a very romantic time . . . almost like something in the movies. There was the carousel, the guys in white shoes and girls that were all dressed up with their crinoline skirts."

The Panhandle's first railroad, the Southern Kansas Railway of Texas, was constructed in 1886. Reaching Amarillo in 1889, the railway pulled cars filled with immigrant families and their belongings. The settlers were farmers from the east and south who came west to find water and cheap land. George Tyng, an adventurous fortune seeker, began leasing ranch land in 1887. A rail station was constructed, and Tyng eventually settled on the name "Pampa," a South American word that means "plains." Tyng was fond of saying that someday Pampa would be the "Queen City of the Plains."

Located in the picturesque Texas Hill Country, Bandera County was named for nearby Bandera Pass, a naturally occurring passageway through the neighboring hills. Near the pass, the Medina River weaves its way through the county. In 1853, a group of settlers arrived and set up camp to make shingles from the huge cypress trees that grew along the river. Soon immigrant workers from Poland were recruited to work at a newly built sawmill. The beauty and abundance of resources also attracted an early group of Mormons, who established a nearby colony. The town of Bandera was designated the county seat at the formation of Bandera County in 1856. Bandera became a staging area for cattle drives up the Western Trail, and today the county still maintains its frontier character. The Western way of life prevails as visitors from around the world come to sample cowboy living on local dude ranches and enjoy honky-tonk music and dancehalls.

Pinellas County's railroad heritage began in 1888 and lasted almost a century. Today few people who walk, run, or bike the 41-mile Pinellas Trail realize the importance of this path as they travel through Pinellas County railroad history. Railroading in Pinellas County transports the reader through 100 years. History is brought to life through photographs of the individuals who brought to Pinellas the railroad, railroad stations, railroad engines, passenger and freight cars, railroad companies, employees, and industries such as tourism that utilized this form of transportation. These photographs were culled with the assistance and permission of local historical societies, county and state archives, and various private collections.