Town Histories

Humor writer Mark R. Hunter often speaks of his life ballooning out of control, and there’s no better example than this work, a look at the first century of service for his home town’s volunteer fire department. Hunter, who’s also a thirty-three year veteran firefighter, turned an idea for a pamphlet for the Albion fire Department’s 100th anniversary into a 25 year marathon that produced a book … just in time for the 125th anniversary. Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights chronicles the hazardous early days of Albion, Indiana, which like many small towns of the time tended to burn down...

Katie McFeury buys an old three-cabin resort for pennies on the dollar at a real estate auction in Northern Wisconsin thereby securing her dream of resort ownership. This small resort sits along a gorgeous bay of Blueberry Lake; hence, the resort’s name. Not having been in the Northwoods for many years, Katie is unaware that she has walked into the middle of a local mystery that yet remains unsolved. A mystery that surrounds the lake that her little resort is nestled along. A lake that is reported to be…cursed. Can Katie make the resort a success despite the rumors traveling around town...

There is a corner of every town and city in Britain where the air is tangy with vinegar and thick with the scent of frying. It is almost impossible not to follow this mesmeric vapour trail, fuelling a nostalgic rush of parents across the land declaring ‘Chippy tea!’, followed by the golden anticipation of the chip shop queue. In this lively and relatable book, acclaimed author Daniel Gray ponders the magic of chippies and rejoices in the delights they have sprinkled among us over the last 150 years.

This inspiring guide highlights the historical background of America, and is filled with personal stories and practical tips for you to easily begin making a difference immediately in your hometown politics, through a bottom-up approach....

This is the third book in THE CRIMPER OF OLD TOWN novella series… Portland, Oregon - Spring 1876… Morris and Drexler combine their skills and robbery earnings to buy and remodel a rundown hotel that soon provides more than just luxurious accommodations to Old Town's finest visitors. Through strife and absurdity, their venture flourishes, drawing the attention of nefarious competitors along the way... Told with saturated visuals and a tongue-in-cheek approach, The Crimper of Old Town, is a fast-paced saga set against the underbelly of America’s port cities. Featuring a raucous group of...

daily life of a man who discovers he is in love and that he can become a teacher in a small rural town and marry. Then his adventures begin.

In "Master and Man," Bobbie is a black man who can outride, outfight, and outshoot any white man in the mountain desert. His unwavering moral code serves as a model for his often cruel and dissolute white master.

Ed Nebinger was inspired to write these memoirs by his realization of how greatly privileged he had been to be able to grow up in a wonderful part of America during the Great Depression. The Lehigh Valley is a beautiful, fertile area, surrounded by picturesque mountains, and populated by a talented and productive people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The years he spent growing up in the Pennsylvania steel town of Bethlehem before World War II proved to be pivotal ones in our country's history.

This is Australia, an unnamed, dead-end town in the heart of the outback - a desolate place of gas stations and fast-food franchises: flat and nearly abandoned. When a young writer arrives to research just such depressing middles-of-nowhere as they are choked into oblivion, he finds something more sinister than economic depression: The ghost towns of Australia appear to be literally disappearing. An epidemic of mysterious holes is threatening his new home’s very existence, and this discovery plunges the researcher into an abyss of weirdness from which he may never escape.

"A thoroughly enchanting story with a warm, soothing feel to it . Reading this book is like putting on comfy slippers. Highly recommended!’ Wishing Shelf Award Finalist “Intense and evocative… A stunner.” The Prairies Book Review “Beautifully written, it is an enchanting story that I will read again and again.” Reader’s Favorite ~ 5 Star Award “BarefootAlice” is a heart-warming tale of one woman’s journey of loves, lost and found, of discovering ancestral ties and the magical interconnection with life. Dumped by her husband and homeless, middle-aged Alice finds herself ...

Anything from spooky ghosts to pumpkin spiced lattes - this party trivia will test your knowledge on all things Halloween! Entertain the guests with never-heard-of facts and knowledge!

The first settlers in the Fairbury area was Major Darnell south of town in 1829 and the McDowells north of town in 1832. In 1857, the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad installed new tracks which helped to create the village of Fairbury. This book is a collection of over 70 different carefully researched stories about various aspects of Fairbury history. These stories run the range from the pioneer settlers to modern efforts to preserve Fairbury history. It is hoped this book will help people better understand the almost 200 years of rich history that helped to define the community of Fairbury.

In 1950, China claimed sovereignty over Tibet, leading to decades of unrest and resistance, defining the country today. In Eat the Buddha, Barbara Demick chronicles the Tibetan tragedy from Ngaba, a defiant town on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau where dozens of Tibetans have shocked the world since 2009 by immolating themselves.

A History of Dearborn County serves as a great historical resource for home school students and Indiana history buffs. It includes information on museums, historical markers, National Register of Historic Sites and other areas of historical interest in Dearborn County, Indiana. The guide is a great help in planning field trips as local parks and nature preserves are included in the book, as well. Readers will discover historical information on Dearborn County cities and towns like Aurora, Lawrenceburg, Greendale the smaller communities in the county. Home schooling parents and local history...

August 1957. Lewis Aldridge, straight out of jail, stands alone at a Surrey railway station. He's returned to the village where he grew up: the village where, a decade earlier, tragedy tore his family apart, leaving him to a troubled adolescence without a mother and with a father he barely knew. Now, the only person who understands him is Kit, daughter of a bullying local businessman. Soon they realise that to forge their own futures, they must first confront the darkest secrets of their past.

Rye, 70 miles south of London, is a small town, rich in history, and numerous well-preserved historical buildings. The town is just the right size to go on a walking tour. This guide takes you to every important building and explains it and directs you to the next one.There are stories of French raids, piracy, murder, plague and Royal visits.The historical background is set out in brief history lessons to read on the tour or at home. There are over 100 photographs.

Stan Paregien's "Oklahoma Almanac of Facts & Humor: Part 2 - Okarche to Zafra" contains lots of historical information about the state of Oklahoma and its people. Part 1 covers the towns of Achilee to Nowata. Be sure to download both Parts. However, this ain't your grandpa's dry, boring history book. No, siree. The author tells the unique stories of Oklahoma's cities and towns and villages (148 of them, in both Parts). All of the towns which are county seats in Oklahoma's 77 counties are covered in the 2 Parts, plus 71 others. And he writes about each town with a conversational style which ...

The country celebrates newfound prosperity and peace. Does Westchester Farm benefit? Western Pennsylvania, 1920. Henderson Westchester lords over his massive farm and family. The widower and father of seven children contemplates the unthinkable. The transfer of his family farm to his youngest child, a girl! Feisty, brilliant, outspoken, Olive Westchester remains at odds with her father after her favorite brother’s death. The nineteen-year-old who dreams of independence via a college education, not property ownership, succeeds in making her family’s life miserable as she awaits ...

Only a few people knew the girl who raised herself in the woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With a coyote pup named Red and a crow, Heddi ate fish, mushrooms and berries and survived. In Keweenaw Stump Juice, it is now 1918. Prohibition causes upheaval. Lumbering wanes, WWI takes young men off to war, and Heddi matures. She is more comfortable in woodland isolation but allows a few relationships to develop. In the first part of the book, she learns to embrace Bizaan, Pete and Cookie, her lumberjack buddies. In the second part, she finds unlikely friendships with quirky characters like ...

There is a harvest moon over Toulouse, but it’s going to be a very dark night. Eleven-year-old Micah Stevens intends to free the dogs from a puppy mill in the woods outside of town. Teenager Jenny Allard and her boyfriend Michael Kennedy have come up with a plan to get even with two of the school’s most notorious thugs. Gloria Downing is coming home after a decade running from her past. On this Indian summer evening in October of 1981, the little town is about to add several chapters to its long and bizarre history. Come along as award winning novelist, Chris Morrow, gives you the grand...