Lost in America: Photographing the Last Days of Our Architectural Treasures - Hardcover

by Richard Cahan (Author), Michael Williams (Author)

Lost in America documents the life and death of America's architectural and historic treasures. The book is based on a remarkable archive created by the Historic American Building Survey (HABS), a Works Progress Administration project that still documents the nation's most important buildings.

Lost in America focuses on 100 buildings that have been torn down over the past 90 years. Some―like New York's Penn Station and Chicago's Stock Exchange―were majestic. Others―like a tiny bridge in rural Montana and a small farmstead torn down for Denver's International Airport―were modest. But they all reflected America's story before they were razed. Using haunting black-and-white images by the nation's top architectural photographers, the book presents a timely look at what we've lost.

Author Biography

Richard Cahan is the author of twelve books including an acclaimed history of the federal court in Chicago, A Court That Shaped America. Cahan was the director of CITY 2000 and also served as the picture editor of the Chicago Sun-Times for 16 years.Michael Williams is a writer, designer, and publisher who has produced more than a twenty-five books. He is the coauthor of sixteen books, including River of Blood: American Slavery From the People Who Lived it, Chicago Exposed, Richard Nickel's Chicago, Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows, Barack Obama: Uncommon Grace, and Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.