In 1825, two government surveyors platting the southwest Michigan territory engaged in a small skirmish with two Native Americans. With a humorous nod, the surveyors gave the name Battle Creek to the river where this encounter took place. A few years later, a group of entrepreneurs, led by Sands McCamly, established a milling community and named it after the river. Thus the city of Battle Creek had its start. Over the following 170 years, it has grown...

On October 6, 1846, Gad Norton invited the public to witness a scientific experiment to be conducted at his family-owned lake. The experiment failed, but the crowds of people inspired him to open a recreation area. In 1851, the firm of Pierce and Norton began land improvements. Not only were new attractions added, but corporate outings and outdoor concerts with big bands were also held, providing for a full day of fun and memories. As the oldest continuously...

Hermann, Missouri, was named for Hermann der Cherusker, a German folk hero of the first century who led a successful battle against the Romans that many feel changed the course of history. In 1837, the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia, whose members hoped to establish a colony where their German language and customs could be preserved, founded Hermann and named the town for the young warrior. By the turn of the century, Hermann was a thriving...

Once a forbidding area of swamps and forests, Berkley was uninhabited until the early 19th century. In 1924, the Detroit News disparaged the "frontier community" and wrote that it "resembles a settlement in the oil waste of Wyoming." Still, forward-thinking residents thought Berkley had a bright future. Two factions with competing ideas raced with paperwork to the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac; the triumphant group, desiring a small town, camped...

Dug by hardworking men in the late 1820s, the Morris Canal is considered to be an engineering marvel. Comprised of 34 locks and 23 inclined planes, it created a waterway from the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, across northern New Jersey, and down into the Hudson River in Jersey City. It was drained in 1924, with its prisms mostly filled in. The 1960s brought a steadfast movement for the preservation of the largely buried Morris Canal, including the...

The city of Anderson is named after Chief William Anderson, whose Indian name was Kikthawenund, meaning "making a noise" or "causing to crack." Early settlers referred to the area as Anderson Town, while the Moravian missionaries called it "The Heathen Town Four Miles Away." It later became Anderstown before the Indiana State Legislature shortened the name to Anderson in 1844. In the spring of 1887, natural gas was discovered in the city. Several...

When the Germans came to Atlantic County in 1855, they imagined a community with an urban center surrounded by a farm district. This would be a great industrial and agricultural community, served by direct railroad and maritime connections to Philadelphia and New York City. In 1858, the urban center these pioneers envisioned became Egg Harbor City. Eleven miles toward the coast is Pleasantville. Originally home to fishing and whaling settlers, it...

Bay View is a jewel box of a Northern Michigan Chautauqua community along the shores of Little Traverse Bay, southwest of the Mackinac Bridge. Founded in 1875 and now a National Historic Landmark, its 31 public buildings and 450 cottages are among the most pristine examples of 1900-era High Victorian architecture in the United States. Historical photographs capture the fascinating journey via rail and Great Lakes steamer to the early campground's...

Bienville Parish, founded in 1848, is located in central north Louisiana. While perhaps most well-known for its ties to outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, Bienville Parish has a rich timber and railroad history that has shaped the community for over a century. Settlers moved into the region to take advantage of its flourishing industry, but it was community that led people to put down roots in the area. Religion and education formed the basis of everyday life...

Bourne is considered the gateway to Cape Cod. Whether one travels across the Bourne Bridge or the Sagamore Bridge to gain access to the Cape, the town of Bourne is inevitably en route. In 1884, Bourne was separated from the town of Sandwich and has grown into a community of distinct villages, including Buzzards Bay and Bournedale, Sagamore Beach, Sagamore, Bourne, Monument Beach, Pocasset, and Cataumet. Uniting all these communities is the Cape Cod...