Historical Gazetteer Of The United States

This superb new resource contains a wealth of local historic information, arranged in chronological order according to city or town. The material is divided by state, with cities and towns presented alphabetically. Each entry includes the town's county and geographical location within the state, followed by an annotated list of significant dates. Among the events noted are first settlers, founding date, origin of the town's name, establishment of various churches and libraries, building or arrival of the railroad, establishment of notable businesses and industry, political and military events, acts of nature, birth of notable figures (with death date and short description of their contribution), founding of universities and colleges, and establishment of notable parks. The focus of the entries is kept carefully local, so that not all of these elements are always included. The entries, though brief, are nonetheless fascinating, as each presents a story of the town and its (locally and sometimes nationally) famous people, sites, tragedies, and triumphs. Hellmann is a geographer and writer based in St. Louis, Missouri. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Paul T. Hellmann is a freelance writer and geographer who most recently researched, wrote, and/or edited 33,000 entries (about one-fourth of the total) for the new Columbia Gazetteer of the World, for which he did field research in 37 states. He has also written a historical tour guide of Frederick County in Virginia and many articles for other reference books. Other work experience includes creating rural address systems for seven counties and researching address systems for the Census.