The city of La Ca±ada Flintridge is made up of the nearly century-long communities of La Ca±ada--once a mosaic of ranchlands honeycombed with vineyards and olive and citrus groves--and Flintridge, an affluent enclave and health resort in the early 1900s. La Ca±ada's various neighborhoods were renamed La Ca±ada Flintridge during the city's incorporation in 1976. Known for its excellent schools and as a gateway to the Angeles National Forest, La Ca±ada is also home to Descanso Gardens, an internationally known 165-acre botanical garden sold to Los Angeles County by former Los Angeles Daily News tycoon Manchester Boddy, and to NASA's esteemed Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), located on the city's northwest border.

A history of African American presence in the Hudson Valley region from the colonial period to the present.

Closter and Alpine are situated on the slopes of the Palisades cliffs, tucked into the northeastern corner of New Jersey. Rising some five hundred feet above the Hudson River, the peaks of these cliffs offer some of the most spectacular scenery in the state. On these slopes the earliest pre-Revolutionary settlements were established and nineteenth- and twentieth-century mansions were built. Closter and Alpine includes the region's earliest history, beginning with "Wooly," the ten-thousand-year-old long-haired mastodon discovered in 1974. The 1776 British invasion led by Lord Cornwallis and the cruel murder of ninety-year-old Douwe Tallman were early local events of the Revolutionary War. During the nineteenth century, the freed slave community of Skunk Hollow was founded, a community to which present Closter residents can trace roots. One of the most unique parts of the history of Closter and Alpine are the "Houses like Fords," the "assembly-line" homes built by the Lustron Corporation during the post-World War II housing shortage. Closter and Alpine have the only two of these houses remaining in Bergen County.

Solitary, nocturnal creatures, skunks generally go about their business unnoticed. But then there’s that thing they do . . . and oh, boy, when they do it, no one can ignore them. But there’s far more to skunks than their stench, and with this beautifully illustrated entry in Reaktion’s Animal series, Alyce Miller gives these furry scavengers their due. More than being unappreciated, skunks, Miller reveals, have a long history of persecution: killed off as smelly nuisances, they have also been hunted for their fur and, yes, their unique musk, which has found a perhaps unexpected use in perfume. Moving from nature to culture, Miller delves into the long line of skunks that have played parts in literature, film, and folklore, from the antics of Pepe Le Pew to the role of skunks in Native American spiritual beliefs. As growing urban wildlife populations bring humans and skunks ever closer, Miller’s book will help us understand—and appreciate—these beautiful, intriguing, and wholly distinct animals.

Readers are treated to a comprehensive statewide guidebook to the Garden State that includes detailed information on 48 of the best sites for historical walks through green landscapes, natural preserves, and picturesque settlements. Illustrations.