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BOOKS
LEGENDARY LOCALS OF HUNTINGTON is the latest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s new Legendary Locals imprint. Filled with an average of 180 images, this people-centric imprint focuses on newsworthy and noteworthy individuals and groups who have built and shaped their communities. Founded in 1871 by Collis P. Huntington, the rail tycoon’s namesake city thrived as a gateway to the coalfields of southern West Virginia. The city’s earliest leaders included individuals like Mayor Rufus Switzer, who created one of the community’s true jewels, Ritter Park, and John Hooe Russel, who opened the city’s first bank and, when it was robbed, jumped on his horse and gave chase to the bandits. Over the years, Huntington has been home to such varied individuals as Carter Woodson, the father of Black History Month; Dr. Henry D. Hatfield, who was West Virginia governor but said he would rather be known as a“country doctor;” Dagmar, the blonde bombshell of 1950s television; basketball star Hal Greer; golfing great Bill Campbell; Stella Fuller, who spent her life ministering to Huntington’s poor, and the spectacularly generous Joan Edwards, who gave away $65 million. Legendary Locals of Huntington captures their stories and many others in a striking panorama of a remarkable community.
Join the author for one of these Book Signings:
-- Saturday, January 12, 2013 from 4 to 6 p.m.
at Empire Books & News,
30 Pullman Square, Huntington, WV 25701.
-- Thursday, January 17, 2013, from 5 to 8 p.m. at The Red Caboose,
Heritage Station, Huntington WV 25701.
Can’t make it to a Book Signing? You can order an autographed copy by sending your check for $27 (includes postage and handling) to:
James E. Casto
6233 Highland Drive
Huntington, WV 25705
HIGHWAY TO HISTORY: A MIDLAND TRAIL SCRAPBOOK (Quarrier Press, 2011) -- The Midland Trail is a highway to history. In the country’s earliest years, it carried the tide of settlement westward. During the Civil War, both Union and Confederate troops marched along it. In the years before World War I, it became a link in a great transcontinental roadway. When numbered highways were introduced, it was designated U.S. 60. Today, there’s history waiting around every bend of its 180 miles. This 112-page softback volume is a colorful word and picture look at the historic highway which stretches across West Virginia from White Sulphur Springs to Kenova. Click here to reach Jim.
THE GREAT OHIO RIVER FLOOD OF 1937 (Arcadia Publishing, 2009) -- From the time the first settlers made their way into the Ohio River Valley, floods were an accepted fact of life in the communities they built. After each flood, people would shovel the mud from their doors and set about rebuilding their towns and their lives. In 1884, the Ohio River washed away 2,000 homes along its length. In 1913, an even worse flood swept down the river. People labeled it the “granddaddy” of all floods. Little did they know there was far worse to come. The Ohio Valley has never seen anything to match the devastating 1937 flood. The raging floodwaters inundated thousands of houses and businesses, factories and farms in a half dozen states, drove a million people from their homes, claimed nearly 400 lives and recorded more than $500 million in damages. Adding to the misery was the fact that the disaster came during the depths of the Great Depression, when so many families already were struggling simply to put food on their tables. “Images of America: The Great Ohio River Flood of 1937” brings together 200 vintage images that offer readers a look back at one of the darkest chapters in the region’s history. Click here to reach Jim.
THE
CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY (Arcadia Publishing, 2006) -- Part
of Arcadia's Images of Rail Series, this
volume traces the history of the C&O from the laying of
its first tracks in the 1860s to its role as part of the CSX
Transportation giant of today. Jim has gathered some 200 photographs
that chronicle the C&O story. Here is a fond look back at
the railroad's mammoth steam locomotives and the diesels that
replaced them, its bustling passenger stations and much more.
Included is the story of the legendary John Henry, who beat
that steam drill, and Chessie, the sleeping kitten that was
the C&O's much-loved trademark. The
Images of Rail series celebrates the history of rail, trolley,
streetcar and subway transportation across the country, Using
archival photos, this book, like all in the series, presents
the people, places, and events that helped revoluntionize transportation
and commerce in the 19th and 20th century America. Copies
of this new volume are available from Jim for $20 plus shipping
and handling. Click here to reach Jim.
50
YEARS OF CARING -- For a "coffeetable book" written
to celebrate the first 50 years of Cabell-Huntington Hospital,
Jim spent hours searching through local newspaper articles,
hospital archives and newsletters and also conducted relevant
interviews. Speaking with The Herald-Dispatch about the project,
Jim said, "I am not a trained historian and
I don't claim to be. I'm a storyteller, and the hospital clearly
had a story to tell. I appreciate
the opportunity that the hospital gave me. I am very pleased
with the results and I hope the hospital is pleased, too."
Adds Doug Sheils, the hospital's director of marketing who served
as the book's editor, "We have a really proud history.
Cabell Huntington Hospital was created to care for the community,
and that's the whole theme of the book. The community really
was responsible for building this hospital." Complimentary
copies have been presented to Cabell Huntington's employees,
doctors, volunteers and contributors. Copies may be purchased
at the hospital gift shop ($15) or from the author. Click
here to reach Jim.
MARSHALL
UNIVERSITY (Arcadia Publishing, 2005) -- Part of Arcadia's Campus
History Series,this remarkable volume features more than 200
historic photographs from the Marshall archives and chronicles
the dramatic Marshall saga. It offers glimpses of Marshall students
at work and play, records the proud accomplishments of those
who guided the school to its destiny, and provides an informative
look at the steady growth of the campus over the years. It
also captures the triumph of that 1961 day when Marshall at
last became a university, the despair of the 1970 plane crash
that plunged the campus and community into mourning, and the
inspiring story of Marshalls comeback from that tragedy.
Copies of this new volume are available from Jim for $20 plus
shipping and handling. Click here to reach
Jim.
SOUTHERN
WEST VIRGINIA: COAL COUNTRY (Arcadia Publishing, 2004) -- This
collection of 200 vintage postcards offers a look back at coal
mining and the way of life it spawned in southern West Virginia.
The book traces how overnight the nation's demand for coal turned
sleepy little places into boomtowns and helped cities like Charleston
and Huntington prosper as gateways to and from the coalfields.
Click here for a closeup of the front
and back covers of this new book, available for $20 from fine
bookstores, or from the author.
CABELL
COUNTY (Arcadia Publishing, 2001) This lively photo
history of Cabell County, West Virginia, begins with the arrival
of the area's first settlers and continues into the 21st century.
Some 200 vintage photographs recall key historical events and
the people and places that made Cabell County the thriving place
it is today. Reprinted in 2003, the book is available in bookstores
or from the author ($20, plus postage and handling).
HUNTINGTON:
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY -THE MARSHALL UNIVERSITY EDITION (Marshall
University Foundation, 1997) -- This softbound edition not only
reproduces the text and photographs of the original, out-of-print
hardback volume published in 1985, it adds much new material
to bring the community's story up to date. In addition, a special
section of photographs offers a colorful look at the Marshall
campus. A limited number of copies are available for sale ($20,
plus postage and handling) by the author.
WEST
VIRGINIA: MOUNTAIN MAJESTY (West Virginia Division of Culture
and History, 1996) -- "This is not a history book,"
advises the Introduction, "although there's a great deal
of West Virginia's remarkable history in it. Nor is it a travel
guide, although we hope some readers, after taking an armchair
tour in these
pages, will be encouraged to hit the road, exploring our state
firsthand." Lavishly illustrated, this handsome coffee-table
book isn't a history or a travel guide but instead, to again
quote the Introduction, "a celebration of the people, places
things and events that have made West Virginia the special place
it is." A limited number of copies are available for sale
($40, plus postage and handling) by the author. READ
EXCERPT from chapter 9. (Note:
The files used in this section are quite large, so allow a few
moments for loading the graphics on each of the 13 pages in
the excerpt.)
TOWBOAT
ON THE OHIO (University Press of Kentucky, 1995) - To get a
personal look at what it's like to live and work on the Ohio
River, newspaperman
Casto spent eight days aboard a commercial towboat, the Paul
G. Blazer, as it traveled the Ohio from Huntington, West Virginia,
to Pittsburgh, up the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers,
then back downriver to Huntington. In his book, Casto introduces
readers to the Blazer's crew and to the river itself, while
offering a look back at the history of commerce on the busy,
hardworking Ohio. The book is out of print.
HUNTINGTON:
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY (Windsor Publications, Inc., 1985) --
This is the story of Huntington, West Virginia - a city born
of the Ohio River and the railroad and nurtured by the industrious
men and women who have lived and worked there since rail tycoon
Collis P. Huntington founded the town in 1870. The narrative
is illustrated with more than 100 period black-and-white photographs
and a section of color photographs offering a contemporary view
of the city. The book, long out of print, is today eagerly sought
by collectors.
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