Established in 1895 when other factory towns consisted of shabby mill-owned structures and dirt streets, Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, was uniquely designed by the firm of Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot to be greener and more architecturally pleasing for residents. The town's early emphasis on green space and resident-owned homes was ahead of its time, and aspects of its history continue to surprise even residents.

Lehigh County has transformed throughout the years and now is a far cry from its rural identity only 50 years ago. Today Lehigh County is known as an important link to the metropolitan areas of New York City and Philadelphia.

Salem, Massachusetts, is a little city steeped in history. Known as the Witch City for the Puritan witchcraft trials of 1692, Salem boasts a rich heritage as a major East India seaport. Trading with China made Salem the richest city in America, generating a living architectural history. As Salem developed, it preserved much of its history.

After many decades of being an agricultural community and lemon capital, an aircraft-parts manufacturer moved to Chula Vista. In 1940, Rohr Aircraft Corporation arrived and, due to the demand for workers and housing for them, the agricultural town was on its way to becoming a bedroom community. The city grew rapidly due to the development of a large ranch and the construction of 25,000 homes.

Berwyn Heights is a village juxtaposed with an American metropolis, as it lies barely 10 miles from the heart of Washington, D.C. It has changed much since its beginnings in 1888, yet it retains its small-town advantages, illustrating that, though a place may change, its essence remains.

Saginaw is the hub of mid-Michigan and had its beginnings in the 1820s with the establishment of Fort Saginaw near present-day Court and Hamilton Streets. Owing to the lumber industry, two separate cities developed along the banks of the Saginaw River: the west side city of Saginaw and East Saginaw. Intense rivalry resulted in rapid population growth and many civic improvements for both. Consolidation of the Saginaws occurred in 1890, and continued...

Settled in 1630 by English Puritans seeking religious freedom, Boston has always been a city prone to significant and monumental change. Even before it was incorporated as Boston, named after the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England, the town's name was changed from Shawmut. From that time, Boston has evolved from being the original center of town government at the Old State House to becoming the financial center of New England in the twentieth...

Having first been called Centreville in the early 1800s, when the new county of Carroll was formed in 1833, it was decided to change the name to Carrollton. Just as the name has changed, so have many of the sites.

New Ark, as it is pronounced and appeared on colonial maps, is located in New Castle County near the borders of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Scotch-Irish and Welsh settlers developed Newark as a market town around the intersection of two Lenni Lenape trails. Newark remained little more than a village throughout its history, reaching a population of only 11,000 by 1960. Today it is over 30,000, with an additional 15,000 students at the University of...

Tiburon and Belvedere share the same spectacular peninsula jutting into San Francisco Bay from Marin County, California. With water on three sides, fabulous views everywhere, and San Francisco a 30-minute ferry ride away, these two communities have become highly desirable places to live.