History of Meadville Told Through Vintage Postcards

Nov. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s Postcard History series is Meadville from local authors William B. Moore and Elizabeth H. Rekas. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and postcard memories of days gone by.

In 1788, David Mead and nine companions established the first settlement, Cussewago, on the present site of Meadville. The town grew slowly at first, but business was stimulated by the arrival of the canal and the railroad. The young town did not want for culture as two colleges, a theater, a library, and an art association were established.

By 1910, downtown business buildings crowded out residential holdouts, streets were paved and lighted by electricity, and streetcars brought people to work from the tree-lined boulevards blocks away. Within the next decade, larger industries arrived, blunting the effects of the Great Depression. After World War II, residents moved farther into the suburbs and the city center went through urban renewal, but vestiges of efforts by the early settlers remain visible among today’s newer landmarks.

Highlights of Meadville:
•   Businesses and factories
•   Institutions, churches and colleges
•   Parks, streetscapes and events

William B. Moore and Elizabeth H. Rekas are both longtime residents of Meadville and have strong roots in the community. Both are active in the Crawford County Historical Society, which has graciously provided postcards from its extensive archives for this publication.

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

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.