History Lover's Guides

Detroit's auto heritage is known worldwide, but this fascinating city's history runs much deeper.

Step inside the tiny recording studio where Berry Gordy, a young entrepreneur who faced tremendous prejudice, created a music empire that broke down racial barriers. Tour Art Deco masterpieces so spectacular they're called cathedrals to commerce and finance. Walk in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Cobo Hall, where he first delivered his I Have a Dream speech. Join Karin Risko for an intimate tour of the city that put the world on wheels and discover an amazing history of innovation, philanthropy, social justice and culture.

New York is a city of superlatives. It has the largest population, greatest wealth, broadest diversity and most elegant museums in the nation. With that comes an amazing history.

This tour of the Big Apple goes beyond the traditional guidebook to offer visitors and residents alike a chance to walk back in time along the streets of Manhattan. George Washington took his first oath of office on the steps of Federal Hall. Visitors can still dine at the famed Fraunces Tavern and worship at historic St. Paul's Chapel. From the Brooklyn Bridge to stunning skyscrapers, the city celebrates its own history and that of the nation. Join author Alison Fortier as she traces the history and heritage of America's largest metropolis.

History is nurtured and treasured in the City of Alexandria and in neighboring South Fairfax County. A History Lover's Guide to Alexandria & South Fairfax County focuses on this special area along the Potomac River.

Travel through history from Old Town to Mason's Neck and witness the practice of preservation as it continues to evolve today. Alexandria cares for the places essential to understanding our shared past, from cobblestone streets to the always active waterfront. Visit the numerous museums and historic houses, many of which are iconic in American history, in Old Town. Learn the stories of Alexandria's African American community, from slavery to freedom. Discover neighborhoods like Del Ray and Seminary Hill. South of the city, travel the George Washington Memorial Parkway and walk in the footsteps of Washington himself.

Historian and preservationist Laura Macaluso draws connections between city and county, and between past and present.

Local author Kristin Thrower Stowe guides a series of expeditions through the River City's past.

Best known as the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond's history encompasses much more than the Civil War. Visit the state capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson and tour Shockoe Bottom, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods. Follow the route that enslaved people took from the ships to the auction block on the Richmond Slave Trail. Go back to Gilded Age Richmond at the Jefferson Hotel and learn the history of the statues that once lined the famed Monument Avenue. See less-visited sites like the Maggie Walker Home and the Black History Museum in the historically African American Jackson Ward neighborhood.

Visitors and natives alike will find something new in this historical guide to Minneapolis’ many landmarks, figures, events and more.

Minneapolis began at the Falls of St. Anthony, the sole waterfall on the Mississippi River. The cataract, the great hydrological engine, propelled the city's economic growth and physical expansion, and two distinct municipal identities emerged. A city of seasons, Minneapolis celebrates winter flurries and chills with ice skating and hot chocolate at the annual Holidazzle Festival. In the sultry midsummer heat, the Aquatennial brings swimmers and boating enthusiasts to the Chain of Lakes and the river. Landmarks, too, define the topography—Spoonbridge and Cherry, the Stone Arch and Hennepin Avenue Bridges, the Foshay Tower and the IDS Center.

Join local authors Sherman Wick and Holly Day on a trip beyond the typical guidebook as they explore the architecture, parks and historical figures of the Mill City.

A History Lover's Guide to Milwaukee offers something for visitors and lifelong residents alike.

Often described as a "big small town,'? Milwaukee's quirky character stems from its many neighborhoods--each with its own stories to tell. Early territorial disputes, for example, led to the horribly (or humorously) misaligned streets of downtown. The city's signature rectangular pizza was born in the Third Ward. In Kilbourntown, Teddy Roosevelt was saved from an assassin's bullet by the smallest of items. Not far from that spot, eight baseball team owners formed the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs. And no matter the neighborhood, a fantastic glass of suds is never far away in this renowned beer city.

Leading readers on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood tour, author and Milwaukee native Jim Nelsen pinpoints the fascinating historic locations of the Cream City.

Leave the brochures behind and tour Austin neighborhoods with an ambassador of the city’s less familiar history, from the dirt on 6th Street to the music of hidden wildlife.

Witness the rise of a metropolis from the tiny frontier outpost of Waterloo into a world leader in culture and technology. Discover the lost treasure of Shoal Creek in Pease Park or just a sense of inner peace amid the koi ponds and waterfalls of the Zilker Botanical Gardens.  Like the bats of Congress Avenue, navigate Austin neighborhoods by sound, taking cues from the Stevie Ray Vaughn’s beloved guitar and Angelina Eberly’s city-saving cannon. Award-winning tour guide Jason Weems charts a course through Austin’s heritage, treading the back streets stalked by a serial killer and the stately halls of the Texas State History Museum.

Historic Sites Not to Miss!

Founded in an unlikely spot where dry prairies meet formidable mountains, Denver overcame its doubtful beginning to become the largest and most important city within a thousand miles. This tour of the Queen City of the Plains goes beyond travel guidebooks to explore its fascinating historical sites in detail. Tour the grand Victorian home where the unsinkable Molly Brown lived prior to her Titanic voyage. Visit the Brown Palace Hotel suite that President Dwight and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower used as the “Summer White House.” Pay respects at the mountaintop grave of the greatest showman of the nineteenth century, Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

From the jazzy Rossonian lounge where Ella scatted and Basie swung to gleaming twenty-first-century art museums, author Mark A. Barnhouse traces the Mile High City’s story through its historical legacy.

Writer H.L. Mencken—the Sage of Baltimore—called her a “wicked seaport” but where “the old charm, in truth, still survives.”

Neither Southern nor Northern, Baltimore has charted her own course through the American Experience. The spires of the nation’s first cathedral rose into her sky, and the first blood of the Civil War fell on her streets. Here, enslaved Frederick Douglass toiled before fleeing to freedom and Billie Holiday learned to sing. Baltimore’s clippers plied the seven seas while her pioneering railroads opened the prairie West. The city that birthed The Star-Spangled Banner” also gave us Babe Ruth and the bottle cap. This guide navigates nearly 300 years of colorful history—from Johns Hopkins’ learned philanthropy to the raucous camp of John Waters, and from modest rowhouses to the marbled mansions of the Gilded Age.

Let local authors Brennen Jensen and Tom Chalkey introduce you to Mencken’s “ancient and solid” city.

Explore and Learn LFK

Lawrence was founded in 1854 by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, and it has a bevy of historical locations for visitors. Downtown’s infamous Mass Street was nearly destroyed twice by warmongering guerrillas like William Quantrill. It was central to the era of John Brown and Bleeding Kansas and the site of the Wakarusa War. From famous beat writer William Burroughs to poet Langston Hughes, vaudeville actor George “Nash” Walker and basketball inventor James Naismith, the city has been home to a great slice of American historical figures and events. Uncover some familiar landmarks as well as some hidden gems as Tristan Smith, with the help of the Watkins Community Museum, takes readers through Lawrence’s unique landscape.

Crack open these pages to learn that Virginia is truly for History Lovers.

Begun in the seventeenth century as a small settlement nestled along the Elizabeth River, Norfolk grew into a vibrant port city by the Revolutionary War. The city spread out from its earliest neighborhoods like the Freemason District into 19th century enclaves like Ghent on the Hague. 20th century Norfolk was marked by its development into a bustling Navy town. Journey through the vibrant past of this multifaceted locale, guided by expert authors from local museums, historical organizations, and city institutions. Walk the city’s most historic neighborhoods and learn the history of its beachside communities. End with suggestions of places to eat and play that evoke traces of Norfolk’s past.

This tour of New Mexico’s largest city goes beyond the traditional guidebook to offer a historical journal through an area rich with diverse cultures and their fascinating past.

The journey through time starts with the settlement of Native Americans in pueblos along the Rio Grande and then initiatives by Spain to settle and convert the region. Visit Old Town Plaza, where trade from the El Camino Real and Santa Fe Trails flourished. Look around lesser-known sites, including railroad depot facilities, major military landmarks and nostalgic Route 66. Join author and local history lover Roger Zimmerman as he carefully curates an expedition through each era of Albuquerque’s history and its most beloved sites.

Join author Alison Fortier for a walk through our United States Capital and its iconic locations. 

This tour of the nation’s capital goes beyond the traditional guidebook to offer a historical journey through the federal district. Visit the White House, the only executive home in the world regularly open to the public. Travel to President Lincoln’s Cottage and see where he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. Look around lesser-known sites, such as the grave of Pierre L’Enfant, the city’s Botanical Gardens, the Old Post Office and a host of historical homes throughout the capital. From George Washington’s Mount Vernon to the Kennedy Center, trek through each era of Washington, D.C., for a tour of America’s most beloved sites. Join author and Washington insider Alison Fortier as she curates a revised and updated expedition to our shining city on a hill.