John D. Rockefeller arrived in Cleveland in 1853 a boy of 14 and spent six decades in his adopted hometown. With the Standard Oil Companys incorporation in 1870; Rockefeller became the citys most well-known industrialist and; from 1885 to 1917; its foremost summer resident at his Forest Hill estate. Here he raised his children; laid the foundation of a financial and industrial empire; and established a commitment to charitable giving. At the end of the Civil War; Cleveland was a crucible from which would be cast the fortunes of many. None were greater than Rockefellers. Rockefellers Cleveland captures the visual panorama of a dynamic city that literally reinvented itself in the 1800s and in doing so emerged a major business and industrial center.
#1117980 in eBooks 2009-10-12 2009-10-12File Name: B0099JQR7S
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Lots of photos. but not enough text.By dgpI own another book in this series (Westlake (Images of America: California)) and going into "Ukiah: Images of America" I expected a lot more text. The Westlake book was fascinating and I learned a lot about the planning. construction. and history of the area where I lived. This Ukiah book. on the other hand. feels more like watching a documentary with the Mute button pressed--or rummaging unassisted through your great-grandmas photo box. Plentiful photographs. which are very nice. but it is severely lacking in explanatory text. when compared to the Westlake book.To illustrate what I mean. most of the captions in the Westlake book were 5 lines long. telling fascinating details about the picture or related topics. Most of the captions in the Ukiah book are 3 or fewer lines. with many just a 1-2 line "The _____ on ____ Street is shown here in December 19XX ." Also. the chapter introductions are half the length of the ones in the Westlake book.Perhaps the Westlake book is actually the exception. or maybe its just that Ukiah is so old by comparison that little is known about much of its history. Either way. I was disappointed that I didnt learn more.In my opinion. this book would be awesome if you are 100 years old and already know all about the places depicted. but for someone like me who is 25. a little help would be nice. One example of these omissions is. only about half of the photos of places include their street location (for example. I learned that the original. neoclassical County Jail stood on "the southeast corner of School and Standley Streets)--however the other half give you no indication (for example. where was the drive-in theater shown on page 110?Another flaw in this book is that the photographs arent evenly distributed. There are a lot of photos in the 1895-1919 time period. and a good number in the 1920-1940 period. but the 1950-1989 period is hardly represented. I dont question the value of the really old pictures. but could have done without the photos of things from the 2000s (yes. including the gratuitous one of the authors son). If I wanted to see current Ukiah. Id drive around town and take those pictures myself... or maybe check my friends Facebook albums or my high school yearbooks. You could replace those "filler" shots with photos from the midcentury and it would have increased the value of the book.Im rounding up my 3.5 star review up to 4 because my main complaint was "not enough text." and i understand that this is described as a "photo book" and I shouldnt have gotten my hopes up that it would be as descriptive as the other book I have.In conclusion. it was worth buying. in the absence of anything with more details.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A powerful pairing of personal and historical informationBy Midwest Book ReviewArcadias Images of America books are outstanding additions and these are picks for any California library strong in regional California history. These are photo collections pairing history with vintage images gleaned from personal as well as public archives. so many are not to be found elsewhere. Darline Bergeres UKIAH comes from a long-time Ukiah resident and former newspaper columnist and provides a celebration of the towns origins and growth. Alice Eby Halls THE CAJON PASS surveys a major state pass that led to the states development once it was traversed and opened up. Rebecca Farnbach. Vincenzo Cilurzo and Audrey Cilurzos TEMECULA WINE COUNTRY examines the growth of vineyards in the Temecula region and tells how the authors planted the first commercial vineyard in the 1960s. and William J. McBurney and Mary Rice Milhollands GREATER FRENCH VALLEY surveys a Riverside County region north of Temecula where immigrants developed a thriving community that exists to this day. The authors personal familiarity with their topics makes for a powerful pairing of personal and historical information.
