The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series focuses on the City of Riverbank, from local author Glenn Allen Ditman and the Riverbank Historical Society. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by in the City of Action.

Ditman will be selling and signing ‘Riverbank’ the new book on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon and Saturdays 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Riverbank Historical Society and Museum beginning on Sept. 10 through the end of the year. The book sells for about $25 and is available at the Museum, O’Brien’s Market, Fair Deal Market, online, or through Arcadia Publishing.

In the 1850s, the Riverbank area was little more than a ferry site along the Stanislaus River. A small town grew up there until the Union Pacific Railroad built a line farther east, causing the first attempt at settlement to soon die out. In 1895, however, the Santa Fe Railway crossed the river close to the original site of the ferry and the town of Riverbank was born.

Riverbank’s history is a study in change. Its various influences – from the railway and agriculture to its Army ammunitions plant to its days as a country-western music mecca – earned it the motto “The City of Action.” It has been built by different cultures, including Irish and German immigrants and modern-day Hispanic arrivals. Some of the highlights of ‘Riverbank’ include rarely seen before images, many of which are from the Riverbank Museum collections, which are acquired from local residents. The author is the great grandson of two of the original founders of the town, and a portion of the profits will be donated to the Riverbank Historical Museum to further preserve the history of Riverbank.