Forest Grove - Hardcover

Arcadia Publishing, a South Carolina publisher that prints and markets books about towns across America, is expected to release "Images of America: Forest Grove" in August.

But people interested in the history of Forest Grove can get a sneak peak at 7 p.m. this Thursday night.

At the presentation, scheduled to take place at the Old Train Station at 1936 19th Avenue, Mary Jo Morelli and Lisa Amato will talk about the project and showcase some of the photos that didn't make it into the 128 page book.

"We just had more pictures than we could possibly use to tell the story we were trying to tell," said Morelli, who, like Amato, is on the board of Friends of Historic Forest Grove.

"We took a few photos from the book as teasers, and added a bunch of pictures from the cutting room floor that we weren't able to fit into the book," Amato said. "We'll be showing a slideshow, and I'll be narrating it. Most of the pictures seen here won't be in the book."

The book has 10 chapters, each showcasing a different part of Forest Grove's history, including homes, education, churches, transportation and agriculture.

The project began when Amato saw an article in the Argus about an Arcadia book featuring Hillsboro.

"We can't have Hillsboro outdo us," she said. So they started the project.

"That was a long six months ago," she said. "We ate, dreamed and slept this book."

It's unclear at this point how many copies will be printed, but Arcadia's Web site shows the cover and lists it for pre-sale already.

"As we speak, we're doing the final proof on the book before it goes to print," Morelli said.