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On Wednesday, November 5, 1930, Sunday Creek Coal Company Mine #6 at Millfield became the unenviable site of Ohio's worst coal mining disaster. Negligence caused an electrical spark to ignite accumulated methane and detonated untreated explosive dust. Within minutes 82 men were dead, 56 women became widows and 137 dependents found themselves fatherless. Approximately 120 men not in the direct line of blast and flame escaped. Miraculously, 19 others were found barely alive many hours after all were presumed dead. The tragedy could have been prevented if proper procedures had been followed and profit not put before worker safety. Author Ron Luce brings all of the facts together for the first time to tell the story of the Millfield Mine Disaster in full detail.

Every city has its odd and scary side, and Dayton is no exception.

The ghost of Paul Sorg still sits in his favorite seat in the Sorg Opera House more than a hundred years after his death. The so-called phantom terrorized truck drivers crossing the Englewood Dam before disappearing for good. The famed Butter Street Monster roams Germantown. Magee Park is home to numerous bigfoot and ghost sightings--and even a unicorn sighting. A building of many names, the tower on Patterson Boulevard in Kettering near Hills and Dales Park has been the source of many stories for generations, but only now is its true story finally told.

Dayton native, author, and host of the Dayton Unknown blog Sara Kaushal leads a chilling tour of Gem City's strange and unusual history.

The struggles and successes of the industrious coal miners in Ohio's Mahoning Valley.

Year after year, local Welsh coal diggers supplied the ravenous and roaring ironworks in Mahoning Valley but the good times ended in the closing weeks of 1872. The demand for iron slackened, and with it, coal orders fell. Responding to plunging coal prices, mine owners cut wages, but rank-and-file miners would have none of it. On New Year’s Day, they went on strike. The bitter stalemate broke only when operators sidestepped local labor by employing African Americans from Virginia and Italian immigrants crowding the Eastern Seaboard. Violence followed. Yet this vicious strife opened the Mahoning Valley to permanent Italian settlement. Authors Ben Lariccia and Joe Tucciarone uncover this forgotten chapter in the region’s storied labor history.

Tiffin, Ohio, may be most well-known for a devastating flood but it is defined by so much more than tragedy.

The flood of 1913 is likely the reason people are familiar with Tiffin, Ohio. It took the lives of 19 people in a disaster that literally reshaped the city. However, the city is much more than that.

Tiffin--named after Ohio's first governor, Edward Tiffin--was first settled in 1817. The seat of Seneca County has been home to businesses of wide renown: Tiffin Glass, National Machinery, and Ballreich's Potato Chips, among others. Tiffin's institutions of higher learning, Heidelberg and Tiffin Universities, and its strong public and parochial school systems reflect a deep commitment to education among the city's residents. Historic figures like Charles Dickens and Thomas Edison, as well as local luminaries such as Josiah Hedges and Gen. William Harvey Gibson, have played a part in forging Tiffin's history.

Discover the story of the construction of the monument that is as thrilling as the bravery that inspired it.

We have met the enemy and they are ours. . . . So wrote Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to General William Henry Harrison following his decisive victory over a British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie. Perry's victory served as a catalyst both for this battle and for ending hostilities in the Old Northwest Theater of the War of 1812. Captured here in over 200 vintage images from the Monument archives, is a pictorial and technical record of how a monument befitting this naval victory and the resulting peace became a reality.

During the remainder of his life, the country heralded Perry as a national hero whose bravery and fortitude enabled the U. S. to win, or gain an honorable peace from, its war with England. A deserving result of this victory was creation of a monument to honor Perry and his men. Seen here are the original photographs taken by prominent Put-in-Bay photographer G. Otto Herbster, capturing the builders, architects, mishaps, and triumphs that occurred during the construction of one of Ohio's most revered treasures.

From its founding by Connecticut Yankees to its label as Home Town USA,  this is the history of a picturesque community with a long and storied history.

In 1945, Pathfinder magazine selected the village of Medina as a shining example of small town living and, with the film company RKO Pathe, produced a 15-minute movie about Medina called Home Town USA. The film focused on the Victorian square and on the nearby tree-shaded streets lined with century homes. But the film did not tell the dramatic story behind the picturesque facade. Medina was hewn out of the Ohio wilderness by Connecticut Yankees, many of them Revolutionary War veterans who brought with them a tradition of democracy and strong community spirit. In 1848, a fire devastated the public square. The citizens rallied, and it was quickly rebuilt. In 1870, another fire wiped out most of the business district. Over the next decade, the square once again rose from the ashes, and the result was a village center filled with handsome Eastlake Victorian–style buildings. That public square sits at the heart of the community whose history this book puts on display.

The Buckeye Road neighborhood of Cleveland has a long and storied multicultural history of immigrants from Hungary, and its residents who created a rich and enduring history in Ohio.

Although it has been called ""Little Hungary"" or ""Little Budapest,"" Cleveland's Buckeye Road neighborhood exceeds that description. A more apt moniker might be ""Little Danube."" Like the Danube, Buckeye's history has flowed through a multicultural immigrant community and into a modern urban neighborhood striving to make its mark. Fueled by the industry of its first settlers in the 1880s, the district spread from what is now Buckeye Road and Woodland Avenue to the border of Shaker Square. Shops, restaurants, taverns, and other businesses too numerous to count flourished. The Buckeye neighborhood became a commercial center to serve immigrants and their families who worked at the factories that dotted Buckeye's west end. Community life was refueled over the years by waves of immigrants--mainly from Hungary--fleeing various tides of oppression in Europe. As the 1970s approached, Buckeye, like many Cleveland areas, became a victim of urban flight. Today residents and businesses, along with the Buckeye Area Development Corporation, are working to create and sustain another resurgence in this grand neighborhood.

Originally settled by James Demint in 1801, Springfield, Ohio, boasts a history marked by rich agrarian roots and striking industrial advances.

The full range is chronicled here in a second Images of America volume, featuring over one hundred archival photographs alongside the captions that illuminate them. Those familiar with author Harry Laybourne's first volume on Springfield, or those encountering its history for the very first time, will undertake a journey that deepens an understanding of this fascinating city. Home to Wittenberg University, the Clark County Historical Society, and the Westcott Home built by Frank Lloyd Wright, Springfield has undergone numerous changes in its remarkable 200 year history. Laybourne invites the reader to witness these changes as they unfold. Join him on a fascinating exploration of Springfield, and discover its thriving downtown district, distinctive cultural arena, adaptation to rail and aviation, and perhaps most notably, the many faces who helped to build the city's identity and profile.

After a period of slow growth during the 19th century, Toledo began the 20th with a rapid expansion in industrialization, urbanization, and immigration.

The titans of industry who had begun to transform Toledo in the late 1800s continued to expand their fortunes while expanding their businesses, and soon were joined by others who took advantage of the city's potential. A new industry would emerge from the bicycle factories and wagon works of the 19th century--the automobile industry. It would dominate Toledo's economy in the 20th century, and by the 1920s, Toledo had one of the highest rates of industrial growth in the country. In addition to Jeeps, scales, glass, spark plugs, and transmissions, Toledo was also known for its civic reforms, strong labor unions, and fine cultural institutions. While Toledo never became "The Future Great City of the World'? that Jesup Scott envision or even the futuristic "Toledo Tomorrow'? that Norman Bel Geddes imagined, at the beginning of the 21st century, Toledo is a successful city with an interesting past and a hopeful future.

A collection of local photographer Richard E. Stoner's work which captured Ashtabula's transformations over time.

Post-World War II Ashtabula was a major Great Lakes port with a thriving downtown. Local photographer Richard E. Stoner began taking photographs of the growing city in 1938, and for the next 58 years, his lens captured Ashtabula's businesses, industries, and citizens. His commercial accounts ranged from the harbor's Pinney Dock and Transport Company, to Main Avenue's locally-owned Carlisle-Allen Company department store, to Ashtabula's major war industries. Dick Stoner's earlier photographs capture the Ashtabula that once was, including the week-long Sesquicentennial Celebration of 1953. His later photos record the beginnings of fundamental change in our way of life. Also included in this volume are some pre-1930s photographs by Vinton N. Herron, whose work Stoner purchased when Herron retired. For Ashtabulans, this is a family album. For others, it is a look at a bygone time in Midwest America.

Long forgotten tales of crime and chaos from Ohio's capital city

Every city's history has its dark underbelly of crime. Columbus is no exception. From the turn of the century to the dawn of World War I, scandals involving an opium den and a sadistic murderer rocked a respectable downtown community. Around the same time, a cop killer masterminded a plot to free himself from the Franklin County jail by having his gang attempt to blow the place up with nitroglycerin. In 1946, dead bodies kept popping up after a prim, young teacher disappeared from a quiet Grandview Heights neighborhood. Two years later, a middle-aged housewife was killed with a butcher knife the same day that a tattooed mystery woman was found knifed to death in a downtown hotel.

Join Nellie Kampmann as she explores the back alleys of Arch City history.

In this photographic history, author Richard A. Straw and the Athens County Historical Society document the long and illustrious history of this home to Ohio State University.

In the late 1700s, a group of men, largely from Massachusetts, came into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and settled a village in southeastern Ohio alongside the Hocking River. Calling it Athens to honor their belief in the primacy of education and culture in one's life, they set in motion a history that continues to inform and enliven life within this community today. Ohio University, the first public institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory, was founded here in 1804. Athens has served as a business, service, cultural, and educational meeting place for over 200 years. As a result, Athens is a culturally diverse community of professors, plumbers, lawyers, craftsmen, restaurateurs, students, musicians, artists, and business owners, and it is heir to a historic past. This collection of fascinating photographs of people, places, homes, businesses, churches, and important events comes from the vast archives of the Athens County Historical Society and Museum. The images open the past and provide an informative glimpse into an earlier period of life in this unique community.

Cups, Cones & Claims to Fame in the Buckeye State

Images of America: Italians of Stark Countyfocuses on Italian immigration into Stark County beginning in the late 1800s.

In the late 1800s, Stark County's urban hub of Canton and the surrounding communities were in the middle of a thriving expansion driven by industry, transportation, and manufacturing. Along with this growth came the need for labor, with immigration filling many of those needs. Italians came to Stark County to work in the steel mills, in the coal mines, and on the railroad, as well as to start their own small businesses. Once established, Italian families began to replicate the community foundations from their native land, and in turn these foundations reinforced embedded values: family, food, religion, music, and freedom.

This photographic history illustrates these values while bringing to life the character, work ethic, determination, and love of life of the Italian people of Stark County. Local author and Italian American J.A. Musacchia was born and raised in Stark County and is a member of the Sugarcreek Township Historical Societyand the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.

Organized in 1819, Meigs County rests in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio along the beautiful Ohio River.

The land’s deep reservoirs of coal and salt provided early residents work in mines and in shipping the goods via steamboat and railroad. Local communities also nurtured talented scholars like James McHenry Jones and poets and writers such as James Edwin Campbell and Ambrose Bierce, as well as Dr. Brewster Higley VI, whose poetry inspired the American classic “Home on the Range.” The county is home to Ohio’s oldest standing courthouse in Chester and to Pomeroy, the only town in America with no cross streets. Join historians Jordan and Calee Pickens as they recount times of prosperity and hardship that have been engrained on the timeline of Meigs County.

Believe in the Magic

The most wonderful time of the year has its own special meaning for those who grew up in the Queen City. The elves at Shillito’s and Pogie and Patter the talking reindeer were as integral to holiday merriment as caroling and eggnog. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden really knows how to throw a Christmas party for people and animals, and WinterFest at Kings Island provides much-needed warmth in the winter chill. Many city squares display Christmas trees bathed in lights and offer horse-drawn carriages or a skating rink. But only Cincinnati offers Santa rappelling down the face of a building and an ice skating rink with bumper cars.

Join local author Wendy Hart Beckman for a merry jaunt through Yuletide years gone by.

Capturing the first 50 years of Cincinnati's radio broadcasting golden era with both words and rare and often unpublished images.

Like radio listeners in many other cities its size, Greater Cincinnatians have kept their ears tuned to their local radio stations for music, news, and entertainment for nearly a century. However, unlike those cities, Cincinnati enjoyed several unique broadcast stories ranging from some of the earliest forays into radio dramatics to the country's first 500,000-watt superpower radio station. The listeners were treated to several up-and-coming celebrities like Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Andy Williams, and ""Fats"" Waller; the rise of three major communications corporations; and ultimately, an amazing array of nationally broadcast network shows and talents that, for a brief period, placed the city's broadcasters behind only New York and Chicago in terms of importance.

Lovers of theater in Cleveland and beyond are sure to enjoy this story of grand ambition and determined perseverance

Cleveland was one of the largest cities in America when Playhouse Square opened as a testament to the city's splendor. In 1921, Loew's State, Loew's Ohio, the Hanna Theatre and the Allen opened their doors, and Keith's Palace Theater, then the world's finest theater, greeted patrons in 1922. For fifty years these theaters prospered before falling on hard times. Three even faced demolition. But through visionary planning, hard work and civic pride these magnificent show palaces survived and thrive today, and Playhouse Square Center is once again the largest theater center outside of New York's Lincoln Center.

Playhouse Square volunteer Redcoat and tour guide Michael R. Routa celebrates the people who made and saved theater in Cleveland.

Reminisce with author Bruce Allen Kopytek about a time when these three great department stores dominated Toledo's retail scene and offered their customers anything they could want.

Remember the days when shopping meant white gloves, suits for men and leisurely lunches in tearooms? Toledo, an industrial powerhouse and Ohio's third-largest city, once had it all, and Lamson's, the Lion Store and Lasalle's were where it all happened.  Revisit their downtown competitors like Tiedtke's, B.R. Baker, Milner's and Stein's, which also added their own touch to Toledo's life. Through written history, photographs and personal recollections a lost era comes to light--an era when business was personal and local and shopping was more of a cherished event rather than a chore.

Go inside Madisonville, a Cincinnati neighborhood that boasts a long and colorful history.

Madisonville was founded in 1809 as Madison, Ohio, in honor of James Madison, who had recently been inaugurated as the fourth president of the United States. The first permanent settlers, the Joseph Ward family, built three log cabins in 1797 along a Native American trail near the area that is now Whetsel Avenue, Erie Avenue and Red Bank Road. The famous archeological excavations of the ""Madisonville Site"" by Dr. Charles Metz and his crew discovered artifacts that are housed in museums across the world. State and federal legislators, as well as secretaries of commerce and defense, grew up in Madisonville. The city is home to public, private, and parochial schools, plus over 25 churches. Incorporation into the city of Cincinnati in 1911 brought about numerous renovations of the business district, and a renaissance is currently underway.

Groveport and Madison Township, Ohio contains nearly two hundred vintage photographs that illustrate how the area grew from a nineteenth-century wilderness outpost to become the vibrant and successful place it is today. Featured here are the canal and railroad days that established the area as a local hub of transportation, the formation of the churches and school system that bind the village and township together, the region's spectacular architecture and some of the more notable people of the community, such as world-renowned horse trainer John S. Rarey of Groveport, who earned international fame as an original "horse whisperer."

Northern Ohio’s past is rich and deep, but it also has a darker and odder side.

A police chase for a UFO began in Portage County and stretched eighty-five miles from Ohio into Pennsylvania. Gangster Pretty Boy Floyd met his end in East Liverpool, and infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer began his murderous career in Medina County. The region is also home to peculiar beings such as Orange Eyes, the Melonheads and the armless Charles Mill Lake Monster.

Join author James A. Willis as he forges a trail across Northern Ohio in search of all things eerie, inexplicable and just plain weird.

Painesville, the county seat of Lake County, Ohio, once had nearly twice the population of nearby Cleveland. First settled by those of European descent in 1800, the city’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed over the years.

Painesville is best known for its vibrant nursery industry, once the largest in the world; its picturesque and historic town square; and its collection of public parks, many of which overlook the scenic Grand River. The city is the home of Lake Erie College and a 284-acre historic district filled with elegant late-19th- and early-20th-century homes. The community was also very active in the abolitionist and suffrage movements, and many Painesville houses, taverns, and churches were stations along the Underground Railroad in the pre–Civil War years. Today, the city is positioned for a bright future, with new businesses and services investing in the community.

A resident of northeast Ohio for more than two decades, Sandy Mitchell Pavick is a full-time writer and active participant in community affairs. She has penned three previous titles about Ohio history for Arcadia Publishing. For Painesville, Pavick has delved into a variety of private and library archives for images, many of which have never been published.

Randy Cunningham, founding member of the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, details one of the greatest examples of mass civic and democratic education in Cleveland's history.

Democratizing Cleveland: The Rise and Fall of Community Organizing in Cleveland, Ohio, 1975-1985, is the result of almost fifteen years of research on the community organizing movement in Cleveland that put neighborhood concerns and neighborhood voices front and center. Cunningham, who has lived and worked in Cleveland for years, describes a thriving decade of social movements and community groups built around civil disobedience. Many of these groups, led by women, were able to unite predominantly white and black neighborhoods in a common cause. Cunningham walks us through the origin of community organizing and the movement's major campaigns and transitions, including:

- insurance and bank redlining

- community development and urban renewal programs

- the movement's decline during the Reagan administration.

Originally published in 2007 by Arambala Press, this important work is being reprinted by Belt Publishing for a new generation of activists, planners, urbanists, and organizers. It's a great reminder that activism is the pulse of democracy.

An indispensable guide for anyone interested in community organizing in Cleveland, but also the crucial role neighborhood organizing plays in cities across the United States.

Local author Rena Glover Goss unfolds the intricacies of the murder that rocked Jefferson County.

In 1899, the Cramblett and Gosnell families lived on Perrin Run. Quincy Cramblett, romantically involved first with Elva Gosnell and later with her sister Cora, frequently proposed marriage. Both girls declined because of their father’s objections to the young man. Growing desperate, Quincy proposed that he and Cora commit suicide. She refused. Weeks later, their father, James Gosnell, was fatally shot. Immediately suspected, Quincy was indicted for murder after a brief hearing. Over the course of two trials in 1900, local critics differed vehemently about his guilt or innocence, and crowds packed the courtroom to witness the drama. Qunicy was acquitted, but none one else was ever questioned or indicted for James Gosnell’s murder.

Restless spirits inhabit the homes, farms, churches, and graveyards of Carroll County.

Perishing under mysterious circumstances, Absalom Karn may have good reason to remain in his home after death. Isaac Cox is rumored to have dropped dead immediately after building his twenty-room mansion, but another spirit may be attached to the place. A Native American burial ground may be to blame for the strange occurrences on the Taylor farm, and the owner of the Virginia Restaurant and Lounge believes a ghost saved her life. Local author Janice VanHorne-Lane takes a new look at well-known tales of local hauntings and introduces several new ones.

Positioned west of the Cuyahoga River and occupying 96 acres is Riverside Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. Established in 1876, Riverside Cemetery was the long-term solution to the ever-growing suburbs of Cleveland’s west side.

A nephew to one of the earliest settlers, Titus Brainard sold 102.25 acres of his farm to the association under conditions that the cemetery never be sold to the city and that all persons be accepted for burial regardless of background. And so began the development of the landscape and roadways, much of which has changed in the nearly 150 years of service. Riverside Cemetery has become the permanent home to generations of families, each with their own stories, accomplishments, hardships, and journeys that we strive to capture in this book.

Jamie Lynne Owens is a fifth-generation staff member of Riverside Cemetery and has committed herself to the historic preservation of the cemetery. William G. Krejci is a local historian and author whose special interest in Riverside Cemetery lies within his interest of early cemeteries of the Western Reserve, with Riverside’s garden-like setting being one of the greatest examples. Images found in this book are from the archives of Riverside Cemetery, Cleveland Public Library, and the Library of Congress as well as original work of photographer Deb Zimmerman. 

Explore the origins of Wood County lore .

Ghostly tales abound from fallen war heroes of Bowling Green State University to the darkened woods of Holcomb Road. The spirit of Frank Simonds, a venerated World War I veteran who nearly got away with murder, may linger around Main Street in Bowling Green. A soldier who died in a desperate attempt to save hundreds still guards Fort Meigs. Though nothing stands there now, the spot of the infamous Woodbury House remains a terror—just as it was for the earliest settlers in the area./

Wonder-seeker and amateur folklorist Melissa Davies reveals the stranger side of local history./

Cleveland's Playhouse Square documents the fascinating history of the five theatres which boomed, beginning in the 1920s.

In the early 1920s, five opulent theaters--the Allen, the Ohio, the State, the Palace, and the Hanna--opened on a stretch of Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. They offered legitimate theater, vaudeville, name bands and entertainers, and films for the affluent and hardworking citizens of this booming industrial city. Unfortunately, the introduction of television and the flight to the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s turned the theaters into ghost palaces destined for the wrecking ball. In 1970, a bold group of planners led by Raymond K. Shepardson formed the Playhouse Square Association, a nonprofit group dedicated to saving the theaters. A 25-year restoration endeavor emerged that raised $53 million, culminating in the largest theater restoration project in the world. Today Playhouse Square Center ranks second only to New York's Lincoln Center as North America's largest performing arts complex.

The story of these immigrants to northeastern Ohio and their role in the development of the Mahoning Valley is told through rare and vintage images.

To many people, the sight of a sky aglow with flame, clouds of smoke, and the smell of sulfur in the air would bring thoughts of sermons about brimstone, fire, and punishment for a life of sin. But Slovak immigrants fleeing poverty in Europe saw a picture of hope and prosperity as they came to the Mahoning Valley of northeastern Ohio in response to the promise of jobs and good pay in the steel mills. These mills stretched in an almost unbroken chain from Warren, Ohio, through Youngstown and Campbell and on into Sharon and Farrell, Pennsylvania. From the 1870s, when the first Slovaks came to this area, to the present, there is no part of American life in which these Slovak Americans have not thrived while living the American Dream.

Fascinating images of Cincinnati's African-American heritage.

Located on the banks of the Ohio River, Cincinnati was incorporated as a town in 1802. It became a major stop on the Underground Railroad and the gateway to the North for thousands of African Americans during the Great Migration after the Civil War. Cincinnati's African-American heritage is revealed here through images of African-American life in the community, churches, education, politics, entrepreneurship, civil rights, community benevolence and sports.

The dead do not always rest in peace. Occasionally, they wind up in the backyard. As towns grew in Cuyahoga County during the late 1800s, many of its cemeteries were relocated to make room for urban sprawl.

But not all of these graves made the journey. Author William G. Krejci tracks down more than fifty displaced cemeteries throughout the Greater Cleveland area. Discover the Revolutionary War veterans, famous scientists and illustrious dignitaries found beneath gas stations and grocery stores in this eerie history of Cuyahoga County's forgotten dead.

Lake Shore Cemetery evolved as a burial ground of necessity rather than intention.

The cemetery’s first interments were French fur trappers and Native Americans, but as migrating settlers began populating Lake Erie’s shore and a community emerged, the need for a recognized burial site arose. The diminutive graveyard, also known as Avon Lake Cemetery, claims less than one-third of an acre abutting the shoreline cliff. It holds the remains of a Revolutionary War soldier, sailors wounded in the Battle of Put-in-Bay during the War of 1812, Civil War and World War I soldiers, and a World War II Flying Tigers crewman .Within this cemetery, pillars of the community and successful farmers share sod with a court-adjudicated drunkard, an alleged lunatic, and several who spent their last days in the county’s poorhouse. Recognized as a historic landmark by the Avon Lake Historic Preservation Commission in 2013, all burial sites within Lake Shore Cemetery’s grounds are claimed. The colorful stories of its permanent residents reveal the diverse nature of the community in which they lived and died.

Sherry Newman Spenzer is a retired magistrate, local historian, and vice president of Heritage Avon Lake, the city’s historical society, which has contributed many of the images in this book. Other images are the original work of photographer Andrew S. Fowkes, and various private donors have supplied vintage photographs.

Downtown Cleveland is home to many architectural landmarks that define this proud city on Lake Erie.

Most famous is Terminal Tower, the "grand dame'? of Cleveland skyscrapers, which was also the tallest office building outside of New York City from 1930 until 1967. Other notable high-rises such as the BP building, Key Tower, and the new Federal Courthouse with its distinctive lighted cornice also dominate the city's beautiful skyline. Almost more than the buildings themselves, Cleveland's architectural prowess lies in the details--the terracotta "starburst'? motif on the exterior of the Standard Building, the extensive metal decorative work inside the gargoyle-encircled atrium of the Arcade, and the immense stained-glass dome of the Cleveland Trust Rotunda.

Nestled between Toledo and Cleveland near the Sandusky Bay is a quiet lake region, a haven for vacationers and permanent residents alike.

Claiming 107 miles of Lake Erie's coastline, Eastern Ottawa County, Ohio, is home to several coastal communities, including the small city of Port Clinton, the placid land masses of the Bass Islands, and the Marblehead Peninsula, home to a popular lighthouse. The author's window into this area, however, never overlooks the labor required to create and sustain its resort attractions. We meet the train conductors, teachers, mail carriers, ice harvesters, and community leaders who helped put Ottawa County on the map. We are offered many glimpses of boats on local waterways, some delivering fish, others ferrying passengers to the island, and still others in advance of their service during war time. And we are delivered a rare view of the many buildings that sadly failed to survive the area's catastrophic fires. This book is a living testimony to the rich and varied history of Ohio's Lake Erie communities. Resort oasis to some, manufacturing center to others, Ottawa County's texture and detail are brought vividly to life in this absorbing Images of America volume.

Delve into the Dastardly Deeds of the Valley

The Miami Valley of Ohio has a rich but gruesome and bloody history. In Dayton, Christine Kett murdered her daughter and confessed seventeen years later on her deathbed. William Fogwell of Beavercreek clung to life long enough to name his killer before he died. Joshua Monroe, a Yellow Springs man, killed his lover—also his sister in law—in a jealous rage. Reputed serial killer Oliver Crook Haugh was accused of murdering multiple women over several years, but he was ultimately convicted of killing “only” his family.

Author and founder of the Dayton Unknown history blog Sara Kaushal uncovers the violent and horrific crimes of the past.

Ever since the first settlers arrived in 1816, Parma has seen steady growth, residentially and industrially.

It was once called Greenbrier, named after the thorny shrubs abundant in the area. Parma became a city in 1931 and is now the largest suburb of Cleveland as well as the seventh-largest city in Ohio. The city is home to notable landmarks such as General Motors and Cuyahoga Community College. One of the homes in Parma was even a stop on the Underground Railroad. From the first tavern opening in 1819 to presidential candidates dining at local establishments, Parma is full of inspiring people, places, and history that have made the city what it is today. The historical images in this book bring to life the stories and people of the past, which will carry on to future generations.

Scary, mysterious & just plain weird stories from Southern Ohio

The southern portion of the Buckeye State has long attracted its fair share of colorful characters and odd occurrences. Infamous bootlegger George Remus rose to power shortly after moving to Cincinnati. Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, was born and raised in southern Ohio. Some even say creatures not of this planet are drawn to the area, which has had numerous UFO sightings. In the same region, an unassuming university professor got away with murder, an eccentric built his version of a European castle using nearby river rocks, and a headless motorcycle ghost roams a rural roadway.

Ride along with author James A. Willis as he ventures into Southern Ohio in search of all things strange and spooky.

Lake Erie is known for its beauty and tranquility, but a dark, deadly undercurrent lurks beneath its surface.

Bordering four states and two countries, the inland ocean offers the perfect getaway for criminals of all kinds. The bandits who held up the Ashtabula National Marine Bank as well as Ontario’s most elusive conman used the lake to avoid capture. Pirate Joseph Kerwin relied on his knowledge of the shipping industry to evade the law. Narene Mozee’s murderer quietly slipped away after completing his heinous deed on a luxury cruise ship, and when a lighthouse keeper found a corpse floating in the shallows near his post, all signs pointed to the killer fleeing by boat.

Local author Wendy Koile wades into the depths of this great, but deadly lake.

A history of bygone eateries in downtown Cleveland featuring everything from diners to fine dining

From humble and hungry beginnings, the city of Cleveland grew over centuries until it boasted a dizzying array of gustatory choices. City dwellers and travelers alike flocked to the eateries at Public Square and Terminal Tower, including the Fred Harvey restaurants with their famous Harvey Girls. A single block-long street, Short Vincent featured the Theatrical Grille, the longest-running jazz joint in the area. The walls of Otto Moser's were a veritable Hollywood roll call, and the New York Spaghetti House offered a complete dining and aesthetic experience.

Fill your cup with the libation of your choice, grab a snack, and join author Bette Lou Higgins on a historical tour of the restaurants that kept Clevelanders fed.

Award-winning true crime author Jane Turzillo brings together the strippers, gangsters, robbers, shady politicians, and more from Cleveland's rough and rowdy past.

Historic, haunted, chilling tales of the town of Akron as told by one of Northeast Ohio's most respected paranormal investigators!

Run down the apparitions that float about Rubber Citystreets and façades like the shadow of a passing blimp. Stroll along forgotten canals amid the restless chatter and clank of spirits cut down before their hard lives became easier. Catch a show at the Civic Theater with a ""former"" engineer who prophesied that death wouldn't keep him from work. A more restive spirit is that of John Tedrow, a twenty-something mauled and murdered during a drunken brawl in 1882; he wails for help and resolution.

In this ghostly tour through Akron's haunted and sometimes brutal past, paranormal specialist and historian Jeri Holland digs into the ghost tales and local legends that linger here like this city's industrial heritage.

Many of the places that helped make Dayton a center of innovation were lost to history, while others survived and adapted, representing the city's spirit of revitalization.

Some of the city's distinctive and significant structures, such as Steele High School and the Callahan Building, were demolished, while others, including the Arcade and Centre City Building, saw hard times but now await redevelopment. Entire neighborhoods, such as the Haymarket, and commercial districts, such as West Fifth Street, vanished and show no traces of their past. Others, including the popular Oregon District, narrowly escaped the wrecking ball. From the Wright Brothers Factory to the park that hosted the first NFL game, Andrew Walsh explores the diverse selection of retail, industrial, entertainment and residential sites from Dayton's disappearing legacy.

Relive Conneaut's transformation from a sleepy agricultural village on the Lake Erie shore to a progressive, flourishing industrial center in this pictorial history.

From 1880 to 1890, the population of Conneaut doubled as a new railroad was formed and its yard and shops created new opportunities for people seeking a better way of life in this growing town.

The harbor, with its long-forgotten shipbuilding heritage, was revived and leaped ahead of its neighbors to become the fastest iron ore-unloading port in the world, thanks to the vision of a Scottish weaver's son. Italian, Finnish, and Hungarian immigrants arrived to work the docks and build the infrastructure needed to support the city's mushrooming population, doubling again in the next decade. During these early years, the residents enjoyed electric lighting, streetcars, and other amenities not available in larger cities throughout America.

Conneaut's history unfolds here through historic images that document the building of homes, schools, churches, hospitals, and new industries.

VIew images of a quintessential American town in this treasure trove of Cuyahoga, OH postcards.

Welcome to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a small American town that epitomizes America itself. With a history dating back to the rough decades when the land was a deep wilderness inhabited by natives and adventure-seeking Europeans, the town grew into an industrial juggernaut, weathered disasters, embraced inventiveness, and spearheaded progress. Between these covers readers will find a treasure trove of postcards from a colorful past. From grand old buildings and daily town life to the natural beauty and resources of the Cuyahoga River, the images in Postcard History Series: Cuyahoga Falls reflect memories of Americana and times long since past.