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Maysville, Kentucky, and the seven counties surrounding it are represented in this book. Sitting beside the swift currents of the Ohio River about 60 miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio, Maysville was established in 1787 by Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone and was originally named Limestone, later to be named Maysville. A shipping port for bourbon, wrought iron, and tobacco in the early years, it later became both a manufacturing hub and an agricultural community known as the world’s finest tobacco market. Today, Maysville’s Gateway Museum, just a few blocks from the iconic Simon Kenton Bridge, preserves the story of how the town became “the gateway to the south.” Rosemary Clooney, US Supreme Court associate justice Stanley Reed, and many other prominent people are from this area. Some older businesses that helped this town grow have closed, but others like the Pogue Distillery, Caproni’s Restaurant, and Wald Manufacturing live on as this town continues to thrive.

Tom Roberson was born in Mayslick, Kentucky, and grew up in Maysville. Most images came from the author’s 40-year hobby of collecting early-1900s historical postcards. Roberson is a retired residential builder and is always on the hunt for new images to add to his collection. 

Marking the ridgelines and hearts of the Appalachians during the Great Depression, packhorse librarians delivered hope, one book at a time.

When the Great Depression started, folks stumbled on hard times. Many lost their jobs and homes, and they struggled to support their families. But people craved hope for the future, and hope arrived with the packhorse librarians through Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933. Each week, children, families, and schoolhouses celebrated when their packhorse librarian arrived at their doors with books. After being handled by many cherished hands, reading materials needed to be taken out of circulation. The librarians constructed scrapbooks and filled them with beloved items—recipes, quilt patterns, pictures, and stories. Challenges awaited the librarians at every pass. From muddy creeks to snowy hillsides, the packhorse librarians delivered books and hope to their patrons. Although the program ended in 1943, the lasting effects on literacy and the communities these packhorse librarians visited can still be seen today.

Author Nicki Jacobsmeyer lives in rural Missouri, where she writes fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. She inspires others to discover and dream through reading and believes books are windows to the world. 

A Major Influence in Kentucky Life

Founding Father Thomas Jefferson had a strong but little-known connection with the constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He had personal and politically motivated influence on the 1792 charter and secretly wrote some controversial state resolutions. Author Denis Fleming draws on firsthand accounts from Jefferson, John Breckinridge and the rarely used papers of George Nicholas, the brain behind Kentucky’s first constitution, to uncover a huge influence from these men. He also demonstrates that modern reforms in job creation, education and the structure of government are rooted in parts of the document favored by Jefferson but dramatically interpreted by today’s governors, legislators and judges.

A book that looks to stir emotions. It holds a lot of anger.--LEO Weekly. Part of Belt's City Anthology Series.

What is Louisville's identity in the twenty-first century? Is it the southernmost midwestern city, the midwestiest southern town, or somewhere in between? Living on the border of two regions creates a hybrid sensibility full of contradictions that can be difficult to articulate beyond from Louisville, not Kentucky. In this collection of evocative essays and poems by natives and transplants, The Louisville Anthology offers locals and visitors a closer look at compelling private and public spaces around town. It's an attempt to articulate what defines Louisville beyond its most recognized cultural exports. Edited by Erin Keene, editor-in-chief at Salon.com, this is a portrait of a city caught between onward and remember-when. Here, readers will encounter stories about:

- Louisville's early punk scene

- Life as a transplant in Butcherville

- A Trip to Cave Hill Cemetery

- A Trek to find Muhammad Ali's Louisville.

A perfect book for Louisville natives or for those looking for a more nuanced look at an often-stereotyped region of the country.

The Derby City's Dark Side

Louisville has a long history of violence and murder. Editor Godfrey Pope shot Leonard Bliss over a political joke. A hanged man was allegedly revived with electricity. Josephine Lawrence was a sex worker bent on revenge with unfortunate bad aim. Two locals engaged in a feud that resulted in one man’s death and the other’s marriage to the dead man’s widow. A United States president had a direct descendant arrested for committing a murder near the city. Author Keven McQueen details twenty-four little known homicides that rocked the city from the 1840s to the 1920s.

A Hidden Gem in Kentucky.

Eighteen miles outside Louisville lies the picturesque town of Pewee Valley. The town was originally founded on a land grant around 1800 and later named after the Eastern Wood Pewee, which, according to an elaborate legend, exuberantly proclaimed the creation of an Eden east of Louisville. Residents of and visitors to this fairy-tale suburb have included tycoons, politicians, painters, photographers, poets and novelists. Among them was Annie Fellows Johnston, who used Pewee Valley as the setting for her famed “Little Colonel” books, which Shirley Temple brought to the big screen in 1935. A preserve of rural manors and picturesque cottages, Pewee survived Civil War, the Depression and developers’ bulldozers. David Russell reveals this storied history.

The Eerie and Ominous in Kentucky 

Kentucky is no stranger to strange occurrences. From weird encounters with the Grim Reaper to local graveyard dogs, the Bluegrass State has its share of odd stories. Learn about local ghosts who’ve haunted areas for years. Encounter body snatchers and some very odd modes of death. Go on the hunt for Daniel Boone’s bones and witness the marvelous twisting tombstone. Witness the people who uncannily predicted their own death. Author Keven McQueen details these creepy stories and more. 

How the Bluegrass State Helped Win a War

While not a single battle of the War of 1812 was fought on Kentucky soil, Kentuckians were involved to the very end. Henry Clay and his War Hawks convinced Congress and President Madison to declare war, and helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent that ended it. After two massacres of Kentucky militia on the Northwestern front, Governor Isaac Shelby, still the only sitting governor to lead troops into battle, more than 4,000 locals and a pig marched to Canada to defeat the British and kill Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames. Author Doris Dearen Settles explains how Kentuckians won the war of 1812 and why it is far more significant than textbooks record.p/>

Images of America: Bell County celebrates the region's heritage with vintage images and informative text. Black-and-white photographs culled from a variety of sources highlight the spirit of a remarkable community, where self-made millionaires and peg-legged admirals were among the many unforgettable individuals to call the area home. This photo journal invites readers to rediscover Bell County and its treasures.

Lexington's African-American community has survived and flourished despite obstacles that may have proven insurmountable to some.

Enriched by diversity and filled with fortitude, the Black community of Lexington has made their mark on history as well as the Bluegrass State's heritage. In Black America: Lexington, vintage images from archives and personal collections showcase the people, places, and events at the very heart and soul of the Black communities over the generations. Rare photos of civil rights demonstrations in the downtown area highlight Lexington's contributions to the local movement and to our nation's continued search for equality.

The railroads and coal industry permanently changed both the economy and culture of Floyd County, Kentucky.

Floyd County, named for Kentucky pioneer John Floyd, was formed in 1799. Originally encompassing all of the Big Sandy River Valley and much of eastern Kentucky, the boundaries included portions of what are now Pike, Martin, Knott, Magoffin, and Johnson Counties. Because of its river access, Floyd County developed earlier than many counties in eastern Kentucky; Prestonsburg, the county seat, became a major river port and center of trade in the region. With the coming of the railroad in 1903 and the coal industry, the county rapidly grew, in no small part thanks to the rapid rise in population due to the migration of white Americans from around the country, European immigrants, and African Americans from southern plantations and coalfields. What had been an agrarian, white population suddenly took on a whole new face, one more reflective of the nation. The history of coal production plays a large role in this book, particularly the Wheelright Coal Camps, but we know how much Kentucky has given to contribute to the story of America.

Find out how and why Glasgow earned its reputation as ""The biggest little town in Kentucky.""

Glasgow is nestled in the heart of south-central Kentucky. From its pioneer days to the advent of the 21st century, Glasgow has been known as a progressive center for agriculture, commerce, education and medicine. The community has been home to many of distinction, including an early African-American mayor, two governors, a world-renowned musician, a winner of multiple Pulitzer Prizes, a decorated U.S. Air Force general, the president of a major television network and a leader in the control of tuberculosis. Equally important to the tale of Glasgow's past are all the ordinary folks who were paramount in making the community the solid, thriving locale that it remains.