"There's a saying, 'It's a thrill to live on The Hill.'

"That's an old adage in the borough, but it still exists today," says Karol Strelecki, author of the book, "Fountain Hill." (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99, 127 pp.).

Fountain Hill is known as "The Hill." Fountain Hill residents are referred to as "Hillers."

Strelecki, a Salisbury Township resident and Fountain Hill native, has several book-signings of "Fountain Hill" scheduled:

Noon - 2 p.m. Dec . 6, Barnes & Noble, Southmont Shopping Center, Southmont Mall, Freemansburg Avenue and Route 33, Bethlehem Township;

3 - 5 p.m. Dec. 6, Fountain Hill Hose Company, 1436 Russell Avenue, Fountain Hill;

Noon - 2 p.m. Dec. 7, Moravian Book Shop, 428 Main St, Bethlehem; and

4 p.m. Dec. 7, Fountain Hill Christmas tree-lighting, Tinsley-Jeter Triangle, Lynn Street and Broadway, Fountain Hill.

Strelecki especially looks forward to the book-signing at "The Hosey," aka Fountain Hill Hose Company:

"I expect old 'Hillers' to be there and I will have some Hiller memorabilia there. At the Hose Company, I'll have time to trade stories and collect stories."

Strelecki began gathering stories and images for "Fountain Hill" in summer 2013 after getting the go-ahead from Arcadia Publishing for the book as part of its "Images Of America" series.

"By the time I finished the book, I had 700 images on my computer," Strelecki says. The book has 234 photographs.

"The word spread to those people who still had contact with the borough. I've gotten images from Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, California, Montana and New York."

"Fountain Hill" is more than a book of rare photographs. The captions' copious details provide a compelling narrative drive of places and faces going back to before the borough's incorporation in 1893.

The book time travels to the past through the lens of family photos. Captions are a treasure trove of history, little-known facts and fascinating anecdotes about Fountain Hill businesses, institutions and personages.

For instance, do you known how a portion of Fountain Hill become known as "The Bellwether District"?

Turn to Page 117: "Beginning with the 1904 presidential election, the residents of the first ward cast their votes for the winning candidate until 1968. Lehigh County Democratic Party chairman Joseph J. Spirk is seen here in 1960 calling the Hyannisport compound to indicate that the ward had cast 61 percent of its votes for John F. Kennedy."

On Page 15 is a map with the caption: "The first industry in what was to become Fountain Hill, the Shive Governor Works, was erected by John Smiley in 1873 on Wilbur Avenue, along Lechauweki Spring."

"In 1922, the Fountain Hill Athletic Association (FHAA) leased from Robert Pfeifle a property near the borough's tract west of the Wilbur Lawn Golf Course and turned it into an excellent baseball field." states a Page 106 caption below a photo of baseball players posing with a just-won trophy.

Strelecki helped bring Fountain Hill its ultimate glory in the annals of Lehigh Valley high school athletics on then Fountain Hill High School's basketball team, wining state championships in 1956 and '57 and all-state honors.

He attended Rutgers University on a scholarship where he played basketball and was on baseball and cross country teams. Strelecki received a BS in English and history from Rutgers, a master's from Temple University and education certifications at Lehigh University.

Strelecki taught English at Southern Lehigh High School, becoming chair of the English department and introducing courses in minority literature and film-making. He also taught English at then Broughal Junior High School.

He was hired by Lehigh University to develop Centennial School, where he was principal and an instructor for 10 years. Following his retirement from the Pennridge School District, he taught at Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College and The Pennsylvania State University.

Strelecki was a site interpreter for six years for the Historic Bethlehem Partnership. He's a member of the South Bethlehem Historical Society.

Royalties from "Fountain Hill" book sales will be donated to the Fountain Hill Borough Council for historic preservation.

Strelecki says the book is "renewing a lot of interest in the borough.

"That's the thing that really fascinated me. Once people got the sense of what was really going on, they all wanted to be a part of it.

"I think what I've discovered is that most of the basics of what the borough is all about still exists."

It's still "a thrill to live on the Hill."