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Ghost stories from America’s Nutmeg State have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Connecticut’s haunted history and local legends come to life—even when the main players are dead. Discover the headless horseman of Canton, learn about the witches of Nineveh Falls, and come see about a pirate’s curse. Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.

A Rural Connecticut County and its Citizens

From the first sparks of revolution in the 1770s, Litchfield County played an important role in the War of Independence.

Roger Sherman of New Milford was on the five-member committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Oliver Wolcott of Litchfield signed the document and oversaw the transportation of a toppled statue of King George III from New York City to his hometown, where it was melted down and turned into more than forty thousand musket balls. Those musket balls were perhaps fired by hundreds of local militia, including Black residents, who served in the war, while many other residents helped furnish supplies and information for the army.

However, not everyone supported the Patriot cause, as the county was also home to those who remained loyal to the British King. Later years saw the Continental Army make a winter encampment in New Milford and several visits by George Washington.

Local author and historian Peter Vermilyea reveals how liberty, sacrifice, and resilience in a small corner of New England helped shape the destiny of a new nation.

In the years before the Revolutionary War, Norwich, Connecticut was a hotbed of radicalism. As a trade and transportation center, its merchants took a leading role in objecting to British taxes and laws that threatened their livelihood. Meet the Norwich men who risked everything in the cause of Liberty: Colonel John Durkee, the warrior; and Samuel Huntington, the statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Other notable figures include Major General Jedidiah Huntington, merchant turned soldier; and Benedict Arnold, brilliant soldier turned traitor; Col. John Durkee, a commander at the Battle of Monmouth; and Dr. Philip Turner, who became staff surgeon for the Continental Army.  Local author and historian Patricia F. Staley tells the story of America’s War for Independence through the stories of those from Norwich who fought to create a new nation.

Meriden, Connecticut was once known as the “Silver Capital of the World” for its prominent silver manufacturing. By 1867, the city was part of a manufacturing boom that produced everything from ivory combs, buttons, tinware, and cutlery to coffee grinders and organs. In 1944, the business of manufacturing in the city would find the War Manpower Commission naming Meriden “The Nation’s Ideal War Community,” for its industrial and patriotic contributions during World War II. While many of those traditional manufacturers have closed, the city still plays host to several world-recognized establishments, especially in the fields of culinary arts and medicine. From baseball legend Connie Mack to the invention of the steamed cheeseburger, local author Justin Piccirillo reveals some of the lesser known but fascinating history of this vibrant community. 

Avon, Connecticut, has had a long history of people who challenged conventions and persevered through tragedy. There was the clock peddler’s encounter with Abraham Lincoln, a suffragist’s political showdown with her cousin Eleanor Roosevelt and a man who betrayed his brother-in-law, Thomas Edison. Before the Heublein Tower, art patron Daniel Wadsworth built the first of three viewing towers on Avon Mountain. Following the courage of local abolitionist David Bartlett, Black Civil War soldier Leverett Holden fought for emancipation. Shocking events included one of the first murder cases in America to test the insanity defense, homicides at a house doomed for bloodshed and the horrific factory fire that shattered the lives of immigrant families. Scott Lewis reveals the stories of the visionaries and victims who shaped the town of Avon’s future.

Bursting with delightful colors and bright illustrations, Local Baby Mystic engages babies’ attention and encourages families to explore what makes their seaside town so great.



Families can experience all that Mystic, CT, has to offer: dive into history and climb aboard ships at the Mystic Seaport Museum; visit the beluga whales at the Mystic Aquarium; shop and eat at Old Mistick Village; hike at Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center; swim, sail, and paddleboard in the Mystic River; and so much more!

Explore magical Mystic with this joyfully grabbable and wonderfully local board book that is sure to bring generations together.

Over fifty thousand Connecticut soldiers served in the Union army during the Civil War, yet their stories are nearly forgotten today.

Among the regiments that served, at least forty sets of brothers perished from battlefield wounds or disease. Little known is the 16th Connecticut chaplain who, as prisoner of war, boldly disregarded a Rebel commander's order forbidding him to pray aloud for President Lincoln. Then there is the story of the 7th Connecticut private who murdered a fellow soldier in the heat of battle and believed the man's ghost returned to torment him. Seven soldiers from Connecticut tragically drowned two weeks after the war officially ended when their ship collided with another vessel on the Potomac. Join author John Banks as he shines a light on many of these forgotten Connecticut Yankees.

Despite the name, there is nothing mystical about the successes of the town of Mystic.

Mystic was one of the most active shipbuilding ports along New England’s southern coast during the mid-19th century, renowned for building more than 600 ships a year. By the end of the age of sail, Mystic made a successful transition to a new economy based on textile and machine manufacturing, maritime engineer, and small craft building. These industries carried the village into the 20th century, and today, Mystic is a world-class tourist destination, a community that is both divided and unified by the Mystic River. The history of Mystic mirrors the history of many coastal New England towns, but the images here are unique to this southeastern Connecticut region, recognizable to both residents and visitors alike.

This fascinating collection of picture postcards documents the history of Wilton in the Golden Age of Postcards.

For over the past one hundred years, postcards have served as an invaluable resource for people to commemorate a place and communicate its importance to friends and family at the other end of the mailbox. Wilton, Connecticut, like so many other cities and small towns across the country, has enjoyed being the subject for a variety of pictures, which serve as a wonderful treasure for remembering lost landscapes and historic buildings, homes, and other structures that have been sacrificed to progress and development. Wilton gives the reader an opportunity to observe another world, to look into the very eyes of today's ancestors and see their struggles, their successes, their pains, and their passions.

The hard work of nineteenth-century Irish immigrants in Waterbury helped place the city on the map as the Brass Capital of the World.

In the early years of immigration, the Irish still had a hard road before them, filled with prejudice and social exclusion. Irish Catholics would hold Mass in secret, but eventually beautiful churches were built, attracting the most revered clergy in Connecticut. Soon Irish and Irish Americans established themselves as city leaders and professionals in the community. Dr. Charles A. Monagan was a founding member of St. Mary's Hospital, while his son John later became mayor. Some achieved fame through their excellence in sports, such as Roger Connor, whose long-standing record for career home runs was unbeatable until finally broken by the one and only Babe Ruth. Detailed research and oral histories from living descendants bring to light the remarkable Waterbury Irish legacy.

The history of Hartford is so dense and interesting, one book would have never been enough to cover it all!

Wilson H. Faude’s first photographic history of Hartford was a wonderful collection of images dating from the 1850s to the 1960s. Now, he brings us a second volume of images from our past. Drawn from hitherto unpublished sources, these photographs again lead us on a fascinating and fun journey down memory lane, back to the days when Frank's was on Asylum, Sage-Allen's lit up the holiday sky, and events such as the Mile of Dimes and people like Dan the Bare Foot Man were an integral part of the city. This comprehensive and accessible history preserves the past and also benefits the future, for all royalties will be donated to the ongoing preservation of the Old State House and to the Hartford Collection of the Hartford Public Library.

West Hartford depicts the rich and interesting history of this community.

In 1854, West Hartford formally separated from Hartford. West Hartford, compiled in honor of the town's sesquicentennial, showcases its history from earliest settlement to more recent happenings, including the 2003 Cow Parade. With more than two hundred photographs, many previously unpublished, West Hartford recalls the past of this interesting community and celebrates its present. The Central Theater marquee survives, while Burnham's grocery, the Elm Theater, and the West Hartford Lanes, all pictured in these pages, are only memories. Other landmarks, such as the Quaker Lane Diner, the Woman's Exchange, Hall's Market, and the Kingswood Market, continue to serve the community.

Connecticut's history is full of engaging and fascinating stories, rocks that are national monuments, the "people's sculptor," football players on chapel finials, moons on the Travelers calendars, artists Frederic Church and Eric Sloane and even a Thanksgiving Day touch football game with a future president.

These are tales from Greenwich to Enfield, from Sharon to Old Lyme and so much in between. Follow along with historian Wilson Faude in this "must-have" Connecticut book as he traverses the state in search of hidden history.

While Middlesex County is one of the most historic communities in the nation, some of its past is little known.

Researchers found dinosaur tracks in Middlefield that date back 200 million years. The author of Dr. Dolittle, Hugh Lofting, lived in Killingworth, and a young Dr. Seuss spent summers in Clinton. Constance Baker Motley, the first female African American federal judge, resided in Chester. A Portland lake has water levels that fluctuate for no apparent reason. An Essex blacksmith shop was America's oldest continuously run family business. Local authors Robert and Kathleen Hubbard reveal these and many other unforgettable stories.

The earliest settlers-such as Nehemiah Marks, who was living and doing business in Stamford as early as 1720-opened stores and other commercial enterprises. By the mid-1800s, city dwellers began coming to the region for summer vacations. After 1880, settlers arrived via the peddlers' routes and, after accumulating a little capital, stayed to open shops and establish themselves socially and politically. The greatest influx came in the 1890s and early 1900s, when many Jews arrived from the Pale of Settlements, eastern and central Europe, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Romania, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

A collection of rare and vintage images documents the fascinating history of Madison Connecticut throughout the twentieth century, highlighting its incredible evolution.

Throughout the 20th century, Madison progressed slowly from a rural economy to one based on seasonal residents and then to that of a largely residential community. The development along the shoreline that marked the first 50 years of the century eventually spread inland to the rest of Madison. From 1,500 residents in 1900, the population swelled to a suburban community of over 16,000. This book is a photographic journey of this growing town, which changed significantly following the completion of the Connecticut Turnpike. Images document commercial establishments, the 1938 hurricane, the Field Company, the Future Farmers Fair, and the construction of the Connecticut Turnpike.

In Somers, the unique history of this rural New England town is captured in photographs, postcards, and artists' renditions from the last half of the 1800s to the present. Each image is identified with extensively researched and informative captions. The chapters depict early homes and farms (many still in existence), families and individuals, businesses, schools, and churches. They show the transition from largely produce farms to horse farms and tree farms, and to residential developments, as well as the rescue from decay of the unique, century-old Free Public Library.

Full of mystery, magic, and stories stranger than fiction, discover  local legends, lore, and tales of the supernatural that will keep you up at night.

The emerald sheen illuminating the Sabbatarian burying ground, 8 Mile River's misty figures which emerge at the Devil's Hopyard, and flying demon skeletons on Charles Island these bizarre haunts are uniquely Connecticut. In the ghostly lore of the state, the ambient ramblings of the Leatherman still ring out in the caves of Harwinton's forests and the former residents of the Hale Homestead continue to roam the attic at night. Join authors and Paranormal United Research Founders, Thomas D'Agostino and his wife Arlene Nicholson, as they recount bone chilling mysteries from Putnam, Canton, New London and many more shadowy corners of the Nutmeg state.

Shelton speaks of leisurely days on the shores of the Housatonic, the bustling traffic and thunderous factories along the canal, and the labor of the sturdy farmers of White Hills. It contains recollections of school days, legends about a self-professed conscientious objector, and memories of the best church picnic ever. The book's two hundred-plus images include many from the treasuries of the Beardsley, Brewster, Jones, and Wells families-generations of whom have lived in Shelton-as well as never-before-published images from the archives of the Shelton Historical Society.

Over 200 photographs help paint the picture of the career of Igor I. Sikorsky, one of the most talented and versatile aeronautical pioneers in history.

This book traces the history of Sikorsky aviation and its founder, Igor I. Sikorsky, whose career spanned over 60 years and was highlighted by three major achievements: the creation of the world's first four-engine airliner, the record-breaking Clipper Ships, with which Pan American Airways explored transpacific and transatlantic airline service, and the development of the helicopter. Sikorsky then led his engineers out of the piston-engine era and into the jet age with the design and development of some of the most widely used turbine-powered helicopters in aviation history. Hundreds of photographs, many from the Sikorsky family archives, document the genius of Sikorsky's intuitive engineering, including his lifelong interest in the challenge of the helicopter, which many historians consider to be his crowning achievement.

Hartford Radio offers a glimpse into the history of the area's broadcast stations and the people who ran them.

Radio broadcasting has been an integral part of the history of Hartford since the early part of the 20th century. WDRC was the state's first station (1923), and they helped pioneer FM radio technology in the early 1940s. Many Hartford residents learned about the end of World War II via radio, and the medium played a key role in keeping people informed during the floods of 1938 and 1955, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the great Northeast Blackout of 1965. Surprisingly, Hartford, the capital of the land of steady habits, saw two stations break from the pack to help bring the British Invasion to the state in the early 1960s. And thousands of schoolchildren eagerly listened to WTIC's legendary Bob Steele on wintery mornings as they excitedly awaited school closing announcements.

Vernon and Historic Rockville chronicles the transformation of a small Connecticut community in the mid-nineteenth century to a bustling manufacturing town until after World War II.

Incorporated in 1808, Vernon was born on the eve of the Industrial Revolution in America. With industrialization came urbanization, immigration and in Rockville's case, mechanized experimentation. Innovations in textile manufacturing led to the development of 13 textile mills along the falls of the Hockanum River. Rockville became nationally recognized for its fine wool production. Photographs from the extensive collection of the Vernon Historical Society capture the evolution of social change and the growth of a diverse urban center from rural beginnings. Highlights include the development of community life as a result of the many textile mills located in the northern section of town.

With more than two hundred exceptional photographs and narrative, Deep River and Ivoryton tells the story of how ivory shaped the economy and culture of these villages. Two companies, Pratt, Read & Company and the Comstock, Cheney & Company, employed thousands of people in satisfying the demand for new pianos. Probably more than ninety percent of the ivory processed in this country was handled in Deep River and Ivoryton. The demand for new instruments slowed with the invention of the radio, followed by the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the flow of material stopped altogether in the 1950s, when the use of ivory in the United States was banned.

The celebrated history of New Haven often overshadows its fascinating and forgotten past.

The Elm City was home to America’s first woman dentist, an architect who designed the tallest twin towers in the world and a medical student who used toy parts to create an artificial heart pump. The city’s share of disasters includes Connecticut’s worst aviation crash, a zookeeper who was mauled to death and a fire at the Rialto Theater. Local authors Robert and Kathleen Hubbard reveal the rich and fascinating cultural legacies of one of New England’s most treasured cities.

Cheshire was established by farmers in 1694 as a parish of neighboring Wallingford. It is a classic New England town, built around a central green, graced by a white church with a tall, weather vane-topped, sentinel spire.

Surrounded by some of the state's main highways of today, the town's location and people have shaped the long and rich history of this proud Connecticut community. Cheshire chronicles the growth of a small, Colonial farm town through the early twentieth century. The book is an album of its prominent citizens and families and of its noteworthy sites and events. Stories from two hundred years of its history come to life on its pages. They include the passage of the Amistad captives through Lock 12 on their way to stand trial in Hartford, the tale of the wandering Leatherman, and rumors of gold buried in the center of town. The book's centerpiece is a collection of the works of E.W. Hazard, early lensman, featuring his photography of Cheshire's parades, celebrations, and streetscapes, some seen here for the first time in print, in what may be the largest assemblage of his craft in one publication.

Connecticut Yankees at Antietam honors the brave soldiers who fought in the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

September 17, 1862—The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. In the intense conflict and its aftermath across the farm fields and woodlots near the village of Sharpsburg, Maryland, more than two hundred men from Connecticut died. Their grave sites are scattered throughout the Nutmeg State, from Willington to Madison and Brooklyn to Bristol. Author John Banks chronicles their mostly forgotten stories using diaries, pension records and soldiers' letters. Learn of Henry Adams, a twenty-two-year-old private from East Windsor who lay incapacitated in the cornfield for nearly two days before he was found; Private Horace Lay of Hartford, who died with his wife by his side in a small church that served as a hospital after the battle; and Captain Frederick Barber of Manchester, who survived a field operation only to die days later. Discover the stories of these and many more brave Yankees who fought in the fields of Antietam.

A charming collection of Bridgeport stories and historic images bring this eccentric, enchanting history to life.

In the late nineteenth century, P.T. Barnum was known worldwide for his traveling circus, but to the city of Bridgeport he meant much more. The city's mayor and benefactor, Barnum was also a mastermind at urban planning. Thus, amid Bridgeport's growing industrial factories, orchestras played from the bandstand at Seaside Park and bucolic hills surrounded Bunnell's Pond. In this collection of narratives, Eric D. Lehman captures the city's natural beauty and richly eccentric history. From the brave women of the Black Rock Lighthouse to war heroes of 'the nation's arsenal', from 'the tiniest general', Tom Thumb, to the tragic death of Jumbo the elephant, these are the best stories from Connecticut's 'Park City.'

In Durham, Connecticut, captured moments of time afford a precious glimpse into the lives of the early residents of this small, central Connecticut town.

Situated between Hartford and New Haven, Durham was a natural stopping place for many early travelers, but with its rich farmland and plentiful sources of water power, it quickly became much more. Given Durham's proximity to Yale University, most of its residents were very well-educated farmers. This resulted in a colorful social history and a beautiful collection of architectural styles along the main roads.

Grand celebrations, patriotic and agricultural, are shown here as well as a pictorial progression through more than 200 years of life in rural New England. In the captions that accompany each picture, those familiar with the town will recognize names of local streets and landmarks and meet the people for whom the places are named. Those who only know Durham through the Durham Fair will gain insight into the beginnings of this very popular event.

Greenwich in the seventeenth century was a lost world with tythingmen and meeting warners, wild horse hunters, herdsmen, townsmen, pounders and planters.

Faced with an ever-changing environment, citizens set many new-world boundaries. Farmers created common fields along the coast and redesigned wilderness. They balanced religious and civic authority, private and common interests and financial inequities across communities. The first comers found it more challenging to please their own than it was to please their God. Their departure from the past fashioned an idealized, yet still imperfect, new society the Puritans proudly called the Greenwich Plantation. Author Missy Wolfe details the strategies and setbacks of creating community in colonial America's First Period.

A fascinating pictorial history of New Britain, Connecticut, documenting its beginnings and developments over time.

New Britain, Connecticut, is a city that almost didn't exist. In the mid-1750s, the settlers in this area separated from Kensington and founded the parish of New Britain with the establishment of the First Church. It was 1850 before parishioners incorporated as a town. Within twenty years, the town flourished and New Britain applied for and received a city charter. The people of New Britain then voted to incorporate as a city, but the historic motion passed only by the narrow margin of one vote! In this fascinating visual history, city historian Arlene C. Palmer examines the 125-year history of the Hardware City, through rare photographs highlighting workplaces, treasured clubs and societies, favorite forms of entertainment, places of worship, and men and women who have boldly served their city and country. The cultural diversity and rich heritage of the city's families are also evident in the book's vivid pictures and informative text.

Located in south-central Connecticut on Long Island Sound, explore Guilford’s long and notable history through the words and images of the people who lived it.

Founded in 1639 by a Puritan minister and his followers, the town by 1750 had grown to 2,300 residents, whose primary occupation was farming, with a substantial minority engaged in maritime activities. A shallow harbor kept Guilford from developing into a major port, and the lack of a significant waterpower source precluded large industrial development in the early nineteenth century. Yet, by the late part of that century, Guilford had become a town of significance, bustling with small enterprises that were operated mainly by descendants of the original families.

Guilfordcaptures the excitement of the period from 1880 to 1920, when the town experienced the improvements of that time: photographic processing that made wonderful images possible, the automobile, the trolley, telephone service, and electricity. All of these contributed to the comfort of life and made it practical for visitors to come to Guilford. With its beautiful coastline, Guilford attracted many new summer residents, most with the means to build their own cottage. These same residents valued the many Colonial houses still standing in town and the picturesque town green, leading to early preservation efforts. The quarries at Leetes Islandand Sachem's Headwere the largest business enterprises of the time, bringing Scandinavian and Italian workers to live in Guilford.

The Guilford Keeping Society, founded in 1947, operates the Thomas Griswold House Museum and maintains a large collection of photographs and documents pertaining to Guilford. Members of the society have combined the best of their collection with fascinating narrative and have come up with Guilford, a tribute to the town's rich past.

Author Eric D. Lehman chronicles the lives of two dozen men and women who left their marks on Connecticut and the world as a whole.

Noah Webster, Charles Goodyear, P.T. Barnum and Katharine Hepburn all have Connecticut in common. Like so many other residents, they had an inventive spirit and drive that changed the course of history for the rest of the state. Some of the state's natives, like Eli Whitney and Henry C. Lee, pioneered new methods. Prudence Crandall and Helen Keller championed the rights of the underprivileged. Some, like Frederick Law Olmsted and Sol LeWitt, changed our perception of the world.