Celebrate the History of Lakewood

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Sept. 11, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Lakewood by the City of Lakewood. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by in this California community.

Lakewood, California—once the largest planned community in America—grew almost overnight. From lima bean and sugar beet fields, it became a model of postwar suburban development. Everything about the young Lakewood was new: constructing 17,500 homes in just 33 months, opening California’s first regional shopping center in 1951 and achieving cityhood under an innovative plan for local government in 1954.

Those early years tell an inspiring story of pioneering developers, enthusiastic residents and the dedicated leaders of community institutions whose legacy continues to sustain Lakewood. Above all, the Lakewood story is about the ability of ordinary men and women to shape their future—and Lakewood’s—as their city begins its seventh decade.

Today, Lakewood residents continue to see—in their history, traditions and values—a reflection of the quality of life they seek to pass to future generations, aided always by a community of caring neighbors.

Highlights of Lakewood include:
•   The book celebrates Lakewood’s 60th anniversary and the successful effort to incorporate the city and begin its innovative “Lakewood Plan” for city services.
•   Highlights Lakewood Center, the first super-regional shopping center in the western United States, during its construction and early “open air” days.
•   Discusses the growth of the city’s “contract law enforcement” program and the inauguration of the Sky Knight Helicopter patrol program, the first of its kind in the nation.

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/.