Fans of Gay M. Grant's Along the Kennebec: The Herman Bryant Collection will enjoy these more than 200 newly released images taken by gifted South Gardiner photographer Herman Bryant (1858-1937). Now part of the collections of the Maine State Museum, Bryant's work documents late-19th- and early-20th-century life in the Kennebec River region during its industrial heyday. New information about Bryant and his family reveals fascinating stories about the people and places captured in his photographs. From Augusta downriver to Bath and the coastal islands, Bryant's lens captured the mills, factories, icehouses, and other ventures that once lined the river's banks. Vessels of all types that once made the river the artery of the region's life and economy can be seen along with images of the railroads that revolutionized travel. Bryant's poignant portraits, photographs of homes, and even images of beloved pets bring to life the industrious Maine people who built thriving communities.

This wonderful new book takes us back in time to visit the rural communities that thrived along the banks of the Kennebec River around the turn of the century--from Augusta and Gardiner down to Merrymeeting Bay on the coast. Local author Gay M. Grant has brought together more than two hundred beautiful photographs taken by gifted local photographer Herman Bryant between 1890 and 1936. This volume makes these photographs available to the public for the first time. The images bring to life the people, places, and events that defined the history of the area during this exciting era. We see the Kennebec River at its industrial peak, when industries such as lumber, paper, ice, and shipbuilding lined its banks. We encounter buildings such as Maine's old capitol building (before its refurbishment) and the Blaine House as it used to look. We witness terrible tragedies such as the train wreck of 1905, and share in local celebrations too. We experience the Age of Steam and the Age of Sail in their heyday. Most important of all, we meet the people who lived and loved, worked and played in these communities throughout this fascinating period. Through the pages of this book, our past reaches out to us.

In four volumes, this reference book brings together a wide range of hard-to-locate data to answer questions concerning American cities. Each volume focuses on a different geographic region: South, West, Midwest and Northeast. Within each volume, you'll find thorough coverage of the area's largest or fastest-growing cities, or those with a particular historical, political, industrial or commercial significance.