In cooperation with Western Reserve Historical Society Euclid Avenue, which runs through the heart of downtown Cleveland, was for 60 years one of the finest residential streets of any city in 19th century America. Showplace of America is the fascinating account of the rise and fall of this elegant promenade, including portrayals of the eminent architects who created its opulent residences and colorful details about the lives of the wealthy people who occupied them. The families who resided within this linear, four-mile neighborhood epitomized Midwestern grandeur in the second half of the 19th century. The 1893 Baedeker's travel guide to the United States labeled it "one of the most beautiful residence-streets in America," as others hailed it "Millionaires' Row," the finest avenue in the west, and the most beautiful street in the world." Modeled after the grand boulevards of Europe, this magnificent neighborhood was distinguished for the prominence of its architects as well as the families who lived there. Local architects Jonathan Goldsmith, Charles W. Heard, Levi T. Scofield, Charles F. Schweinfurth, and Coburn & Barnum and national firms Peabody & Stearns and McKim, Mead & White created houses that were stunning monuments to Cleveland and America's growing prosperity. Ironically, the tremendous success of Cleveland's industry and commerce, which had nurtured the rise of this grand avenue, fostered its fall. Downtown commerce expanded along the avenue at the sacrifice of its leading entrepreneurs' residential have. The houses were demolished as the avenue became what is today--a neglected urban thoroughfare. Photographs and illustrations from the archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society and other repositories are published here for the first time, documenting both the glory and decline of the "showplace of America."

In the late 1800s, East Cleveland took root as a small trading post alongside a wagon trail that led from Buffalo, New York, to Cleveland, Ohio. This wagon trail, then known as the "Lakeshore Trail" forged by American Indians long gone, later became Euclid Avenue--"the showplace of America." In 1911, East Cleveland planted its municipal roots seven miles east of downtown Cleveland. New gas and waterlines, streetcars, and women's municipal suffrage greatly increased economic growth. With help from investor John D. Rockefeller, businesses such as the National Bindery Company, the Nickel Plate Railroad, and General Electric's Nela Park thrived in the city's favorable economic climate. East Cleveland's racial demographics diversified after several wars abroad, and the city later faced "white flight" during the 1950s and 1960s. Although fiscal emergencies shook the city's foundation throughout the 1970s to 1990s, East Cleveland has experienced a recent upsurge of urban renewal. Once home to "Millionaires' Row," it is now the perfect climate for urban farming, sustainable business practices, community education, and innovative civic engagement.

The incredible affluence and extravagance of Euclid Avenue's Millionaires' Row have fascinated Clevelanders for more than a century. Within these stately mansions, US presidents enjoyed dinners and discussions with powerful politicians and influential industrial and banking leaders. Through photographs and meticulously researched captions, Cleveland's Millionaires' Row provides authoritative visual and written answers to the most often-asked questions regarding the famous avenue: where were these mansions located, how did their occupants acquire such enormous wealth, what caused the street's demise, and what replaced the famous old homes? The book also reveals the progress in remaking Euclid Avenue's four-mile stretch from Public Square to University Circle. Cleveland's Millionaires' Row vividly illustrates the birth, glamor, decline, and renaissance of the grand old avenue.

The Spectrum became a special place for millions of fans throughout the Greater Philadelphia Region, hosting hundreds of events each year. Although its doors are now closed, look back at the greatest moments in Philadelphia sports under one never-to-be-forgotten roof.

From 1920's Speakeasy to mid-century haunt of the famous and infamous, discover the tantalizing history of a legendary New Jersey Nightclub. Where did Frank Sinatra, Mickey Mantle, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joan Crawford and hundreds of other A-listers along with mobsters like Meyer Lansky eat, drink and dance? It wasn't in Hollywood or at the Copacabana but at Bill Miller's Riviera in Fort Lee. The Riviera's breathtaking views of New York, its stunning showgirls and its gambling hall drew the famous and infamous to its tables. After it was originally run as a speakeasy by Ben Marden during the 1920s, Bill Miller, a Russian Jewish immigrant, attracted the most sought-after performers and turned it into one of the most popular nightclubs during the 1940s and 1950s. Relive Bill Miller's Riviera and experience the excitement of his lucky patrons.

The individuals who transformed American cities and towns in the post-Civil War decades built their homes, with few exceptions, on America's grand avenues, such as New York's Fifth Avenue and Los Angeles's Wilshire Boulevard. This book offers essays on twelve eminent urban residential avenues, each contributed by a different scholar and accompanied by twenty to thirty duotone photographs. Originally published as the catalog for the exhibit at the Octagon Museum of the American Architectural Foundation.

An award-winning scholar and leading authority on American symphonic culture argues that classical music in the United States is peculiarly performance-driven, and he traces a musical trajectory rising to its peak at the close of the 19th century and receding after World War I.