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Cleveland's Little Italy's people, history and rebirth today can be found in these pages.

Developed in the late 19th century, Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood, on the city's east side, was peopled with Italian artisans and craftsmen, many of whom were drawn to jobs carving monuments for the nearby Lake View Cemetery. The compact area relied on the local parish, Holy Rosary; charitable institutions, such as Alta House; and the cohesiveness of the neighborhood to sustain itself. It also produced a number of interesting favorite sons, including Angelo Vitantonio, the inventor of the pasta machine; championship boxer Tony Brush; and Anthony Celebrezze, Cleveland mayor, federal judge, and secretary of health, education, and welfare under Pres. John F. Kennedy and Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson. The area continued to grow until after World War II, when residents graduated from the old neighborhood to Cleveland's eastern suburbs. During the last 20 years, however, Little Italy has experienced a rebirth, and today the area combines Old World charm with a vibrant art scene, new housing, and a host of popular restaurants.

Unearth the history behind northern Ohio's best treasure tales, from sunken ships to misplaced spoils of war. Perfect for fans of historical mysteries and legends.

Encounter a cast of characters as rich as any secret hoard, such as the notorious gangster John Dillinger, who left a trail of robbed banks, dead bodies and buried loot across the northwest stretch of the state. Read about the disaster that befell the G.P. Griffith, the tragic massacre of a family for money and the Ohio counterfeiters who plagued the nation. But tread cautiously in your treasure hunt—Mad Anthony Wayne'sgold is said to be jealously guarded by a dark, ghostly figure.

Author Wendy Koile is a lifelong resident of Ohio. In 2012 she published her first book, Geneva on the Lake: A History of Ohio's First Summer Resort. When not writing or traveling, Koile teaches at Zane State College. Koile founded her own treasure hunting club, First Glass Gals.

Discover the stories behind historic Columbus neighborhoods and their engaging landmarks.

The community centers that locals call home aren't just points of interest but places that have shaped history beyond their communities and even Ohio. This encyclopedia of Columbus neighborhoods gives voice to the rich heritage residing in the bell towers, parks and streetscapes of Franklinton, German Village, King-Lincoln, Olde Town East, Short North and the University District. Along with WOSU's award-winning Columbus Neighborhoods series, Tom Betti, Doreen Uhas Sauer and Ed Lentz curate the stories tracing the lines from your neighborhood to the Manhattan Project, the Underground Railroad, Abraham Lincoln and the Tuskegee Airmen.

While Cincinnati intended their new subway, started in 1920, to be a shining jewel for public transportation, the story of its origin and ultimate failure show the history of the Queen City.

Cincinnati emerged from a tumultuous 19th century as a growing metropolis committed to city planning. The most ambitious plan of the early twentieth century, the Cincinnati Subway, was doomed to failure. Construction began in 1920 and ended in 1927 when the money had run out. Today, two miles of empty subway tunnels still lie beneath Cincinnati, waiting to be used. The Cincinnati Subway tells the whole story, from the turbulent times in the 1880s to the ultimate failure of ""Cincinnati's White Elephant."" Along the way, the reader will learn about what was happening in Cincinnati during the growth of the subway-from the Courthouse Riots in 1884 to life in the Queen City during World War II.

Wright Field features scores of photographs that show the airfield from its founding in 1927 through World War II, the Cold War, and beyond.

From its founding in 1927 until the establishment of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1948, Wright Field played a vital role keeping the Army Air Force positioned as the world's leader in aircraft design and development. The Second World War catapulted it into the forefront of America's war effort, as virtually every new aircraft produced for the Army Air Force was developed and tested in Dayton. Wright Field's testing program also had the fascinating task of studying captured enemy aircraft, including some powered by jet engines, which engineers at the installation were also developing. Images of Aviation: Wright Field features scores of amazing photographs that tell the story of the airfield from its founding in 1927 through World War II, the Cold War, and beyond. Readers will also see the impact the base has played in the local community by providing thousands of jobs, as well as some of the greatest air shows ever held in the United States. Finally, a collection of crash photographs reveals the often tragic consequences that inevitably come with the testing of advanced experimental aircraft.

One of the nation's most colorful leaders, Confederate general John Hunt Morgan, took his cavalry through enemy-occupied territory in three states in one of the longest offensives of the Civil War.

A military operation unlike any other on American soil, Morgan's Raid was characterized by incredible speed, superhuman endurance and innovative tactics.The effort produced the only battles fought north of the Ohio River and reached farther north than any other regular Confederate force. With twenty-five maps and more than forty illustrations, Morgan's Raid historian David L. Mowery takes a new look at this unprecedented event in American history, one historians rank among the world's greatest land-based raids since Elizabethan times.

The Tombstone of Early Ohio  

Southeast Ohio’s Little Cities of Black Diamonds was a rugged region in the 1800s. Nowhere was this truer than in Corning and Rendville, mining towns reminiscent of the Wild West era. Gun duels, scandals, lynchings, and murders plagued these places, as intrepid European immigrants and tenacious Black miners relied on raw grit to survive rowdy saloons and perilous coal mines. These impoverished workers also took bold stands against affluent mine operators, leading to intense clashes with the Ohio National Guard./

Author and former Green Beret Jobie Siemer reveals stories of formidable union conflicts and the unyielding resilience of miners whose faith was a beacon in a chaotic struggle to restore order to Sunday Creek./

Pioneers in Ministry/

When six Ursuline nuns stepped off a train in September 1874, they encountered a smoky industrial town still reeling from a recent economic downturn. Yet, the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown went on to staff more than a dozen parochial schools, while organizing the city’s first Catholic high school.

Over the next century, they compiled an extraordinary record of community service. When the Mahoning Valley’s fortunes eroded in the wake of deindustrialization, the Ursulines gradually expanded their mission to address a host of new challenges.

Today, the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown are celebrated for their groundbreaking efforts to assist the urban poor, single mothers and people living with HIV-AIDS. They remain more committed than ever to meeting the needs of the community, in the face of ever-changing social, political, economic and religious circumstances.

Rediscover Cleveland’s Forgotten Hauntings/

Hiding in obscure corners and in plain sight, chilling tales from Cleveland’s paranormal past await reawakening. A tale from 1840 places the city’s first haunted house on the windswept commons south of town. Hanged murderers were said to roam the corridors of the Old County Jail, and the 1885 disinterment of the old Cleveland Medical College graveyard led to reports of nocturnal phantoms throughout the excavation. With the construction of Bulkley Boulevard in 1912, many West Side homes were demolished. Also destroyed was the entrance to what neighbors menacingly called The Cave of Apparitions.

Take a step back in time with author and investigative historian William G. Krejci on this journey through Cleveland’s long lost ghostly past.

The nightspots, rock clubs, arenas & more that made the city swing

Cincinnati in the ‘50s and ‘60s offered a stunning array of live music and entertainment venues. Though many of them no longer exist, their memories live on. Fulfilling an “obligation” to mobsters, blues crooner Charles Brown played a residency at the Sportsman’s Club in Newport. Incendiary comedian Lenny Bruce performed at the Surf Club on the city’s conservative west side. Jim Tarbell’s short-lived but iconic Ludlow Garage became a major stop on the national “ballroom” circuit that grew up around rock ‘n’ roll as it matured into its progressive, experimental era. Signaling an end to the ‘60s, Iggy Pop created a sensation at the 1970 Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival at Crosley Field.

Join seasoned journalist Steven Rosen on a tour through historically heady days in the Queen City’s music scene.

Remember the favorites from Youngstown, Ohio in classic restaurants such as the MVR and the Boulevard, and other eateries that reflect a diverse and entrepreneurial history.

In Youngstown, Ohio take a tour of restaurants like the MVR and the Boulevard, which continue to reflect Youngstown's ethnic diversity and tenacious entrepreneurial spirit, as well as establishments like Overture, which offer a promise of urban renewal from a refurbished downtown. And raise your glass to the best-laid tables of a bygone era, from the Mural Room to the 20th Century.

Columbus Motor Speedway: how this track rose to popularity, overcame several obstacles and became a community staple for 70 years.

From 1946-2016, the Columbus Motor Speedway, the tough one-third-mile track led primarily by the Nuckles family, presented numerous motorsport events ranging from motorcycles to coupes and, finally, to stock cars. Author and and racing historian Mike Garrepy takes you through the track's triumph and tragedy, rule changes and escalating costs, while showing how the track and weekly ranchers survived and prospered. During its 70-year run, the track witnessed the transition from home built race cars to sleek custom-built cars constructed on jigs to exacting specifications, with a corresponding increase in speeds. To keep up with a changing fan base, other events were offered in addition to weekly stock car shows, such as school bus races and thrill shows. Nevertheless, the core focus remained on the grassroots racers who supported the track on a weekly basis.

From the Black Brigade's role in protecting the city against Confederate siege to the original 1937 Cincinnati Bengals, author Jeff Suess reveals the triumphs and tribulations of the first major American city founded after the American Revolution.

So many colorful stories are lost to time. The last passenger pigeon on earth, Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Just outside the city, a young Annie Oakley beat her future husband in a shooting contest. The deadliest maritime disaster in American history was the explosion of the steamboat Sultana, built in the Queen City. The nation's first train robbery occurred in the Cincinnati area, and some clever victims hid jewelry in their hair and bodices.

Locals and visitors alike will enjoy this step back through time into Put-in-Bay's forgotten past.

An island vacation getaway on Lake Erie, Put-in-Bay is known today for its family fun, cocktail culture, dining and live entertainment, but a deep-rooted history lies beyond. Grand hotels like the Hotel Victory and Put-in-Bay House were reduced to embers and ash and exist today solely in stories and song. Roller coasters, carousels and an electric railroad now rumble and sing only in memory. The many steamboats that brought visitors to the island run no more. Virtually no traces remain of a blockhouse and cemetery dating back to the War of 1812.

Join author and investigative historian William G. Krejci on this journey to an island of yesterday.

Award-winning crime writer Jane Ann Turzillo recounts the stories of Ohio's most notorious vixens, viragoes and villainesses.

The Buckeye State produced its share of wicked women. Tenacious madam Clara Palmer contended with constant police raids during the 1880s and '90s. Only her death could shut the doors of her gilded bordello in Cleveland. Failed actress Mildred Gillars left for Europe right before World War II. Because she fell in love with the wrong man, she wound up peddling Nazi propaganda on the radio as Axis Sally. Volatile Hester Foster was already doing time at the Ohio State Penitentiary when she bashed in the head of a fellow inmate with a shovel. The sinister Anna Marie Hahn dosed at least five elderly Cincinnati men with arsenic and croton oil and then watched them die in agony while pretending to nurse them back to health.

See how Akron, Ohio, rode the economic roller coaster but overcame several adversities and remained a major force in many industries.

Best known as the Rubber Capital of the World, Akron, Ohio, was a major player in varioius industries long before Benjamin F. Goodrich moved there in 1870. From humble canal town to global industry giant, Akron rode the economic roller coaster through the Depression, wars, strikes, and financial booms. As a major manufacturing center of everything from sewer pipe to matches to oatmeal, Akron lured prospective workers from other towns, states, and even countries. This lively mix of diverse cultures helped to create Akron's unique beauty and boundless spirit.

Akron, Ohio, examines this special blend of industry, culture, tight-knit neighborhoods, and high society through historic photographs and images - some of which have not been seen ... until now!

Chrissie Hynde, Devo..Rubber City Rebels...The Rubber City's rebel musical roots

Music made in Akron symbolized an attitude more so than a singular sound. Crafted by kids hell-bent on not following their parents into the rubber plants, the music was an intentional antithesis of Top 40 radio. Call it punk or call it new wave, but in a short few years, major labels signed Chrissie Hynde, Devo, the Waitresses, Tin Huey, the Bizarros, the Rubber City Rebels and Rachel Sweet. They had their own bars, the Crypt and the Bank. They had their own label, Clone Records. They even had their own recording space, Bushflow Studios. London's Stiff Records released an Akron compilation album, and suddenly there were Akron Nights in London clubs and CBGB was waiving covers for people with Akron IDs. Author Calvin Rydbom of the Akron Sound Museum remembers that short time when the Rubber City was the place.

The past lies just under the surface in Lake County.

Interurban trains once carried wealthy Clevelanders to idyllic summer homes and resorts along the shoreline and up to Little Mountain. Stories abound of rum-running during Prohibition, enslaved people who were carried to freedom through the Underground Railroad, and stolen gold bars believed to be buried along a riverbank. Lake County was also once the site of a booming ship-building industry and a secret plant that created chemical warfare during World War I. Many residents fondly recall long-gone drive-in theaters and beloved drug store soda fountains and bakeries of the mid to late twentieth century.

Join author Jennifer Boresz Engelking as she reveals the history behind some of the county’s most intriguing people, places, and industries.

Ghost stories from Put-in-Bay have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

The haunted history of Pudding Bay comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Visit Perry’s Cave to catch a glimpse of its mysterious, otherworldly glow. Or look for ghosts amongst the hallways of Cooke’s Castle on Gibraltar Island. 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.

Geneva on the Lake details the history of this town which resides on the coast of Lake Erie, one that is well-loved and enjoyed by many.

For over a century, Ohio and Pennsylvania families have made an annual trek to a special spot on the shores of Lake Erie. This tiny piece of Northeast, Ohio, has made a huge impression on the hearts of thousands of visitors. But what is it about this town that draws generation after generation back for a vacation every summer? Why, when other resorts and amusements crumbled apart in the mid-nineteenth century, was Geneva on the Lake able to sustain some of the most trying times in the entertainment industry? Perhaps, by tracing the history of the town, and by exploring what the town is today, one may discover the answers to these questions. By examining numerous accounts of happy times on the lakeside, one will discover that some feelings have held true since the resorts beginnings; Geneva on the Lake has a magical way of lingering in our memories, connecting us to our past, and forever remaining in our hearts.

Cleveland storyteller Dan Ruminski discovered that the 6 acres under his home were originally part of a 1,400-acre grand estate known as the Circle W Farm.

The impressive estate was created by Walter White, founding brother of the White Motor Company. Drawn in by the fascinating history, Ruminski's investigation soon embraced the full legacy of Cleveland's industrial history and the indomitable characters who created the city's Gilded Age. John D. Rockefeller, Samuel Mather and more giants of industry built Cleveland's Millionaires' Row. Come peek inside the once-grand mansions these millionaires called home and hear the delightful stories that bring the past to life. Join Ruminski and Alan Dutka on a return to this section of Euclid Avenue, which wasn't merely the most stunning show of wealth in Cleveland but also in the entire country.

Since 1870, Cedar Point has been attracting visitors to its peninsula with beautiful scenery, cool breezes, and a multitude of rides and attractions. Entertaining millions of visitors each year, Cedar Point, billed the “World’s Largest Amusement Park,” is recognized around the world for its number and quality of rides—especially roller coasters. People have been making memories there for generations. This book shares the stories and photographs of Cedar Point with the purpose of seeing it through the years, relying on the photographs visitors took with their amateur cameras and the real-photo postcards they purchased. More than half the photographs used here have never been published in a Cedar Point history book, and included are images of the Space Spiral, the Monorail, and the Riverboat Ride. It is the hope that this book captures favorite memories of Cedar Point.

James A. Rogers, a career musician, is a widely published author of material related to music and a lecturer about music. A member of American Coaster Enthusiasts, he has authored several articles on Ohio’s historic roller coasters. He is usually the oldest person in line for the roller coasters.

Carved from the Connecticut Western Reserve, Madison Township was formally organized in 1811.

Lake Erie, the Grand River, and fertile land attracted New England settlers arriving by foot and oxcart. They cleared wooded land to make way for farms and survived Ohio winters in log homes. The discovery of bog iron created a boomtown near the mouth of Arcola Creek. Astute businessmen built smelting furnaces and ships. But when the iron pits were exhausted, both industries disappeared and so did the boomtown. Fertile land remained to support farms, and later a modern landscape nursery industry arose. In the 1920s, the Lake Erie shore was again discovered--this time by land developers and summer vacationers. Over the past 200 years, Madison's families built businesses, beautiful homes, schools, and churches. They left a historic legacy that remains to be enjoyed today.

Gathering the stories of the pioneers and the entrepreneurs of the past and the present, Enquirer food critic Polly Campbell unfolds how Cincinnati's history has set the table for its menu today.

Over the years, Cincinnati has earned a reputation for conservatism and keeping to itself, especially regarding food, but that's changing. Old favorites like cinnamon-scented chili on spaghetti, ice cream with huge chocolate chunks and old-fashioned German butchers selling goetta, brats and metts are being rediscovered--and in some cases re-created. A similar urge for experimentation and innovation from restaurants, farmers' markets and food producers is bringing new energy to the city's tables.

Hauntings and eerie tales abound in northern Ohio. Chillings legends, mysteries and hauntings.

Does Esther Hale, believed to have been executed for witchcraft, really haunt Columbiana County’s Bowman Cemetery? Is Lonesome Lock on the Ohio and Erie Canal as haunted as rumors say? Do restless spirits stalk the rooms at the Wolf Creek Tavern in Norton and the Rider’s Inn of Painesville? Do the ruins of Gore Orphanage echo with the ghastly wails of children said to have died in a fire long ago? Author William G. Krejci guides this supernatural journey through the most chilling legends of northern Ohio. Some stories are debunked. Some long-standing mysteries are solved. Some new mysteries come to light.

It is impossible to explore the history of Cincinnati without looking at the influence of German-Americans.

German Cincinnati is a pictorial history of the German-American experience in the Greater Cincinnati area: the people, places, and things that influenced that influenced this culturally rich city and made it what it is today. This book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in German-American or people Cincinnati history.

German immigrants first came to the region in the late 18th century and then arrived in great waves beginning in the early 19th century. These German American immigrants and their descendants have greatly influenced the social, political, cultural, religious, and economic growth and development of the area, earning Cincinnati a reputation for its German heritage. Today, nearly every other person in Cincinnati can trace some German lineage in their family tree. It is known as one of the corners in the famed German Triangle, along with St. Louis and Milwaukee. German Cincinnatians survived the hard times of the world wars of the last century, even experiencing an ethnic heritage revival that has reaffirmed the area's reputation as one of the major centers of German heritage in the United States today.

Join author Don Heinrich Tolzmann, curator of the German-Americana Collection and director of the German-American Studies Program at the University of Cincinnati, as he looks at the complex and prosperous history of German-Americans in Cincinnati.

Cross over to the spooky side of Hamilton history

To the casual glance, Hamilton is a typical Midwestern town, but a closer look reveals strange and inexplicable events of possibly supernatural origins. A mischievous poltergeist plays its tricks in a High Street tavern. More than a century ago, a young boy narrowly escaped death in a fall that left him gravely ill, and some say his cries still echo in his family home. A vaporous woman appears on the stairs of a Hamilton home once owned by one of the county's richest men. Could this be his daughter who died from suicide?

Hamilton native and contributor to the Dayton Lane Ghost Walk Shi O'Neill mines the history of the town's many spectral occurrences.

In the 1880s, Oscar Townsend and the Cleveland, Lorain, & Wheeling Railroad developed a prosperous vacation resort, eventually called ""Chippewa Lake Park,"" on the banks of Ohio's largest natural lake.

The Great Depression and extinction of interurban service crippled the park, but in 1937, Parker Beach purchased the resort, and it enjoyed a swinging Golden Age through 1969, as he kept the park's ballroom filled with dancers and famous bands. In 1978, after more than 100 years of operation, Chippewa Lake Park joined the ghostly ranks of the last traditional amusement parks. Chippewa Lake Park keeps the memory of one of Ohio's longest-lived and best-loved amusement parks alive through vintage images and captivating history.

The dreadful howls of coyotes are common in the shadows surrounding Medina County, but perhaps something else, something entirely more fearsome, lurks in the night.

In 1906, the specter now known as the Woman in Black so terrified residents in Medina Square that a curfew was imposed. Restless spirits, rattling chains, and nefarious deeds are rumored to have occurred in a farmhouse in Sharon Township. Legend has it that about 100 years ago a witch preyed on the residents of Liverpool Township, and the ghost of a teenage boy is said to haunt the men’s restroom at Plum Creek Park in Brunswick Hills.

Join parapsychologist Brandon Massullo as he sheds light on the ghostly lore surrounding Medina County’s restaurants, libraries, freeways, parks, and more.

Explore Ohio's ""clay city"" as Kathryn Lynch and Michael S. Sims guide you through the history, development, and quaint staples that make up Zanesville.

Zanesville is located in a geographically fortuitous location in the southeastern part of the state, juxtaposed between the Licking and Muskingum Rivers and rich veins of clay, natural gas, and coal. Settled in 1797, Zanesville grew and prospered over the next 200 years as a transportation hub and a pottery-and tile-manufacturing center. Known for decades as either ""Clay City"" or the ""Y-Bridge City,"" Zanesville retains its charm and small-town qualities through its architecture, neighborhoods, parks, schools, downtown buildings, churches, and numerous bridges that crisscross the city. As you explore Zanesville's historic past, you may find yourself reminiscing about earlier days and learn why so many people have called Zanesville home.

Cincinnati loves goetta.

Since its arrival with nineteenth-century Germanic immigrants, this humble dish has evolved from peasant staple to ubiquitous delicacy. Once upon a time, Cincinnatians found goetta mostly in neighborhood butcher shops, in Over-the-Rhine’s so-called Goetta Alley and through Sander Packing, its first commercial producer. Now hungry locals scarf it down at diners and white-linen establishments alike and in everything from egg rolls to Reuben sandwiches. Tracing goetta from its Germanic origins and its first stop in Greater Cincinnati to its largest commercial producers, Queen City Sausage and Gliers, food etymologist and “Goettevangelist” Dann Woellert explores goetta’s history in the city that made it regionally famous.

Cincinnati Television provides an informative entertaining look at Cincinnati's broadcast history through the images and stories of its participants.

Cincinnati has a distinguished television history. Beginning before WLW-T signed on the air in February 1948, its experimental station W8XCT broadcast from the 46th floor of the Carew Tower. WKRC-TV and WCPO-TV signed on in 1949, WCET in 1954, and WXIX-TV in 1968. Since then, television has become part of the family.

Uncle Al, Skipper Ryle, Batty Hattie from Cincinnati, the Cool Ghoul, Peter Grant, Al Schottelkotte, Nick Clooney, Ruth Lyons, Paul Baby, Bob Braun, and Jerry Springer visited Cincinnati living rooms on television. Remember Midwestern Hayride, TV Dance Party, PM Magazine, Juvenile Court, Young People's Specials, Lilias, Dotty Mack, Bob Shreve, Mr. Hop, Bean's Clubhouse, The Last Prom, and Ira Joe? They are part of the collective Cincinnati history, part of the Cincinnati culture, and part of the Cincinnati family.

Jim Friedman is a Cincinnati native and resident wordsmith who has created television shows since 1979. He has won 56 regional Emmy Awards for writing, directing, and producing television shows for WCPO-TV, WKRC-TV, WLWT, WXIX, and WCET. He created The Celebrate Series, The Dooley Show, Everyday Freedom Heroes, and the Dreambuilder movies. In Cincinnati Television, he shares memories from in front of the camera, behind the scenes, and all over town.

Author Dave Westrick shares the forgotten stories of the defenders, invaders and all the people caught in the middle. On a hot, humid August morning in 1794, an army representing fifteen quarreling states met an alliance of Native American tribes at a place called Fallen Timbers. The battle lasted less than two hours, with fewer than one hundred killed. For the United States, it was the beginning of greatness and the birth of a proud military tradition. For the Native Americans, it was the end of the life they had led for thousands of years.

When Rubén Castilla Herrera died suddenly in 2019, he left an acute void in Ohio's grassroots organizing community. Notably at the forefront of many regional social justice campaigns, his life and work still reverberate through the lives of those he fought so hard for: immigrants, refugees, farmworkers, the displaced, and many, many others who refuse to simply comply with injustice. Synthesizing oral histories, community voices, and ideas from queer Latinidad and migrant worker activism, Trust the Circle details Herrera's intimate and vulnerable way of seeing the world and his role in it as an agent of change. Here, you'll learn about: - His childhood in Texas and Oregon, where he and his siblings were forced into agricultural labor after the early death of their mother, and where Herrera first encountered the Chicano activism of César Chávez and Dr. José Ángel Gutiérrez. - His move to Columbus, Ohio, and the development of his unique circle-based leadership approach. - His coming-out as a queer Latinx man in middle age. - His tireless work toward the end of his life to help provide sanctuary for undocumented migrants during the Trump administration.  Marked by the voices and remembrances of those who knew Herrera best, Trust the Circle is a biography about one grassroots organizer and the profound changes he was able to accomplish. But it's also about the ways that an intersectional and inclusive approach to organizing can be applied anywhere there is injustice.

Every community begins with a dream - a dream of a better life

Home to thousands of settlements extending as far back as 13,000 years ago, Ohio has seen most of its architectural history fall to the wrecking ball. But there is still history all around if we know where to look. Located south of Dayton, SunWatch is the best-known Fort Ancient Indian village in the United States. On the other side of the state, Marietta is the oldest permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory. About fifty miles southeast of Cincinnati, antebellum Ripley grew to prominence as a bastion of abolitionism. Dennison, also known as Dreamsville, was born virtually overnight thanks to the railroads.

Authors David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker reveal twenty-one communities where the Ohio story can still be seen.

Butler County has a long and storied history with some spooky twists.

When European settlers arrived, they found not only Native settlements but also earthworks that remain a mystery--as are the strange lights still seen near them. The disturbed spirit of a frontier soldier roams the basement of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument, and Busenbark is haunted by the Hatchet Man, who committed his crimes 175 years ago. At Miami University, the ghost of Helen Peabody wanders the building that bears her name. Just outside of town, many drive to see the Oxford Ghost Light, and a weekend visit to the Screaming Bridge of Maud-Hughes Road is a high school rite of passage.

Hamilton native and owner of an actual haunted house Daniel D. Schneider explores the terrifying train tracks, creepy canals, scary streets, and bewitched bridges of Butler County.

Extreme wealth could buy a mansion in Millionaires' Row but not immunity from unsavory business dealings or shameful behavior.

May Hanna gave her millionaire ex-husband's hired Pinkerton detectives the slip to sneak out of the country. To escape financial embarrassment, James Potter, the manager of a prominent Euclid Avenue apartment building, gave his family cough medicine laced with poison, killing his entire family including himself. Married to a Millionaires' Row doctor, the infamous con woman Cassie Chadwick posed as Andrew Carnegie's illegitimate daughter and forged a fake $5 million check. Author Alan Dutka delves into sixteen tales of anguish and deceit that offer a startling perspective on Cleveland's super-rich.

Early postcards and photographs reveal the begininngs of rail travel in Ohio, and the rail depots and buildings that served the passengers and their goods.

The first rail lines in northeast Ohio opened for business in July 1850, and by the 1890s, northeast Ohio was laced with railroad tracks. Cleveland was the hub of railroad activity, and important rail-served lake ports developed at Ashtabula, Conneaut, Fairport Harbor, Huron, and Lorain. Akron became a center of southerly east-west lines. Over 310 passenger and combination depots were established at various points along the railroads to serve the needs of passengers traveling throughout northeast Ohio. Depots were the focal point of communities--news arrived over their telegraphs, traveling salesmen gathered on the trackside platforms, depot staff maneuvered four-wheel wagons loaded with baggage, parcels, and milk cans, locals gathered to meet, greet, and send off family and friends. The depot was a veritable beehive of activity at train time. Railroad Depots of Northeast Ohio offers a glimpse into these golden years of train travel through the use of early postcards and photographs of selected depots and related structures.

Over the years, Middletown has grown from a simple village of 50 people to a city of over 50,000.

Located along the Great Miami River, Middletown developed from a farming community into an industrial city located on I-75, a major national highway. The Miami-Erie Canal helped speed Middletown's progress and provided a link between northern and southern Ohio. The canal allowed for further industrial growth with such businesses as grist and saw mills, porkpacking plants, and paper and tobacco plants. Today, Middletown is a steel-producing community with many other important industries. The construction of railroads and new roads and highways also played an important role in Middletown's growth. This work recalls many of the people that brought this success and development to Middletown. The everimproving cameras and the rise of the art of photography allowed much of this town's history to be captured on film. Many of these images, taken by both professionals and amateurs, are recorded in Middletown, Ohio. Join Mr. Miller and Mr. Crout in celebrating a community rich in history and heritage.

Explore the rich history of Columbus, Ohio, from 1860-1910 through vintage images of its citizens, businesses, organizations and historic events.

In 1798, a settlement named Franklinton sprouted up on the west bank of the Scioto River, just below the Olentangy River. The Ohio legislature accepted a proposal in 1812 for the high bank east of the Scioto River, across the river from Franklinton, to be the site of the capital city. The location was given the name Columbus, even though it had no inhabitants at the time.

Columbus grew quickly and became the county seat. The arrival of the National Road, the Ohio Canal, and the railroads contributed greatly to Columbus's growth. This capital city developed first as a transportation hub, then as a manufacturing center and finally as the commerce, education and government center that it is today.

Explore the stories behind Columbus' most stunning landmarks, both those sadly lost and others miraculously saved.

As the crossroads city of the Midwest, Columbus has always thrived. Over the years, many of the city's most important and most beautiful buildings--packed with marble, ornate metalwork, painted ceilings and glitz and glamour--have been reduced to dust or left in disrepair. Union Station and stately mansions of well-to-do industrialists are no longer there to tell the story of the city. The Alfred Kelley Mansion, the Chittenden Hotel, the Franklin County Courthouse, and the Walk of Wonders in the Great Western Shopping Center were lost, but the palatial Ohio Theatre and the modest Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker home, both designated National Historic Landmarks, were saved. Tom Betti and Doreen Uhas Sauer, authors of Historic Hotels of Columbus and Historic Taverns of Columbus, recapture stories and memories of a forgotten Columbus.

Revisit your Elyria youth with your very own time-travel guide. Author Marci Rich combines journalism, historical research, and memoir to look back at midcentury Elyria.

Brimming with postwar optimism and prosperity, mid-twentieth-century Elyria seemed like Camelot and was, indeed, a brief passage on a beloved president’s campaign trail. You could visit the bears at Cascade Park and play on the slides. See a movie at the Capitol Theatre and enjoy a cherry Coke at the Paradise. Run an errand for Mom at Hales Market and then walk up to the old Reefy mansion to check out a book at the library. Shop at Merthe’s and Harry’s Men’s Wear, then admire the groovy clothes at New Horizons East. Based on her award-winning articles for the Chronicle-Telegram, author Marci Rich brings you back to Elyria.

The beloved places and landmarks of Toledo's past still tint Ohio's memories, as well as those of its residents.

Catch the action of a Toledo Mud Hens game at bygoballpark Swayne Field. Watch the glittering marquees light up the downtown skyline with names such as Count Basie and Elvis Presley to B.B. King and KISS. Recall the birth of the Jeep, as well as the dozens of unique and prominent shoppes available to the residents of Toledo and tourists alike. Author David Yonke jogs fond memories of good times past in this nostalgic stroll through Toledo's heritage.

With stories of inventors, movie moguls, local cuisine and sports heroes, Editor Mark C. Peyko and the writers of the Metro Monthly not only chronicle the history of Youngstown, but also capture the essence of their home.

The blows of hammers and the humming of mills once echoed throughout the Mahoning Valley. Steel reigned supreme, and immigrants from every corner of Europe came to forge new lives and an enduring community. When the sounds of industry were silenced, Youngstown remained a strong and vibrant community. Peyko and company create a portrait of their city through a beautifully rendered collection of vignettes.

Join local history preservationist Christopher Busta-Peck and unearth aspects of Cleveland's past that dangle too near extinction from city memory. Too often, we think of history as something that happens elsewhere.

But it's not. Travel down East 100th Street to the home where Jesse Owens lived when he shocked the world at the 1936 Olympics. Ascend the stairs to Langston Hughes's attic apartment on East 86th, where the influential writer lived alone during his formative sophomore and junior years of high school. From the massive Brown Hoist Building and the Hulett ore unloaders to some of the oldest surviving structures in Cleveland, Busta-Peck (of the wildly popular Cleveland Area History blog) has Clevelanders talking about history again. Here's why.

Lancaster, Ohio, with a population of around 35,000, sits snuggled among the rolling hills at the base of a sandstone bluff that the Wyandot Indians called ""Standing Stone.""

Just east of the Hock-Hocking River in Fairfield County and a few miles southeast of Columbus, Lancaster was founded on November 10, 1800, by Col. Ebenezer Zane (1747-1811). The city's rich history is celebrated today in one of the most significant historic districts in the Midwest, known as Square 13. The city offers a walking tour of the area, originally designed in 1800. In a 24-block area, 89 buildings have been designated on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Sherman House Museum is listed as a National Historical Landmark.

The riveting story of Slovenian heritage in Cleveland, Ohio and how the culture remains relevant even today.

The Newburgh, St. Clair and Collinwood neighborhoods formed the core of Greater Cleveland's enormous Slovenian population, still the largest in America. The city's Slovenian heritage is replete with gripping tales of World War II prison camp escapes and bizarre bank robbers who threatened the St. Clair Savings institution. The catastrophic East Ohio Gas explosion and tragic Collinwood school fire are etched into local consciousness. The rise of neighborhood residents to professional sports stardom and national political prominence contribute to a proud legacy. And the century-old Cleveland style Slovenian polka remains an important cultural expression. Author Alan Dutka offers the first comprehensive history of the struggles and triumphs of Cleveland's Slovenians.

Ghost stories from the Ohio State Reformatory have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

The haunted history of the OSR comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Visit the reformatory and risk being punched by a long-dead prisoner. Or listen for the ghostly voices of former guards and convicts echoing through the halls. Perhaps you’ll encounter the spirit of a neighbor who still patrols the road outside the prison! 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.

The River City. Marietta, in Ohio was one of the earliest premanent settlements in the US and as the ""new frontier, building steamboats and home to riverboats, has a long and vibrant history.

Marietta, known as the ""River City,"" was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. In 1788, General Rufus Putnam and 48 pioneers founded this organized settlement at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers, eventually leading it to become a major riverboat community with many steamboat-building yards. Marietta was a main thoroughfare for people migrating to the new frontier, including those seeking freedom on the Underground Railroad route. Marietta's accessibility from the rivers and both rail and road has made Marietta the hub of business, industry, education, and recreation in Southeastern Ohio for centuries. Today's downtown business and residential areas still reflect its long and rich history.

Explore the events and characters that make up the more unusual aspects of Cleveland's history. A must-read for fans of fantastic, peculiar, and nontraditional history.

Eliot Ness might come busting in and take all of you crooks to jail - or more likely he won't, even if you've been robbing banks all over Cleveland and bragging about it to the media, like self-proclaimed last of the big-time bank robbersEddie Watkins.

This isn't your Kevin Costner version of Eliot Ness, and this isn't your standard collection of Cleveland eccentrics. Join author Ted Schwarz on this romp celebrating bizarre misdeeds and noteworthy accomplishments of Clevelanders large and small. Learn of the burlesque star who created the striptease and the con woman who claimed to be Andrew Carnegie's illegitimate daughter. Get to know present-day street musician Maurice Reedus Jr. and the remaining cast of loving souls, offbeat characters and one-of-a-kind Clevelanders.

As the Cleveland Plain Dealerput it in April 2009, Ted Schwarz may be the most prolific author you've never heard of.He's been freelancing full time for nearly forty years. During that time, he's written well over one hundred books and more than three thousand articles and short stories for publications throughout the world. His books have been translated into more than a half dozen languages, and several have been made into documentaries and/or television movies. He has appeared on over three hundred television and radio programs in the United States and Canada.

A part of Belt's City Anthology Series, The Dayton Anthology offers a portrait of a city recovering from the twin 2019 crises of devastating tornadoes and the mass shooting that took the lives of nine residents in the Oregon District.

In over fifty essays and poems, contributors reflect on these traumas and the longer-term ills of disinvestment and decay that have plagued Dayton and the Miami Valley for years. But they also draw our attention to the resilience of the people who call Dayton home. This is the city that brought the world the Wright brothers' invention of flight, the cash register, and the hydraulic pump. It also gave us the soaring poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar and the comedy of Dave Chappelle. Edited by Shannon Shelton Miller and with contributions from Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and former Ohio Governor Bob Taft.

A delightful tour of a city that never counts itself out, that captures the true diversity of Dayton's residents.

In the history of Cleveland television, there is no more formidable pioneer than Betty Cope .

From her entry-level position as a receptionist at WEWS in 1947, Cope rose up the ranks to become the producer of some of the area’s most memorable early local programs. Together with a group of concerned citizens, she founded Cleveland’s educational television station, WVIZ, in 1965.

Under her management, Channel 25 became one of the nation’s largest producers of instructional classroom programming. Throughout Cope’s twenty-seven-year tenure, WVIZ maintained high-quality programming standards, and she kept her station financially sound largely through the funds raised from the popular annual televised Auction. After TV, she embarked on a new career as an advocate of land conservation and park preservation./

Compiling original interviews and never-before-seen photos, author Christine Martuch tells story of one of Northeast Ohio’s most remarkable women.

Hillsboro was carved out of the thick woods of central Highland County in 1807. The small village soon built itself up from a collection of rough log buildings to a place of considerable prominence in southern Ohio. Blessed with an unusually healthy climate and rich surrounding farmlands, the town became an important business center and transportation hub. It was the home of many state and federal officeholders, including a multiterm governor of Ohio. Hillsboro became a center of women’s education as early as 1839, with as many as three women’s colleges in operation at one time. In 1873, many of these college-educated women launched the Women’s Temperance Crusade against the sale of liquor, which led directly to the federal passage of Prohibition in 1919. 

Tara Beery is a retired veterinarian with a passion for Hillsboro’s history. She lives in Hillsboro with her husband, son, and daughter. The Highland County Historical Society opened its archives to provide the historical photographs for this collection. Special effort was made to select images that have not been used in previous histories, though some old favorites will be found among these less-seen photographs.

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.