Name: Murder & Mayhem Jefferson City
Brand: Michelle Brooks
SKU: 9781467152273
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Michelle Brooks

Murder & Mayhem Jefferson City

9781467152273

$23.99

The Dark Side of Jeff City

The first century of the wilderness-born Missouri capital was filled with villainous escapes from the state’s only prison, resulting in theft, abuse and even murder. The grandest of escape attempts ended with the city’s only triple hanging. The capital city had plenty of entrepreneurs willing to sidestep the federal Volstead Act, which attracted Ku Klux Klan activity and culminated in the election of a “law and order” sheriff, whose deputies broke laws to enforce them. Many other tragedies grieved the community, including the South Side murder of a German immigrant by a teen-aged deputy, who had been caught sleeping with the victim’s daughter. Author Michelle Brooks has collected a sample of some of the shocking events of Jefferson City’s first century.

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George Larry Lester

Black Baseball In Kansas City

9780738508429

$24.99

Some say that Kansas City has the best black baseball, blues, and Q in the nation. It has been called the heart of America, a cultural melting pot, and the breadbasket of the Midwest. It was also home to the famous Kansas City Monarchs. Black baseball began in Kansas City with the Maroons in 1890. However, it wasn't until 1921, when the black Kansas
City Monarchs triumphed over the white Kansas City Blues, that black players started receiving national attention. The Monarchs produced several championship teams and major league players, and became black baseball's longest running and most stable franchise.

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Lesley Barker

St. Louis Gateway Rail

9780738540702

$24.99

Though the city of St. Louis is located on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, for the railroads, the St. Louis Gateway extends into Illinois, north and south along both sides of the river. Two factors conspired against St. Louis's aspiration to become the preeminent rail center of the 19th-century American Midwest: there was no bridge across the Mississippi, and Missouri's loyalty to the Union during the Civil War was suspect. Chicago beat out St. Louis to attain the region's top railroad billing. Fast forward to the 1970s, when the Gateway Arch, dedicated in 1968, redefined the St. Louis riverfront and when the St. Louis Union Station closed to rail service. The 1970s was a decade of railroad debuts—Burlington Northern, Illinois Central Gulf, Family Lines—and a decade of railroad demises—Rock Island and Frisco. It signaled the end of a century of rail domination of the American transportation scene.

David A. Lossos

St. Louis

9780738539553

$24.99

As we approach the 241st anniversary of the settlement on the banks of the mighty Mississippi that came to be the metropolis of St. Louis, it is appropriate to look back at this great city. We have precious few physical reminders of the days of Laclede and Chouteau. It wasn't until the mid–19th century that we regularly recorded via photographs the development (and destruction) of the sights that make St. Louis unique. It is through these images that we have the marvelous capability to look back and view our city through the eyes of our predecessors: To see the things that were here decades ago and still look the same; to see things that no longer exist, and to see what we have replaced them with; to see what we have preserved, and what we have discarded; and to see the present via the images of the past. There is no way to encompass all the changes that this city has seen in one book. The views in this book will give the reader a representative selection of the more recognizable sights in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The intent is to include most of the major places and things that everyone identifies with St. Louis. But also included are more obscure photos that show scenes with which many of our ancestors would also identify. There will always be progress, but that which is lost is worth remembering. So sit back, relax, and take a stroll down the streets of St. Louis as our ancestors knew them.

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David W. Jackson

Kansas City Chronicles

9781596299863

$21.99

From guerilla warfare and martial law to the elegant dresses of the Harzfeld Parisian Cloak Company, discover how everything became up-to-date in Kansas City (including the phrase up-to-date itself, which predates the song in Oklahoma!). Watch as the Jackson County Poor Farm became the state-of-the-art Truman Medical Center and learn why Old Westport is the real McCoy. Meet the resident mouse of the Laugh-O-Gram studio on Thirteenth and Forest, which took food from Walt Disney's hand as Mortimer before taking shape on Disney's drawing board as Mickey. In this collection of his best historical columns, David Jackson delivers a vivid portrait of the people, places and events that continue to shape this fascinating town.

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John A. Wright Sr.

African American St. Louis

9781467115094

$24.99

The city of St. Louis is known for its African American citizens and their many contributions to the culture within its borders, the country, and the world. Images of Modern America: African American St. Louis profiles some of the events that helped shape St. Louis from the 1960s to the present. Tracing key milestones in the city's history, this book attempts to pay homage to those African Americans who sacrificed to advance fair socioeconomic conditions for all. In the closing decades of the Great Migration north, the civil rights movement was taking place nationally; simultaneously, St. Louis's African Americans were organizing to exert political power for greater control over their destiny. Protests, voter registration, and elections to public office opened new doors to the city's African Americans. It resulted in the movement for fairness in hiring practices and the expansion of the African American presence in sports, education, and entertainment.

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Frank C. Schaper

St. Louis Fire Department

9780738531922

$24.99

The St. Louis Fire Department was established in 1857 and is the second oldest paid fire department in the United States. This pictorial history portrays the department's rich history and exemplifies why its motto is Justifiably Proud. The St. Louis Fire Department history is one of leadership and innovation. It was one of the first departments to purchase a 100' aerial ladder truck. It was also one of the first to establish an academy for the study of fire and the training of fire fighting recruits. In 1987, the department was the first in the nation to use a Total Quint Concept, which combined the traditional fire truck and hook and ladder truck into one piece of equipment.

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Michele Hansford

Carthage

9780738507651

$24.99

Translated as New City, Carthage was founded in 1842 as the county seat of Jasper in southwest Missouri. The town prospered for two decades until
military advances during the Civil War destroyed the entire town and dispersed its population. This volume, assembled by the Powers Museum, offers a pictorial glimpse into the rebuilding and growth of
this historic city during its most influential years.
The citizens of Carthage quickly rebuilt the city during the late 1860s and early 1870s, and eventually
reclaimed its pre-war prominence as an agricultural
and trade center located at the edge of the northern
prairies and the Ozark foothills. When lead, zinc, and limestone were discovered and developed into
prosperous industries, families began to arrive from
all over to take advantage of the area's economic
opportunities. Carthage's trademark Victorian
architecture, still in place today, is a result of the economic affluence of the town during this late
nineteenth and early twentieth century period.

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Albert Montesi

Central West End

9780738508009

$24.99

In the 1860s, with bustling river traffic alive with boats and men, St. Louis was a picturesque river town. This was the St. Louis that Mark Twain, Edna Ferber, and T.S. Eliot wrote about: a town on the mysterious but profitable Mississippi. After the Civil War, profits from contracts with the Union and river trading brought increased wealth to the community. Prosperous residents were challenged to find land that could hold their prestigious mansions and gardens. Their eyes turned to the western section of the town, which in time became known as the Central West End.

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Arline Chandler

The Heart of Branson

9781609490041

$21.99

Millions of Americans cherish childhood memories of family trips to Branson to see performances by the Baldknobbers or the Presleys. Now they take their own children to see how new generations of those same entertaining families continue to split sides and tug heartstrings. Go backstage with Arline Chandler in places like Silver Dollar City and the Shepherd of the Hills. Reminisce in the stories of the people who made Branson into the showbiz marvel that it is today while holding on to the values of hard work and family at the town's cultural foundation. And learn about the emergence of newer acts like the Duttons, the Hughes Brothers and Shoji Tabuchi in a place where Broadway and the backwoods shake hands and SIX voices is all that is needed to produce a full orchestra.

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Larry Wood

Wicked Springfield, Missouri

9781609497354

$21.99

From its founding in the early 1830s, Springfield was a rough frontier town where whiskey flowed freely, gunplay and fistfights abounded and gambling thrived. The Civil War not only brought the horror of warfare home to Springfield but also introduced worldly vices like prostitution that were scarcely known in previous years. Yet throughout its history, Springfield has managed to maintain a veneer of respectability not shared by certain other towns of southwest Missouri that were founded as wild, wide-open mining camps, like Joplin and Granby. Join Larry Wood as he digs beneath the surface of Queen City history to expose notorious characters and capers that would make even Joplinites blush.

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Janice Tremeear

Wicked St. Louis

9781609492984

$21.99

Watch a duel on Bloody Island from the stern of a river pirate's ship and be glad that Abraham Lincoln did not have to keep his appointment. Venture into a brothel where a madam's grin was filled with diamonds or where Ta Ra Ra Boom de Ay" was hummed for the first time. Witness children forced into labor and aristocrats driven to suicide. Keep company with the gangsters who were a little too "cuckoo" for Al Capone. Visit Wicked St. Louis."

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Michael Henry

Ghosts of St. Charles

9781609490195

$21.99

St. Charles is the second-oldest city in Missouri and one of the oldest cities in the United States. For most of its history, it could have been featured in any bad western movie, with a legacy of street shootings and lynch mobs. When you sit on the banks of the Missouri River, it does not take much of an imagination to see, feel and perhaps even smell the ghosts lingering there. The scoundrels, the criminals and the victims of traumatic events are the spirits that cannot rest. Join Michael Henry for some of their stories as he keeps vigil with representatives of the city's restless past, from the lost dogs of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the mysterious Lady in White.

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Joe Boeckholt

Harzfeld's

9781596297333

$21.99

In 1891, Siegmund Harzfeld and the Parisian Cloak Company introduced a new era of commerce and fashion to the residents of Kansas City. Women no longer needed to make lengthy and expensive appointments with dressmakers to maintain the latest fashion trends; the ready-to-wear movement had begun! Join historians Joe and Michele Boeckholt as they uncover the story behind Harzfeld's department store, from its first offering of coats, blouses, petticoats, and furs to the beloved Petticoat Lane flagship location and regional network of satellite stores. With archival photographs and memorabilia, personal narratives and interviews, and a wealth of local and historical knowledge, the history of this local landmark franchise is revealed, one seam at a time.

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Arnold G. Parks

Lincoln University

9780738551326

$24.99

Lincoln University was founded in 1866 for the education of freed blacks after the Civil War. This book focuses on the years between 1920 and 1970, a span of time during which many of the university's
most signifi cant developments occurred. During this period, Lincoln Institute was elevated to university status, and graduate programs were added to the curriculum. A court-ordered law school was established and graduated many accomplished and respected African American attorneys before disbanding in the 1950s. During this era, the university was often referred to as the Harvard of the Midwest due to the acclaimed reputation of its faculty. Many alumni have made outstanding contributions at local, state, and national levels. After the 1954 United States Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, the university integrated its student body. As a result, student enrollment changed dramatically from all black to a signifi cantly white clientele. Today the university retains its designation as a historically
black college/university.

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Mark Shulman

Super Cities! Kansas City

9781467198561

$14.99

Sometimes the coolest places are right outside your front door. Learning about Kansas City’s interesting and unique culture has never been so super fun!

Did you know Amelia Earhart once lived in the City of Fountains? Or that you’re likely to spot a ghost at The Hotel Savoy? From Arrowhead Stadium to Kaw Point Park, Super Cities!: Kansas City covers it all and is sure to engage any reader with fun facts about the history, culture, and people who make this place great. Attend a show at the Starlight Theatre, stroll through Swope Park, and swim in the Missouri River, all right here. Take a peek inside to learn more about the impressive, unusual, super history of Kansas City!

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Dennis Owsley (Author)

St. Louis Jazz

9781467141741

$21.99

In the early twentieth century, St. Louis was a hotbed for ragtime and blues, both roots of jazz music. In 1914, Jelly Roll Morton brought his music to the area. In 1919, Louis Armstrong came to town to play on the “floating conservatories” that plied the Mississippi. Miles Davis, the most famous of the city’s jazz natives, changed the course of the genre four different times throughout a world-renowned career. The Black Artists Group of the 1970s was one of the first to bring world music practices into jazz. Author Dennis C. Owsley chronicles the ways both local and national St. Louis musicians have contributed to the city and to the world of music.

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Larry Wood

Gangster Queen Bonnie Parker and Other Murderous Women of Missouri

9781467170925

$24.99

Killing is by no means a man’s game in Missouri

Bonnie Parker has been romanticized in print and on screen since the early 1930s, when she and gangster boyfriend Clyde Barrow robbed banks and left bodies in their wake. She’s undoubtedly the most infamous murderous woman in Missouri history—although it’s uncertain whether she killed anyone with her own hand—but she’s in a crowded field of Show Me State female killers. The other women may not be etched in the public consciousness, but that makes them no less intriguing. They killed not in public with automatic rifles but in private, intimate situations with knives, pistols, and poison. Theirs are the stories of women scorned, of jealousy and love triangles, of abuse and self-defense. Join award-winning author Larry Wood as he chronicles these fascinating tales.

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Edna Campos Gravenhorst

Southwest Garden

9780738561448

$7.99

Southwest Garden boasts a rich history. These images illustrate the people, the events, and the everyday scenes that make up Southwest Garden's story.

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LaDene Morton

The Brookside Story

9781467142342

$21.99

Brookside’s burgundy-and-blue-striped awnings represent both a quaint corner of Kansas City where you can tread the creaky wooden floors of the Dime Store and a pragmatic philosophy that changed the way America planned its cities. Renowned developer J.C. Nichols’s “plan for permanence” was built on his conviction that if a community could offer its residents everything they would want and need, build to high standards and plan for future growth, the community would last. The Brookside shopping district has been giving the community everything it could want and need since 1919, helping it weather economic turbulence, natural disasters and dramatic changes.

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Michele Hansford

Carthage

9781467110204

$24.99

By the time residents of Carthage celebrated the city's centennial in 1942, the city had grown to a population of approximately 12,000 and sat at the intersection of two national highways nicknamed Broadway of America (US 71) and Main Street of America (US 66). As the governmental hub of Jasper County, Carthage was surrounded by bountiful agricultural prairies to the north and east, scenic Ozark hills to the south, and the world's lead and zinc center to the west. This geographic diversity contributed to the town's vibrant economy and growth even in difficult economic times. Images of America: Carthage: 1940–1990 begins after the hard times in the 1930s and focuses on the 1940s through the 1980s, when many schools, churches, and industries expanded or moved to new quarters. Stores and businesses around the courthouse square modernized and competed with new commercial centers developed in other sections of the expanding town.

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Kerri Linder

Iconic Restaurants of Columbia, Missouri

9781467139304

$21.99

Columbia's culinary history is chock-full of restaurants that not only satisfied appetites but also provided gathering places to build community. Gentry's Tavern served wild game along the Boonslick Trail. Hungry and broke students could grab a meal on credit from Ralph Morris at the Ever Eat Café during the Depression. During and after World War II, Ambrose's Café required students to give up their seats to men in uniform. Segregation didn't stop Annie Fisher from making her fortune serving her famous beaten biscuits. These stories and more are as rich as the cinnamon rolls served at Breisch's. Join Columbia native Kerri Linder as she shares the stories and memories wrapped around the food of Columbia's iconic restaurants.

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Steve Chou

Hannibal

9780738532431

$24.99

Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River, prides itself as America's Hometown. This book is a photo journey through Hannibal's postwar years as captured through the lens of Otis Howell, news photographer for the Hannibal Courier-Post. The years between the end of World War II and Vietnam were exciting and nostalgic ones. They were the days of Elvis, Howdy Doody, I Like Ike, Desotos, and Sputnik. In Hannibal, Bud's Golden Cream was a popular spot and people shopped at Silverburg's and Kresge's. A special treat was a Saturday matinee at the Rialto or the Star. KHMO's Man on the Street was a regular fixture at Broadway and Main. Hannibal: The Otis Howell Collection recalls people and places from the events of that time through over 220 rare images. Many of these photos have not been seen since they first appeared on the pages of the Hannibal Courier-Post decades ago.

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John A. Wright Sr.

African Americans in Downtown St. Louis

9780738531670

$24.99

Since the founding of St. Louis in 1764, Downtown St. Louis has been a center of black cultural, economic, political, and legal achievements that have shaped not only the city of St. Louis, but the nation as well. From James Beckworth, one of the founders of Denver, Colorado, to Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd Lincoln's seamstress and author of the only behind-the-scenes account of Lincoln's White House years, black residents of Downtown St. Louis have made an indelible mark in American history. From the monumental Dred Scott case to entertainers such as Josephine Baker, Downtown St. Louis has been home to many unforgettable faces, places, and events that have shaped and strengthened the American experience for all.

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Dr. Randy R. McGuire

St. Louis Arsenal

9780738507804

$24.99

On the afternoon of May 10, 1861, Army Captain Nathaniel Lyon marched out of the St. Louis Arsenal at the head of 7,000 Union Regulars and Volunteers to capture an encampment of nearly 700 reputed Confederate sympathizers at Camp Jackson on the western outskirts of St. Louis. It probably did not occur to him that he was embarking on a mission that would forever enshrine his name, and that of the Arsenal, in the annals of Civil War history.

In words and images, St. Louis Arsenal: Armory of the West relates in detail the story of the Arsenal, from its founding in 1827 through its transition to cavalry post in 1872, then traces its new life and changing fortunes as the installation adapted its mission to meet the ever changing needs of the federal government. Such personalities as William Beaumont, Ulysses S. Grant, William Sherman, Robert E. Lee, Nathaniel Lyon, Daniel Frost, and many others who would claim a place in American military history once served at, or had dealings with, the St. Louis Arsenal.

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Joel P. Rhodes

Haunted Cape Girardeau

9781609497590

$21.99

For nearly 250 years, the mighty Mississippi has granted Cape Girardeau a legacy of prosperity and dealt it some fearsome scars. Walk through buildings cut by the shrapnel of exploding steamboats, swamped in the debris of sudden floods and haunted by the restless spirits of those who washed ashore. And beyond the riverfront, tragedy's indelible mark can be found in places like the back row of the Rose Theater or the ashen mists of Spook Hollow. Joel Rhodes keeps company with the most forlorn figures and entrenched phantoms in this history of Cape Girardeau, where the river turns a thousand chilling tales.

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Carol Berkland

Warrensburg and Johnson County

9780738532516

$24.99

Welcome to Warrensburg and Johnson County, Missouri. As the county seat, Warrensburg (formally incorporated in 1855) has been a hub of activity since 1834. In 1864 the railroad brought even more hustle and bustle. This postcard tour will take the reader down Holden and Pine Streets to the new town, into businesses and public buildings, and to the majestic resort that was once Pertle Springs. Also included are rarer postcards of surrounding communities, particularly Chilhowee and Holden, that have also experienced fascinating changes as the years progressed. These images, windows into the lives of people, architecture, and times gone by, were sent all over the county to friends and loved ones communicating brief-and public-messages through the U.S. mail.

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John A. Wright Sr.

Carondelet

9780738552064

$24.99

Clement Delor de Treget, a Frenchman, founded Carondelet in 1767 and named the village in honor of Baron Francis Louis de Carondelet, the Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory. Due to its prime location at the confluence of the River Des Peres and the Mississippi River, Carondelet attracted a wide array of industries and a diverse population where racial lines were often blurred and ethnic groups peacefully coexisted. The community has
contributed greatly to American history from the site of construction of the Civil War ironclad boats to the location of the American kindergarten movement. Today the community is striving to preserve its proud heritage and build on the strength of its diverse population. The historic images in this book illustrate the city's founding and development from the first French settlers to the coming of Germans, Irish, Italians, African Americans, and Spanish, its annexation to the city of St. Louis in 1870, its economic hardships, and its present revitalization.

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Joseph S. Summers

Jefferson City

9780738508344

$24.99

Created as the seat of government for the State of Missouri, Jefferson City was named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson. Because of its location both on the Missouri River and north of the Mason Dixon Line, the city was a source of political controversy as it struggled for an economic base. Showcased here in over 200 vintage photographs and detailed captions is the history of the City of Jefferson, and how it came to be the capital of the state known as The Gateway to the West. There were only 30 people residing in the area when Jefferson City became the capital of Missouri in October 1826. Many of the first legislators to drive were housed in tents behind a shack, labeled a hotel. From these humble beginnings, the city labored to establish a secure economy. Pictured here are the vintage images of the first and second capitol buildings being constructed and ultimately destroyed, the founding fathers of the Commercial Club, and the main commercial strip of High Street.

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Dr. Rhonda Chalfant

Missouri State Fair

9780738582610

$24.99

The Missouri State Fair has represented the best of Missouri's agriculture and industry since its commencement in 1901. Developed during the Progressive Era, a time of social reform, its early exhibits reflected an interest in scientific agriculture as a means of improving rural life. School exhibits highlighted new attitudes about teaching. In 1921, Missouri celebrated its centennial at the state fair. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the fair encouraged good nutrition and medical care through its healthy baby contests. During World Wars I and II, it promoted patriotism with parades of military recruits. The grounds, originally 160 acres with 19 buildings, are now 396 acres with 124 buildings reflecting changing architectural styles.

Cover image for Missouri State Fair, isbn: 9780738582610

Jeremy Amick

Missouri at War

9781467126564

$24.99

The Show-Me State possesses an enduring military heritage that unfolded several decades before it became a state in 1821 and stretches forth to the present day. Missouri has molded many notable military leaders, such as Gen. John J. Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. It has been the site of a Spanish fort, built in the area that is now downtown St. Louis, and serves as the home of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. These people and memorials continue to generate reminders to its citizens of the sacrifices made by the brave men and women who have fought on behalf of the state and nation.

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Jeremy Amick

Jefferson City at War

9781467111591

$24.99

Jefferson City has a unique and enduring legacy of brave individuals banding together to answer the nation's call to arms. The Missouri National Guard's Company L, 2nd Infantry mobilized in support of the Mexican Border War in 1916 and later federalized for deployment during the Great War. Local youth scrambled to recruiting stations for a chance to join in the fray against Germany and Japan during World War II. Later, brave residents found themselves in the Korea peninsula or the jungles of Vietnam. It is clear that the Jefferson City community has a history of embracing the groundswell of patriotic pride that emerges in support of those who chose to fight—and sometimes lay down their lives—for a cause they view as greater than themselves.

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John Simonson

Prohibition in Kansas City, Missouri

9781467138710

$21.99

Like most cities during Prohibition, Kansas City had illegal alcohol, bootleggers, speakeasies, cops on the take, corrupt politicians and moralizing reformers. But by the time the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed, Kansas City had been singled out by one observer as one of the wettest cities, as well as the wickedest. A grocer managed a still in the basement of his store. A raid on the Tingle Oil Company found two hundred drums of oil and the largest illegal brewery ever found in the state. This seedy underworld transformed the Heart of America into the Paris of the Plains. Author John Simonson resurrects forgotten stories by revisiting places where they occurred and telling the salacious history of booze in Kansas City.

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Monte McNew

Golf in the Ozarks

9780738540337

$24.99

In the early 1900s, southwest Missouri, also known as the Ozarks, quickly became a golfer's retreat. Professionals such as Walter Hagen and the legendary gambler Titanic Thompson toured the area and tested their skills against locals Horton Smith, Ky Laffoon, and others. Over the years, tour professionals including Hale Irwin, Payne Stewart, and Cathy Reynolds developed their games on the Ozark fairways. Today southwest Missouri can proudly claim the winners of five U.S. Opens, three Masters, one PGA Championship, and well over 100 professional tournaments. Golf in the Ozarks will take readers on a tour of everything golf in the region, from course and player histories to local tournaments.

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Joellen Gamp McDonald

Richmond Heights

9780738539928

$24.99

The city of Richmond Heights, located in St. Louis County, is a community rich in history. Incorporated in 1913, Richmond Heights was established as a residential suburb of St Louis. Early residents included the McCutcheon, Barron, Niesen, Grove, Brennan, Gay, Buehning, and DeBolt families. The introduction of modern highways and commerce altered the city's physical character, which prompted this publication. The authors hope this book encourages the citizens of Richmond Heights—and others—to embrace the city's history and promote preservation of its historic resources.

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David A. Lossos

St. Louis Casa Loma Ballroom

9780738533780

$21.99

In 1927, on the northeast corner of Cherokee and Iowa Streets in south St. Louis, a multistory, multipurpose building was erected. Retail shops and a bowling alley occupied the first floor, while upstairs was a place that defied the imagination of someone driving by in their brand new Model T Ford. Today, that upstairs space, with its lofty ceiling, huge maple tongue-in-groove dance floor, and wraparound balcony, is the Casa Loma Ballroom—St. Louis' last grand ballroom. Today, one gets the feeling that the ghosts of the big bands and the vocalists still linger there—and with good reason. Just about everybody who was anybody played there at one time or another. Ol' Blue Eyes himself, before he was the idol of millions, received just a meager Featured Singer, Frank Sinatra note at the bottom of the Casa Loma bill the night he played with the Harry James Orchestra.

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Lisa Livingston-Martin

Haunted Joplin

9781609496326

$21.99

The barrier between Joplin's boisterous past and its present is as flimsy as a swinging saloon door. Lisa Livingston-Martin kicks it wide open in this ghostly history. In her expert company, tour a hotel with a reputation made from equal parts opulence and tragedy. Visit that house of horrors, the Stefflebeck Bordello, where guests regularly got the axe and were disposed of in mine shafts. Navigate through angry lynch mobs and vengeful patrols of Civil War spirits. Catch a glimpse of Bonnie and Clyde. Keep your wits about you--it's haunted Joplin.

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Janice Tremeear Pestana

Haunted Jefferson City

9781609494865

$21.99

Missouri's state capital groans beneath the burden of its haunted heritage, from the shadow people of Native American folklore to Boogie Man Bill, Missouri's wild child. The muddy river waters hide the shifting graves of steamboat crews, like the one that went down with the Montana, and the savage scars of the Civil War still linger on the land. Join Janice Tremeear for the fascinating history behind Jefferson City's most chilling tales, including a visit to the notorious Missouri State Penitentiary, where the vicious festered for 170 years.

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Mary Collins Barile

The Haunted Boonslick

9781609492083

$21.99

There is some uncertainty about the exact borders of the region that bounds the Boonslick trail but little doubt about the palpable and unsettling presence of its history. Stir up Missourians from St. Louis to Jackson County with the mention of ghosts, and after a few minutes of demurring, you will soon have more stories than you can shake a sheet at. Attend to the haunting music of John Blind Boone or the otherworldly poetry of Patience Worth. Crouch down in Civil War battlefields, crowded taverns or the uncomfortable saddle of a headless horse. Wend your way through Missouri's haunted heart: the Boonslick.

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Larry Wood

Wicked Joplin

9781609490935

$21.99

A strange sort of pride tends to embellish infamy, like the notion that Frank and Jesse James robbed every bank in Missouri. But the citizens of Joplin need not exaggerate their community's unsavory past. Founded in the 1870s as a booming lead-mining camp, Joplin was a wide-open town from the start, and its wild reputation persisted into the mid-twentieth century. A neighboring town's newspaper aptly described Joplin as a naughty place.� Join author Larry Wood on a colorful tour of the city's raucous past.

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Edna Campos Gravenhorst

Southwest Garden

9780738561851

$24.99

The Southwest Garden neighborhood borders two internationally known St. Louis landmarks, the Missouri Botanical Garden, founded in 1859, and Tower Grove Park, established in 1868. The land for both the garden and the park was donated by their founder, Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist. Both destinations are designated as national historic landmarks--the garden is one of the oldest in the United States, and the park shares the honor of being on the National Register of Historic Places with only three other municipal parks in the nation. The botanical garden is the best place to start a historical walking tour of the Southwest Garden neighborhood.

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Ken Marks

Hannibal, Missouri

9781609492212

$21.99

There's something magical about Hannibal, as if the town is frozen in time, as if you can look over your shoulder and see Tom and Huck making their way down to Bear Creek, fishing poles in hand. But set aside Twain for a moment (if that is possible to do in Hannibal) and drink in the broader vistas of the town's past. Imagine the pioneers who first settled between these bluffs, the riverboat calliopes singing their tunes as they pulled into port, the smell of fresh-cut lumber. Wave to the fashionable ladies parading down Broadway during the Gilded Age or save your greeting for visitors like FDR, Truman and Carter. Take countless more imaginative steps back through Hannibal's heritage in this accessible history by Ken and Lisa Marks.

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Dan William Peek

Live! At the Ozark Opry

9781596290983

$21.99

In the Ozarks, music frames everything. The Ozark Opry was a focal point of that cultural tradition for over fifty years, playing to sold-out audiences and influencing the course of the American entertainment industry in vital ways hitherto untold. This behind-the-scenes story of Lee and Joyce Mace's incredible venture by historian and former Opry performer Dan William Peek reawakens the foot tapping and fiddle scraping still clinging to the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks. This story also spotlights some of the most fascinating characters of the times, the Nashville stars, Chuck Foster, the Mabe Brothers, Albert Gannaway, Seymour Weiss, Scott O. Wright, Sarah Gertrude Knott and Cyrus Crane Willmore.

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Albert Montesi

Lafayette Square, St. Louis

9780738500225

$24.99

Lafayette Square has always been a reflection of the life and times of St. Louis, Missouri. Originally a common land where cattle grazed and people hunted game, the area was set aside as a public park just before the Civil War. Following that era, Lafayette Square was developed into a showplace for the Victorian era, featuring fantastic gardens, gazebos, a bandstand, an aquarium, and a boathouse. On May 27, 1896, a tornado plowed through the area and destroyed most of its foliage and buildings. Following this tragedy, many homeowners fled to the Central West End, and the once elegant Lafayette Square fell into a state of decline. During the years of the Depression and World War II, the neighborhood and its surroundings became known as Slum D. In 1945, architect and historian John Albury Bryan purchased a residence at Benton Place and began a fierce and lonely battle to renovate the Square. His dream of restoration became a reality in the 1960s and 1970s when a group of concerned citizens, determined to recapture the area's former glory, banded together to form the Lafayette Restoration Committee.

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Kim Evans

Atchison County

9780738590820

$24.99

Located in the extreme northwest corner of Missouri and bordered by Nebraska and Iowa, Atchison County was named for Civil War Maj. Gen. David Rice Atchison, whose biggest claim to fame is that he was president of the United States for one day. Native American tribes such as the Potawatomi, Ioway, Sac, and Fox all passed through this area or called Atchison County home. After the Louisiana Purchase, settlers began their trek west, and Atchison County was a major crossroads as it was bounded on the west by the Missouri River. The county was divided into townships, and three of them, Bluff, Tarkio, and Polk, lost at least half of their land in what was claimed later by the State of Iowa in the Honey War, a bloodless territorial conflict. Agriculture has always been a way of life in Atchison County; in 1877, the county assessor reported over 1,600 mules, 49,000 swine, and 6,700 horses. Today, Atchison County boasts many self-employed farmers and ranchers, as well as a swine-breeding facility that employs 65 people. In addition, it has an 18-bed hospital, three public schools, three newspapers, two wind farms with 100 wind turbines, and many other businesses.

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Vicki Berger Erwin

Ulysses & Julia Grant's Missouri Love Story

9781540299994

$34.99

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.

Cover image for Ulysses & Julia Grant's Missouri Love Story, isbn: 9781540299994

Ken Robison

Yankees & Rebels on the Upper Missouri

9781467135627

$24.99

During the 1860s, the Missouri River served as a natural highway, through snags and rapids, from St. Louis to Fort Benton for steamboats bringing Yankees and Rebels and their families to the remote Montana territory. The migration transformed the Upper Missouri region from the isolation of the fur trade era to the raucous gold rush days that would keep the region in turmoil for decades. The influx of newcomers involved its share of dramatic episodes, including the explosion of the Chippewa triggered by a drunken crew member, the mystery of the fugitive James-Younger gang and Colonel Everton Conger's journey from capturing John Wilkes Booth to the Montana Supreme Court. Acclaimed historian Ken Robison reveals the thrilling history behind this war-weary wave of migration seeking opportunity on Montana's wild and scenic frontier.

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Victoria Cosner

Missouri's Murderous Matrons

9781467140720

$21.99

At the turn of the twentieth century, people in Missouri experienced unexpected and horrible deaths due to arsenic. Two different women in two different areas of Missouri, and for two different reasons, used arsenic as a means to get what they wanted. Emma Heppermann, a black widow killer, craved money. Bertha Gifford, an angel of mercy, took sick people into her home and nursed them to death. Follow the trails of these women who murdered for decades before being tried and convicted. From Wentzville to Steelville, Emma left a trail of bodies. And Bertha is suspected of killing almost 10 percent of the population of the little town of Catawissa. Authors Victoria Cosner and Lorelei Shannon offer the gruesome history of Missouri’s murderous matrons.

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John Launius

The Life and Times of Missouri's Charles Parsons

9781467144445

$23.99

Charles Parsons is one of St. Louis's and the nation's most influential yet little-known figures. He was instrumental to the Union cause as a Civil War quartermaster and advisor to generals, politicians and presidents alike. As a world-traveling art connoisseur, he helped found the first art museum west of the Mississippi, to which he donated his remarkable collection of American, European and Asian art. To this day, his philanthropic work and dedication to education live on in some of the country's grandest institutions. Author John Launius tells the full story for the first time, from business failures in a riverside boomtown to national renown.

Cover image for The Life and Times of Missouri's Charles Parsons, isbn: 9781467144445

Michelle Brooks

Historic Jefferson City Hotels

9781467157513

$24.99

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.

Cover image for Historic Jefferson City Hotels, isbn: 9781467157513

Vicki Berger Erwin

Ulysses & Julia Grant's Missouri Love Story

9781467157360

$24.99

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.

Cover image for Ulysses & Julia Grant's Missouri Love Story, isbn: 9781467157360

Mrs. Patricia Treacy

St. Louis Trailblazer Erma Bergmann

9781467155373

$24.99

Breaking Glass Ceilings in St. Louis

Erma Mary Bergmann was a generation ahead of her time. She was born in a cold-water flat over a shoe store on South Broadway in St. Louis’s Soulard area. Restrained by the Great Depression and the minority status of women in the 1930s

and ‘40s, she hoped someday to climb out of poverty. When she was recruited to play baseball with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, her life changed. She pitched a no-hitter in 1947. She parlayed her natural athletic ability into two successful careers, baseball and policing. She spent twenty-five years as a policewoman, serving on the dangerous Decoy Squad. Author Patricia Treacy details the history of a pioneering woman.

Cover image for St. Louis Trailblazer Erma Bergmann, isbn: 9781467155373

Sandy Selby

Arrow Rock

9780738591544

$24.99

From its earliest appearance in recorded history, Arrow Rock has been a destination for travelers. Native Americans came for the flint at the rock of arrows, Lewis and Clark noted a cliff called the Arrow Rock, and pioneers stocked their wagons there before heading down the Santa Fe Trail. Established in 1829, Arrow Rock grew quickly and attracted powerful citizens, including the innovative Dr. John Sappington and artist George Caleb Bingham. By the mid-1800s, Arrow Rock was a center for commerce and politics, but its prominence was short-lived. It was devastated by fires, bypassed by railroads, and abandoned by the shifting Missouri River. Its story might have ended there, but another kind of pioneer arrived in the early 20th century, when the Daughters of the American Revolution restored the deteriorating J. Huston Tavern. Other preservationists followed, and because of their commitment, today's Arrow Rock is a National Historic Landmark with lovingly restored properties, a thriving professional theater, and citizens who believe the town's future lies in its extraordinary past.

Cover image for Arrow Rock, isbn: 9780738591544

Andrew County Museum & Historical Society

Andrew County

9780738591155

$24.99

Fertile land lured settlers to Andrew County in the 19th century, and the productive land exerted its hold on farm families for generations thereafter. As America shifted from farm to city life, Andrew County remained a collection of rural towns serving the needs of nearby farms. Country people came to town to get their mail or shop at the general store. On the courthouse square, they gossiped with friends and neighbors. Their rural way of life, however, never isolated them from economic or technological change, nor from the nation's vibrant popular culture. In the 20th century, farm families drove to town to enjoy The Wizard of Oz at a movie theater. Kitchens became outfitted with electric ranges and refrigerators, and a mastery of the science of agriculture proved necessary to manage large and mechanized farming operations. In short, county residents displayed a remarkable ability to adapt to change while retaining their traditional values.

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Mary M. Costantin

St. Louis's Delmar Loop

9780738598789

$24.99

In 1902, magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis needed greater space for his thriving business, then based in downtown St. Louis. He headed west, out Delmar Boulevard a mile past the city line, and bought five acres of open land adjacent to the loop in the trolley tracks that sent the 10D streetcar back downtown. By 1903, Lewis was building a complex that included the Woman's Magazine Building, a five-story octagonal tower with an eight-ton searchlight in its dome. In 1906, University City was incorporated, and Lewis became its first mayor, serving three terms. In 1913, Lewis went west again, this time to found the utopian colony of Atascadero, California. His octagonal dazzler is now University City's City Hall. In 2007, in its first such list, the American Planning Association named the Delmar Loop one of the country's Great Streets—it's a long story.

Cover image for St. Louis's Delmar Loop, isbn: 9780738598789

Dianna Graveman

Missouri Wine Country

9780738577777

$24.99

Before prohibition, Missouri was the second largest wine-producing state in the union, and for a short time during the Civil War, it was number one. Today the state's lush green area overlooking the Missouri River is officially recognized as America's first wine district. Parts of this district have produced wine since the 1830s, when German immigrants from the Rhine River Valley settled in Missouri. The historic towns of Augusta and Defiance, home of pioneer Daniel Boone, are part of this district. Other towns along the river include Dutzow, the first permanent German settlement in Missouri; Washington, which holds the state record for the most buildings on the National Register of Historic Places; and Hermann, recognized by its settlers as a German utopia.

Cover image for Missouri Wine Country, isbn: 9780738577777

Ed Underwood

Haunted Springfield, Missouri

9781626191204

$21.99

Echoes of a dynamic history still linger in Springfield, Missouri. The town square was the scene of a Civil War battle, a Wild Bill Hickok shootout and a tragic 1906 lynching. From the phantom landlord of Jefferson Avenue to the spectral bride of Grove Park Bridge, meet figures from the town's past that continue to mystify its present. Pore over reports of supernatural activity at Drury College and the Landers Theater and investigate a bounty of bizarre, sensational rumors from the surrounding countryside in this collection of Springfield ghost lore.

Cover image for Haunted Springfield, Missouri, isbn: 9781626191204

Randy Turner

Only in Lamar, Missouri

9781467151412

$23.99

Lamar advertises itself as the city "where legends begin," and the city of four thousand lives up to that slogan. It was the place where frontier lawman Wyatt Earp first wore a star and where President Harry S Truman was born. When Truman successfully brought World War II to an end, the submarine fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific were commanded by Lamar High School graduates. Lamar's legends, however, are not limited to those who found fame after they left the city. Lamar was home to the longest-serving mayor in Missouri history, a legendary newspaperman, a football team that captured seven straight state championships and an infamous killer whose life was ended by a lynch mob. Author Randy Turner details these stories and much more.

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Dr. Richard N. Piland

Sugar Creek

9780738584126

$24.99

During the 1840s and 1850s, many of the pioneers and much of the supplies they needed for overland trips west from Independence on the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe Trails arrived at Wayne City Landing, the steamboat port on the Missouri River in what is now Sugar Creek. In 1892, Arthur Stillwell, a Kansas City railroad man, founded Fairmount Park, a first-class pleasure resort in the southern part of Sugar Creek that would be popular until the 1930s. Standard Oil of Indiana purchased land at the north end of Sugar Creek in 1903 and built a major refinery that would dominate the town until it ceased operations in 1982. Sugar Creek's early growth evolved around the refinery, and in 1920, the Jackson County Court established the City of Sugar Creek. This book illustrates the history of Sugar Creek in more than 200 vintage images, detailing the people, businesses, churches, schools, and community services that have shaped the town's past.

Cover image for Sugar Creek, isbn: 9780738584126

Janet R. Reed

Excelsior Springs:

9780738583365

$24.99

Excelsior Springs: Haunted Haven takes the reader back to a time when miracle cures were the stuff of legend. Here in the late 1800s, rumors of healing mineral water springs spread faster than wildfires, and the growth of a city was ignited by mankind's obsession for health. Practically overnight, Excelsior Springs grew from a farming community to a luxury resort town known as "America's Haven of Health." Discover tales of the famous and infamous who sought out treatments for various ills of the day. Many who arrived hoping to be restored by in the waters that gushed forth from the depths may still linger on as spirits. Ghostly tales surrounding this area have been carefully researched and are presented as a legacy to the town's founding fathers, their descendants, and current residents who still welcome visitors from around the world.

Cover image for Excelsior Springs:, isbn: 9780738583365

Tom C. Taylor

Unity Village

9780738561295

$24.99

In 1919, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders of the spiritual organization Unity, bought 58 acres of land about 20 miles from downtown Kansas City. With the ideas, faith, and passion of dozens of coworkers, the area grew from a weekend retreat of tents and ponds into Unity Farm, with a national reputation for its orchards and apple products. In 1953, the farm was incorporated as a Missouri municipality—Unity Village. Those original few acres have now grown to more than 1,400 acres. Today Unity Village is the location of a worldwide ministry of publishing, prayer, and education. It is best known as the home of Daily Word magazine, with millions of readers in more than 180 countries, and Silent Unity, which receives more than two million requests for prayer support annually. Unity Village is on the National Register of Historic Places, and its English Cotswold and Italian architecture draw visitors from around the world.

Cover image for Unity Village, isbn: 9780738561295

Rebecca Carr Imhauser

Sedalia

9781467124324

$24.99

Sedalia has garnered a number of names since its founding in 1860, including Queen of the Prairie and the State Fair City. The trend toward positive designations vanished in the 1930s along with Sedalia's economic base. Life magazine declared Sedalia the city second hardest hit by the Depression in the United States. The postwar prosperity of the 1950s brought new life to Sedalia. Manufacturing and industry sprang up, setting the stage for future industrial development. At the same time, businesses and services began moving outside the downtown core. Shopping malls and motels converted Broadway Boulevard, once a residential street for Sedalia's elite, into a major highway. The silence of the railroad shops and the sounds of the Ozark Music Festival and Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival were other hallmarks of the era. Through more than 160 pictures, many previously unpublished, this book celebrates Sedalia's most memorable landmarks and pivotal events from 1950 to present.

Cover image for Sedalia, isbn: 9781467124324

Joseph R. Sonderman

St. Louis

9781467124591

$34.99

Every street has a story. From the humblest cul-de-sac to the roaring interstates, the roads tell the stories and reveal the character that make each neighborhood unique. St. Louis was born of the great rivers, so its bridges played a crucial role. Together, the names of the roads tell the history of the child of the rivers that became the Gateway to the West. There are the stories behind the French street names pronounced in a uniquely St. Louis manner, the names purged from the map during World War I, and the histories behind the pioneers, politicians, developers, and everyday people who built St. Louis. Here are also the tragic tales of the epic struggle to bridge the great rivers. These photographs, many never published before, will show it all.

Cover image for St. Louis, isbn: 9781467124591

Don Graveman

Legendary Locals of St. Charles

9781467102315

$24.99

Today's citizens of St. Charles will recognize the names of many early settlers and residents, such as Louis Blanchette, who founded the settlement that would later become St. Charles; St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, who helped found the first school of the Society of the Sacred Heart in America; and Lewis and Clark, who began their expedition here to explore the Louisiana Purchase territory. Later came photographer Rudolph Goebel, who chronicled St. Charles's history for more than 50 years; Jane Crider, advocate for adults with disabilities and cofounder of Boone Center Inc.; and Archie Scott, known as "Mr. Main Street" for his years of dedication to the preservation of the historic district. Included in Legendary Locals of St. Charles are businesspeople, local personalities, authors, and entertainers, and while some of them may not yet be legendary, all of them are notable for their contributions to the St. Charles community and beyond.

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Betty Pavlige

Soulard's Second Century

9780738508214

$24.99

Soulard’s Second Century embodies the spirit of the past. Through tales of travel from distant lands searching to fulfill the American Dream, to laughter shared within the walls of a tight-knit community, Betty Pavlige’s oral history takes the reader on a journey back in time to Soulard’s rich past. This is history as it was lived, in the words of the woman who experienced it. The neighborhood’s famous market, travails of work, and the bonds of friendship encompass these pages filled with memories of a century in Soulard, St. Louis’s historic neighborhood.

Cover image for Soulard's Second Century, isbn: 9780738508214

Vance Woods

Around Butler

9780738598666

$24.99

Meet the Electric City! From cattle to coal mines, border ruffians to businessmen, and rockets to railroad schemes, the air around Butler, Missouri, has crackled with energy since the settlement's establishment in 1856. Ravaged by Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers and consumed in 1863 by the flames of General Order No. 11, the settlement rose from the ashes in the late 1860s and 1870s to become a hub of culture and commerce at the western edge of the Show Me State. In 1881, the capital of Bates County went electric, becoming one of the first municipalities west of the Mississippi to generate its own power, outstripping Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station in Manhattan by almost a year. A quiet little community with a loud and vibrant history, Butler is the quintessential example of the American small-town experience.

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Rebecca Carr Imhauser

Sedalia

9780738550879

$24.99

Sedalia, now a bustling hub of central Missouri, began as a mere interruption to a vast expanse of prairie grass. George R. Smith purchased 337 acres of treeless prairie in 1856, leading his neighbors to question his sanity. When he persuaded the Pacific Railroad to locate a depot on his land, his image—and that of his Sedville—began to change. Sedville, later Sedalia, soon became the county seat of Pettis County and earned a reputation as the Queen of the Prairies. Sedalia chronicles the transformation of a rugged prairie town to the home of the Missouri State Fair and host to the international Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. Sedalia's history is illustrated through more than 200 vintage images, showing the people, places, and events that shaped the town.

Cover image for Sedalia, isbn: 9780738550879

Dorris Keeven-Franke

Warren County

9780738582900

$24.99

By 1833, when Warren County was officially created by the State of Missouri, its pages of history were already filled with the lives of famous people. It would become the final resting place of American pioneer and trailblazer Daniel Boone after the Spanish government promised him land in return for bringing settlers. In 1804, when Lewis and Clark and their corps visited, it was the last settlement of whites in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. This led German-born writer Gottfried Duden to come and see what made this area so appealing to the American pioneers. He returned to his homeland and in 1829 published A Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America, filled with glowing descriptions of a promised land. His book opened the floodgates of German immigrants coming to this nation in the 1830s, and by 1850 nine out of ten residents were German born or of German descent--the largest concentration of German Americans in the state.

Cover image for Warren County, isbn: 9780738582900

David A. Lossos

Irish St. Louis

9780738532226

$24.99

It's quite unlikely that Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau could have comprehended the scope of their undertaking in 1764 when they laid out the settlement on the western banks of the Mississippi that was to become the metropolis of St. Louis. Founded by the French, governed by the Spanish, and heavily populated by the English and Germans, the role that the Irish had in making St. Louis what it is today is often overlooked. The Irish are steeped in tradition, and that trait did not leave the Irish immigrants when they arrived in St. Louis and called this place home. Like many other cities in America, the heritage of Ireland is alive and well in St. Louis. This book visually captures their Irish spirit, and portrays a few of the Irish movers and shakers alongside the Irish commoner in their new and challenging lives here in St. Louis.

Cover image for Irish St. Louis, isbn: 9780738532226

Arnold G. Parks

Jefferson City

9780738560168

$24.99

Named in honor of Pres. Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson City was established specifically as the home of Missouri's state government. The city has a rich history as the seat of the Missouri General Assembly and state government operations. Beginning in the 1820s with the construction of a capitol building and commercial developments, people came to the new capital city to work and live. The vintage postcards in this collection illustrate and enliven the historical significance of Jefferson City as capital of the Show-Me State-vivid history is interwoven with informative text that both entertains and educates.

Cover image for Jefferson City, isbn: 9780738560168

Jeannette Batz Cooperman

The St. Louis Woman's Exchange

9781609491130

$21.99

On the surface, the Woman's Exchange of St. Louis is an exquisite gift shop with an adjacent tearoom—beloved, always packed, the chatter light and feminine, the salads and pies perfect. But the volunteers who run the Woman's Exchange have had enough grit to keep the place going through two world wars, a Great Depression, several recessions, the end of fine craftsmanship and the start of a new DIY movement. The decayed gentlewomen they set out to help in 1883 are now refugees from Afghanistan, battered wives and mothers of sons paralyzed in Iraq. Sample the radical changes they have made over the years, as well as the institutions they wisely left alone, like the iconic cherry dress that has charmed generations of women and mothers, including Jacqueline Kennedy and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Cover image for The St. Louis Woman's Exchange, isbn: 9781609491130

Larry Wood

Desperadoes of the Ozarks

9781589809628

$21.95

The award-winning author of The Two Civil War Battles of Newtonia �mine[s] the rich vein of bad men�and succeeds because of solid research.� �Fred Pfitser, editor, Ozarks Mountaineer

This collection of events carries readers through an era of bootlegging, highway robbery, and vigilante courts. From the cow town of Baxter Springs, Kansas, to the booming mining camp of Granby, Missouri, the Ozarks were a magnet for lawlessness. Though some stories contain gory details, the author�s intention in narrating these events is not to pay tribute to the likes of the Tri-State Terror, Bloody Britton, or the Missouri Kid. Instead Larry Wood aspires to come to terms with the region�s violent past, learn from it, and move forward.

Among tales of desperate characters and brutal murders is a strengthening of law and order. As the area�s criminals wreak havoc, the Ozarks become the staging area for the last public hanging in the United States and the FBI�s first killing of a criminal. Each chapter is filled with the grisly excitement of flying bullets and mob lynchings as vengeance is dealt by the betrayed, but the book also captures the changes made to protect law-abiding citizens.

�Full of damnable acts, but they make for some darn interesting reading.� �HistoryNet

Cover image for Desperadoes of the Ozarks, isbn: 9781589809628

Vicki Berger Erwin

Mexico

9780738584485

$24.99

After its founding in 1836, Mexico was named county seat of the newly formed Audrain County. Growth in the primarily agricultural region was slow until the coming of the North Missouri Railroad and the Graduation Act that made land available from the federal government for 12.5¢ an acre. With the introduction of breeding and training saddle horses, the discovery of fire clay deposits, and the implementation of more efficient means of turning the clay into heat resistant brick, Mexico's star ascended. During its heyday, the city was known as the saddle horse capital and the firebrick capital of the world. Today Mexico continues to survive and thrive as main street of the Midwest.

Cover image for Mexico, isbn: 9780738584485

LaDene Morton

The Waldo Story

9781609494728

$21.99

The quaint and quirky corner of Kansas City known as Waldo has earned its reputation the hard way through good times and bad since 1841. From its early days as a way station on the Santa Fe Trail, through the dark times in the path of a civil war, from the railroad boom to the Great Depression and right on into the challenges of the modern community, the merchants of in Waldo have played a unique and fascinating role in rooting and nurturing this special, yet very familiar place. Their stories the people, the landmarks, and the special times together make the Waldo Story.

Cover image for The Waldo Story, isbn: 9781609494728

Michael J. Steiner

Nodaway County

9780738552217

$24.99

One of six counties carved out of the Platte Purchase, added to Missouri in 1836, Nodaway County appeared to its first white explorers to be a rolling prairie, marginal for agriculture but full of opportunity for those willing to bring hard work and ingenuity to the land. Within a generation of building cabins and experimenting with a wide variety of agricultural enterprises, the county boasted at least 17 towns, four railroad lines, 16 newspapers, and all the economic and cultural institutions necessary for boosters to lay claim to progress and civility. While residents of towns and the countryside often drew distinctions between one another, their lives were intertwined by mills, horse farms, livestock shows, new technology, churches, schools, public entertainment of every sort, and occasional times of hardship. By the 1920s, the communities of Nodaway County, supported by a vibrant and diverse rural economy, reached a zenith of locally generated economic growth and community activity, captured artfully by photographers during the decades that bracketed the turn of the 20th century.

Cover image for Nodaway County, isbn: 9780738552217

Rose M. Nolen

African Americans in Mid-Missouri

9781596296091

$21.99

Brought to Mid-Missouri to serve as slaves but rising up to proudly serve the community as leaders, African Americans have made an indelible contribution to the region. Join historian Rose M. Nolen for the story of some of the most remarkable characters and institutions to come out of Columbia and Sedalia. Allow yourself to be drawn in by authors like Chester Himes and ragtime legends like Scott Joplin and to be inspired by educators like C.C. Hubbard and innovators like Tom Bass. Or link arms with some George R. Smith alumni and let loose a rousing rendition of the college yell from one of the best schools on the prairie.

Cover image for African Americans in Mid-Missouri, isbn: 9781596296091

Margot McMillen

The Golden Lane

9781609490133

$21.99

It was June 14, 1916, a warm, sticky Wednesday morning. The Democratic Convention would soon meet in St. Louis. Inside the Jefferson Hotel, the men ate breakfast and met with their committees. Outside the hotel, thousands of women quietly took their places along both sides of Locust Street. They stood shoulder to shoulder, each one in a dress that brushed the pavement, shading herself with a yellow parasol and wearing a yellow sash that said Votes for Women.� The all-male delegations may not have had a comfortable walk down the Golden Lane, but they were moved to add women's suffrage to the national platform. Join Margot McMillen for an accessible history of a privilege too often taken for granted.

Cover image for The Golden Lane, isbn: 9781609490133

Albert Montesi

St. Louis Garden District

9780738532592

$24.99

Found near the famed Missouri Botanical Garden, also known as Shaw's Garden, the Garden District of St. Louis encompasses the present-day environs of Compton Hill, Oak Hill, Compton Heights, Compton Hill Reservoir Square, Tower Grove East, Tower Grove Heights, and the Shaw neighborhood. Henry Shaw was one of St. Louis' most prominent landowners in the mid-nineteenth century and is directly responsible for the Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park. These, along with his other contributions, helped the Garden District flourish, and it continues to attract visitors year in and year out. The images in this book will take you on a tour of the beauty and history of the St. Louis Garden District.

Cover image for St. Louis Garden District, isbn: 9780738532592

Aphrodite Matsakis Ph.D.

Growing Up Greek in St. Louis

9780738519562

$24.99

Since the beginning of the 20th century, St. Louis' Greek-American community has been a vibrant part of the city's fabric. Through a series of vivid personal accounts of growing up in two worlds during the post-WWII era, Growing Up Greek in St. Louis explores the challenges faced by Greek-Americans as they sought to preserve a rich cultural heritage while assimilating to American ways.

From a detailed account of her Grandmothers' struggles during the occupation of Greece during WWII and the Asia Minor Holocaust to the first hand experiences faced by Greek-American children in Greek school, the celebration of name days, and the ever-present evil eye, the book captures the sense of tradition, history, hospitality (philotimo), and community so vital to the Greek experience.

Cover image for Growing Up Greek in St. Louis, isbn: 9780738519562

Sr. Wright John A.

University City, Missouri

9780738520063

$24.99

In 1904, from a plot of land that would soon become University City, eccentric publisher Edwin Gardner Lewis shone the beam of what he claimed was the world's largest searchlight over the World's Fair in nearby St. Louis. Several years later, he claimed an even greater possession: a city, created around his publishing complex, complete with his own mayoral office, wide boulevards, and beautiful residences. The story of University City is one of urban wonder: from the city's "Hilltop Neighbor" and namesake, Washington University, to the diversity showcased in today's University City. The historic images in this volume illustrate the area's founding and development, from the largest printing press of the time, capable of producing 300,000 eight-page newspapers an hour, to the lion sculptures at the city's famed "Gates of Opportunity," standing proud as the city's everlasting symbol.