Vintage Postcards Illustrate the History of Bay Ridge

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Aug. 12, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Postcard History Series is Bay Ridge from local author Matthew Scarpa. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and postcards from this New York community.

Bay Ridge, located on the southernmost western point of Long Island, was once a small rural community along the banks of the Lower New York Bay. When the Township of New Utrecht, which governed and included Bay Ridge, was annexed to the City of Brooklyn in 1894, its rural character changed dramatically, growing into a thriving urban center, both diverse and prosperous, complete with fine country day clubs for social and cultural refinement.

A unique glimpse and intimate portrait of this rural part of Brooklyn is provided through the picture postcards of the early 20th century. These beautifully illustrated postal prints feature many of Bay Ridge’s finest attractions, exploring the picturesque beauty of its country-style landscape, its back roads and stately homes and its urban city-dwelling environment with mass transportation systems connecting it with Brooklyn and Greater New York.

Highlights of Bay Ridge include:
•   Includes many postcard images of places and scenes of Bay Ridge’s past, which either no longer exist or have changed over time as Bay Ridge has evolved. The majority of the rare postcards in this book have never been published before.
•   Highlights the important and distinguished leaders and residents of Bay Ridge’s past such as Henry C. Murphy, Robert E. Lee, Eliphalet W. Bliss, Teunis G. Bergen, Giovanni Da Verrazano and Henry Hudson.
•   Features information spanning several centuries, from pre-European settlements in Bay Ridge to 1964 and covers Bay Ridge’s historical significance to American and World history.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.  

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.