The fall History 2010 Press
The History Press brings a new way of thinking to history publishing—preserving and enriching community by empowering history enthusiasts to write local stories, for local audiences, as only a local can.
19-20
table of contents
15-17
21
6-7
11
12
10
18
4-5 8
13-14 9
south carolina north carolina georgia florida
4-5 6-7 8 9
alabama tennessee mississippi texas
10 11 12 13-14
virginia 15-17 washington, d.c. 18 maryland 19-20 kentucky 21
22-25 new jersey 26-27 new york 28-30 vermont 31 new hampshire 32 maine 33 massachusetts 34-38 connecticut 39-40 rhode island 41 pennsylvania
50
33 31 28-30
34-38
22-25
39-40
42-48 michigan 49 minnesota 50 indiana 51 illinois 52-55 missouri 56-59 wisconsin 60-62 colorado 63-64 ohio
60-62
56-59
All
41
26-27
49
52-55 51
63-64
32
42-48
t i t l e s t r a d e pa p e r u n l e s s ot h e rw i s e n ot e d
fall
20 10
Charleston Under Siege: The Impregnable City Douglas W. Bostick
4
south carolina
978.1.59629.757.9 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 82 images * $19.99
Union General Halleck, in writing to General W.T. Sherman, declared, “Should you capture Charleston, I hope that by some accident the place may be destroyed.” However, despite bringing to bear the full firepower of the U.S. Army and Navy, Charleston would not relent. The defense of Charleston employed every tool available to an outmanned Confederate army. Yet after 567 days of constant attack by infantry, gun batteries and the Union fleet, Charleston would not surrender. Only after the evacuation of the Confederate forces to reinforce General Joe Johnston in North Carolina did the Federal government gain control of the city. Join historian Doug Bostick as he tells the story of the siege of Charleston, the longest siege of the Civil War.
Facing Sherman in South Carolina: March Through the Swamps Christopher G. Crabb 978.1.60949.015.7 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 40 images * $21.99
Major General William T. Sherman’s march from Savannah, Georgia, to Columbia, South Carolina, was marked by a battle with an unrelenting enemy: the swamps of the Palmetto State. For more than two weeks, Sherman’s veterans faced an unforgiving quagmire, coupled by daily skirmishes with gallant bands of outnumbered Confederates. Along the way, a ruined countryside and wrecked towns marked the path of an army unlike any “since the days of Julius Caesar.” It would take an army as adept with the axe as they were with the rifle to tame the rivers, tributaries and swamps of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Join historian Chris Crabb as he traces the steps of Sherman’s sixty-thousand-man army in its “amphibious march” from Beaufort to Columbia.
Six Miles to Charleston: The True Story of John and Lavinia Fisher Bruce Orr 978.1.60949.117.8 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 38 images * $19.99
Zachary Johnson 978.1.60949.169.7 * 5.5 x 8.5 * 176 pp * 73 images * $17.99
Byrnes High School football has sparked a legacy of champions since its inception over fifty years ago. It was one of the first schools in South Carolina to desegregate, and the team now boasts nine state championship wins. Team historian and former Rebel Zachary Johnson (class of ’99) traces the evolution of the Rebels, from their first win over Blue Ridge High in 1955 to their now nationally televised games. Included are stories of the incredible coaches and players, such as Coach Bobby Bentley, who brought the team to the Class 4-AAAA playoffs ten times, and tailback Marcus Lattimore, who scored 104 touchdowns during his tenure at Byrnes. With a generous collection of statistics, all-time records and photographs of every team, this book is a must-have for every proud Rebel.
5
Byrnes High School Football: Rebel Gridiron History
south carolina
In 1819, a young man outwitted death at the hands of John and Lavinia Fisher and sparked the hunt for Charleston’s most notorious serial killers. Former homicide investigator Bruce Orr follows the story of the Fishers, from the initial police raid on their Six Mile Inn with its reportedly grisly cellar to the murderous couple’s incarceration and execution at the squalid Old City Jail. Yet there still may be more sinister deeds left unpunished—an overzealous sheriff, corrupt officials and documents only recently discovered all suggest that there is more to the tale. Orr uncovers the mysteries and debunks the myths behind the infamous legend of the nation’s first convicted female serial killer.
Death of a Pinehurst Princess: The 1935 Elva Statler Davidson Mystery Steve Bouser
6
north carolina
978.1.59629.180.5 * 6 x 9 * 208 pp * 31 images * $19.99
A news media frenzy hurled the quiet resort community of Pinehurst into the national spotlight in 1935 when hotel magnate Ellsworth Statler’s adopted daughter was discovered dead early one February morning weeks after her wedding day. A politically charged coroner’s inquest failed to determine a definitive cause of death, and the following civil action continued to expose sordid details of the couple’s lives. More than half a century later, the story was all but forgotten when local resident Diane McLellan spied an old photograph at a yard sale and became obsessed with solving the mystery. Her enthusiastic sleuthing captured the attention of Southern Pines resident and journalist Steve Bouser, who takes readers back to those blustery winter days so long ago in the search to reveal what really happened to Elva Statler Davidson.
Historic Henderson County: Tales from Along the Ridges Louise Howe Bailey, Compiled by Terry Ruscin and Joseph Bailey Jr. 978.1.60949.102.4 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 50 images * $16.99
Michael L. Marshall and Jerry L. Taylor 978.1.60949.115.4 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 51 images * $19.99
The central Piedmont town of Kernersville, North Carolina, grew up around the intersection of two humble colonial roads and now boasts a history spanning more than 230 years. It was here that George Washington visited William Dobson’s tavern in 1791 and the Great Storm of 1893 nearly decimated the fledgling town. Local authors Mike Marshall and Jerry Taylor recount the tale of the 1912 fire that destroyed what had once been Kernersville’s largest tobacco factory, and they bask in the glory of the resort at Dunlap’s Mineral Springs, a local hot spot during the Roaring Twenties. Told with passion and nostalgia, these and other fascinating stories compose a veritable time capsule of Kernersville history that will delight both casual readers and history buffs.
7
Remembering Kernersville
north carolina
Beloved storyteller and chronicler of Henderson County heritage Louise Howe Bailey (1915–2009) lives on through her edifying anecdotes. This new collection of Bailey’s ruminations maintains her work of preserving earlier Henderson County history with its abundant assortment of characters, landmarks and natural wonders. Discover why Hendersonville was called the “dancingest” town in America and how a troop of young rapscallions rubbed a bar of Octagon soap on the railroad tracks so trains couldn’t climb from Melrose to Saluda. Bring your pickaxe up to the top of Glassy Mountain to unearth the buried treasure hidden during the Civil War, and experience the hummingbirds, katydids, Carolina wrens and bullfrogs of the North Carolina countryside as you meander through Bailey’s magnetic prose.
Andersonville Civil War Prison Robert Scott Davis
8
georgia
978.1.59629.762.3 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 50 images * $19.99
Andersonville (Camp Sumter) Civil War prison was only in operation for little more than one year, from 1864 into 1865. In just a few of those months, however, it became the largest city in Georgia and the fifth largest city in the Confederate States of America. During that time, it also became America’s deadliest prison. Of the almost forty thousand captured Federal soldiers, sailors and civilians who entered its gates, some thirteen thousand died there. Thousands more died as a result of their time in this stockade of legend in deep southwest Georgia. Join historian Robert Davis as he tells the story of this infamous Confederate prison.
Hidden History of Everglades City & Points Nearby Maureen Sullivan-Hartung 978.1.59629.744.9 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 73 images * $19.99
9
florida
Welcome to Everglades City, a destination gateway for outdoor enthusiasts and a close-knit community with only one school for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Author Maureen Sullivan-Hartung presents an eclectic history of the best parts of Collier County, from Barron Gift Collier’s vision for a company town to the hurricanes and fires that forever changed the landscape of the Last Frontier. Quirky and entertaining anecdotes describe the challenging creation of the Tamiami Trail, trading with Indians on Chokoloskee Island, illegal plume hunting and, of course, marijuana smuggling. Deep in the swamps, mangroves and sawgrass, readers will also find bits of the past in the former boomtowns of Copeland, Jerome, LeeCypress and Ochopee.
Pizitz: Your Store Tim Hollis
10
alabama
978.1.59629.993.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 71 images * $19.99
For nearly ninety years, Pizitz offered Birmingham residents and Alabamans across the state a one-of-a-kind shopping experience. From the Enchanted Forest that sprung up every Christmas to in-store fashion shows, visiting Pizitz wasn’t just a trip to the store, it was an event. Yet Pizitz was more than just a department store—it was a Birmingham institution. When Louis Pizitz opened up his first dry goods store in downtown Birmingham in 1899, he began a career as a successful businessman and a generous philanthropist, establishing a tradition of giving freely to local causes that has come to define the Pizitz family. Join Birmingham historian Tim Hollis as he recounts the fascinating history behind one of Alabama’s most recognizable names and treasured retailers.
Forgotten Tales of Alabama Kelly Kazek, Illustrations by Kyle McQueen 978.1.60949.097.3 * 5 x 7 * 192 pp * 20 illustrations * $12.99
From Muscle Shoals to Montgomery to Mobile, there’s just no place quite like Alabama. Take a journey off the beaten path through the Cotton State with author Kelly Kazek as she uncovers the stories that make Alabama one of a kind. Kazek, a longtime Alabama resident, unearths tales that have existed only in rumor, anecdote, legend and lore. This collection is packed with littleknown stories of strange sites, like the world’s largest Nehi bottle; curious critters, like the first monkey in space; and colorful characters, such as the outlaw Tom Clark. Whether funny, far-fetched, gripping or grisly, Forgotten Tales of Alabama is filled with stories you won’t soon forget.
Chattanooga Landmarks: Exploring the History of the Scenic City Jennifer Crutchfield 978.1.59629.447.9 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 58 images * $19.99
Laura Cunningham 978.1.59629.830.9 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 183 images * $19.99
Memphis is a city founded on some of the great vestiges of our past. City staples such as steamboats, cotton plantations and exchange centers, relics symbolic of the city’s rich industrial and agrarian legacy, have either been forgotten or completely lost. Join Memphian and library historian Laura Cunningham as she unearths the lost hallmarks of Memphis, from the city’s earliest beginnings to the present. Filled with rare and archival images that range from whimsical to haunting, Lost Memphis provides a glimpse into the vanished landmarks and bygone ways of life that once defined the city. Though the people and places featured in Lost Memphis are gone, this collection of compelling photos ensures that they will never be truly lost to history.
11
Lost Memphis
tennessee
Chattanooga’s history and heritage are embodied in the historical sites, structures and groundbreaking feats of engineering that have defined the city from its beginning. Many of the Scenic City’s most important landmarks are still preserved. Yet with so many fascinating historic sites and storied destinations, seeing them all is no easy task. Fortunately, Chattanooga Landmarks offers a helpful survey of the most historically significant sites in the city and the surrounding area. Join Chattanooga local Jennifer Crutchfield as she guides you through the city’s historic wonders, both natural and man-made. From the top of Lookout Mountain down to the banks of the Tennessee River and through downtown, Chattanooga Landmarks covers the breadth of the historic sites that make this Tennessee city a landmark all its own.
Oxford in the Civil War: Battle for a Vanquished Land Stephen Enzweiler
12
mississippi
978.1.59629.318.2 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 30 images * $19.99
Though no legendary battles took place at Oxford, the community was deeply affected by the War Between the States and deeply involved in its proceedings. Oxford in the Civil War tells the story of the steadfast men and women who fought to defend their homeland. Join author Stephen Enzweiler as he recounts the lives of Oxfordians caught in the grips of civil war. Looming historical figures include L.Q.C. Lamar, a politician and so-called “fire eater” who organized the Nineteenth Mississippi Regiment in Oxford; the “University Greys,” a unit organized by Ole Miss students; and Jacob Thompson, former secretary of the interior under President James Buchanan who resigned and returned to Oxford to serve the Confederate cause. Although Union general Andrew “Whiskey” Smith burned much of the town to the ground, Oxford survived. And the resilient people—both slaveholders and slaves—finally have their stories told here.
Texas Gulf Coast Stories C. Herndon Williams 978.1.60949.032.4 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 30 images * $19.99
The middle Texas coast, known locally as the Coast Bend, is an area filled with fascinating stories. From as early as the days of de Vaca and La Salle, the Coastal Bend has been a site of early exploration, bloody conflicts, legendary shipwrecks and even a buried treasure or two. However, much of the true history has remained unknown, misunderstood and even hidden. For years, local historian C. Herndon Williams has shared his fascinating discoveries of the area’s early stories through his weekly column, “Coastal Bend Chronicle.” Now he has selected some of his favorites in Texas Gulf Coast Stories. Join Williams as he explores the days of early settlement and European contact, Karankawa and Tonkawa legends and the Coastal Bend’s tallest of tall tales.
978.1.60949.033.1 * 6 x 9 * 256 pp * 35 images * $19.99
Local historian Ron Melugin has roamed this frontier Texas cemetery for over a decade, collecting fascinating stories about the “residents” laid to rest there. Spanning the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these tales of extraordinary people with ordinary causes of death and ordinary people who died in extraordinary ways illustrate the uncertainties of life on the edge of the Confederacy and next door to Oklahoma Indian Territory. From the former slave who died of old age to the chemistry student who accidentally poisoned his own apple, each account provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of Gainesville. A full map and legend is included to guide readers to each of the sites.
13
Ron Melugin
texas
Heroes, Scoundrels and Angels: Fairview Cemetery of Gainesville, Texas
Texas Pistoleers: The True Story of Ben Thompson and King Fisher G.R. Williamson
14
texas
978.1.60949.000.3 * 6 x 9 * 224 pp * 52 images * $19.99
The Vaudeville Theater Ambush of 1884 went down in history as one of the most famous gunfights in San Antonio, but the killing that night of Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, two of the most notorious pistoleers of the day, became something of a mystery. The two men entered the theatre just before midnight on March 11, and less than an hour later, both lay dead, shot down in what for all accounts was a true massacre. The responsible gunmen never were prosecuted for their crimes, and Thompson and Fisher—a mere mention of either man’s name was enough to put the fear of death in any opponent— have been widely ignored since. Now, historian G.R. Williamson brings to light the mystery and the myths surrounding these men and their infamous deaths in Texas Pistoleers.
Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign: War Comes to the Homefront Jonathan A. Noyalas 978.1.59629.793.7 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 46 images * $19.99
Beth Brown 978.1.59629.869.9 * 6 x 9 * 112 pp * 28 images * $19.99
Home to many of the nation’s original founders and statesmen, Richmond has a history that runs as deep as America itself. Yet within these depths lies something darker. Venture through the city’s colorful history of vice, intrigue and subterfuge with author Beth Brown as she traces the scandalous stories that pepper Richmond’s past. From colonial founding to the Prohibition era and beyond, Wicked Richmond presents a comprehensive look at the city’s murky history. Whether it’s tales of Civil War espionage, Spanish pirates captured off the Virginia coast and brought to justice in Richmond, rumrunners peddling liquor during Prohibition or the misadventures of upper-crust colonial families, Wicked Richmond captures the spirit of debauchery that runs through this historic city’s past.
15
Wicked Richmond
virginia
Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley was known as the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy” due to its ample harvests and transportation centers, its role as an avenue of invasion into the North and its capacity to serve as a diversionary theater of war. The region became a magnet for both Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War, and nearly half of the thirteen major battles fought in the valley occurred as part of General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign. Civil War historian Jonathan A. Noyalas examines Jackson’s Valley Campaign and how those victories brought hope to an infant Confederate nation, transformed the lives of the Shenandoah Valley’s civilians and emerged as Stonewall Jackson’s defining moment.
Flyboys over Hampton Roads: Glenn Curtiss’s Southern Experiment Amy Waters Yarsinske
16
virginia
978.1.59629.972.6 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 200 images * $21.99
The story begins in the fall of 1915, on the cusp of America’s entry into World War I. Aviation giant Glenn Curtiss sought a location where pilots could train and aircraft could be tested year-round, and he found it in the warm winds and waters of Newport News, Virginia. There, daring young men and women in their flying machines flew on to fame and into history with their record-breaking flights and the tragic losses that were inevitable in early flight. Join military historian Amy Waters Yarsinske as she uses rare vintage photographs and a deft hand to narrate this astounding and often forgotten period in aviation history.
Santaland: A Miller & Rhoads Christmas Donna Strother Deekens, Illustrations by Sandra Jett Ball 978.1.60949.053.9 * 8.5 x 9.5 * hardcover * 32 pp, full color * 32 illustrations * $17.99
When Santa and his helpers—the Snow Queen and the Mischievous Little Elf—are blown topsy-turvy in a Virginia blizzard, they land on the roof of Richmond’s Miller & Rhoads. Surprised to discover such a grand store with no decorations for Christmas, the friends try to solve the mystery. Join Santa and his team as they search the Tea Room, a fantastic toy department and the Virginia Pantry for signs of the Christmas spirit. Santa soon finds that at Miller & Rhoads, friendship and a little magic bring Santaland to life—if only you believe.
An African American History of the Civil War in Hampton Roads Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander 978.1.60949.077.5 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 69 images * $19.99
V.N. “Bud” Phillips 978.1.60949.047.8 * 6 x 9 * 112 pp * 35 images * $19.99
Legend has it that in 1842 a local slave, Silas Goodson, dreamed of a large city spreading over the hills, and ten years later Bristol was founded on the border of Tennessee and Virginia. Much of Bristol’s most unusual history is long forgotten, but local author Bud Phillips’s collection of his Bristol Herald Courier columns brings light to the overlooked pages of the past. With stories of a jilted suitor’s porcine revenge, the legendary fiddler Nora Cross and the Devil’s Hideout and the search for the gold of Rosetta Bachelor, readers will delight in the history that they always wish they knew. Join Phillips as he explores the fascinating, and occasionally uproarious, lost tales of Bristol.
17
Hidden History of Bristol: Stories from the State Line
virginia
It was in Hampton Roads, Virginia, that hundreds gained their freedom. The teeming wharves were once a major station on the Underground Railroad, and during the Civil War, escaped slaves such as Shepard Mallory, Frank Baker and James Townsend fled to Fort Monroe to become contrabands under the protection of General Benjamin Butler. Upon arrival in the region, many took up arms for the Union, and the valiant deeds of some placed them among the first African American Medal of Honor recipients. Join Professor Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander as she charts the history of this remarkable African American community from the Civil War to Reconstruction.
Foggy Bottom and the West End Matthew B. Gilmore and Joshua Olsen
18
washington, d.c.
978.1.59629.332.8 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 199 images * $21.99
Beginning as a small town on the banks of the Potomac, the neighborhoods of Foggy Bottom and the West End grew into the capital’s industrial center at the head of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, with factories, gasworks and breweries. The amalgam of working-class row homes, stately mansions and mills largely disappeared with the coming of the twentieth century, and in their place came the federal government, George Washington University, the Kennedy Center and the Watergate. With a collection of rare vintage images, local authors Matthew Gilmore and Joshua Olsen have compiled a stunning visual narrative of the evolution of these historic Washington, D.C. communities.
A History of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department Brent Lewis 978.1.59629.981.8 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 71 images * $19.99
Harry A. Ezratty 978.1.60949.003.4 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 42 images * $19.99
On April 19, 1861, the first blood of the Civil War was spilled in the streets of Baltimore. En route to Camden Station, Union forces were confronted by angry Southern sympathizers, and at Pratt Street the crowd rushed the troops, who responded with lethal volleys. Four soldiers and twelve Baltimoreans were left dead. Marylanders unsuccessfully attempted to further cut ties with the North by sabotaging roads, bridges and telegraph lines. In response to the “Battle of Baltimore,� Lincoln declared martial law and withheld habeas corpus in much of the state. Author Harry Ezratty skillfully narrates the events of that day and their impact on the rest of the war, when Baltimore became a city occupied.
19
Baltimore in the Civil War: The Pratt Street Riot and a City Occupied
maryland
Once, Kent Island homes that caught fire often burned to the ground. That changed in 1947 with the founding of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department, and for more than half a century, local volunteers have protected their community from fire and flood. Author Brent Lewis charts the history of this Kent Island institution with firsthand accounts from ordinary heroes, humorous stories of late-night practical jokes and recipes for applesauce cake and oyster fritters from the ladies auxiliary. Join Lewis as he tells the stories of the men and women who have dedicated themselves to the service of their community and created a family in the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department.
Frederick in the Civil War: Battle & Honor in the Spired City John W. Schildt
20
maryland
978.1.60949.078.2 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 44 images * $19.99
Just south of the Mason-Dixon line, Frederick, Maryland, was poised at the crossroads of the Civil War. Here, Confederate troops passed west to the Battles of Antietam and South Monocacy, and Union troops passed north en route to Gettysburg and south to raid the resources of the Shenandoah Valley. Heroes and villains were made in the spired city, from Dame Barbara Fritchie, who is said to have defied General Jackson, and the local doctors and nurses who cared for thousands of wounded soldiers to General Jubal Early, who threatened to put the town to the torch. Join local historian John Schildt as he recounts the fascinating history of Frederick in the Civil War.
Lost River Towns of Boone County Edited by Bridget Striker 978.1.59629.472.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 151 images * $21.99
Ronald A. Mielech 978.1.59629.816.3 * 6 x 9 * 96 pp * 175 images * $19.99
This book tells the story of Villa Madonna–Thomas More, from its inception in 1921 as a diocesan college in downtown Covington, where most classes were held in renovated private residences, to its relocation to an attractive campus and contemporary facilities in urban Crestview Hills. Founded as a college for women and as a training ground for teaching orders of nuns, Villa Madonna officially became coeducational in 1946. Enrollment immediately doubled to 224, with many of the 99 men being returning veterans. On September 28, 1968, President Lyndon Baines Johnson dedicated the new campus with the name of Thomas More, after the great Catholic scholar and martyr. Decades later, the school is home to a growing student body of 1,600.
21
Northern Kentucky’s First College: Villa Madonna–Thomas More College
kentucky
When Boone County was officially founded in 1799, a local population was already growing by the day. The Ohio River offered settlers access to this new frontier west of the Alleghenies, and soon many vibrant communities were established along the banks of the Ohio. Today, once thriving towns like North Bend, Belleview and Touseytown—built to last through generations—have all but vanished. The unforgiving current of the Ohio River washed many away, while modern transportation construction dispatched the remaining towns. Fortunately, through the efforts of editor Bridget Striker and a skilled team of local historians and archivists at the Boone County Public Library, these sunken homesteads have been unearthed. Peer into a bygone way of life through this comprehensive collection of vintage photographs and engaging historical accounts.
Wanamaker’s: Meet Me at the Eagle Michael J. Lisicky, Foreword by Dinty W. Moore
22
pennsylvania
978.1.59629.008.2 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 101 images * $19.99
Philadelphia was once the proud home of Wanamaker’s, a department store of many firsts founded by the retail giant John Wanamaker in 1861. Its name was synonymous with service, and Philadelphians still fondly remember the massive bronze eagle in the Grand Court, concerts from the world’s largest pipe organ and the spectacular Christmas festivities. Philadelphia native Michael J. Lisicky takes a nostalgic journey through the history of the store, from its beginnings as a haberdashery to its growth into New York and Delaware and the final poignant closing of its doors. Lisicky brilliantly combines interviews with store insiders, forgotten recipes and memories from local celebrities such as Trudy Haynes and Sally Starr to bring readers back to the soft glow of the marble atrium and the quiet elegance of the Crystal Tea Room that was Wanamaker’s.
Germantown in the Civil War Eugene G. Stackhouse, with the support of the Germantown Historical Society 978.1.59629.206.2 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 100 images * $21.99
When the first shots of the Civil War were fired, nearly one-third of Germantown’s sons and daughters answered the call to duty. Generals and soldiers, doctors and nurses all fought to preserve the Union. Many were lost, but some returned home to carry on the memory of their fallen comrades through the efforts of the Grand Army of the Republic. The Philadelphia neighborhood was itself transformed when the town hall became Cuyler Hospital and local nurses like Catherine Keyser and Hannah Zell cared for the wounded of Gettysburg and other battles. In this intimate and sharply focused account, local historian Eugene Glenn Stackhouse commemorates the sacrifices of Germantown’s proud citizenry.
Massacre of the Conestogas: On the Trail of the Paxton Boys in Lancaster County Jack Brubaker 978.1.60949.061.4 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 34 images * $21.99
Mark E. Dixon 978.1.60949.064.5 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 27 images * $21.99
Beyond the grand façades and trappings of the Main Line cream-andcrystal crowd are hidden tales and scintillating stories. Author Mark Dixon’s collection of articles from Main Line Today explores the region’s offbeat and oft-forgotten history. With a keen eye and a touch of humor, Dixon delves into the Welsh origins of nearly unpronounceable towns and the journey of the Sound of Music’s Trapp family to Merion. From anecdotes of the socialite who divorced her husband when he had the gall to survive the sinking of the Titanic to the Wayne native who turned from the convent to a career as an internationally renowned opera star, Dixon brings to light the lost pages of Main Line history.
23
The Hidden History of the Main Line: From Philadelphia to Malvern
pennsylvania
On two chilly December days in 1763, bands of armed men raged through camps of peaceful Conestoga Indians. They killed twenty women, children and men, effectively wiping out the tribe. These murderous rampages by Lancaster County’s Paxton Boys were the culminating tragedies in a series of traded atrocities between European settlers and native tribes. Lancaster journalist Jack Brubaker gives a blow-by-blow account of the massacres, examines their aftermath and investigates how the Paxton Boys got away with murder. Join Brubaker as he follows the bloody trail left by the killers through the Pennsylvania countryside.
The Hidden History of Delaware County: Untold Tales from Cobb’s Creek to the Brandywine Mark E. Dixon
24
pennsylvania
978.1.60949.065.2 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 31 images * $19.99
Andrew Wyeth is renowned for his paintings of the Chadds Ford countryside, but what about the his brother, the inventor of the plastic soda bottle? Then there is Bill Haley of Booth’s Corner who, along with the help of a few Delaware Valley teenagers, came up with a new sound called rock-and-roll. With a fascinating and occasionally uproarious collection of his Main Line Today magazine columns, author Mark E. Dixon explores the forgotten corners of Delaware County’s history. From the Upper Darby abolitionist who conducted more than two thousand people on the Underground Railroad to the Sun Shipyard press stunt that landed heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey in hot water, these offbeat histories will delight visitors and locals alike.
Forgotten Tales of Pittsburgh Thomas White, Illustrations by Kyle McQueen 978.1.60949.071.3 * 5 x 7 * 160 pp * 16 illustrations * $12.99
Pittsburgh has many stories of strange but mostly true events. Local author Thomas White delves into these lost tales, from Lewis and Clark’s inauspicious start involving an intoxicated boat builder to the death ray of inventor Nikola Tesla. A 1907 lion attack at Luna Park, death by spontaneous combustion, Jack the Ripper’s rumored visit to the city and an umpire who was rescued from an angry crowd by Pirates players are all part of the forgotten history of the Steel City.
Hidden History of Kensington and Fishtown Kenneth W. Milano 978.1.60949.103.1 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 39 images * $19.99
25
pennsylvania
The docks and alleys of Philadelphia’s riverward neighborhoods teem with forgotten stories and strange histories. In the overlooked corners of Kensington and Fishtown are the launching of the Industrial Revolution, the bizarre double suicide of the Rusk twins and the violent Cramp Shipyard strike. With a collection of his “The Rest Is History” columns from the Fishtown Star, local historian Kenneth Milano chronicles little-known tales from the Speakeasy War of 1890 to stories of seldom-recognized hometown hero Eddie Stanky, who went on to play for the 1951 New York Giants. Join Milano as he journeys into the secret history of two of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.
The American Revolution in Monmouth County: The Theatre of Spoil and Destruction Michael S. Adelberg
26
new jersey
978.1.60949.001.0 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 14 images * $21.99
During the American Revolution, Monmouth County was contested territory in between the great armies. As the Battles of Trenton, Princeton and Bound Brook raged nearby, the people of Monmouth County fought their own internal revolution. In 1778, General George Washington rallied his Continental army and fought the British within Monmouth’s borders, barely holding the field. Monmouth Countians joined the fight and then spent the following weeks caring for the wounded and burying the dead. The remaining war years brought more hardships, as they grappled with a local civil war charged with racial, religious and economic undercurrents—one that continued long after the Battle of Yorktown supposedly ended hostilities. Revolutionary War scholar Michael S. Adelberg brings to life the struggles within Monmouth County.
The Fords of New Jersey: Power and Family During America’s Founding Jude M. Pfister 978.1.60949.007.2 * 6 x 9 * 176 pp * 44 images * $21.99
Experiencing triumph and defeat during some of the most complex times in American history, the Ford family of Morris County, New Jersey, left an indelible mark on their community. Though there were few opportunities available at the time, the Fords rose to prominence in colonial America through their devotion to principle and a commitment to family. In the nineteenth century, the Fords adapted to the shifting economic and cultural landscape with grace and ingenuity. The stately home of the family, which was once George Washington’s headquarters, has now become a monument to the remarkable times in which they lived. Their story is not just of one family or one place. Their story, in miniature, reflects the larger story of Morris County, New Jersey and America.
Prohibition on the North Jersey Shore: Gangsters on Vacation Matthew R. Linderoth 978.1.60949.059.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 20 images * $19.99
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new jersey
North Jersey Shore towns such as Long Branch, Ocean Grove, Red Bank and Atlantic Highlands began as quiet retreats for pious New Yorkers wishing to escape the vice and crime of the city. However, with the passage of Prohibition in 1919, the region became a haven for criminals who began smuggling liquor through the serene seaside. Speakeasies sprang up on virtually every corner, as gangsters like Vito Genovese, Charles Luciano and Meyer Lansky ruled this brutal underworld, taking advantage of the criminal opportunity of a lifetime. The police and politicians were in their pockets, while civilians were caught in the crossfire of gun battles between rival syndicates. Discover the true drama that captured the Jersey Shore during Prohibition.
Basketball History in Syracuse: Hoops Roots Mark Allen Baker
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new york
978.1.59629.983.2 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 75 images * $19.99
Anyone who has spent time in Syracuse, New York, knows that basketball season is the most wonderful time of the year. And while the local popularity of the sport is known nationwide, the region also has a long and rich basketball history. Sports historian Mark Baker traces the evolution of Syracuse’s “hoops roots,” beginning in the early days, when local, national and college basketball organizations were primitive institutions. It was during this time that one of the first teams to gain a national following was founded here by an Italian immigrant, Danny Biasone, and it was in Syracuse that the 24-second clock was invented. From the outset, Syracuse residents and fans were hooked, and this love of the game has endured, feeding the fanaticism that sustains the sport today.
Down Maple Lane: A Place to Call Home in the Upper Hudson Valley Elinor Mettler 978.1.60949.028.7 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 51 images * $19.99
Visitors to this upstate New York region can attest to its picturesque beauty, and those lucky enough to be residents know that the charm comes not only from the scenery but also from the people who created a thriving community here. Author Elinor Mettler has compiled the selections from “Down Maple Lane,” her column in the Roe Jan Independent, that best demonstrate what makes this area unique. Join her as she explores how family, rural values, seasons and small towns, past and present, have made upstate country life so enjoyable for generations.
Lost Industries of Saratoga County Timothy Starr 978.1.60949.079.9 * 6 x 9 * 176 pp * 56 images * $19.99
Jack Whitehouse 978.1.60949.094.2 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 26 images * $19.99
The prospects were bleak for the four Whitehouse children in 1929 when they were orphaned at the start of the Great Depression. They faced life in dangerously overcrowded orphanages in New York City or the uncertainty of a trip on the orphan trains. They were fortunate enough to land at the Children’s Cottages Orphanage in Sayville, New York, and St. Ann’s Episcopal Church. Author Jack Whitehouse spins a personal tale of the compassion exhibited by the entire Sayville community, including such families as the Roosevelts and Astors, which allowed the children to thrive. Discover how the town came together to love and nurture these members of the Greatest Generation, who became true American heroes in the Second World War.
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Sayville Orphan Heroes: The Cottages of St. Ann’s
new york
The tourism trade has sustained itself in Saratoga County since the early 1800s, but this region also saw a vibrant industrial era that is often overlooked. At one time, this New York county hosted the nation’s largest book paper mill, newsprint paper mill, tannery and paper bag manufacturer. In addition, it was home to such world-famous products as Button fire engines, Isaiah Blood hard edge tools, Eddy valves and various brands of mineral spring water. Timothy Starr provides the most complete history of the area’s industrial age yet published. Discover the fascinating history of such littleknown subjects as the Peebles Island bleachery, the mines of Greenfield, Edinburgh’s woodenware factories and lumber drives on the Hudson River.
The North Country Murder of Irene Izak: Stained by Her Blood Dave Shampine
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new york
978.1.60949.119.2 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 29 images * $19.99
Irene Izak, a young French teacher from Scranton, Pennsylvania, was headed toward a new job and new life in Quebec during the summer of 1968. She never made it there. Savagely bludgeoned, Irene’s body was discovered in a ravine by a state trooper patrolling Route 81 in Jefferson County, New York. Blending suspense with true-crime reporting, author Dave Shampine investigates the brutal murder that shook the communities of central Pennsylvania and New York’s North Country. Join Shampine as he tells the story of this vicious and confounding killing that has remained unsolved for three decades.
Murder, Inc.: The Mafia’s Hit Men in New York City Graham K. Bell 978.1.60949.135.2 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 16 images * $16.99
Beginning in the 1920s, an all-star team of goons, gunmen and garrotters transformed America’s criminal landscape. Its membership was diverse; the mob recruited men from all ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Most were natives of the Big Apple, handpicked from the city’s toughest neighborhoods: Brownsville, Ocean Hill, Flushing. So prolific were their exploits that the media soon dubbed this bevy of hired hands Murder, Incorporated. The brainchild of aging mob bosses, including Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, this ruthless hit squad quickly captured America’s attention, making headlines coast to coast for over two decades. As for who these men were and how their partnership came to be, join author Graham Bell as he sheds light on this dark history of the mafia’s most notorious crime syndicate.
Williamstown, Vermont, in the Civil War Paul G. Zeller 978.1.59629.690.9 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 45 images * $19.99
Donald H. Thompson 978.1.60949.096.6 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 75 images * $19.99
Castleton is a quintessential Vermont village—historic homes, churches and a college stand side by side with locally owned country stores and restaurants. The town’s rich history has always been influenced by its industrious citizens, and in its early days, mills sprang up along the Castleton River and local foundries produced nails, stoves and plows. The arrival of the railroad in the mid-1800s created another economic boom for the village and spurred the growth of the slate and marble companies until Castleton’s industrial might rivaled that of Rutland. Author Don Thompson uses personal anecdotes from residents in addition to original research to tell the fascinating history of Castleton and the productive people who have built and nurtured it.
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Castleton, Vermont: Its Industries, Enterprises and Eateries
ver mont
Though it was far from the front lines of the War Between the States, Williamstown, Vermont, made undeniable contributions to the victory of the United States Army. The proud sons of Patriots fell on the fields of Gettysburg, Antietam and Shiloh, and many gallant soldiers were lost in lesser-known skirmishes. These men fought for honor, for country and at times for money. Many men made the ultimate sacrifice, and others who returned home bore the scars of battle for the rest of their lives. With the support of the Williamstown Historical Society, author Paul Zeller honors the Williamstown soldiers and ordinary citizens who fought to preserve the Union and presents their incredible stories of adventure and bravery.
Franco-American Life & Culture in Manchester, New Hampshire: Vivre la Différence Robert B. Perreault
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new hampshire
978.1.59629.897.2 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 55 images * $19.99
A strong sense of unity and tradition frames a fascinating history of Manchester, New Hampshire’s Franco-American community. Author Robert B. Perreault presents this story through compelling vignettes, including the triumphant success of photographer Ulric Bourgeois, the undeniable conflict between the French and Irish immigrants and a colorful profile of book collector and author Adélard Lambert. Featuring vintage images from Perreault’s private collection, this work is a stunning visual narrative of the French-Canadian contributions to local culture.
Manchester Firefighting: A Pictorial History Firefighter Steve Pearson MS CFPS 978.1.60949.010.2 * 6 x 9 landscape * 144 pp * 129 images * $21.99
Manchester, New Hampshire, has a vast firefighting history—from the early days of handtubs, to the power of horses and steam, on to the speed of motorized vehicles. Manchester firefighter and fire historian Steve Pearson presents nostalgic images and stories of memorable fires and rescues, as well as ever-improving firefighting techniques and equipment. This book is a testament to the bravery and dedication of those who have protected citizens and businesses from the devastation of fire in America’s largest industrial mill city.
City on the Penobscot: A Comprehensive History of Bangor, Maine Trudy Irene Scee 978.1.59629.191.1 * 6 x 9 * hardcover * 576 pp * 98 images * $39.99
Don Whitney and Michael Daicy 978.1.59629.955.9 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 46 images * $19.99
On the Fourth of July in 1866, joy turned to tragedy in Portland, Maine. A boy threw a firecracker onto a pile of wood shavings and it erupted in a blaze as residents prepared to celebrate the 110th anniversary of American independence in the momentous time following the Civil War. The violent conflagration killed two people and destroyed all structures on nearly thirty streets. Authors Michael Daicy and Don Whitney, both firefighters, chronicle the day’s catastrophic events, as well as the bravery of those who fought the ferocious fire, dispelling the myth that ill-trained firefighting contributed to the devastation.
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Portland’s Greatest Conflagration: The 1866 Fire Disaster
maine
The first settlers of what would become Bangor, Maine, established a community initially known as Kenduskeag Plantation, and since that time, generations of residents have relied on the Penobscot River for food, water, recreation, industry and transportation. Citizens of Bangor have served in the Civil War and all subsequent American military engagements. They have overcome fires, floods and epidemics that devastated the population. They have known colorful and notorious characters, such as local brothel owner Fan Jones and America’s public enemy number one, Al Brady. And they have adapted to such modern socioeconomic challenges as evolving transportation methods, the Ku Klux Klan, urban renewal and the city’s shift to a distribution and service center. Historian Trudy Irene Scee presents all of this and more in this full history of the Queen City of the East.
Hidden History of Salem Susanne Saville
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massachusetts
978.1.59629.062.4 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 56 images * $19.99
Salem, nestled along the rocky coast of Massachusetts, has long been synonymous with witches, despite efforts to emphasize other aspects of the city’s rich history. In this fascinating collection of stories, author Susanne Saville sheds light on the forgotten moments of this noteworthy New England community. Discover Salem’s profitable “Age of Sail,” the important role coffeehouses played during the American Revolution, the scandalous life of Richard Crowninshield Jr. and the unforgettable writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. These revealing stories will not leave the history of Salem in the shadows for long.
Milton: A Compendium Anthony Mitchell Sammarco 978.1.59629.377.9 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 78 images * $19.99
Nestled between the Neponset River and the Blue Hills Reservation is the postcard-perfect New England town of Milton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1640, its gentle riverbanks were soon transformed by some of the first mills in the colonies, and later an industrial boom drew tides of immigrants from across the seas. Local author and noted historian Anthony Sammarco brings together a fascinating collection of his best columns from the Milton Times to chronicle the remarkable history of Milton. With stories of extraordinary residents such as the physician and artist Dr. William Rimmer and tales of local innovations such as the Granite Railway, Sammarco charts the evolution of this prominent town.
Gloucester’s Sea Serpent Wayne Soini 978.1.59629.461.5 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 26 images * $19.99
Stauffer Miller 978.1.59629.984.9 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 50 images * $19.99
Far from the glistening waters and gray-shingled villages of Cape Cod were the bloody front lines of the American Civil War. During this era, Cape Cod recruiting officers often urged soldiers to “raise the right arm of the old Bay State.” Learn about the Cape’s first casualty of war, Philander Crowell Jr. of Yarmouth, who was a member of the First Massachusetts Regiment; discover how local fishermen made money both by catching fish and by enlisting in the army; and read about the four bloody battles that caused considerable loss for Cape Codders. Join author and historian Stauffer Miller as he chronicles the untold and riveting history of Cape Cod and the Civil War.
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Cape Cod and the Civil War: The Raised Right Arm
massachusetts
In 1817, as Gloucester, Massachusetts, was recovering from the War of 1812, something beneath the water was about to cause a stir in this New England coastal community. It was a misty August day when two women first sighted Gloucester’s sea serpent, touching off a riptide of excitement among residents that reached a climax when Matt Gaffney fired a direct shot at the creature. Local historian Wayne Soini explores the depths of Gloucester harbor to reveal a treasure-trove of details behind this legendary mystery. Follow as he tracks Justice of the Peace Lonson Nash’s careful investigation—the world’s first scientific study of this marine animal—and judges the credibility of numerous reported sightings.
South of Boston: Tales from the Coastal Communities of Massachusetts Bay Ted Clarke
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massachusetts
978.1.60949.042.3 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 36 images * $19.99
Since the days of John Smith and Squanto, the coast of Massachusetts stretching south from Boston to Plymouth has been transformed. Once an isolated Puritan colony, the region has made an indelible mark on the annals of New England history. Discover the remarkable story of the town of Marshfield, learn about the first female minister from Weymouth and experience the sweet aroma wafting from Baker Chocolate Company in Dorchester with this engaging collection of vignettes from historian and author Ted Clarke. From the rocky relations between Native Americans and the early colonists to the boom and bloom of the region, Clarke lends insight into how the past reflects on the present south of Boston.
The Pendleton Disaster off Cape Cod: The Greatest Small Boat Rescue in Coast Guard History Theresa Mitchell Barbo and Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.) 978.1.60949.050.8 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 40 images * $19.99
On February 18, 1952, off the coast of Cape Cod, a fierce nor’easter snapped in half two 503-foot oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer. Human grace and grit, leadership and endurance prevail as Theresa Mitchell Barbo and Captain W. Russell Webster (Ret.) recount the historic, heroic rescue of thirty-two merchant mariners from the sinking Pendleton by four young Coast Guardsmen aboard the 36-foot motor lifeboat CG36500. A foreword by former Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (Ret.) and an essay by Master Chief John “Jack” Downey (Ret.), a veteran of thousands of modern-day small boat rescues, round out the special third edition of this classic work on Coast Guard history.
Marblehead’s Pygmalion: Finding the Real Agnes Surriage F. Marshall Bauer 978.1.60949.068.3 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 34 images * $19.99
Samuel H. Olson 978.1.60949.080.5 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 70 images * $19.99
Known for its storybook scenes along the North River, the town of Norwell, Massachusetts, was first incorporated as South Scituate in 1849. Author and local historian Samuel H. Olson chronicles the life and times of this quaint New England community through a collection of articles previously published in the Norwell Mariner. As the shipbuilding industry on the river waned, farmers, shoemakers and summer residents revealed their rugged individualism and their socially progressive beliefs. Discover how the Norwell we know today was knowingly sculpted by the town’s forefathers. By rejecting new-fangled ideas such as the railroad and other “big city” ways, Norwell has retained its solitude and rural landscape.
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A Narrative of South Scituate & Norwell (1849–1963): Remembering Its Past and the World Around It
massachusetts
After deconstructing the legend for twenty-five years, author F. Marshall Bauer has unearthed a story of money, lust and vindication. Agnes Surriage, it turns out, was more Pygmalion than Cinderella. Her role models were the fiercely independent “codfish widows,” wives of the early Marblehead fishermen who managed home and family seven months a year without their husbands. In Agnes’s version of “My Fair Lady,” she had to act as her own Henry Higgins while making the often painful transformation from “girl of all works” at the Fountain Inn to the charming and dignified Lady Agnes, wife of Sir Charles Henry Frankland.
Brookline, Allston-Brighton and the Renewal of Boston Ted Clarke
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massachusetts
978.1.60949.185.7 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 48 images * $19.99
In the aftermath of the Civil War and the Great Boston Fire of 1872, those who would rebuild Boston looked to new ground in Brookline and AllstonBrighton. The two towns were invited to join Boston, but only Allston-Brighton accepted. The decisions and subsequent growth of these communities, along with Boston’s decline and fall during the same period, are told in a fast-paced story by local historian Ted Clarke. Learn about James Michael Curley’s lasting impact on Boston as the city’s mayor and of John Collins’s collaboration with Edward Logue in their efforts to create a “New Boston.” Travel with Clarke as he takes a look back at the fascinating events that shaped the character of these historic communities.
Hidden History of Connecticut Wilson H. Faude 978.1.59629.319.9 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 51 images * $19.99
Edited by Betty N. Hoffman 978.1.59629.987.0 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 62 images * $19.99
During the Revolutionary War, Sephardic Jews fled British-occupied New York to become the first Jewish families in Connecticut. This long Jewish history is explored in a collection of essays by historians and community members across the state, from colonial times and the role Jews played in the Civil War to memories of summer nights at Lebanon’s Grand Lake Lodge and Danbury’s Lake Waubeeka. Join editor Betty N. Hoffman and company as they recount tales of Kid Kaplan, the “Meriden Buzz Saw,” who became boxing’s 1925 Featherweight Champion of the World; the Lender family, who “bagelized America”; and the graceful personal service of Marlow’s Department Store in Manchester to reveal a fascinating and intimate portrait of Jewish Connecticut.
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A History of Jewish Connecticut: Mensches, Migrants and Mitzvahs
connecticut
Connecticut’s history is full of engaging and fascinating stories—rocks that are national monuments, the “people’s sculptor,” football players on chapel finials, moons on the Travelers calendars, artists Frederic Church and Eric Sloane and even a Thanksgiving Day touch football game with a future president. These are tales from Greenwich to Enfield, from Sharon to Old Lyme and so much in between. Follow along with historian Wilson Faude in this “must-have” Connecticut book as he traverses the state in search of hidden history.
A Maritime History of the Stamford Waterfront: Cove Island, Shippan Point and the Stamford Harbor Shoreline Karen Jewell
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connecticut
978.1.60949.075.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 56 images * $19.99
Sailors, soldiers, rum chasers, sub chasers and yachters have tied up in Stamford Harbor since the 1640s. The history of this Connecticut waterfront is as diverse as the people who have walked its docks, and columnist and former dockmaster Karen Jewell takes readers through its maritime history, landmarks and unforgettable characters. Jewell explores the history of such institutions as the Stamford Yacht Club and Yacht Haven, now Brewer’s Marina, which have anchored premier yachters like William F. Buckley Jr., Harry Connick Jr. and the Forbes family to Stamford. Come aboard for a journey through time and sea, and learn how the Stamford waterfront transformed from a Native American settlement to the bustling port and destination it is today.
The Dorr War: Treason, Rebellion and the Fight for Reform in Rhode Island Rory Raven 978.1.59629.959.7 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 38 images * $19.99
Jim Ignasher 978.1.60949.100.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 39 images * $19.99
How could a perfectly sound U.S. military fighter plane simply vanish from formation on a training flight? Why did the crew of a speeding train choose death over salvation? What really happened one foggy night in 1929 when the Coast Guard fired on a rumrunner in Narragansett Bay? Do guardian angels really exist? Can an airplane be jinxed? In his latest book, Jim Ignasher chronicles twenty-three long-forgotten tales of disaster in the Ocean State. His research includes declassified government reports, which allow for some stories to be told in their entirety for the first time. Collectively, these tales present heroes and villains, adventure and the human condition, strange happenings and unsolved mysteries.
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Rhode Island Disasters: Tales of Tragedy by Air, Sea and Rail
rhode island
The short and portly Rhode Island aristocrat was hardly the image of the people’s champion, but in 1841, Thomas Dorr became just that. At a time when only white male landowners could vote, the idealistic Dorr envisioned a more democratic state. In October of that year, the People’s Convention ratified a new constitution that extended voting rights to those without land, and Dorr was named governor. That act would spark a small civil war, and violence erupted as the people of the state stood sharply divided in a conflict that reached the president and United States Supreme Court. Author Rory Raven charts the tumultuous and ultimately tragic history of a man and a movement that were too far ahead of their time.
Historic Columbus Crimes: Mama’s in the Furnace, the Thing & More David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker 978.1.59629.215.4 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 41 images * $19.99
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In Historic Columbus Crimes, the father-daughter team of David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker looks back at sixteen tales of murder, mystery and mayhem culled from city history. Take the rock star slain by a troubled fan or the drag queen slashed to death by a would-be ninja. Then there’s the writer who died acting out the plot of his next book, the minister’s wife incinerated in the parsonage furnace and a couple of serial killers who outdid the Son of Sam. Not to mention a gunfight at Broad and High, grave-robbing medical students, the bloodiest day in FBI history and other fascinating stories of crime and tragedy. They’re all here, and they’re all true!
Safe Houses and the Underground Railroad in East Central Ohio Janice VanHorne-Lane 978.1.59629.246.8 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 69 images * $19.99
For slaves fleeing captivity, the Underground Railroad was the most viable means of escape, and with over three thousand miles of clandestine routes and secret trails, Ohio had the country’s most extensive network of safe houses. Many of these passageways were concentrated throughout the state’s east central region, particularly the inland channels of Coshocton, Holmes and Guernsey Counties and the now-famous canal route, a major conduit winding through Tuscarawas and Stark Counties. Runaways also sought refuge in the hills and valleys of Harrison County and in the Quaker stronghold of Columbiana County. Using the letters of Wilbur H. Seibert, Janice VanHorne-Lane provides an intimate account of east central Ohio’s profound contributions to the Underground Railroad and its mission—freedom for all.
Where Cleveland Played: Sports Shrines from League Park to the Coliseum Morris Eckhouse and Greg Crouse 978.1.59629.270.3 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 135 images * $19.99
Lost Cleveland: Seven Wonders of the Sixth City Michael DeAloia 978.1.59629.878.1 * 6 x 9 * 112 pp * 96 images * $19.99
Lost Cleveland is an engrossing excursion into the city’s rarefied architectural air during its heyday as the sixth-largest city in the country. Author Michael DeAloia recounts the histories of seven culturally significant and iconic architectural gems that defined Cleveland’s position of wealth and importance during the industrial age. Inspired by noble visions of Cleveland’s most elite residents, these structures reflect the vigor and imagination that suffused city leaders. From Severance Hall, still home to the Cleveland Orchestra and the only structure in this collection that remains standing, to “Andrew’s Folly,” the grandest house built on legendary Millionaire’s Row, Lost Cleveland provides a revealing historical retrospective on the growth, development and ultimate decline of the North Coast’s greatest city.
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These shrines, now gone save for League Park’s crumbling remnants, hosted American sports heroes and icons, rock legends and hockey stars. Babe Ruth launched his 500th home run at League Park, where Indians great Bob Feller, all cleft chin and leg kick, debuted. A young and seemingly weightless Michael Jordan sunk the Cavs and Craig Ehlo at Richfield. Jim Brown broke the will of opponents at Municipal, where both Larry Doby—the first black American Leaguer—and Frank Robinson—baseball’s first black manager—shattered color barriers. Morris Eckhouse and Greg Crouse delve into the city’s lost sports sanctuaries, where Clevelanders rejoiced and wept, experiencing moments of jubilation and ineffable sadness that remain glowing and raw.
Deer Hunting in Ohio: History, Legends & Trophies Robert Loewendick
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978.1.59629.890.3 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 48 images * $19.99
Ohio has nurtured some of the most celebrated deer-hunting ground in the country, with a deer population of about 650,000 and well over 400,000 sportsmen pursuing them. From the heyday of the Native American deer slayer to the modern-day huntsman, outdoorsman and writer Robert Loewendick relays his knowledge of Ohio deer hunting and history with passion and grace. Hitting all four corners of the state and everything in between, Loewendick shares the conservation efforts that made Ohio a deerhunting mecca while including stories of the biggest trophies and others of the most bizarre nature, like that of a buck that plays dead and another that survives an arrow through the head.
Cincinnati’s Incomplete Subway: The Complete History Jacob R. Mecklenborg 978.1.59629.895.8 * 6 x 9 * 208 pp + 8 pp color * 165 images * $19.99
What of those ghostly catacombs that lie dormant below city streets? Those subway tunnels, never finished, never filled with the screeches of trains and the busy commotion of commuters. Just there. Dead. You’ve heard of the subway’s demise. The tunnels were too narrow. The city was too broke. A grand miscalculation. Well, most of what you’ve heard is, sorry to say, untrue. The popular story of the subway’s demise is myth-laden and as incomplete as the original plan. The full story, long buried in mounds of public records dispersed in the city’s libraries, is now revealed. Local author Jacob Mecklenborg emerges from those dusty tomes with a fresh, thought-provoking, full examination of the subway’s demise and what its future might hold.
Cincinnati’s Hyde Park: A Queen City Gem Gregory Parker Rogers 978.1.59629.900.9 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 79 images * $21.99
Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King Michael D. Morgan 978.1.59629.914.6 * 6 x 9 * 178 pp + 8 pp color * 72 images * $19.99
Over-the-Rhine is a place where a building owner can stumble upon huge caverns underneath a basement floor or find long-forgotten tunnels that travel far below city streets. Its present mysteries are attributable to a past that transcends the common story of how cities change over time: it is the story of how a clash between immigrants and “real Americans” helped rob Cincinnati of its image, its soul and its economy. In the 1870s, OTR was comparable to the cultural hearts of Paris and Vienna. By the turn of the last century, the neighborhood was home to roughly three hundred saloons and had over a dozen breweries within or adjacent to its borders. It was beloved by countless citizens and travelers for the exact reasons that others successfully sought to destroy it. This is the story of how the heart of the “Paris of America” became a time capsule.
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First settled in 1795, Hyde Park was an area of great estates and small and large farms until 1892. That’s when the seven-member Hyde Park Syndicate capitalized on new transportation connections to downtown as a means to sell their property as smaller parcels. Designed to be upscale, the neighborhood attracted people looking for a suburban experience in an urban setting. This history introduces influential figures, including eventual Ohio governor Myers Y. Cooper, the Kilgour brothers, Levi Ault and Senator Joseph Foraker. It explains the development of Hyde Park Square and the community’s streets, schools and churches. Readers will rediscover lost places, like the Grandin Bridge, Rookwood, the Pines, Belcamp and the Hermitage.
Wicked Akron: Tales of Rumrunners, Mobsters and Other Rubber City Rogues Kymberli Hagelberg
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978.1.59629.915.3 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 42 images * $19.99
The searchlight finds Akron’s darkest days, when citizens burned city hall to the ground and members of the Ku Klux Klan called the shots from the schoolhouse to the courthouse. Meet a grave robber who became a political leader, a mobster who ordered police murders and a beloved bootlegger turned bail bondsman. Say hello to Frank Hurn, a flashy, frenetic, fast-talking con man who was looking for suckers to invest in the Vulcans, an NFL team he promised to bring to Akron. From city saloon to suburban hideout, this is an alternative history lesson of the sometimes dicey coexistence of the wellheeled and the workers, men and women who lived big lives during Akron’s fledgling days as a canal port, its pre-Depression heyday and its zenith as a midwestern industrial success story.
Shocking Stories of the Cleveland Mob Ted Schwarz 978.1.59629.918.4 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 40 images * $19.99
They are the dirty little secrets of Cleveland’s past, mob guys so good—or so bad—that you rarely hear their stories. Men such as Micky McBride turned newsboys into sluggers, gave bookies a run for suckers’ losing bets and created the Cleveland Browns when football was still a sport the players knew how to win. There was the Jewish Navy, taking laundry trucks to Canada and bringing back barges filled with booze. Then there were the rug joints—the Harvard Club, the Beverly Hills Club, the Mounds Club—where Moe Dalitz mastered the art of taking your money and helped build Las Vegas, the best “man trap” in America. Join author Ted Schwarz as he tracks wanted killers through the Statler Hotel and navigates the secret history of the Cleveland mob.
Cleveland Curiosities: Eliot Ness & His Blundering Raid, a Busker’s Promise, the Richest Heiress Who Never Lived and More Ted Schwarz 978.1.59629.919.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 28 images * $19.99
Packard Takes Flight: A Bird’s-Eye View of Columbus, Ohio Susan Sachs Levine, Illustrations by Erin McCauley Burchwell 978.1.60949.051.5 * 9.5 x 8.5 * hardcover* 32 pp, full color* 32 illustrations * $17.99
After a frightening fall from his nest high up on a ledge of the Rhodes Tower in downtown Columbus, Packard, a peregrine falcon chick, sets off to find his way back home. Follow Packard as he visits many of the wonderful sites in Ohio’s capital city, including the Center of Science and Industry, the Franklin Park Conservatory and the North Market. Finally arriving at the Statehouse, he can see his nest, and even his family, but how will he reach them? Susan Sachs Levine narrates Packard’s adventure, giving young readers a scenic and informative tour of notable Columbus sites.
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Eliot Ness might come busting in and take all of you crooks to jail—or more likely he won’t, even if you’ve been robbing banks all over Cleveland and bragging about it to the media, like self-proclaimed “last of the big-time bank robbers” Eddie Watkins. This isn’t your Kevin Costner version of Eliot Ness, and this isn’t your standard collection of Cleveland eccentrics. Join author Ted Schwarz on this romp celebrating bizarre misdeeds and noteworthy accomplishments of Clevelanders large and small. Learn of the burlesque star who created the striptease and the con woman who claimed to be Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter. Get to know present-day street musician Maurice Reedus Jr. and the remaining cast of loving souls, offbeat characters and one-of-a-kind Clevelanders.
Virginia Bakery Remembered Tom Thie and Cynthia Beischel
ohio 48
978.1.60949.114.7 * 6 x 9 * 240 pp, full color * 105 images * $24.99
Virginia Bakery Remembered offers the closest experience to stepping back inside the bakery and basking in the aromatic glory for which thousands still long. Savor the schnecken in this tribute to the Thie family’s iconic Cincinnati bakery, which served the community from 1927 to 2005. Reminisce in vignettes collected from newspapers and trade magazines, firsthand experience and customer memories. Rounding out this full-flavored history are nearly eighty recipes adapted to re-create the bakery’s famously adored goods in the home kitchen—replete with tips from co-author and Virginia Bakery owner Tom Thie. Go ahead and let your mouth water.
Remembering Flint, Michigan: Stories from the Vehicle City Gary Flinn 978.1.60949.018.8 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 76 images * $19.99
49
michigan
Hop in for a ride with local history columnist Gary Flinn to the halcyon days of Flint. Revisit the contributions of oft-overlooked David Buick, the inventive and invaluable Flint auto pioneer who lacked the business savvy to become an auto legend. Travel back to the original Kewpee Burger and wash it down with an old Vernor’s Ginger Ale before catching a show at Capitol Theatre. Fast-forward a few years and flip open a copy of the Flint Voice, the alternative newspaper published by controversial filmmaker and Flint native Michael Moore. Come along for the journey and time travel through Flint— the Vehicle City.
Eden Prairie: A Brief History Marie Wittenberg
50
minnesota
978.1.59629.941.2 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 101 images * $19.99
From scouting reports of Native American tribes to Money Magazine’s declaration that it was the best place to live in America, Eden Prairie has a history that commands attention. Few can rival Marie Wittenberg’s dedication to telling this story or match her intimate knowledge of her hometown’s changing landscape, from early sheep barns to modern megachurches. In this brief history, she describes how Eden Prairie got its name, visits with pioneer families and points out the local places and critical moments that shaped this beloved community’s identity.
Historic Hoosier Gyms: Discovering Bygone Basketball Landmarks Kyle Neddenriep, Foreword by Angelo Pizzo 978.1.59629.946.7 * 7.5 x 9 * 216 pp, full color * 246 images * $19.99
James M. Schmidt 978.1.59629.879.8 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 24 images * $19.99
While many institutions of higher education made great sacrifices during the Civil War, few can boast of the dedication and effort made by the University of Notre Dame. For four years, Notre Dame gave freely of its faculty and students as soldiers, sent its Holy Cross priests to the camps and battlefields as chaplains and dispatched its sisters to the hospitals as nurses. Though far from the battlefields, the war was ever-present on campus, as Notre Dame witnessed fisticuffs among the student body, provided a home to the children of a famous general, responded to political harassment and tried to keep at least some of its community from the fray. At war’s end, a proud Notre Dame welcomed back several bona fide war heroes and became home to a unique veterans’ organization.
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Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory
indiana
Kick snow from your shoes and step into the warmth of the old Hoosier high school basketball gym, where farmers in overalls line the court and students heckle referees from planks above the bleachers. Revisit a unique era when nearly every town had a high school and its own basketball team. The gyms featured here no longer host high school games, but once, they were home to the Ladoga Canners, the Mecca Arabs, the Roll Red Rollers, the Arlington Purple Breezes, the Warren Lightning Five and dozens more. Now they are elementary schools, community centers, fire stations, churches. Some are homes. Sadly, others are wasting away. But once again, the ball thuds in these gyms. The screams reverberate. The whistles blow. Join the Indianapolis Star’s Kyle Neddenriep on this tour of one hundred former Hoosier high school basketball gyms.
Wicked Northern Illinois: The Dark Side of the Prairie State Troy Taylor 978.1.59629.278.9 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 31 images * $19.99
52
illinois
From the secrets of Joliet Penitentiary to the ferocious gunfights between the Ku Klux Klan and the Shelton Gang, Troy Taylor takes the measure of the dishonest sweat and innocent blood poured into the prairies of Northern Illinois. Meet the “fallen angels” of Decatur’s red-light district, the Springfield counterfeiters who bungled stealing Lincoln’s bones and the Aurora man who propped up his porch with the heads of his wife and brother-in-law. And if you dare, eavesdrop on the chilling confession of a man who left a dancer’s corpse to the mercy of the railroad tracks: “So, I pat them on the cheek, call them sweet names—and kill them.”
Marshall Field’s: The Store that Helped Build Chicago Gayle Soucek 978.1.59629.854.5 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 106 images * $19.99
Chicago’s loyalty to Marshall Field’s is fierce. Dayton-Hudson even had to take out advertising around town to apologize for changing the Field’s hallowed green bags. And with good reason—the store and those who ran it shaped the city’s streets, subsidized its culture and heralded its progress. The resulting commercial empire dictated wholesale trade terms in Calcutta and sponsored towns in North Carolina, but its essence was always Chicago. So when the Marshall Field name was retired in 2006 after the stores were purchased by Macy’s, protest slogans like “Field’s is Chicago” and “Field’s: as Chicago as it gets” weren’t just emotional hype. Many still hope that name will be resurrected like the city it helped support during the Great Fire and the Great Depression. Until then, fans of Marshall Field’s can celebrate its history with this warm look back at the beloved institution.
From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois John J. Dunphy 978.1.59629.913.9 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 39 images * $19.99
Mike Doyle 978.1.59629.938.2 * 6 x 9 * 144 pp * 63 images * $19.99
Daniel Boone may never have set foot in the Illinois county that bears his name, but his tradition of blazing new trails is certainly honored here. Boone County has been the home of Native American legends, a Major League Baseball player, a Miss America and a cross-dressing Civil War soldier. And don’t forget Hairbreadth Harry, “King of the Hobos,” who wrote poetry, walked backward and bathed in gasoline. Enjoy the best of Mike Doyle’s historical columns as he introduces the fascinating folk of this “garden on the prairie,” where some of the tallest tales are true.
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Boone County Originals: Remarkable People and Curious Incidents
illinois
Journey to a region where all the perennials are said to bloom at midnight on Christmas Eve and where a family’s luck is determined by the first person to walk through their door on New Year’s Day. Spend a literary Christmas in Herrin, listen to the twelve bells of Belleville ring out the coming year and greet the three kings of Germantown at Epiphany. Whether you are a newcomer to southern Illinois or whether you feel like you have been singing “La Guiannée” since the tradition started in Prairie du Rocher in 1720, join John J. Dunphy for a season of sacred memories and merry recollections.
Sears Homes of Illinois Rosemary Thornton
54
illinois
978.1.59629.939.9 * 9.5 x 8.25 * 176 pp, full color * 228 images * $26.99
From 1908 to 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold nearly seventy-five thousand homes through its mail-order Modern Homes program. Families across the nation set about assembling the kits, using the thick instruction manual to puzzle out how twelve thousand pieces of house might fit together. The resulting dwellings were as durable as they were enchanting, swiftly becoming icons of the American landscape. Follow leading expert Rosemary Thornton through a lavishly illustrated history of the homes many Illinoisans don’t know they are living in. Recognize your own front porch on a page in the Neo-Tudor section of the style gallery and tell your plumber he’s helping to preserve a Barrington.
Effingham County: Transforming the Illinois Prairie F. Delaine Donaldson 978.1.59629.965.8 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 59 images * $19.99
Those who have halted their treks down the National Road in Effingham County form a diverse band of characters, from Joseph Boleyjack, known as the “parched corn, summer preacher,” to polished orators like William Jennings Bryan, who continued exhorting enthusiastic Effingham crowds as his train pulled away. Donaldson traces this story back to before this land was known as Effingham, to the burial mounds of the Kickapoo. He presses on through the challenges the county’s determined inhabitants faced in the twentieth century, from the horrors witnessed abroad in the world wars to those faced at home during the Great Depression and in the tragic St. Anthony’s Hospital fire. His obvious passion for the county’s past is sure to strike a spark with lifelong residents and new arrivals alike.
Chicago Calamities: Disaster in the Windy City Gayle Soucek 978.1.60949.034.8 * 6 x 9 * 112 pp * 54 images * $19.99
55
illinois
The story of Chicago is often likened to that of a phoenix rising out of the ashes of the Great Fire. Yet that infamous event was only part of the destruction that has shaped Chicago’s identity. Discover here the larger narrative of calamities that have befallen the Windy City, such as the 1954 killer water surge that swept in on a calm summer day, the 1967 tornado that ripped through rush hour traffic, the 1886 Haymarket Square riot that put Chicago on the anarchist map and many other acts of nature and human folly. As you witness a fireproof theater burn, a flood rise up without rain and one of the greatest maritime disasters occur within city limits, encounter both unexpected tragedies and unlikely heroes.
Live! At the Ozark Opry Dan William Peek, Foreword by Joyce Mace
56
missouri
978.1.59629.098.3 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 48 images * $19.99
In the Ozarks, music frames everything. The Ozark Opry was a focal point of that cultural tradition for over fifty years, playing to sold-out audiences and influencing the course of the American entertainment industry in vital ways hitherto untold. This behind-the-scenes story of Lee and Joyce Mace’s incredible venture by historian and former Opry performer Dan William Peek reawakens the foot tapping and fiddle scraping still clinging to the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks. This story also spotlights some of the most fascinating characters of the times—the Nashville stars, Chuck Foster, the Mabe Brothers, Albert Gannaway, Seymour Weiss, Scott O. Wright, Sarah Gertrude Knott and Cyrus Crane Willmore.
The Brookside Story: Shops of Every Necessary Character LaDene Morton 978.1.59629.300.7 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 62 images * $19.99
Brookside’s burgundy- and blue-striped awnings represent both a quaint corner of Kansas City where you can tread the creaky wooden floors of the Dime Store and a pragmatic philosophy that changed the way America planned its cities. Renowned developer J.C. Nichols’s “plan for permanence” was built on his conviction that if a community could offer its residents everything they would want and need, build to high standards and plan for future growth, the community would last. The Brookside shopping district has been giving the community everything it could want and need since 1919, helping it weather economic turbulence, natural disasters and dramatic changes.
African Americans in Mid-Missouri: From Pioneers to Ragtimers Rose M. Nolen 978.1.59629.609.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 40 images * $19.99
Arline Chandler 978.1.60949.004.1 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 70 images * $19.99
Millions of Americans cherish childhood memories of family trips to Branson to see performances by the Baldknobbers or the Presleys. Now they take their own children to see how new generations of those same entertaining families continue to split sides and tug heartstrings. Go backstage with Arline Chandler in places like Silver Dollar City and the Shepherd of the Hills. Reminisce in the stories of the people who made Branson into the showbiz marvel that it is today while holding on to the values of hard work and family at the town’s cultural foundation. And learn about the emergence of newer acts like the Duttons, the Hughes Brothers and Shoji Tabuchi in a place where Broadway and the backwoods shake hands and SIX voices is all that is needed to produce a full orchestra.
57
The Heart of Branson: The Entertaining Families of America’s Live Music Show Capital
missouri
Brought to Mid-Missouri to serve as slaves but rising up to proudly serve the community as leaders, African Americans have made an indelible contribution to the region. Join historian Rose M. Nolen for the story of some of the most remarkable characters and institutions to come out of Columbia and Sedalia. Allow yourself to be drawn in by authors like Chester Himes and ragtime legends like Scott Joplin and to be inspired by educators like C.C. Hubbard and innovators like Tom Bass. Or link arms with some George R. Smith alumni and let loose a rousing rendition of the college yell from one of the best schools on the prairie.
Fort Davidson and the Battle of Pilot Knob: Missouri’s Alamo Walter E. Busch
58
missouri
978.1.60949.023.2 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 33 images * $21.99
Local civilians and Civil War veterans felt a special connection to Fort Davidson long after the war. The survivors formed the Pilot Knob Memorial Association to ensure that the focal point of their battle, their glory and their Civil War would never be forgotten. Historian Walter Busch presents the association’s records, along with Iron County court records, newspaper accounts and surviving photographs, to relate the history of the Battle of Pilot Knob and chronicle the diligent work to preserve Fort Davidson, now a state historic site.
Paris of the Plains: Kansas City from Doughboys to Expressways John Simonson 978.1.60949.062.1 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 50 images * $17.99
From the end of the Great War to the final years of the 1950s, Kansas Citians lived in a manner worthy of a place called Paris of the Plains. The title did more than nod to the perfumed ladies who shopped at Harzfeld’s Parisian or the one-thousand-foot television antenna nicknamed the “Eye-full Tower.” It spoke to the character of a town that worked for Boss Tom and danced for Count Basie but transcended both the Pendergast era and the Jazz Age. Author John Simonson introduces readers to a town of vaudeville shows and screened-in porches, where fleets of cream-and-black streetcars passed beneath a canopy of elms. This is a history that smells equally of lilacs and stockyards and bursts with the clamor of gunshots, radio baseball and the distant whistle of a night train.
The West Plains Dance Hall Explosion Lin Waterhouse 978.1.60949.116.1 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 49 images * $19.99
59
missouri
The 1928 explosion that transformed a West Plains dance hall into a raging inferno sparked feverish national media attention and decades of bitterness in the Missouri town it tore apart. And while the story inspired a popular country song, the firestorm that claimed thirty-nine lives remains an unsolved mystery. In this first book on the notorious catastrophe, Lin Waterhouse presents a clear account of the event and its aftermath that judiciously weighs conflicting testimony and deeply respects the personal anguish experienced by parents forced to identify their children by their clothing and personal trinkets.
Madison: History of a Model City Erika Janik 978.1.59629.121.8 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 26 images * $19.99
60
wisconsin
Beginning with the retreat of the Wisconsin glacier and the story of early Native American peoples, Janik narrates the journey of Wisconsin’s capital city from the “center of the wilderness” to the “Laboratory of Democracy.” Learn how Madison’s citizens responded to the Civil War, industrialization and two world wars, as well as how advances in the rights of workers, women, Native Americans and African Americans made Madison the multifaceted city it is today. Comprehensive, accessible and swift, Madison: History of a Model City offers a fresh take on how Madison and its people came into being.
Hidden History of the Wisconsin Dells Area Ross M. Curry 978.1.60949.031.7 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp + 8 pp color * 44 images * $19.99
The history of the Wisconsin Dells area is as unique as its glacier-sculpted landscape. It has been a gathering place for tribal councils, a vacation spot for enthralled tourists and a stopping point for the raftsmen who might have had a little too much of the “Devil’s Eyewater” brewed by pioneer Robert Allen. Local expert Ross M. Curry has been chronicling the region for almost sixty years, from Baraboo to Lyndon. Join him for those chapters of the area’s story that he himself has witnessed, and then follow him as he hikes back to a time before the Kilbourn Dam, when towns were lit by gaslight, justice might be enforced by duels or “necktie parties” and hardships had to be outlasted by tightknit families with unshakable faith and their own butter churns.
Sheboygan: Tales of the Tragic & Bizarre William Wangemann 978.1.60949.035.5 * 6 x 9 * 112 pp * 40 images * $19.99
Robert Tanzilo 978.1.60949.067.6 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 29 images * $19.99
On a chilly day in September, the patriotic, pro-Protestant preaching of an Italian immigrant pastor, August Giuliani, ignited a riot in Milwaukee’s small Italian enclave of Bay View that injured two policemen and killed two rioters. Two months later, someone placed a bomb in Giuliani’s Third Ward church in an apparent act of retaliation, and a parishioner carried the explosive to Central Police Station, where it detonated, killing nine policemen and a civilian. Within a week, the trial of the Bay View Italians began in a city inflamed with fear, distrust and vengeance. The national buzz attracted big names to the case, including attorney Clarence Darrow and radical heroine Emma Goldman. Join Robert Tanzilo as he carefully navigates the minefield of racial, political and religious tension that tore apart Milwaukee’s Italian community in 1917.
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The Milwaukee Police Station Bomb of 1917
wisconsin
Sheboygan deserves its reputation as a conservative city—clean, quiet and law-abiding. But here are some stories that have been swept under the rug or lost overboard. Venture into the mists of the “Lake Michigan Triangle” that have swallowed boats, planes and entire tribes. Investigate speakeasy shootings, safes burgled by a fly swatter, poisoned Christmas candy, flaming shipwrecks and the hoax that had militiamen firing on their own cattle. Or just sit down with some bizarre anecdotes about a hometown you thought you knew, from the town’s first baseball game to the man freed from jail by a jug of whiskey to the deputy sheriff who had to enforce Nicholas Hoffman’s first bath in fifty years.
Soul of a Port: The History and Evolution of the Port of Milwaukee Leah Dobkin
62
wisconsin
978.1.60949.081.2 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 71 images * $19.99
Ever since her boat drifted up against the mammoth docks in Milwaukee’s harbor, Leah Dobkin has been enthralled by the evolution of the port and the city so firmly moored to it. From an era when it was a “Milwaukee Miracle” to make landfall without losing luggage to a promising future powered by alternative energy, Soul of a Port is steered by that same sense of wonder. And since the port’s story is not just one of nuts, bolts and cranes, Dobkin’s narrative is also well crewed by the characters who have given the place such a fascinating legacy. Settle in for an entertaining passage that includes a longshoreman’s poetry, the Milwaukee Clipper’s recipe for prime rib, a tugboat ghost story and much, much more.
Notorious Jefferson County: Frontier Murder & Mayhem Carol Turner 978.1.59629.954.2 * 6 x 9 * 128 pp * 38 images * $19.99
Carol Turner 978.1.60949.086.7 * 128 pp * 48 images * $19.99
While today’s Telluride might bring to mind a hot tourist spot and upscale ski resort, the earliest days of the town and surrounding San Miguel County were marked by an abundance of gamblers, con men and murderers. From Bob Meldrum, a deputized killer who prowled the streets during times of labor unrest, to the author’s own ancestor, Charlie Turner, a brash young man killed in a shooting in Ophir, Carol Turner’s Notorious Telluride offers a glimpse at some of the sordid, shocking and sad pioneer tales of the area.
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Notorious Telluride: Tales from San Miguel County
colorado
Before the Colorado Territory, this land was Jefferson Territory. Made up mostly of ranching and farming communities, early Jefferson County was the kind of place where only the stouthearted and downright crazy could survive. And with any settlement comes violence. It’s true that Hollywood has embellished the history of the Wild West, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t truly wild. From the “psychic” Italian mother who lured an elderly woman to her death to the violent end of the McQueary-Shaffer feud in the upper Platte region, local historian Carol Turner’s Notorious Jefferson County offers readers a peek into some of the area’s most famous and infamous murder cases of the frontier era.
Ladies of the Brown: A Women’s History of Denver’s Most Elegant Hotel Debra Faulkner
64
colorado
978.1.60949.128.4 * 6 x 9 * 160 pp * 80 images * $19.99
Since the day it opened in 1892, Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel has been the Mile High City’s foremost destination for high-powered business travelers, celebrities, royalty and politicians. In Ladies of the Brown, hotel historian and archivist Debra Faulkner introduces readers to some of the hotel’s most fascinating and famous female visitors, residents and employees. From Denver’s “Unsinkable” Molly Brown and Romania’s Queen Marie to Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mamie Eisenhower and many, many more, these intriguing characters play leading roles in true tales of romance, scandal, humor and heartbreak. This collection of stories is integral to the history of the Brown Palace and Denver, offering a glimpse into the lives of generations of women from all walks of life.
Forgotten Cuchareños of the Lower Valley Virginia Sanchez 978.1.60949.134.5 * 6 x 9 * 192 pp * 84 images * $19.99
In the late 1800s, Colorado’s first Hispano settlers, the Cuchareños, settled in what was to become Colorado’s Huerfano County. Their story is an important and almost forgotten part of Colorado’s history as a whole, though their contributions are still felt throughout the area today and their descendants still call this land home. In Forgotten Cuchareños of the Lower Valley, historian Virginia Sanchez brings this fascinating account of Native, Hispano and Anglo cultures to life, presenting new historical information about the people of the lost city of Cucharas.
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