The twentieth century can truly be said to have been America’s century. As the nation reached the position of world leader, her towns and cities changed at an unprecedented pace.

With the approach to the millennium, the topic of change is on everyone’s mind—how our communities and lifestyles have changed over the past century, and how we can endeavor to preserve the past while facing the future in which the world seems to change ever faster.

The American Century series documents and celebrates our most recent history—featuring images of faces and places that were photographed within living memory and yet already seem to belong to a long-past era.

Middletown in the Twentieth Century, written by Randall Gabrielan, uses a wealth of images to bring the history of Middletown, New Jersey, in this eventful century to life.