LOCAL HISTORY
Wading River Books is a Long Island-based publisher specializing in books that chronicle the unique and rich histories of Long Island's hamlets, towns and villages. Each publication focuses on a specific local area using a collection of photos, postcards, and historic writings to create a vivid in-depth portrait of the past.
MISSION STATEMENT
First settled in the mid 1600's by English and Dutch settlers, Long Island's staple industries for the next three centuries were farming and fishing. Today the 118-mile-long, fish-shaped isle has blossomed into an affluent suburban oasis of diverse ethnicities. Home to world-renowned universities, medical centers, restaurants, and beaches - Long Island is an ideal place to live and raise a family. We Long Islanders are very busy, motivated, and goal-oriented; we have strong commitments to family, education, career, social, and community oriented activities - often, admits all of this, we lose sight of who we are and where we came from. We neglect to notice how our surroundings have changed over the decades, and we forget to take time to learn about and appreciate our local history.
Our mission is to provide books that will transport you to a time and place where the same exact hard-working principles of today still apply - only simpler. Where many of the same buildings from your childhood still exist, but we've forgotten how long they'd been there. Suddenly we take time to remember: the sights, smells, and sounds - we relive the memories and the warm feeling of nostalgia swirls within us. The next day the building we raced by countlessly on the way to work, soccer practice, or shopping instantly recaptures the charm and magic of that special time and place long ago. Our aim is to educate readers about who are roads we ride everyday are named after; what great artists and historic figures traveled and stayed where we now reside; to show a detailed glimpse of how life was and how it evolved into the communities we see today.
In learning about our local past - full of hardship, anecdotal stories, myths and legends, triumph and growth - we gain a better sense of who we are today and come to live fuller lives and appreciate all that is truly most important - our history.