Springfield has a dynamic hockey history that dates back 80 years, beginning with the Springfield Indians. One of the first professional hockey teams in the United States, the Indians were an inaugural member of the Canadian-American Hockey League. The Indians helped form the American Hockey League, where Springfield won seven Calder Cups, including a record three in a row from 1960 through 1962. Major-league hockey followed in the mid-1970s, when the New England Whalers came to town. Today, the Springfield Falcons carry on the city's great hockey legacy. Several hall of famers have skated for Springfield-based teams over the years, including Gordie Howe, Brian Kilrea, Chuck Rayner, Earl Seibert, Eddie Shore, Billy Smith, and Lorne "Gump" Worsley. Hockey in Springfield is the story of the teams, players, and coaches who make up one of the richest hockey traditions in all of North America.

The lifetime work of the rifle's premier authority. Exhaustive research has taken Brophy into some of the rarest collections in existence.

Springfield Township, Montgomery County, adjoins the city of Philadelphia on its northern border. The township's six-plus square miles, originally established as "Penn's Manor of Springfield," was a gift from William Penn to his wife, Gulielma Maria Springett, c. 1681. This historic township was home to a major stagecoach line and its associated taverns and inns, considerable activity during the Revolutionary War, summertime residences of Philadelphia's wealthy, and subsequent post-World War II development as a burgeoning community just over the Philadelphia border. Springfield Township's rich history is pictorially represented with a number of previously unpublished photographs from the township historical societ, and wonderful private collections. In these pages, travel through the early colonial and farming settlements of the township's original settlers, the turbulence of the Revolutionary War, the arrival of the iron horse, the excitement of White City Amusement Park, the rise and fall of the great mansions and estates, and the explosion of new development as city residents and businesses moved out to the suburbs.

It has been more than half a century since Springfield last hosted minor league baseball. That draught will end at downtown's newly constructed Hammons Field in the spring of 2005, when the Springfield Cardinals of the AA Texas League bring professional baseball back to the Queen City of the Ozarks. The new team will have quite a legacy to fulfill, as the Springfield Cardinals of the Western Association won several pennants those many years ago, and brought to town such legendary baseball names as Branch Rickey, Joe Garagiola, and Stan Musial. Before the Cardinals came teams like the Midgets, Reds, and Merchants, and a rich tradition of professional and semi-pro baseball dating back to the mid-1880s. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources and complimented by over 100 vintage images, Baseball in Springfield is must-have for those ready to discover the historic connection this city has to the national pastime.

After undergoing periods of dormancy, neglect, and occasional attempts at revitalization, Springfield's downtown area is currently experiencing a resurgence of change and growth. This appreciation of Springfield's historic architecture is evident in the restoration of once-neglected historic buildings that are now restaurants, businesses, and lofts. This renaissance extends from the public square to what was once North Springfield and beyond.