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Some Ohioans are destined for greatness--some are destined for notoriety.

Akron's Edward Wayne Edwards got an early start, snatching cash and cigarettes from his grandmother's purse. He eventually graduated to murder, offing as many as five people, and he ended up on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list along the way. Lester Eubanks killed a fourteen-year-old in Mansfield. After his death sentence was commuted to life, he was mistakenly allowed to go Christmas shopping and disappeared from a Columbus mall in 1973. U.S. Marshals are still looking for him. Cleveland bank robber "Fast Eddie" Watkins held off fifty lawmen for eight hours while sitting in his car in front of a house near Lodi. John Dillinger was born a Hoosier, but he took from Ohio banks as though he had a birthright to the funds.

From counterfeiters to killers, author Jane Ann Turzillo explores the sordid lives of some of the most awful characters in Buckeye history.

Ghoulish Legends from The City of Lakes

Haunted government buildings, theaters, museums, restaurants, parks, and, of course, cemeteries—Minneapolis has it all. Local folklore comes to life at the Turnblad Mansion, where the piano plays on its own, and at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where the subjects of portraits move about. Spirits of victims in the disastrous 1878 mill explosion haunt Mill Ruins Park. The Foshay Tower’s elevator seemingly goes haywire for no reason, and inmates and guards in the Hennepin County Jail report sightings of an underdressed spectral figure.

Local author Ron de Beaulieu investigates the roots of the Mill City’s ghost stories, ranging from the tragic to the horrific as well as heartwarming and perplexing. 

Some Illinois travelers are so taken by their destination, they hunker down for eternity.

There’s something about old hotels and locales that tourists flock to. The places are experiences unto themselves, but they also thrum, sometimes quite literally, with the lingering presence of those who previously paid them a visit. At the Mineral Springs Hotel in Alton, traces of floral perfume from a woman who took her life more than a century ago greet visitors in room 220. Spirits abound at the DeSoto House Hotel in Galena, one bearing an unsettling likeness to Abraham Lincoln. At the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, children from the past still laugh after dark. From the polite spirit at the Inn at 835 Boutique Hotel in Springfield, who encourages guests to “turn the page,” to the specter of the jilted chambermaid at St. Charles’s Hotel Baker, author Maria Salvo Benson guides intrepid readers through hotels and getaways where previous guests never truly checked out.

Author Maria Salvo-Benson guides the intrepid through the most haunted hotels and getaways throughout the Prairie State.

Read about the crime The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana called "the most reckless holdup and murder ever committed within the boundaries of Lake County.”

It all started with a haphazard robbery in a popular roadhouse halfway between Cedar Lake and Crown Point. Close to midnight, a hardened crew of bootleggers from the South Side of Chicago stalked into the crowded barroom. Fifteen terrifying minutes later, bullet holes cratered the walls, patrons were left bloody and dazed, and a prominent Lake County attorney lay dying. The mayhem would spark a furious and desperate police response, an unprecedented trial, and even more brutal murder.

Author James Haniford takes readers back to Prohibition-era Indiana for a front-row seat to the unbelievable true story of big-city crime in a small resort town.

From the author of Murder in Victorian Western Michigan and Victorian Southwest Michigan True Crime comes more thrilling stories from the Wolverine State's past.

As the Michigan Central Railroad company became a juggernaut, the nineteenth-century rail line also devolved into a bastion for crime as morality was often set aside for profit. In 1850, a grand jury indicted fifty men in Jackson County for conspiracy to commit arson after a freight depot in Detroit was set ablaze. When two Grand Trunk locomotives collided in Battle Creek in 1893 killing twenty-seven people, a conductor and an engineer each accused the other, avoiding conviction. A Mineral Ridge train robbery of $70,000 in payroll money destined for miners on the Keweenaw Peninsula was exposed by a former railroad worker involved in the heist, allowing him to escape prosecution and sending four others to prison.

Author Michael Delaware unfolds dark stories of corruption and crime from Michigan’s Victorian age.

Savor the unexpected and altogether delectable history of Chinese food in the Queen City

While a smattering of chop suey houses were sprinkled around Cincinnati around the turn of the twentieth century, Wong Yie was the first to present the cuisine to non-Chinese Cincinnatians as a new, exotic, and upscale dining experience with his Gold Dragon in 1911. Despite challenges from the Chinese Exclusion Act, which exacerbated the already massive difficulties faced by Chinese immigrants, Yie’s restaurant spawned more than eighty Chinese restaurants in the city, famed spots such as the Canton, the Wah Mee, and the Fortune Kookie. Proprietors like Mike Wong of Oriental Wok and Johnny Chu of KungFood Chu’s AmerAsia keep our local Chinese food culture alive and evolving.

Author and food etymologist Dann Woellert delves into the fascinating and mouthwatering history of Chinese food in Cincinnati. 

Revisit your favorite stores and memories of innovative Northland Mall in Michigan, once heralded as the future of shopping.

When the Northland Mall opened in Michigan on March 22, 1954, it was the world's largest shopping center. Its innovative design was the vision of architect Victor Gruen and the Webbers, nephews of Joseph Lowthian Hudson and executives of the J.L. Hudson Company. Northland featured Hudson's flagship suburban store surrounded by other businesses selling a variety of merchandise and services. More than just a shopping destination, Northland Mall was a total experience of activity and relaxation, with colorful courtyards displaying sculptures such as the famous The Boy and Bear.

100 years of cruising from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Opened in 1926, Route 66 was one of America's original highways. In modern times, the Mother Road is an icon of nostalgia and kitsch, but behind each pit stop is a uniquely human story. From Alberta Ellis, who created safe havens for African American travelers in the first half of the twentieth century to Bob Waldmire and Angel Delgadillo, who worked to preserve the history of the route after the interstates came through, the people behind these places are what truly make them special. 

Just off the well-traveled path are places like the Santa Fe Internment Camp, where many Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated during World War II, and the Apache Death Cave near Two Guns, Arizona, said to be the site where many Native Americans lost their lives. Visit the Amboy Crater, a dormant volcano in the Mojave Desert of California that hints at the distant geological past, and the town of Baxter Springs, which was once a major part of America's Main Street. 

Author Brain Clune brings to life the tales that left a legacy along Route 66. 

Indiana State Prison showcases the innerworkings of an institution that housed a variety of individuals for various reasons over centuries, much of which has been unknown to the public until now. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, officials at the Indiana State Prison worked as hard to keep prisoners locked in as they did to keep the public locked out. Consequently, for the average citizen, the prison was a mystery. This book chronicles what prison officials did and, more importantly, why they did it throughout the history of the prison. Three distinct penological theories informed everything done at the prison at different periods in its 165-year history. Changes at the prison over the years did not occur in a vacuum; they were deliberate and based on popular theories about why people committed crimes. This book on the history of the Indiana State Prison could be the last one written while the prison is still in use. The Indiana Department of Correction announced in 2024 that it would close the prison in 2027. Nearly all of the pictures in this book appear in print for the first time in history.

William G. Hinkle, PhD, worked for five years as a counselor and case manager at the Indiana State Prison and taught there for Ball State University for 12 years. Susan S. Garvey, PhD, is a community advocate involved with the prevention of child abuse/neglect and human trafficking. Patrick J. Hinkle, JD, lives in Mishawaka, Indiana. 

There’s Spirits in them Hills

The wild and ferocious history of the Black Hills has been well documented in cinema and literature—their paranormal past and present less so. From Sturgis and Deadwood to Rapid City and Spearfish, ghastly tales litter the rugged landscape where notorious characters like Wild Bill Hickok, Potato Creek Johnny, and Jack McCall left their mark. Unsolved mysteries like Lame Johnny’s lost treasure and the legend of the Spearfish Sasquatch are shared with each generation. The spectral remnants of menace and murder linger from eerie episodes involving Big Foot Meyers, Poker Alice, and a slain Sturgis mayor.

Author Deborah Cuyle takes readers on a tantalizing tour through the spooky and supernatural side of this infamous western outpost. 

Celebrate the ingenious, pioneering, and creative women who made the Circle City what it is today.

A diverse group of incredible women shaped Indianapolis as we know it today. But they’ve often been omitted from its history books—until now. These women include Civil War heroes, suffragist leaders, trailblazing educators like Eliza Blaker, famed entrepreneurs like Madam C.J. Walker and Christel DeHaan, and unsung heroes like Madge Oberholtzer. Women founded community cornerstones like the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Children’s Museum. One Indianapolis woman was the “mother of science fiction,” one wrote every episode of I Love Lucy, and another was a palm reader with a celebrity clientele. Other women in the Circle City have been pioneering athletes, trend-setting artists, and fierce community organizers, including the woman who saved the Indiana Pacers.

Author and lifelong Hoosier Ashley Petry celebrates these amazing women.

For more than 200 years, Great Lakes shipyards have bolstered America's and Canada’s commercial and naval power.

Vessels like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Niagara, and Walk-in-the-Water are now the stuff of legend, but lesser-known ships also have their stories to tell. Cargo-carrying schooners, such as Moonlight and Minnedosa, got faster and bigger over the years, helping them hold their own against the emerging steamships, while the revolutionary design of the R.J. Hackett set the standard for lake freighters for years. Of course, the Great Lakes have often exacted a heavy toll, as demonstrated by the mysterious disappearance of the Griffon and the harrowing sinking of Pere Marquette 18.

Highlighting vessels from the colonial era down to modern times, historian Glenn A. Knoblock explores the maritime heritage of America and Canada.

When Gideon Granger arrived in the area that would become Jefferson in 1803, he found an inhospitable land of dense forest, harsh winters, and sultry, humid summers. Even the most basic supplies were a day’s journey away. However, the former US postmaster general saw the potential in this land that he named for the president he had served, Thomas Jefferson. 

The city would later become the center of the US abolitionist movement in the pre–Civil War years as well as the seat of Ashtabula County government when the county was formed in 1808. Nearby Rock Creek, organized in 1819, never grew as big as its neighbor. However, the village is home to a Civil War cemetery, a picturesque creekside park, and one of Ohio’s most talented chainsaw artists. Roaming Shores, a lakeside residential community with hundreds of homes, was created in 1966–1967 when the Rock Creek dam was constructed, forming the largest private-access lake in Ohio.

Sandy Mitchell Pavick has lived in northeast Ohio for more than 25 years. She is a full-time writer and is the author of four previous titles for Arcadia Publishing. For this book, Pavick has amassed images, many of which have never been published, from dozens of private archives as well as from Jefferson area libraries, museums, and historical societies.

St. Cloud, Minnesota, sits at the crossroads of urban and rural life, blending the modern city with agrarian landscapes. As the heart of central Minnesota, St. Cloud’s strategic location at the intersection of major highways, railroads, and the Mississippi River made it a hub of transportation, commerce, and industry.

Workers established St. Cloud’s reputation for high-quality goods and strong infrastructure. These industries also influenced local neighborhoods, as many laborers settled near their work and formed tight-knit communities where traditions, languages, and cultural practices were preserved and expanded upon. Individuals like Jane Grey Swisshelm, A.G. Whitney, and Samuel Pandolfo also helped shape the distinctive history of St. Cloud. The seat of Stearns County, a center of industry, and a haven for immigrants and refugees, St. Cloud has played a pivotal role in the history of central Minnesota since its founding.

The roots of the Stearns History Museum are found in the Old Settlers Association of the 1890s. Out of these early efforts to preserve the history of Stearns County came the organization of the Stearns County Historical Society in 1936. The Stearns County Heritage Center was constructed in 1984 to securely house and preserve the county’s historic artifacts and records. Now known as the Stearns History Museum, it remains central Minnesota’s premier destination for experiencing history. Miranda Stueckrath is its public program librarian, and Grant Wilson is its archivist.

“The great concerns of the southern states have made their products so well known that few people realized that tobacco can be grown elsewhere than Virginia and Cuba.” – Clarence Olson, Edgerton Reporter, 1953

Widely known as America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin also has a long, fertile history with tobacco. For centuries, Indigenous tribes cultivated it for spiritual, medicinal, and ceremonial purposes. First introduced commercially in Dane and Rock Counties, and later Vernon County, the crop earned a reputation among generations of local farmers as the "mortgage lifter.” Specializing in the broadleaf tobacco used to bind cigars, local farms became major producers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—a lifeline for newly arrived Norwegian immigrants. Ultimately, the state’s golden age of tobacco spawned the creation of the country’s first cooperative tobacco marketing association.

Author and Wisconsin historian Gail Klein surveys the Badger State’s historic tobacco regions and the agricultural commodity’s lasting impact.

Go behind bars in the Wolverine State.

Almost every Michigan county had a jail, and if those walls could talk, they would speak of colorful sheriffs, vigilant turnkeys, and the motley population of prisoners housed in these county-run inns. St. Joseph County's “big house on the hill” nabbed headlines as the jail that held alleged Capone triggerman Fred “Killer” Burke, known as the most dangerous man alive at the time. Teenage robber Ray Rusch slipped away from the Genesee County Jail using a handful of pepper, and Ingham County Jail suffered from numerous infamous escapes in its day. Illegal hangings perpetrated by bloodthirsty mobs stained the pages of local history in Menominee, St. Clair, Shiawassee, and numerous other counties.

Author and crime historian Tobin T. Buhk leads an unforgettable tour of Michigan’s historic jails.

The state of Michigan is home to Great Lakes and greater mysteries.

What made Paige Renkoski abandon her running car on the side of the freeway in broad daylight? Who murdered Eddie Hollman while he slept at his parents’ home? Greg McRoberts died in a hit-and-run accident. Will a mysterious letter writer with knowledge of the crime ever come forward? Ten-year-old Valerie Bishop was murdered after visiting the corner store. Could untested evidence reveal the identity of her killer? Why did Connie Royce walk away from a busy nightclub never to be seen again?

Nina Innsted, host of the Already Gone podcast, leads a journey through the missing, the mysterious, and the unsolved in a quest for answers and justice.

The Rooms Where History Happened

Before Jefferson City became the Capital, hotels shaped its story. As the town grew from frontier roots, places like the City Hotel served travelers, lawmakers, and locals for over 80 years.

During each legislative session, hotels and boarding houses—like the one run by the Lansdown sisters—were in high demand. Hotels like the Madison and Monroe House became landmarks of progress, constantly expanding and modernizing.

These spaces weren’t just for sleeping. They hosted teas, dances, civic meetings, and debates that shaped the future of Missouri.

From social events to political movements, hotels were at the center of it all.

Local historian Michelle Brooks checks in to tell the stories behind these historic stays.

Perfect for readers who love small-town history, Missouri heritage, and forgotten local landmarks.

A Presidential Love Story   

When a young officer newly graduated from West Point met the eldest daughter of a gruff Missouri slaveowner, farmer and land speculator, it was love at first sight. Ulysses Grant and Julia Dent courted at her family farm, White Haven, until he was called away to the Mexican-American War. Secretly engaged, Ulysses wrote tender letters to Julia between daring exploits in battle. Upon his return, they were married. Ulysses’s military career stagnated, and after a miserable period of separation while he was stationed on the West Coast, Ulysses resigned to join Julia at White Haven before his second stint during the Civil War. Authors Vicki and Jim Erwin relate the Grants’ early life, their courtship, their life in Missouri and how that life shaped their future.

Cottages and Castles provides a guide to the historic architecture of Maumee, with examples and descriptions of the various styles from Greek Revival temple forms to Second Empire mansions, and the simpler middle-class cottages that proliferated after the Civil War. Some houses are included because of their distinct architectural characteristics and others because of their association with prominent people or events. Together, they provide a look back at the evolution of small town architecture in this historic northwest Ohio community.

See how Lake Forest's downtown and Central Business District have been the heart of the community for over 150 years.

Lake Forest is a picturesque city built on the shores of Lake Michigan and has been home to Chicago's capitalist families, who developed estates around beautiful Lake Forest College. For over 150 years, the Lake Forest Central Business District has been the heart of the community. Now, you can see for yourself why that is thanks to never-before published photographs from personal collections, the estate of Griffith, Grant and Lackie, the City of Lake Forest and others.

-Official Guide Book to the Fair, 1933

One century after Chicago's incorporation, the city hosted the 1933 World's Fair, which was so successful it was held over for 1934. Aptly named "A Century of Progress," the fair confirmed Chicago's emergence as a major American city. Like the phoenix from the ashes, Chicago emerged from its devastating fire of 1871 as one of the most architecturally significant and aesthetically inviting cities in the world.

On 424 lakeside acres located on Chicago's near south side, the Fair brought together innovators and inventors from around the world. Chicagoans hosted visitors from all corners of the globe, commemorating human progress, despite the Great Depression that was devastating the nation's economy.

This visual history captures the story of Milwaukee's Irish community in photographs, covering everything from the early wave of immigration to today's annual Irish Fest.

Milwaukee's Irish can claim a long and distinguished heritage throughout the city's history. The fact that Irish immigrants could speak English gave them an advantage and enabled them to become community leaders and gain economic independence. Irishman Thomas Gilbert was village president in 1844, two years before Milwaukee became incorporated. In 1839, Fr. Patrick Kelly built Milwaukee's first Catholic Church, St. Peter's.

How the city of Lorain, Ohio, came to be and the vital role it played on its way to becoming known throughout the world.

The City of Lorain was incorporated in 1874 by the town council. It was named after the county, which had been named by Heman Ely, who thought the area looked very much like the Province of Lorraine in France. Lorain's location next to Lake Erie and the early arrival of the B&O Railroad in 1871 made the city a hotbed for industry. The Hayden Brass Works built a large plant on Elyria Avenue. Captain Thew, a ship captain on the lakes, developed an improved gear system for a steam shovel, and that started the Lorain Thew Shovel Co., which became known worldwide.

Lorain grew tremendously in the 1890s. Construction of the Johnson Steel Rail Company started in 1894, and in just 10 years, the population of the City of Lorain tripled. In 1894, the American Stove Works built a plant in Lorain, where they made heaters and furnaces. Three years later, the American Shipbuilding Company built a yard and launched hundreds of ships before it closed in 1984. Lorain, Ohio, certainly did its part during World War II; many men went into service, and Lorain produced its own share of heroes. The shipyard was also put to work by the government to build the USS Lorain, a frigate.

In 1869, the Suez Canal was completed and the city of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, the chief sawmill town on the Chippewa River, was incorporated.

Chippewa Falls grew in popularity and influence. It persevered through hardships and experienced the ebb and flow of wealth and power—and 135 years later, Chippewa Falls remains a vital community. This pictorial history documents the heritage of Chippewa Falls from 1896 through the present, with chapters such as Women at Work, Made in Chippewa for the Rest of the World, Family Albums, and Celebrate! Celebrate! By blending contemporary photographs with archival images and providing opportunities for reflection and comparison, this book contributes significantly to the preservation of the community's collective history.

Covering the time period from the 19th century when German immigrants formed the first American Tuner societies for athletic training, and professional baseball developed to the current age of new ballparks and sports celebrities, Cincinnati on Field and Court takes a look at the place of sports in the cultural life of the Queen City. Included are professional teams like the Reds, Bengals, and Royals; legendary figures like Pete Rose, Oscar Robertson, and Ezzard Charles; dramatic moments like the 1919 World Series, the courageous story of Maurice Stokes, and the Olympic achievements of DeHart Hubbard; and social issues like the impact of women's sports and racial segregation and integration. The good, the bad, the foolish, the innovative, the tragic, and the inspiring are all covered.

Plymouth, Michigan's First Century: Innovators and Industry contains more than 200 images from the Plymouth Historical Museum and from the collections of some of Plymouth's current residents. You'll see the township blossom from farms and mills to a cohesive community of inventors and patriots. Early images of the main business block of Plymouth Village are reminiscent of the Wild West; later images depict a vibrant community, as it remains today.

Author and history professor Dominic Candeloro presents an intriguing narrative record of the earliest beginning of the Italian communities in Chicago.

The stories of Chicago's Italian communities are an important part of the rich and diverse mosaic of the city's history. As a rail center, an industrial center and America's fastest growing major city, Chicago offered opportunities for immigrants from all nations.Italians in Chicagoexplores the lives of 10 significant members of the Chicago Italian-American community going back to the 1850s.

This book is a collaborative and cumulative effort, and gives glimpses and echoes of what occurred in the Italian-American past in Chicago. Including vintage images and tales of such individuals as Father Armando Pierini, Anthony Scariano, and Joe Bruno, and groups such as the Aragona Club and the Maria Santissima Lauretana Society, this collection uncovers the challenges and triumphs of these Italian immigrants.