Wayland's historic district is dominated by the 1815 First Parish Church, designed and built by Andrews Palmer of Newburyport, who adapted an Asher Benjamin design. The Rev. Edmund Sears served as minister for 17 years and wrote "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" for a First Parish Sunday school celebration in 1849. Wealthy Bostonians soon established summer homes in town. Willard Austin Bullard purchased the residence beside the church and christened it Kirkside, and William Power Perkins purchased Mainstone Farm and established the first Guernsey cow farm in the state. By the mid- to late 1800s, Cochituate Village was dominated by a well-established shoe industry and stately Victorian homes lined the streets. A little more than a century later, the town was preparing for an influx of folks from the city. Howard Russell and Allen Benjamin created an official town map, designating streets, and delineating the established uses for the town's 15.2 square miles. Thanks to the vision and hard work of these men and others like them, the town still retains a semblance of its rural atmosphere with almost 3,000 acres of permanently protected open space.

When Caleb Carr, one of the 101 men who purchased Conanicut and Dutch Islands in 1657, petitioned the General Assembly to incorporate Jamestown in 1678, the town had 150 inhabitants. The community thrived until the American Revolution, when the British occupation drove away many people. Nicholas Carr and John Eldred both remained, rebelling in their own ways. The town recovered slowly, and its character changed with modernized modes of transportation. Steam ferries, introduced in 1873, ushered in an era of resort hotels, affluent summer visitors, and a service economy. The West Passage bridge in 1940 brought permanent residents with off-island occupations and interests. The East Passage bridge (1969) and the replacement West Passage bridge (1992) created a suburban atmosphere enlivened by a continuing influx of summer vacationers. Most newcomers revel in the island's beauty and are intent on keeping Jamestown the peaceful haven that attracted them.

The remoteness and isolation of North Carolina's northern Outer Banks has shaped both early settlers and relative newcomers into tough and independent souls. Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists may have mysteriously disappeared from Roanoke Island, but the enterprising homesteaders who followed managed to eke out a living on the windswept and battered banks. Entrepreneur E.R. Daniels ran a line of mail and freight boats that helped connect the Outer Banks to the outside world. Former slave and Civil War hero Richard Etheridge did not shirk from an opportunity to become the first black keeper of a lifesaving station. In the mid-20th century, leaders like Bradford Fearing saw the importance of developing tourism, so that people would come see Paul Green's new outdoor drama, The Lost Colony. Outer Bankers have warmly welcomed visitors, from the time the Wright brothers arrived to today's modern tourists. The challenge now is to balance commercial growth with environmental sensibility so that oystermen, like Georgie Daniels, and fishermen, like Dewey Hemilwright, can continue to ply the waters.

Located on the banks of the Pamlico River, Washington has been home to many famous, infamous, and unique people over the years. Springing from the community of Forks of the Tar under the watchful eyes of the everlasting Blount family, the town has grown from a small shipping port into a prominent county seat. Many pivotal people have called Washington home. William Blount, son of town founding father John Gray Blount, signed the US Constitution before scandal drove him from his Senate seat and into exile in Tennessee. Filmmaker Cecil DeMille was raised here. It is a place where opportunity has been available no matter the time period. Susan Dimock broke the gender barrier by becoming a physician and Joan Little's violation in a local jail led to a precedent-setting legal battle. Ed Peed served valiantly as a fireman, and his death during a great waterfront fire shook people of all classes and races in the community. The people of Washington, from the founding families to the artistic community that thrives today, have defined the town seen today.

After the war in the Parish, Adam is looking forward to a period of peace, but his superiors have other ideas. There are rumours from Oxford and the Cotswolds that Father John - who once almost overthrew Plymouth - is building an army, and someone has to go and investigate. Arriving in Oxford, Adam is surprised to find a thriving city with a healthy populace and technology not seen since before the fall of The Sisters. He also finds it patrolled by the descendants of the Thames Valley Police, among them Detective Inspector Leonie Mellow. However, it doesn't not take long for dark events to concern Adam. Murders, paint-splashed graffiti on walls, people going missing - and he can't help but wonder if the past is following him.