The clang of the first trolley bell in 1902 signaled the beginning of a century of excitement and celebrity that would transform the tiny town of Salem, New Hampshire, into a recreation destination for millions. With the trolley company's opening of Canobie Lake Park in August 1902 and "Bet a Million" Gates's big gamble on Rockingham Park in 1906, New Englanders, regardless of age, ethnicity, or social status now shared a recreational common denominator. At Canobie Lake Park, generations played, met, danced, and fell in love. Rockingham Park brought world-class horse and auto racing, the nation's first modern lottery, and a parade of Hollywood's biggest stars. The two parks hold fond memories for the millions who have passed through their gates, and for the thousands who have worked there over the years, their jobs at Canobie and Rockingham are often the ones they most fondly remember.

Through more than 200 images, many never before published, this volume explores life in a tiny village that once swelled to become the fastest growing community in the United States. With the arrival of the Londonderry Turnpike in 1806, the railroad in 1849, and trolleys in 1902, Salem farmers found their world expanding beyond their own stone fences--opening an era of entrepreneurial opportunity that continues to thrive today. In this century, Salem has its roots in housing developments, potato chips, Coca-Cola, horse racing, and roller coasters. Add in the eternal feud between New Hampshire and Massachusetts and you have the formula for an exciting story of wins, losses, twists, and turns that define this unique border town.

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SALEM, MASS. - Newspaper editor John Andrews thought he’d lost everything when his wife was killed, but when timeless bloodlines reemerge Andrews realizes that a tragic accident may actually have been murder, and even worse, might be part of a battle between good and evil that has gone on hundreds of years.

"A historian who has been an actor in the events which he narrates, has peculiar advantages and disadvantages. He can write with more minuteness of detail, and with a fresher and more life-like coloring. He can write with more confidence, and, drawing from his own experience and observation, is in this respect more trustworthy. On the other hand, he is more liable to be warped by prejudice, to see only the excellences and none of the defects of those with whom he has been identified, and only the defects and none of the excellences of those to whom he has been opposed, to be a partizan rather than a judge, and to make his narration little more than the reflection of his personal opinions or his personal sympathy and affection, hostility and spite. "The Church History of Isaac Backus has all the above-named excellences. To a large extent he was an eye-witness of that which he describes; and where not an eye-witness, he placed himself in closest possible connection with it by personal acquaintance with the actors, and by immediate and most diligent and thorough examination of records and other evidence. While it may be too much to say that he absolutely avoided the defects above named, yet his sound judgment, his natural candor and honesty and his elevated Christian principle, have made him as nearly free from them as perhaps any author who has written in similar circumstances." --from the Editor's Preface

In 1801 Elias Hasket Derby Jr. leaves his two year retirement. His father, the country’s first millionaire, has left him a money pit that many would consider one of the nations first American Castles. The expense to keep up this mansion and his leisurely life style has forced Elias back into action. He will take command of the local militia to fill in the ponds in the Common as part of an elaborate plot. The plot would entail the beautification of this neighborhood and entice a series of merchants and ship captains to build a series of two grand brick mansions set apart at fixed distances around the new park. All attached to a series of smuggling tunnels that would lead from the wharf, to their stores, and the banks. An elaborate scheme filled with Masons,pirates, a Secretary of the Navy, Senators, Representatives, a Supreme Court Justice, Presidents, and a touch of murder! Dig into the tunnels of Salem and find the underbelly of our nation!