When natural gas was first discovered in Appalachia in the 19th century, its development and growth as a fuel was rapid. Unlike oil and coal, however, gas could be moved only by pipeline, and required large containers for storage. It was not possible to cope with peak loads without adding excessive pipeline capacity. This problem was solved just before World War II when two sister gas companies developed a plant to liquefy and store natural gas as a liquid; the liquid was then regasified to deal with peak loads.

In 1750 the Appalachian Mountains were a formidable border between the British colonies in the east and French territory in the west, passable only on foot or horseback. It took more than a century to break the mountain barrier and open the west to settlement. In 1751 a private Virginia company pioneered a road from Maryland to Ohio, challenging the French and Indians for the Ohio country. Several wars stalled the road, which did not start in earnest until after Ohio became a state in 1803. The stone-paved Cumberland Road--from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia--was complete by 1818...

From the earliest days of the British colonies in America, land was freely given to those willing to come and settle. Oftentimes, it was the only inducement that brought colonists to the New World. At first, colonists considered free land a privilege, but it soon came to be seen as a right. When that right was later withheld by Great Britain, the colonists rebelled. Although covered broadly in other histories, this is the first work entirely dedicated to exploring land ownership as a unique and direct cause of the American Revolution. This book details the powerful influence of land rights...