Publications

Mark Fritz, editor
The 11 prolific letter writers in this book were local Columbia County “boys” who served in World War I. They wrote home dutifully to their parents and to their hometown newspapers, from which these letters have been culled. A follow-up to the previously published Letters Home-WWI, this book presents more letters by fewer writers, thus providing a more in-depth look at the experiences of a few (11). Readers get to follow these guys’ military careers from training to “crossing the pond” to trench life to battle stories about time spent “in the fray” to armistice celebrations and occupation duty along the Rhine. These letter writers were often honest and forthright, sometimes eloquent, and sometimes humorous. Readers will get so much detail that they may feel like they know these men by the time they finish reading their personal letters. Here are century-old documents, first-person accounts of the war to end all wars.

8.5 x 11-inches, softbound, 246 pages, with hundreds of photos, posters, paintings, maps, etc. ( illustrations on nearly every page). Also, a helpful appendix, helpful sidebars, and an index of local soldiers mentioned.

By Mark Fritz

What does a pile of old receipts left behind by a horse & buggy doctor reveal about everyday life in a town on the verge of modernity as it transitioned from the 19th to the 20th Century? This is the story of a man (Dr. J. R. Montgomery), his town (Bloomsburg), and his times, as told by a bunch of historical documents otherwise known as receipts.

8.5″x 11″ softbound, 104 pages, 70 illustrations, 38 photos, 7 maps, 1 chart, index

By Robert Dunkelberger

This new book is an in-depth look at the history of the trolleys in this area and the impact they made on its economic and social development at the beginning of the 20th century. An enjoyable account for all who are interested in local history.

8.5” x 11” softbound, 160 pp., 200 photographs and illustrations, index.

By Pat Parker

A no-holds-barred portrait of Bloomsburg’s most colorful magnate and his fascinating museums, with detailed coverage of his noted collection of trolley cars and their restoration. By the former Director of the museums.

6”x9” softbound, 160 pages, 65 photos, index

By Wanda Y. Sanders

Many newspaper clippings and photos document this town’s history.

8.5” x 11” spiral-bound, 78 pages, 50 illustrations, 2 maps

By W. M. Baillie

Here are true stories of a gang of horse thieves who ravaged over a dozen counties in Pennsylvania in the last half of the Nineteenth Century. Like typical Western movies, the chapters are full of rustling, wild chases, gunfights, and daring jail escapes. The tales focus on three Whipple brothers who separately all met the same grim fate: shot by a constable while fleeing arrest for stealing horses. Featuring typical figures from the American Wild West–outlaw, gang, moll, lawman, squire—the narratives paint a vivid picture of life on the fringes of “polite society” at the start of the industrial age in America. The accounts are based on over 500 contemporary articles from local newspapers.

Paperback, 5” x 9”, 140 pages, maps, 20+ illus., index.

By W. M. Baillie

In an Indian raid during the Revolutionary War—known as “The Whitmoyer Massacre”—a Columbia County family was destroyed and five children were carried into captivity in far-distant Iroquois and Delaware villages. The Whitmore Saga tells for the first time what happened to these children afterwards. These adventurous true tales show the American Revolution through the eyes of children, Patriots, and Loyalists.

6” x 8.5” softbound, 192 pages, map, 20 illustrations, Index of Persons & Places.

By Ted Fenstermacher

A compilation of Ted Fenstermacher’s columns in the Morning Press and Berwick Enterprise.

5.75” x 8.5” hard cover. 278 pages, several photos

By Ted Fenstermacher

Both volumes in a brown faux leather box set

5.75” x 8.75” x 2” hard cover, 556 pages total

By Robert Dunkelberger

Years in the making, this is the most complete story yet written of the fabled African Ostrich Farm and Feather Company, the only cold-weather ostrich farm in the United States. Founded in 1910 by Pennsylvania native William Hile, it is a story of the widespread belief at the beginning of the 20th Century that buying stock in any scheme, no matter how far-fetched, was sure to make the investor rich! In this case, as in many others, it did not.

200 pages, 6″ x 9″ soft cover, illustrated