Looks at how a city used to run--the old transport systems, former city halls, stores, theaters and cinemas, gas stations and car showrooms, restaurants, and people on the sidewalk Aspects of lost San Francisco that are examined here include the Victorian Alcatraz, Cliff House Hotel before it burned down, the early Embarcadero, the devastation of the 1906 earthquake, horse-drawn streetcars, the grandeur of the Sutro Baths both outside and in, the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition buildings, the changes made to combat a possible Japanese invasion during World War II, and some of the key...

Today, Portland, Oregon, is a city of majestic bridges crisscrossing the deep swath of the Willamette River. A century ago, riverboat pilots would have witnessed a flurry of stevedores and longshoremen hurrying along the wharves. Situated as the terminus of sea lanes and railroads, with easy access to the wheat fields, sawmills and dairies of the Willamette Valley, Portland quickly became a rich and powerful seaport. As the city changed, so too did the role of the sailor--once bartered by shanghai masters, later elevated to well-paid and respected mariner. Drawing on primary source material,...

The Motor City. The City on the Strait. The Arsenal of Democracy. Detroit is the city that put the world on wheels. Once the fourth largest in the country, its streets were filled with bustling crowds and lined with breathtaking landmarks. Over the years, many of Detroit's most beautiful buildings--packed with marble, ornate metalwork, painted ceilings and glitz and glamour--have been reduced to dust. From the hallowed halls of Old City Hall to the floating majesty of steamships to the birthplace of the automotive industry, Dan Austin, author of Lost Detroit and creator of...

A celebration of the cherished parts of Baltimore that are no longer Baltimore today is visited by millions of tourists who come to see the world-famous Inner Harbor, sample mouth-watering blue crabs, take in an Orioles game at legendary Camden Yards, or explore the many cultural and higher education institutions. Locals, meanwhile, enjoy living in a city that is large enough to provide great restaurants and plenty of special events, while it retains its small-town attitude that has earned it its "Charm City" nickname. However, many locals and tourists may not know that Baltimore was...

Contains 68 different losses from 1889 up to the present day, including schools, churches, theaters, clubhouses, parks, stores, hotels, offices, and factories

Organized chronologically, starting with the earliest losses and ending with the latest, the book features much-loved Detroit institutions that failed to stand the test of time. Long before there was a motor industry, the city lost the Central Market (1889), the Belle Isle swimming pool, and the Capitol Building (1893). Grand buildings erected in the Victorian era that were too costly to be refurbished, or movie theaters...

Coney Island is an iconic symbol of turn-of-the-century New York, but many other amusement parks thrilled the residents of the five boroughs. Strategically placed at the end of trolley lines, railways, public beaches and waterways, these playgrounds for rich and poor alike first appeared in 1767. From humble beginnings, they developed into huge sites like Fort George, Manhattan's massive amusement complex. Each park was influenced by the culture and eclectic tastes of its owners and patrons--from the wooden coasters at Staten Island's Midland Beach to beer gardens on Queens' North Beach and...

Avid skiers have flocked to the northern reaches of the Centennial State for over a century. While the prized powder remains the same, the top skiing destinations bear only a faint resemblance to the resorts of previous generations. Neighborhood slopes, such as Tabernash Hill, featured little more than a rope tow and a storage shed. Other spots like Estes Park's Old Man Mountain held tournaments and contests with Olympic participants. From the Cathy Cisar Winter Playground in Craig to Cheyenne Mountain's Ski Broadmoor and everywhere in between, join authors Caryn and Peter Boddie on a tour...

Miami Beach has been "America's Playground" for a century. Still one of the world's most popular resorts, its 1930s Art Deco architecture placed this picturesque city on the National Register of Historic Places. Yet a whole generation of earlier buildings was erased from the landscape and mostly forgotten: the house of refuge for shipwrecked sailors, the oceanfront mansions of Millionaires' Row, entrepreneur Carl Fisher's five grand hotels, the Community Theatre, the Miami Beach Garden and more. Join historian Carolyn Klepser as she rediscovers through words and pictures the lost treasures of...

The massive steel mills of Youngstown once fueled the economic boom of the Mahoning Valley. Movie patrons took in the latest flick at the ornate Paramount Theater, and mob bosses dressed to the nines for supper at the Colonial House. In 1977, the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company announced the closure of its steelworks in a nearby city. The fallout of the ensuing mill shutdowns erased many of the city s beloved landmarks and neighborhoods. Students hurrying across a crowded campus tread on the foundations of the Elms Ballroom, where Duke Ellington once brought down the house. On the lower...