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Orphaned Heritage : The East Coast’s Disappearing History

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Written by Ben Swenson

The spot where the most famous manhunt in United States history came to a bloody end languishes in the litter-strewn median of a four-lane highway. There are no physical traces left of the Garrett farmhouse, where John Wilkes Booth died, and few historic footprints to be found at all in this unlikely place, a common right-of-way. The Garrett place is one of scores of sites on the East Coast that society cast aside, places of historic value left to the natural world as orphans of the American landscape. Orphaned Heritage: The East Coast’s Disappearing History tells the story of the Atlantic seaboard’s historic castaways and explores what we can learn from the ruin.

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Meet the Author

                        

Ben Swenson is a writer and educator in Williamsburg, Va. A lifelong Virginian, Ben was steeped in the rich history of Tidewater from a young age – an upbringing that exposed him to the region’s rich remnants of the past. Ben has written professionally for newspapers and magazines for over two decades, covering a wide range of stories from politics to skydiving. Time and again, these assignments geared Ben toward disappearing history, and not too long into his writing career, Ben realized he had uncovered enough abandoned history to fill a book.

Press Kit

Details

Format: Audiobook, Paperback, E-book

Pages: 189

ISBN Audiobook:978-1-966369-86-8

ISBN Paperback:978-1-962416-90-0

ISBN E-Bbook:978-1-962416-91-7

Release date: July 29, 2025

Endorsements

“Ben Swenson brings us on an adventure through the centuries with

fascinating stories behind some of the nation’s most curious disap-

pearing history. From forgotten gold mines and the site of John Wil-

kes Booth’s fiery demise to the haunting hulls of wartime concrete

ships, Swenson’s debut book is grounded in primary source research

and sheds new light on America’s past and her fading relics.”

—Christian Di Spigna, author of Founding Martyr:

The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren,

the American Revolution’s Lost Hero

 

“Much has been written about the well-preserved sites where Amer-

ican’s history occurred, but this intriguing book by Ben Swenson

takes a different twist. Some of the nation’s most storied places have

been lost to time — disintegrated, buried, or surrendered to the forces

of nature. Swenson takes readers on an engrossing journey to find

the East Coast’s lost history and explores the lessons that lay in the

wake of decay.”

—Dr. Bruce M. Venter,

president of America’s History LLC

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