Joe Vaughan, who spent a dozen years in broadcasting in Lawrence and Kansas City, has authored the first-ever pictorial history book of Kansas City, Kansas titled “Images of America: Kansas City, Kansas 1804-2012.”

Published by Arcadia Publishing, the book is available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online. The price is $21.99.

Vaughan, a University of Kansas journalism graduate, spent seven years at KLZR/KLWN-AM in Lawrence as News Director before moving to KCMO Talk Radio as the Public Affairs /News Anchor from 1985-1990.

A native Kansas City, Kansan who presently resides in Prairie Village, Kansas, Vaughan has long been involved in historic preservation and cultural activities in the metropolitan Kansas City area.  For more than two decades, he has been an author, writer and publisher.

He is owner/president of Joe Vaughan Associates in Prairie Village.  Prior to forming this business, he was a broadcast journalist at several Kansas City area radio stations.

Vaughan is an elected public official now in his third term on the Johnson County Water District No.1 Board of Directors in Lenexa. He chairs the Governmental Affairs/Community Relations Committee and serves on the Operations and Retirement Committees of the Board. He has been certified by the American Water Works Association.

Vaughan’s family roots in Kansas City can be traced back to the 1870s. He is currently serving his third term as an elected member of the Johnson County Water District No. 1 Board of Directors.

The pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.

Over the past 150 years, many of the consumer goods sold and used across the country were either manufactured in Kansas City or passed through this industrial center. From the westbound trails of pioneer times until today, Kansas has been the crossroads of the nation and the city has benefited from its geographic centrality in the country.

Household names with ties to the city include Google; Cerner Corporation; Procter & Gamble; General Motors; Colgate-Palmolive; the Santa Fe, Rock Island & Union Pacific Railroad lines; Phillips Petroleum; Armour and Company; Owens Corning; Massey Ferguson; General Electric; Sunshine Biscuits; Lee (apparel); Sealy (mattresses); and United Telecom (which morphed into Sprint Nextel).

Images of America: Kansas City, Kansas aims to present some of that historic past, much of which has long been demolished, so that modern readers may see the complete and “full service” city as it evolved between 1804 and 2012.