Whether known as "The Entertainment Capital of the World" or Sin City, Glitter Gulch or even "Lost Wages" Nevada, the dazzling city of Las Vegas has undergone incredible transformation-from ancient watering hole to Mormon fort, from whistle stop to mob-run profit center-to become the fastest-growing urban community in the nation. Home to nearly 1.5 million residents, a melting pot of races and cultures, this great metropolis boasts a thrilling history of vices and virtues but, above all, a steadfast and uncompromising spirit.

Farmington, one of Detroit's oldest suburbs, was originally inhabited by the Potawatomi and was ceded to the government for sale to settlers beginning in 1820. Established as Quakertown and incorporated as Farmington, this "Crossroads Community" developed around a literal railroad stop, flourishing from an agricultural center to a thriving business district. A sense of community, family, and home inspired residents to overcome natural and social obstacles to carve a substantial and influential niche in the Michigan landscape.

Originating as Greer's Station, a burgeoning settlement on the edge of an antebellum plantation, Greer prospered as a link in the cotton belt of the South. Agricultural hub and industrial powerhouse, the town flourished along the railroad and gained prominence as a bustling trading post. Greer has braved market manipulation, commercial competition, and agricultural decimation, but strives even today to preserve the continuity of its community identity.

Among the most well known of Florida's native peoples, the Seminole Indians frustrated troops of militia and volunteer soldiers for decades during the first half of the nineteenth century in the ongoing struggle to keep hold of their ancestral lands. While careers and reputations of American military and political leaders were made and destroyed in the mosquito-infested swamps of Florida's interior, the Seminoles and their allies, including the Miccosukee tribe and many escaped slaves, managed to wage war on their own terms. The study of guerrilla warfare tactics employed by the Seminoles may...

Lying in the shadows of Mt. Hood and the Cascade peaks, Columbia River Gorge is as rich in history as the bounty its fertile soils provide. From the numerous native tribes, Lewis & Clark, and famed botanist David Douglas to a guru's siege at Antelope and the modern Gorge's reputation for world-class windsurfing, its stories shape the area into a thriving chain of distinctive communities. The Gorge meshes its vibrant past with a stunning physical backdrop to provide the perfect vista for all who are curious about this alluring region.

Although its soils are the youngest in the Hawaiian chain, the Big Island's chronicles are at times epic, tragic, and heroic, but always fascinating. Modern Hawai'i is filled with tradition and mythology, accommodating influences as diverse as its inviting landscape. Kamehameha stood tall to mold this nascent region into a unified kingdom and others fought to sustain it, while outside forces molded and shaped this island in astonishing ways.

With a reputation as wide open as the waters of the Mississippi flowing past its bustling downtown district, Memphis is a city of contrasts and contradictions. From the darkness of epidemics and racial tension to its beacons of music and entreprenurial success, Memphis is a reflection of the true American experience. For many years it was a community functioning almost as two separate societies, yet the ties between the two create one resolute and dynamic city as it begins this new century.

Born at the dawn of America's great canal era, Girard thrived on the streams of commerce and life flowing through Pennsylvania on the Erie Canal. Home also to the nation's first Civil War monument and one of the few banks to remain open during the Great Depression, the town stayed in the mainstream of history even after the canals dried up and time passed on.

Serving as the link between Pacific waters and Willapa Bay on the southwestern tip of Washington state, the Long Beach Peninsula has carved its niche as protector and provider since the Chinook tribe first set foot on its shores. Though teeming with life in and around the ocean, its treachery has proven as striking as its beauty. From Lewis and Clark to the many species of birds that flock here yearly, this coastal region hosts a wide range of visitors and has become a thriving center for tourism as well as a haven for those who love the sea.