1800s American history

Forgotten History in the Tar Heel State

Take an adventure through ruins of ghost towns and lost communities in the Old North State. Explore isolated settlements like Lost Cove, hidden so deep in the mountains that no roads reach it. Ferry out to Portsmouth Island, where a ghost town has withstood multiple wars and generations of hurricanes. Explore the ruins of Brunswick Town, a port community of secret rebels destroyed in the Revolutionary War as punishment for “treason” against the British. Visit decaying remains in Snow Camp, a community that sheltered freedom seekers in the Underground Railroad.

Author Heather Leah details the lost and forgotten towns of North Carolina.

Take a juicy foray into the all-but-forgotten history of Chilton County, Alabama.

"Old Atlanta'? may conjure images of Southern belles and Civil War ruination, but the full story stretches back millennia.

From centuries of Native American settlements that ended with the removal of the Creeks to the rough and ready pioneer days, the area was rich in history long before it was called Atlanta. Author Mark Pifer unfolds a rich saga, including forgotten details from the struggles of African Americans and new immigrants while noting modern locations bursting with tales that predate the City in the Forest's rise amid the treetops.

Dig into the untold stories and lesser-known tales of MoCo.

Washington, D.C.’s next-door neighbor has seen many a politician, militant and Red Line passenger travel within its bounds, but the county’s own, unique history has sometimes been buried. Learn about George Washington’s Dickerson farm and what made one Germantown man take explosive revenge on his neighbor. How has a 105-year-old woman seen her community change over more than a century? Which groundbreaking horror movie filmed many of its iconic scenes around the area?

Author Brian Myers, a Gaithersburg native, has trekked across the county on a mission to record more than thirty chapters of the wildest, most shocking and inspiring stories that Montgomery County has to offer.

Author Jeff Suwak guides readers on a tour of the often overlooked and all-but-forgotten components of Amelia Island history.  Beneath the sands and cobblestones of Amelia Island lies a richness of history disproportionate to the location’s relatively small size. The bones of this place are composed of pirate treasures literal and metaphorical, remnants of ancient Timucuan Indians, a grim role in the illegal slave trade, tales of bravery and madness, and a scene for the triumph of the human spirit. Eight different flags have flown over Amelia Island. It was an important stage in the 1812 Patriot War, which most people have long forgotten. From Gregor MacGregor to Abraham Lincoln Lewis, characters strange and inspiring have left their mark in this island’s psychic currents. Dead in some ways, they’re still here in others, etched into the land itself and waiting to be discovered. Let’s go find them.

Often overshadowed by its larger neighbors, Monroe County offers a rich tapestry of history for those willing to look.

French-Canadian settlers left behind legends of monsters, ghosts, and witches. In war time, the community answered the call to arms with more soldiers per capita than any other county in the nation and proved a suitable hometown to take refuge between gun shots from none other than George Armstrong Custer. Like most communities, its sordid past reveals crimes and tragedies—including body snatching. More recently, a partial nuclear meltdown brought the city to the brink of disaster, but Monroe not only survived but now thrives.

Join local author Shawna Lynn Mazur for a trip through little-known and forgotten parts of Monroe County’s past.

Delve into the forgotten past of town and university.

Well known as a university town, Chapel Hill’s rich and fascinating history dates back to the eighteenth century. Learn all about the origins of the 1,200-acre Strowd plantation and its complete transformation into a modern neighborhood. Robert Strowd was vital to the town’s prosperity, growth and image. Meet aristocratic slaveholder Hardy Morgan, who grew tobacco in today’s Glen Lennox area and wealthy dry goods merchant Jesse Hargrave, whose plantation home stood in today’s Greenwood. Learn about Adelaide Walters, who in 1957 became the town’s first female alderman, and Harold Foster, the Black high schooler who spearheaded the 1960s fight against segregation. Witness the thirteen-year controversy over fluoridating water and dig into the details of a mysterious case of cyanide poisoning on the UNC campus.

Author Brian Burns recounts lesser known tales of Chapel Hill.

LaGrange, Kentucky, was founded in 1827 with a mainline railroad track running down Main Street. Home to many farmers and industrialists, the city has a rich history and is even tied, in a way, to the Marquis de Lafayette. Join author Nancy Stearns Theiss as she details the deep history of the Kindness Capitol of Kentucky.

Explore neglected corners of Hamilton County history

Hamilton County's past harbors sundry strange tales, many of them lost to time--until now. In 1867, a groom disappeared just before his wedding, presumably running away on cold feet. Four decades later his remains were discovered buried under a shed in a mystery that remains unsolved. In the 1870s, the Sheriff marshaled a seven-man posse, including two local African Americans, to deal with "desperados'? in an isolated corner of the county. Their heroic efforts swiftly liberated the local populous from the yoke of banditry. A giant wave of ravenous squirrels descended on Central Indiana in 1882 to feast on crops, to the shock and dismay of new settlers.

Join county historian David Heighway for a tour of all things odd and forgotten.

The rural landscape of Henry County, Indiana, offers a bumper crop of captivating stories deeply rooted in history.

John “Snowball” Merida’s towering, crowd-thrilling home runs could have landed him in the Major Leagues were it not for his skin color. Native son Gen. Omar Bundy refused to retreat in World War I. His decision in all probability saved Paris from the Germans. A solitary chimney stack is an oddity in a green landscape, but it was in this spot more than a hundred years ago that a decision changed the course of New Castle history.

Compiling stories of brave veterans and basketball heroes, nationally known catchphrases and political could-have-beens, author and local historian Darrel Radford uncovers lost gems from Henry County’s past.

Remembering the rich past of the Princess City

Mishawaka's history overflows with forgotten stories of people and events that shaped the city and even influenced the nation. The city celebrated one of its most exciting days on July 5, 1909, when thousands watched a massive parade and the dedication of Hotel Mishawaka. A timeless but overlooked photograph captured the patriotism of brave volunteers as they left to fight in World War I on May 10, 1917. The 1926-27 Mishawaka High basketball team made the school's only appearance in the state finals. During the Vietnam War, Talos missiles manufactured in town struck North Vietnam and avenged a captured local pilot.

Author Peter J. De Kever brings to life these and other stories from the Mishawaka of yesteryear.

The author of Lost Rochester explores more Med City history beyond the medicine.

Stories surrounding the establishment of Rochester as a medical mecca are well documented and often showcased, but countless other tales haven’t received as much attention. William Costley, son of the first slave freed by Abraham Lincoln, lived his last few months at Rochester State Hospital. Beloved citizen Reinhold Bach sailed aboard the doomed ocean liner the Empress of Ireland. The life of Minnie Bowron, hired as the city’s first policewoman in 1917, offers an intriguing story, and teenager Lottie Schermerhorn awed crowds during the Roaring Twenties with daredevil aerial stunts.

Join historian Amy Jo Hahn on an engaging narrative journey, a revelation of fascinating characters who made their mark on Rochester.

Join the author of Historic Theaters of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley and Lost Youngstown in an excavation of forgotten stories from bygone days.

Beyond steel and rust, Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley share a rich, but often overlooked past. During the late 1910s, the ever-present smoke blanketing the area could not hide the fires from the burning business district of East Youngstown or the city streets deserted from Spanish influenza. Over twenty years later, the Mahoning Valley lived under another dark cloud, the Great Depression, but instead of violence and destruction, the men and women of the WPA busied themselves with building up the region and dreaming of better days.

Journalist and historian Sean Posey excavates the history behind familiar landmarks, forgotten institutions, and historic sites that connect Mahoning Valley history to the story of the evolution of industrial America.

At the center of Indiana lies Boone County, a seemingly quiet place with a colorful past.

The stagecoach along the Michigan Road helped to start the county, then the railroad transformed it as new towns were created along the routes. Some of these towns are now gone, leaving behind a few buildings and a sign marking where they once existed. Local vagabond Thorntown Cyrus entertained area residents with his accordion, a couple touted his and hers tractors, and the Cragun twins met a tragic demise. Mysteries surround true stories such as a rogue monkey seen wandering a community and why a butcher attacked a prominent citizen.

Author Heather Phillips Lusk brings these stories and more to life to reveal what makes Boone County unique.

Today, Athens County is known for its peaceful and idyllic character, but in days gone by, the area was far less sedate.

Small towns like Redtown, Hebbardsville or Eclipse got their names from early settlers and coal barons who brought ambition and industry with them. The area’s deep history of coal mining is well known, but salt manufacturing, railroads and canals also thrived—for a time. Albany, Amesville and Athens all played a part in leading freedom seekers north on the Underground Railroad, and John Morgan Hunt set barns and bridges ablaze during his Civil War raid.

Athens County native and Local History Department Librarian Lorinda LeClain unearths these little-known stories and many more.

A colorful Midwestern city with a colorful past

Eau Claire’s history is a rich tapestry of tragedy, mystery, and everything in between. Time after time, a round-faced man with a bristly mustache appeared amongst loggers in late nineteenth-century photos, but who was this man? In 1903, residents were left stumped when a mysterious body arrived by train from Chicago. Thirty years later, Hollywood came to Eau Claire with a world premiere of Out All Night, a comedy starring Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville. Facing a labor shortage during World War II, the city welcomed German POWs and often worked side by side with them in the corn and pea fields.

Local authors Jodi Kiffmeyer and Diana Peterson collect the humorous, heart-breaking, and utterly befuddling stories of the city’s past. 

Sift through nearly forgotten and altogether fascinating elements from two hundred years of Hoosier history.

A lost river flows in—and under—Southern Indiana. The ghostly remains of a defunct ordnance plant in LaPorte County bely the industriousness of the six thousand men and women who worked there at its height to support the home front effort during World War II. Balloonists delighted Hoosier crowds in the days before the airplane, and Studebakers roared along on the Studebaker proving grounds just west of South Bend.

From the long history of Indiana’s coal industry to the construction of the state’s first railroad, author Edward J. Fujawa offers a fresh angle on the well-known while unearthing remarkable and obscure tales from two centuries of Indiana history.

Uncovering Uniquely Montanan Stories

More than steamboats and famous explorers, Great Falls’s history is colored with compelling episodes nearly lost to the ages. Glacial Lake Great Falls changed the course of the Missouri River while carving fascinating geological features like Lost Lake, the Big Sag, and Lewis and Clark’s Slaughter River. Copper from Butte mines, Anaconda smelters, and Great Falls refineries wired the world and helped win the World Wars. Landless Indigenous peoples sought refuge on a hill called 57. A local crusading editor became “Montana’s Conscience” and authored the revered Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome. A Civil War monument was raised to honor both the Blue and the Gray—the first in the nation to do so. Pathbreaking preservationists Charley and Sue Bovey saved acclaimed gold rush–era Virginia City before historic preservation was cool.

Award-winning historian Ken Robison brings to life little-known accounts from a storied past.