Local History

What dark secrets lie hidden within the heart of America's Dairyland? From the shadows of Milwaukee's urban landscape to the quiet forests of the Northwoods, this captivating true-story anthology explores the more sinister sides of Wisconsin's history. Uncover the twisted tales of notorious killers, delve into the unsolved mysteries of vanished souls, and journey through the haunted halls of some historical landmarks, where restless spirits linger and ghostly apparitions roam.

In the popular imagination the picture of slavery, frozen in time, is one of huge cotton plantations and opulent mansions. However, in over a hundred years of history detailed in this book, the hard reality of slavery in Mississippi's antebellum world is strikingly different from the one of popular myth. It shows that Mississippi's past was never frozen, but always fluid. It shows too that slavery took a number of shapes before its form in the late antebellum mold became crystalized for popular culture.

G.C. "Red" Jones' classic memoir of growing up in rural eastern Kentucky during the Depression is a story of courage, persistence, and eventual triumph. His priceless and detailed recollections of hardscrabble farming, of the impact of Prohibition on an individualistic people, of the community-destroying mine wars of "Bloody Harlan", and of the drastic dislocations brought by World War II are essential to understanding this seminal era in Appalachian history.

The Federalist Frontier traces the development of Federalist policies and the Federalist Party in the first three states of the Northwest Territory - Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois - from the nation’s first years until the rise of the Second Party System in the 1820s and 1830s. Kristopher Maulden argues that Federalists originated many of the policies and institutions that helped the young United States government take a leading role in the American people’s expansion and settlement westward across the Appalachians.

On December 3, 1999, the call crackled in to the men of the Worchester, Massachusetts Fire Department: a three-alarm warehouse blaze in a six-story windowless colossus of brick and mortar. What happened next, and how their lives and community were changed forever, offers an unprecedented look at these heroic men whose job it is to rush into burning buildings when everyone else just wants out.

Hollywood and Christianity often seem to be at war. Indeed, there is a long list of movies that have attracted religious condemnation, from Gone with the Wind with its notorious "damn," to The Life of Brian and The Last Temptation of Christ. But the reality, writes William Romanowski, has been far more complicated - and remarkable. In Reforming Hollywood, Romanowski, a leading historian of popular culture, explores the long and varied efforts of Protestants to influence the film industry.

This book includes new heartbreaking stories, such as the seven canyoneers in 2015 who all died in a flash flood in Keyhole Canyon, two separate BASE jumping deaths, rock climbing, and flash flood deaths in the Narrows. Zion National Park is home to majestic and wondrous canyons, cliffs, crags, mesas, rivers, and slot canyons. World travelers remain in awe as they drive, walk, hike, and climb into such a unique place that is filled with vibrant, sacred, and mystical energy.

Central Massachusetts is a land of oddities and apparitions. Stories of the strange and paranormal have been passed down from generation to generation and only the local populace has any idea of just how vast and deep their superstitions run. It’s time to truly learn that the world around you is much more than you can touch, taste, smell, see, and hear...or at least that’s what a good story is supposed to do!

The Dutch, through the directors of the West India Company, purchased Manhattan Island in 1625. They had come to the New World as traders, not expecting to assume responsibility as the sovereign possessor of a conquered New Netherland. They did not intend to make war on the native peoples around Manhattan Island, but they did; they did not intend to help destroy native cultures, but they did; they intended to be overseas the tolerant, pluralistic, and antimilitaristic people they thought themselves to be - and in so many respects were - at home, but they were not.

Seamer can claim to be the longest inhabited site in Britain, the possible remains of a 10,000 year old dwelling having been found in 2010 at the Star Carr excavations along with the remains of the first domesticated dog found anywhere. In this new book, Sheila McGeown takes us from these early inhabitants through the Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods, the Middle Ages and the turmoil of the Civil War down to the era of growth and prosperity in the Victorian age to the present day with its fast-moving changes and challenges. It is a book not only for the inhabitants of Seamer but for anyone ...

This fully revised book follows the development of the town of Filey in North (formerly East) Yorkshire from its origins as a village settlement closely involved with the sea and fishing to its growth as a holiday resort in the reign of Queen Victoria to changes in the present day. Points of interest along the way include Filey's involvement with the pioneer aviators and the building of Butlin's Holiday Camp. the book is fully illustrated with early contemporary photographs. Michael Fearon was born in Filey and his home has always been there. Following time at school in Bridlington, army ...

Discover Fredericksburg, Virginia, like never before in this immersive journey through the city's rich and complex history. From the solemn echoes of the Civil War and the painful reminders of slavery, such as the infamous auction block at William and Charles Streets, to the inspiring resilience of the African American community celebrated through Juneteenth events, this book paints a vivid portrait of a town shaped by both triumph and tragedy. Explore the scenic beauty of Alum Spring Park and Old Mill Park, where the natural landscape tells its own stories of refuge, industry, and recreation.

British demands to move the northern border as far south as the Ohio River put New York on the first line of defense. But it was the leadership of Governor Daniel D. Tompkins that distinguished the state’s contribution to the war effort, effectively mobilizing the considerable human and material resources that proved crucial to maintaining the nation’s sovereignty. New York’s War of 1812 shows how, despite a widespread antiwar movement and fierce partisan politics, Tompkins managed to corral and maintain support—until 1814, when Britain agreed to peace.

The gentrification of Brooklyn has been one of the most striking developments in recent urban history. Considered one of the city's most notorious industrial slums in the 1940s and 1950s, Brownstone Brooklyn by the 1980s had become a post-industrial landscape of hip bars, yoga studios, and beautifully renovated, wildly expensive townhouses. In The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn, Suleiman Osman offers a groundbreaking history of this unexpected transformation.

The University of California, Berkeley—widely known as "Cal"—is admired worldwide as a bastion of innovation and a hub for progressive thought. Far less known are the university's roots in plunder, warfare, and the promotion of white supremacy. As Tony Platt shows in The Scandal of Cal, these original sins sit at the center of UC Berkeley's history.

In Under the Dome, Alan Hantman, the Architect of the Capitol from 1997 to 2007, provides a personal account of how the Capitol works as a physical space; who runs it, how and why decisions are made about the security of the Capitol and the people who work there, and how politicians think about the Capitol Building.

A must-listen for all who enjoy Alaska history! Adventurers, crooks, and lawmen flooded into Alaska following the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Towns like Nome, Fairbanks, and Valdez blossomed on the tundra and soon filled with merchants, madams, miners, and more.

Rosalin Barker’s history of Whitby traces the story of the town from its beginnings in the middle ages, through its heyday as one of England’s leading ports to the present day. It is fully illustrated, featuring the photographs of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe.Born in Scotland, Rosalin Barker is a graduate of Birmingham University. Most of her working life was spent in university adult education, tutoring for Cambridge, Open, Leeds and Hull universities, and as a research fellow at Essex University. She retired in 1999 as tutor-organiser in Whitby, for Hull University, of which she is now an ...

Dear Traveler, Welcome to the WanderStories™ tour of the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. We, at WanderStories™, are storytellers. We don’t tell you where to eat or sleep, we don’t intend to replace a typical travel reference guide. Our mission is to be the best local guide that you would wish to have by your side when visiting the sights. So, we meet you at the sight and take you on a tour. WanderStories™ travel guides are unique because our storytelling style puts you alongside the best local guide who tells you fascinating stories and unusual facts recreating the passion and ...

In America Walks into a Bar, Christine Sismondo recounts the rich and fascinating history of an institution often reviled, yet always central to American life. She traces the tavern from England to New England, showing how even the Puritans valued "a good Beere".