Ontario County: The Golden Age of Railroads and Baseball depicts much of Manchester, New Yorkas, World War I and Depression-era history. Located among the finger lakes in Ontario County, Manchester is renowned for having once been home to the worldas largest freight transfer yard. The Lehigh Valley Railroad provided the main source of employment for early Irish, Italian, and Syrian immigrants, as well as for many women in the community. In Manchesteras heyday, attending Industrial League baseball games
was a Sunday tradition for residents. The Manchester Railroaders, a semi-professional team, was one of the top teams in the Northeastern United States, playing such worthy opponents as the Brooklyn Bushwicks, the Bronx Giants, the Buffalo Bisons, the Rochester Kay Peeas, the Syracuse Brownlites, the Toronto Leafs, the Sayre Colemans, and the Elmira Artics. This visual tour highlights the achievements of such athletes as Brooklyn native Bill Segbers, who brought his Ebbettas Field experience to Manchester, and Johnny Boardman, who played against
Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees in a 1923 exhibition game. Rare views of the great train disaster of 1911athe day no games were playedaare also included in this fascinating new volume.