Whether a history buff or a photography enthusiast, local residents will find something of interest in the newly released “Mount Vernon Revisited.”

Journalists Michael K. Bohn and Jessie Biele co-authored the book which features more than 215 photographs, paintings and maps covering 340 years of Mount Vernon’s history.

The book is available at Mount Vernon retailers and bookstores and online book outlets such as Amazon.com. It is also available through Acadia Publishing at 888-313-2665 or http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467121132/Mount-Vernon-Revisited.

“Mount Vernon Revisted” is a part of Acadia Publishing’s Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series.

When Biele got the initial call from Acadia Publishing about putting together a book on Mount Vernon’s history in 2012, she was very excited.

“Local history is one of my side hobbies. I enjoy learning about towns’ backgrounds and so I ended up writing a proposal and sending it off to Acadia and it was accepted. Then I started gathering ideas for the book,” she said.

However, Biele began to see what an enormous undertaking it was after a few months of writing the book. A mutual friend, Glenda Booth, mentioned that she should contact veteran journalist Michael K. Bohn.

“I emailed him and he has been a huge help as a co-author,” she said.

During their research, they collected various images of Mount Vernon from the Library of Congress, Fairfax County Public Library, Woodlawn Plantation and the Mount Vernon Estate.

In addition, they also obtained a great deal of their research from Susan Hellman, director of the Carlyle House in Alexandria.

Bohn describes the book as a pictorial journey of how Mount Vernon developed and grew as a community.

“It starts off with Pocahontas and the Colonial Era and then ends up in the 1980s. We also cover major milestones throughout the period such as the coming of the trolley,” he said.

According to Biele, the book also allows the reader to “envision everything as their reading it.”

Overall it took them three to four months to compile and format the book.

Besides collecting photos, paintings and maps of Mount Vernon, they also gathered stories from the individuals they interviewed during their research.

Biele discussed meeting the former pastor of Woodlawn Baptist, Travis Hilton, who spoke with her about the church’s history including how the church was established and the historic cemetery on the church grounds where some of its founding members were buried. Woodlawn Baptist is a part of the Woodlawn Estate. In 1802, President George Washington gifted the estate to his adopted daughter Nellie Custis.

For Bohn, he remembers learning about the Quaker families in Woodlawn during the Civil War. The Union forces camped out at their meeting house and started demolishing their furniture and pews for fire wood. Despite these adjustments, they were able to continue their daily church services and activities.

“Susan Hellman, the current director of the Carlyle House, is related to some of the Quaker families that moved to the area in the 1840s and 1850s from New Jersey. It was neat to talk to someone who has family ties to the area,” he said.

Although Long Island native Biele knew a little about Mount Vernon when she started working with the Mount Vernon Patch, she said that writing “Mount Vernon Revisited” has taught her a lot about the historical background of the community she covered.

In fact, two of her favorite Mount Vernon landmarks are Mount Vernon Estate and the Woodlawn Plantation.

“It’s gorgeous there (Mt. Vernon Estate). I love the architecture,” she said.

Bohn’s favorite landmarks include the old homes that are hidden from public view. On the weekends, he takes seniors from local retirement homes or churches on tours of these historic homes.

One such example is a historic colonial house which once was an inn during the Colonial period which had two entrances, the one for women led to the kitchen and the other for men led to the tavern.

Despite the years, Mount Vernon has managed preserve its historical background. Bohn believes this has been accomplished by using modern techniques to preserve its historic architectures’ “original look.”

“There is the Estate, and then behind the Estate are all these tractors, equipment shops and carpenter shops that maintain the Estate. It’s a huge campus but not all of it is visible to the public,” he said.

For Bohn, writing this pictorial history book was a slight departure from the narrative nonfiction books he has written in the past. He had to focus on using digital images to create and tell the story.

“We wanted to show the reader what the rest of the Mount Vernon community, beyond just the Mount Vernon Estate, looks like throughout history,” he said.

Biele has a M.A. in public communication from American University. She is the former editor of the Mount Vernon Patch. Currently she is working as a communication consultant.

Bohn is a reporter for McClatchy Newspapers, the Washington Post magazine and Connection Newspapers. In addition, he has written six nonfiction books since 2003. Bohn also served as a career naval intelligence officer from 1969 to 1988. Bohn and his family have lived in the Mount Vernon area since 1981.