What began as a distribution center for shipping agricultural products around 150 years ago became a community noted in the twentieth century for its leadership in research and education. Historic Photos of Gainesville focuses its lens on the unfolding development of this Alachua County town, encapsulating its cultural progress over the last two centuries with nearly 200 compelling black-and-white photos. This handsome book chronicles the 1906 founding of the University of Florida and includes rare photos of its rise from modest beginnings to one of the nation’s largest universities and leading research facilities. Historic Photos of Gainesville draws from an extensive collection of rare images, revealing how a once quaint southern town became a modern-day city rich with history and educational opportunity. Archiving the growth of this vibrant community, Historic Photos of Gainesville is a must-have for area residents and historians alike.

What began as a distribution center for shipping agricultural products around 150 years ago became a community noted in the twentieth century for its leadership in research and education. Historic Photos of Gainesville focuses its lens on the unfolding development of this Alachua County town, encapsulating its cultural progress over the last two centuries with nearly 200 compelling black-and-white photos. This handsome book chronicles the 1906 founding of the University of Florida and includes rare photos of its rise from modest beginnings to one of the nation's largest universities and leading research facilities. Historic Photos of Gainesville draws from an extensive collection of rare images, revealing how a once quaint southern town became a modern-day city rich with history and educational opportunity. Archiving the growth of this vibrant community, Historic Photos of Gainesville is a must-have for area residents and historians alike.

Unlike the movie ghost towns of the Old West, the ghost towns in Florida don’t have tumbleweeds rolling on deserted dirt roads, abandoned wooden saloons, and lone drifters on horseback. Although the landscape may have dramatically changed, many of these once-thriving communities declined due to widespread economic changes, disastrous weather, company closings, or vital industries disappearing or moving elsewhere. In fact, some of these so-called ghost towns have been absorbed by larger cities still inhabited by Floridians today. In Historic Photos of Florida Ghost Towns, author Steve Rajtar takes readers decades back in Florida’s history to discover these ghost towns through the lens of two hundred black-and-white photographs—in some cases, the only remains of these forgotten towns. Explore the landscapes, houses, schools, businesses, organizations, places of worship, and people who once called these now-nonexistent towns home. Imagine what life was like in hundreds of these tight-knit communities as you explore a century and a half of this sunny, populous state that many still call home.

Today, we're familiar with the major theme parks which charge families hundreds of dollars a day to wait in line for moments of thrills on technologically amazing rides. Florida, however, has been drawing tourists for centuries with simpler attractions which cost much less to view the animals or exhibits, or commune with nature. In Historic Photos of Florida Early Tourist Attractions, Steve Rajtar brings us back to the simpler ways early visitors enjoyed their time in the Sunshine State. Tour the state with photos of the tourist attractions which were here before Walt Disney World, in the days when a row of antique cars sufficed and tourists did not require constant action. See the wax figures which amazed visitors long before the invention of audioanimatronic mannequins. See what curiosities brought in the tourists and their dollars decades before today's theme parks dominated the billboards and themselves became worldwide vacation destinations.

When the Florida Agricultural College in Lake City became the University of Florida and moved south to Gainesville in 1906, it had a very fledgling football team, although worthy opponents were difficult to find. Little by little, as the school increased in size and reputation, its football team attracted higher-performing athletes and sterner opponents until it was willing to play any team in the country. In 1966, the team had its first Heisman Trophy winner, but it was not until 30 years later that UF won its first national championship. Since then UF has chalked up two more Heisman Trophy winners and two more national championships. Historic Photos of University of Florida Football chronicles the rise of one of the premier football programs in the country through hundreds of black-and-white photographs, each of them captioned and with introductions. The book includes photos of the university and the surrounding community to which the "Fightin’ Gators” have become so much an integral part.

Founded in the late nineteenth century as a railroad town, St. Petersburg quickly emerged as the "Sunshine City," a preferred west-coast destination for Americans seeking Florida's sun, sand, and surf. The images collected in Historic Photos of St. Petersburg combine to form a remarkable portrait of this unique community. Among numerous subjects key to the city's past are an early Mirror Lake, the Detroit Hotel, the Million Dollar Pier, the Snell Arcade, shuffleboard courts, Whitted Airport, the Aquatarium, Festival of States parades, the Orange Belt Railway, Roser Park, and of course, the famous green benches. In stunning black-and-white photography, this handsome coffee-table book details the historical growth of St. Petersburg from its early days up to recent times. Spanning two centuries and nearly 200 images, the book follows the building of this history-rich city, offering a compelling look into the past for any longtime resident and every history buff of St. Petersburg.