Sadly, some prices are going up….

Between the Lakes Group has been in business since 1999, and some of our offerings, particularly downloads you’ll find at www.betweenthelakes.com, date from CD-ROMs of historical material we have sold for a couple of decades now. Unlike everyone else, we’ve never previously increased prices on what we sell.

In those intervening years a lot has happened, some of which have increased our costs in ways that aren’t visible to our customers. For example, web hosting (paying an internet company to maintain these websites and provide world-wide connectivity to them) has gone up substantially — at least doubled.

As well, expenses we never incurred back in those blissful days to enhance web security have now become a necessity. Individually the costs aren’t large, but taken as a group, these services cost nearly what it cost to host the whole website back in the beginning.

PayPal, as you probably realize, charges us a fee plus a percentage of the purchase price for each download we sell. When you’re selling downloads for less than $2 those fees eat up most of the price you pay. We don’t begrudge paying PayPal to streamline this function; indeed we’re grateful to them for being there.

What this all translates to is that sadly, some prices are going up on our downloads of historical material.

NOTE: We’re NOT raising the prices of our printed books that Amazon handles for us. As far as we can tell, these are competitively priced, and our costs there have remained stable.

The way we’re handling the price increases on the downloads in incremental. We’re doing the increases a page at a time. For example, if you are looking at a page like Connecticut Miscellany (found at http://www.betweenthelakes.com/CT/connecticut_Miscellany.htm) we’re adjusting all the prices on that page at once.

We sell several hundred different downloads, spread across around a hundred individual pages. As you might guess, it will be a while before we get them all adjusted.

But we did want you to know that we are in this process, and you may find that the interesting download that was priced at $2 you were thinking about buying but didn’t may not be selling for the same $2 the next time you check on it.

Yes, we know that merchants raise their prices all the time. So, we’re going to raise ours. But we’re letting you know that it’s in the works, and why we’re doing it.

If you want to review our array of downloads (some of which have been and will remain FREE), we invite you to have a look at the front page of our downloads section. You can find that at http://www.betweenthelakes.com.

And, just a word to say that we’ve been procrastinating for a while about this price increase because we appreciate your loyalty.

Sincerely,

Geoff Brown, Principal Partner, Between the Lakes Group LLC

p.s. While you’re here, why not take a look at a couple of books we’re recently written: Trinity Lime Rock in Context – a History and Lakeville Crucifix.

Trinity Lime Rock in Context – a History

We are happy to announce a new book by Geoffrey Brown, called Trinity Lime Rock in Context – a History. Here’s some background:

Nearly 30 years ago we started going to a local Episcopal church, here in Northwestern Connecticut, called Trinity Lime Rock. Lots of people don’t have much to do with churches anymore. However, we had kept up churchgoing, and when we moved up here we continued. Eventually we settled on Trinity as the place where we wanted to bend a knee, or whatever term you prefer.

Since we’re in the history business, this institution was probably destined to be the subject of at least an article, and perhaps a book. Poking around in the records, we found a history that had been done around 1950. Almost immediately it was clear that an update was needed at very least. So with the help of archeology services the project started in a small way that, as such things do, became bigger and bigger.

Around the same time, Judy Sherman, the wife and also a historian, was wrapping up her MA in history at Hunter College. She found the local area to be a trove of old records — and some less-than-objective, occasionally downright incorrect history. So we had a familial interest in correcting errors where we found them. More importantly, we felt that making sure that anything we wrote considered the history in some kind of larger context.

We found that Trinity Lime Rock presented some opportunities, both in correction historical errors, and in establishing some context. Corrections included figuring out who the actual architect of the building was (hint: it’s not who everyone claimed it was), and exploring the many contexts in which Trinity played at least a minor role.

What we discovered

There were obvious things. US Senator William H. Barnum (who donated much of the cost of the building) was multitalented with fingers in many pies. They included state and national politics, the Barnum & Richardson Company (from the iron history of the area), a whole passel of different railroads, and a few additional ventures. Subsequent developments included a successful art community (in the Lime Rock area and at Trinity), and sports car racing at Lime Rock Park (where Trinity has successfully walked both sides of the street). Immigration, prohibition, women’s suffrage….well, you name it, and Trinity had a hand in it.

At any rate, it turned into a six year project, quickly produced one book (“Lakeville Crucifix” — that was NOT about Trinity, by the way). Now it has produced another.

The result

Trinity Lime Rock in Context – a History is now completed. You can order it in paperback, eBook, and even hardcover form from Amazon — simply click HERE We think it’s pretty good. If nothing else, there is a whole lot of information there! Have a look!

Front cover of Trinity Lime Rock in Context - a History, by Geoffrey Brown

Anyway, Trinity Lime Rock in Context – a History contains a whole lot more than the history of a smallish Episcopalian congregation in the wilds of Northwest Connecticut. It’s available in paperback (our preference), eBook, and Amazon’s new hardcover format. Take your pick! But be sure to take a look.

Lakeville Crucifix — News!

We announced the availability of Lakeville Crucifix — A Religious War in 19th Century Connecticut, by Geoffrey Brown, a few weeks ago.

Lakeville Crucifix
Lakeville Crucifix, published by Between the Lakes Group LLC

Now we have some more news!

Lakeville Crucifix is now available in the town where the events happened! We are grateful to Johnnycake Books for offering this volume (the paperback edition) for sale in their Salisbury store, located at 12 Academy Street in Salisbury. You can visit Johnnycake Books’ website HERE for more information on when they’re open and a lot more information about their wonderful inventory of rare and collectible books.

–The paperback edition remains available on Amazon, and now there is a Kindle edition available there too. One word of warning: the Kindle edition places all the footnotes (there are more than 350 of them) at the end. For some this may be a serious inconvenience. Be forewarned!

We are also happy to announce two opportunities to learn more about the Lakeville Crucifix and the 19th century in Connecticut.

–Geoffrey Brown, the author, will be speaking about Lakeville Crucifix on February 23, 2019, at 4 PM, in the Community Room of Scoville Memorial Library in Salisbury, CT. The talk is sponsored by Scoville Memorial Library and the Salisbury Association, and admission is free.

–Lakeville Crucifix will be the book of the month for the book group of Trinity Episcopal Church, Lime Rock. Learn more about that church at their website — HERE

Laurel Wreath for 1957

Here’s another yearbook to add to your collection:  the Laurel Wreath for 1957, from Lancaster Mennonite School in Lancaster, PA.  You can find it on our Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, page — just CLICK HERE.

One of our objectives at Between the Lakes Group is to provide varity in our republishing activities.  It’s our hope that by doing so we will encourage curiosity and historical investigation.  This yearbook is an example of our efforts in this direction.

While most people who purchase our yearbooks are either looking for relatives or remembering their own times in high school, this yearbook, as well as addressing those needs, will hopefully provide a window into Mennonite culture – one aspect of what is popularly called “Pennsylvania Dutch” – in Pennsylvania.  From our knowledge of this cultural and religious group we were a bit surprised to find that high school yearbooks were even issued!  Perhaps it comes as a surprise to you, too.

There are obvious differences between this 1957 yearbook and other yearbooks we’ve published of this vintage, and the most obvious is the pervasiveness of religion in what appear to be all aspects of school life.  For a religious school, that is likely not a surprise.  The fact that the entire yearbook is black and white – even the cover – seems, on consideration, predictable.  The senior photos, characterized by short hair for both boys and girls, modest attire (some girls wear head covering), are striking by comparison with those of other schools.  The limited range of activities – the preponderance associated with religion, and the lack of sports teams, are both notable.  It is a boarding school!  And this is the only yearbook we have ever republished that was actually indexed!

This is a document of a fascinating cultural and religious community.  We hope the Laurel Wreath for 1957 helps readers to understand it better.

Laurel Wreath for 1957

 

Acronyms for Organizations

Our newest book, Acronyms for Organizations, is now available in paperback and for the Kindle™ on the Amazon website.

Acronyms for organizations

To view it at Amazon.com, please click HERE!
You can also read more about it, and about our efforts in “real” publishing (you know — like books) and how it compliments our usual business of e-publishing, here’s the front cover!Close observers will note that we published an earlier book of initializations (or initialisms, if you prefer), acronyms, and abbreviations for organizations around four years ago, called “What Does That Stand For?”  Around half the length, it was our initial experience in modern print publishing, and we learned from it.  Many people spoke well of the earlier version, but it left us with the feeling that we had only skimmed the surface of what such a book really ought to contain.  (You can read a little more about our own historical process HERE.)

So, we took what we had there, and began a systematic process of collecting acronyms for organizations (as well as abbreviations and initialisms, of course) for thousands of additional information.  We discovered whole categories of abbreviations for organizations we had not considered — and we went into far greater depth with those we already had.

A little about the book — and it’s also available for Kindle:

Paperback edition:  562 pages, $23.99

Kindle edition:  598 pages, $13.99

(if you buy the paperback edition, you can also get the Kindle edition for a small additional charge).

In any case, please do have a look at the listing in the Amazon catalog — CLICK HERE to go directly to this listing.

Erie County NY material

We’re happy to bring you some Erie County NY material.  While it was originally provided on our Erie County Directory CD-ROM, which, along with all the rest of our CDs, was discontinued, it has been unavailable long enough to qualify as “new” we think.

Without further ado, here is the “new” Erie County NY material:

The Saga yearbook for 1957 from Clarence High School in Clarence, New York.

The Gateway yearbook for 1954 for the Frontier Central School in Hamburg, New York.

The Erie County Directory for 1924.  Note that this is real Erie County NY material, not Buffalo material and not Tonawanda material (neither of those cities are included in this directory.  It appears they were published as separate directories shortly after this Erie County directory was published.

Some picture of antique postcards of Erie County and Buffalo.  We had included these times from our collection on the CD-ROM, and we hated to see them go to waste.  (You’ll see one of them below)

At any rate, all this Erie County NY material is available at a significant savings over what we charged for the CD-ROM, and you get to pay for only what you want, not everything we previously included in the CD.

Take a look at our Erie County page in any event.  We now have a fair amount of material that may be of interest if Erie County history is of interest to you.

Also, why not take a look at our catalog!

Erie County NY material

Newton MA Blue Book for 1910

The Newton MA Blue Book for 1910 is an important piece of social history (and history of Boston “Society”) that we are delighted to bring back into our catalog.  Originally published on CD-ROM, it has been unavailable since we discontinued our CD line, but now we have taken the original material from the CD and made it available as a download — at a substantial savings, by the way.

In case you wondered what communities are included in the Newton MA Blue Book for 1910, here’s the list:  Thompsonville, Newton Upper Falls, Newton Highlands, Newton Lower Falls, Chestnut Hill, Waban Hill, Newton, Newton Centre, Newtonville, Nonantum, West Newton, Waban, Reeds Corner, and Auburndale.  Today — and doubtless in 1910 — residents frequently would say where they lived according to the small community — e.g. Waban — rather than the more inclusive Newton.  In case you’re trying to correlate any of these to today’s locations, the Blue Book contains a large and detailed map of all of Newton as well.

Since the Blue Book is first and foremost a directory, it has the predictable names and addresses of the residents — with some additional touches, such as summer addresses for those who went to the ocean in the summer (a bit like the Social Register).

The ads are fascinating.  You’ll find the usual trades, but you will also see ads for riding stables and private schools, as well as seating maps of the major theatres of Boston — and you’ll not find that in many other municipal directories of the era!

If this sounds interesting, you can CLICK HERE to go directly to the Newton MA Blue Book for 1910 page on our website to learn more.  There we have a list of the surnames included, in case you would like to check further.  We would be remiss if we failed to mention our catalog as well.  Who knows what you might find there!

Newton MA Blue Book for 1910

 

New Rhode Island Downloads

We have four new Rhode Island downloads now available.

Previously included on the discontinued CD-ROM covering Warwick, RI and points south, the four new Rhode Island downloads are now available individually at a considerable savings.

Here are the four:

Minutes of the Rhode Island Congregational Conference

Chronicle yearbook of West Warwick High school for 1930 and for 1932

Westerly High School yearbook for 1934

These downloads are all in PDF format, permitting you all the latitude you get with this format, and none of the roadblocks many downloaded books, whether free or paid, put up in the way of the user.  You can print individual pages, copy selections, and save the file wherever works best for you.

At any rate, this now completes the conversion of this CD-ROM to individual downloads, so we can begin to add new Rhode Island materials to the catalog.

While the links above will take you to the former contents of the CD-ROM, you may also want to take a look at our main Rhode Island page, and at our overall catalog.

Thanks for your interest!

One of the new Rhode Island downloads

Our Current Best Sellers

Back when our business was creating and selling local history CD-ROMs we found that people were interested in which ones were the most popular.  Now that we sell downloads (with the exception of the fast-dwindling remaining inventory of a few of our CDs), we thought that people might enjoy knowing which downloads sell best.  (If you’d like to view our entire catalog, you can find it HERE).

Here’s the Best Seller List:

#1 — Sullivan County, NY Index of Wills

#2 — Cross – New York State 1775 – 1975

#3 — Harte: Early Iron Industry of Connecticut

#4 — A History of the Town of Jefferson by Mildred L. Bailey

#5 — Sullivan County Intestate Estates

We decided to cut the list off at five — but maybe the next time we’ll provide the top ten. What do you think?

To everyone:  thanks for your patronage!!

Recovering history
Between the Lakes Group helps you recover history!

History of Garland, Maine

We are happy to announce the re-publication of this comprehensive 1912 History of Garland, Maine, by Lyndon Oak, as a download.

Lyndon Oak
Lyndon Oak, author of History of Garland, Maine

This volume, which includes a 12 page index, includes just about anything you might ever want to know about Garland from its founding until just after the Civil War.  If you are interested in Penobscot County, ME, the History of Garland, Maine should be of interest to you.

To help you more easily determine whether this is of interest to you, we also have provided the index to this volume on our website (where you can also order the download).

Visit our page about this book by clicking HERE.

 

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