The History Press [New Releases]

Author Foxx Nolte gives readers a glimpse behind the curtain of the most magical place on earth. Millions of people a year visit Walt Disney World, but few would consider it to be a place with any real history. But hidden just below the surface, past the blanket of pixie dust, is a story as vivid and bizarre as any. It is a history of corporate politics, urban planning, crazy ambitions, and failed schemes. The Hidden History of Walt Disney World takes you on a journey that stretches from “Old Florida” to the events that made Walt Disney World what it is today. There’s birds made of citrus, horizontal elevators, a ghost town, and tennis ball factories. And that’s just the start. Whether you’ve visited one or one hundred times, your vacation will never be the same again. Yep, the castle is fake. But the stories are not.

Dig into a treasure trove of nearly forgotten Sunshine State Civil War history.

At the outset of the Civil War, Florida’s entire population was only a bit larger than present-day Gainesville. Still, the state played an outsized role in the conflict. Floridians fought for the Union and Confederate armies. Sunshine State farmers provided beef and other foodstuffs for the Confederacy, rations that proved increasingly consequential as the years wore on. The battles of Olustee and Natural Bridge, where boys from the West Florida Seminary entered the fray, helped keep Tallahassee as the only Confederate-held capital east of the Mississippi River. Even the conspirators involved in Lincoln’s assassination wove a trail that led to Florida. Join author Robert Redd on a tour of the lesser-known aspects of Florida in the Civil War.

Although several people had considered constructing a railroad to Key West beginning in the early 1800s, it took a bold industrialist with unparalleled vision to make it happen.

In 1902, Henry Flagler made the decision to extend the Florida East Coast Railway to the nearest deepwater American port. In this book, renowned Florida historian Seth H. Bramson reveals how the Key West Extension of the Flagler-owned FEC became the greatest railroad engineering and construction feat in U.S., and possibly world, history, an accomplishment that would cement Flagler's fame and legend for all time. Join Bramson as he recounts the years of operation of this great railroad, what it did for the Florida Keys and what it meant to the resident conchs.

From a one-story cabin in the piney woods of the Panhandle to a high-rise condo along the glistening waterways, Cracker cooking in Florida has evolved with our tastes and times.

When supplies were limited and the workday arduous, black coffee with leftover cornbread might serve as breakfast. Today’s bounty and life’s relative ease bring mornings with lattes and biscotti, biscuits and sausage gravy. What’s on the plate has changed, but our heritage infuses who we are. As we follow the path laid out by gastronomic pioneers, this culinary quest, guided by sixth-generation Cracker Joy Sheffield Harris, will whet your appetite with recipes and sumptuous reflections. Pull up a chair and dig in.

Everybody knows about Disney World, Universal, EPCOT, Sea World and a slew of other Florida attractions. But how about bygone Sunshine State attractions such as Texas Jim's Sarasota Reptile Farm and Zoo, the Skull Kingdom, the House of Mystery or Dixieland Amusement Park. Many were roadside stops started by families as an extension of a fruit stand or market. Oranges and sodas in the front, alligators in the back. Many of the attractions were free, designed to lure customers for the fruit stand or store. Others changed a small fee. Some became nationally known, such as Cypress Gardens, where Johnny Carson not only broadcast, but water-skied. The roadside attractions had their heyday from the 1920s to the coming of Disney in 1971. It was a much simpler time, and a large tree known as The Senator could become a top attraction, along with a St. Petersburg drug store. Revisit these lost attractions with author Jim Clark.

Join author Carol Matthews on a galloping romp through the long history of Florida's cracker horses and cattle.

The first horses and cattle to set foot on the North American continent stepped onto Florida land, brought by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521 just south of present day Fort Myers. The animals were abandoned, formed wild herds and would be used by different groups for food, work, trade and transportation for the next 500 years. Cattle ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars, also known as missionaries, set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. The largest ranch was Rancho de la Chua, located on what is now Paynes Prairie in Alachua County. As a result of this increase in cattle production, Florida rancheros began to sell cattle to Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and would continue for the next three hundred years. By the 1960s there were only a handful of pure cracker cattle and horses left. But herds were established on state lands, preserving a living link to Florida's past.

Florida is largely influenced by the illicit and fascinating activites of pirates. Authors James and Sarah Kaserman recount the stories, legends, and myths of piracy in Florida.

The coast of southwest Florida, with its shallow waters, inlets, and mangrove islands provides the setting and backdrop for a variety of pirates, privateers, and independents. Piracy has a long and rich tradition in this area dating from before the formation of America through the infamous prohibition era. Telling the tales of Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham, Civil War smugglers and prohibition rum runners, the authors provide a compelling narrative of the historically dangerous waters around Southwest Florida and beyond.

Author Holly Sprinkle unveils the secrets hidden within Florida’s aquatic wonders. Florida’s springs swirl a spectrum of greens and blues with a crystal clarity seen nowhere else in the world. “Springhunting” is a cherished regional pastime, but these ancient oases have served as a beacon for humans and beasts alike since time immemorial. Giant sloths, mammoths and armadillos once centered their lives around these springs—the endangered West Indian Manatee still seeks refuge in the relatively warm springs during the winter months. These enchanting waters sustain ecosystems and inspire everything from feelings of deep serenity to legends involving curses, ghosts and alien visitation. 

Author Keri Watson guides readers on a tour through New Deal era Sunshine State parks and post office murals. Even before the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, the Florida economy was depressed from two major hurricanes, a citrus export embargo, and the collapse of the real estate market. Florida desperately needed the relief promised by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and actively participated in and benefited from a number of federally sponsored initiatives during the Great Depression. These programs were aimed at what the president termed “Relief, Recovery, and Reform,” and they impacted every sector of society from banking and farming to art and architecture. This collection offers a detailed look at the state parks and post offices built in Florida between 1931 and 1946. Looking at Florida’s Depression-era parks and post offices in concert elucidates the ways in which the natural and built environments work together to constitute the cultural landscape and provides insight into the role of the federal government in Florida’s construction as an exotic and tropical paradise.

The sweltering heat of the Florida sun breaks as a chill runs down your spine. A dark shadow looms from a nearby tourist trap - you didn't expect to find this kind of shade in Florida.

If only there was some sort of travel guide to steer you through the spookier locales. Well, you're in luck. Check in at The Biltmore in Coral Gables to spot the ghost of slain Fatty Walsh roaming the thirteenth floor. Sit down for a meal with the spirit of Ethel Allen at Ashley’s Restaurant in Rockledge. Visit haunted graveyards, museums, parks and battlefields. Hear macabre stories of spectral pirates, gangsters, witches and madmen. From phantasmagoric packs of Madam McCoy’s girls on Pensacola streets down to the ghostly clacking of Hemingway’s typewriter in the Keys, Mark Muncy and Kari Schultz lead brave readers through the darkest locations in the Sunshine State.

Author Alan Brown leads readers on a stomach-churning turn through Florida’s dark side.  Florida sunshine beckons, but in can be unrelenting, too. And in the shadows, tragedy strikes. Ted Bundy leads a cast of serial killers who wrought havoc on the state. Storms spin onto its shores with landscape altering fury. Sharks lurk in the sea, and snakes and alligators lie wait in the swamps. Gangsters like Al Capone hit Miami Beach for a respite, but gangsters like Al Capone take no breaks from their trade. A woman spontaneously bursts into flames in St. Petersburg. Anthrax claims a life in Palm Beach. The Bermuda Triangle disappears vessels off the coast. Indeed, Florida knows boundless leisure, but it’s just as familiar with catastrophe.

Put on your life vest and head out for this exciting, entertaining history of Florida’s most-fascinating smugglers!

Think you're a smuggler?   With that box of Cuban cigars or those unclaimed duty-free souvenirs from last summer's trip to Paris? Untaxed and untraced commerce-call it contraband-is a trillion-dollar-per-year global business. New technologies to discover and curb smuggling are met by equally well-equipped perpetrators, determined to stay below the radar.

With its long coastline, hundreds of remote landing strips and airports clogged with sun-seeking tourists, Florida is a superhighway of smuggling. It is easy to move illegal goods like weapons, drugs, slaves, exotic birds and flowers; all while avoiding the best efforts of U.S. and international customs authorities.

Who does this smuggling? Well one Florida governor and the wife of another, for starters. Hardscrabble commercial fishermen, Spanish explorers, Mafia mobsters, crew chiefs for fruit pickers, respected attorneys, just about everybody in Florida is a smuggler.

Smuggling touches every major episode in Florida's history; it's discovery and settlement, the Seminole Wars , and the Civil War  were shaped by smugglers. The state's repeated land booms-including today's-are heavily influenced by smuggler profits. Today's business economy is warped by the manipulation of smugglers laundering their profits.

Stan Zimmerman means neither to vilify nor glorify these entrepreneurs. Nor does he intend to leave any stoned unturned or suitcase unopened. With stories of drug runners and prostitute pushers alongside the exploits and follies of Florida's elite, we are able to see why throughout its long history, Florida has always been a true smuggler's paradise.

Author Jeff Suwak guides readers on a tour of the often overlooked and all-but-forgotten components of Amelia Island history.  Beneath the sands and cobblestones of Amelia Island lies a richness of history disproportionate to the location’s relatively small size. The bones of this place are composed of pirate treasures literal and metaphorical, remnants of ancient Timucuan Indians, a grim role in the illegal slave trade, tales of bravery and madness, and a scene for the triumph of the human spirit. Eight different flags have flown over Amelia Island. It was an important stage in the 1812 Patriot War, which most people have long forgotten. From Gregor MacGregor to Abraham Lincoln Lewis, characters strange and inspiring have left their mark in this island’s psychic currents. Dead in some ways, they’re still here in others, etched into the land itself and waiting to be discovered. Let’s go find them.

For more than 50 years, there was no more iconic Florida tourist attraction than Silver Springs.

Its sheer popularity meant that the surrounding area—indeed, the entirety of Marion County—serviced the entertainment, gas, food, and lodging needs of millions of tourists annually. Visitors flocked to places like Ross Allen’s Reptile Institute, Tommy Bartlett’s Deer Ranch, and natural attractions like Rainbow Springs and Ocala Caverns. Sadly, as Florida tourism moved into the theme park era, scores of smaller attractions and their related businesses were abandoned. Author Tim Hollis revisits these once-thriving tourist spots and what happened when those tourists stopped coming.

Author Heather Leigh guides readers on a swashbuckling journey into the ghostly remnants of Florida pirates. From the legendary Blackbeard to the infamous Captain Kidd, the tales of Florida pirates have captivated readers for generations--hidden treasure, daring escapes, larger-than-life personalities. But, of course, the ghost stories are just as intriguing. From haunted ships to spectral pirates still searching for their lost loot. Florida is full of history and mystery, and the tales of its pirates are some of the most exciting parts of that legacy.

Florida native Zora Neale Hurston's early twentieth-century ethnographic research and writing emphasizes the essentials of food in Florida through simple dishes and recipes.

It considers foods prepared for everyday meals as well as special occasions and looks at what shaped people's eating traditions in early twentieth-century Florida. Hurston did for Florida what William Faulkner did for Mississippi - provided insight into a state's history and culture through various styles of writing. Her collected food stories, folklore and remedies, and the related recipes food professor Fred Opie pairs with them, are essential reading for those who love to cook and eat.

Step onto the field and bear witness to baseball’s outsized impact on Florida’s Sunshine City.

This fascinating collection of myths, legends and folktales celebrates the diversity of characters and cultures across the Sunshine State.

Florida boasts mysterious tales that stretch back more than twelve thousand years. In Florida Lore, storyteller Caren Schnur Neile shares a treasure trove of colorful, curious tales that capture her home state’s history, mystery, and unique personality.

Delve into the lives of the proud Wakulla Pocahontas and the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. Meet local lawbreakers like John Ashley, as well as transplants like Ma Barker and Al Capone. Stalk stumpy gators or Hogzilla as they prowl Florida's swamps and suburbs. Discover the quintessential Cracker cowboy and the Barefoot Mailman, plus the origin of names like Boca Raton and Orlando.

“Seldom-told tales of the ‘lively and unusual cast of historic figures’ who helped shape the Florida Keys from the 1820s through the 1960s.”—Keys News

The Florida Keys have witnessed all kinds of historical events, from the dramatic and the outrageous to the tragic and the comic. In the nineteenth century, uncompromising individuals fought duels and plotted political upsets. During the Civil War, a company of “Key West Avengers” escaped their Union-occupied city to join the Confederacy by sailing through the Bahamas. In the early twentieth century, black Bahamians founded a town of their own, while railway engineers went up against the U.S. Navy in a bid to complete the Overseas Railroad. When Prohibition came to the Keys, one defiant woman established a rum-running empire that dominated South Florida. 

Join Laura Albritton and Jerry Wilkinson as they delve into tales of treasure hunters, developers, exotic dancers, determined preservationists and more, from the colorful history of these islands.

Author Katlyn Jones takes readers on a bone-chilling journey of haunted spots throughout the Panhandle. Dare to venture into the darkest depths Florida’s Panhandle. The scalded ghost of Elizabeth Bellamy roams Bellamy Bridge in Marianna. Prisoners sentenced to eternity traverse the cells at Gulf Correctional Institution in Wewahitchka. Guests at Crawfordville’s Wakulla Springs Lodge check in, but some never check out. From spectral surgeons at the Old Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola to the kindly ghosts at the Knott House in Tallahassee, meet the ghosts that lurk beyond the Gulf's sandy shore.

Marie Lathers wades into the history and legends of the Okefenokee Swamp. The Okefenokee, nearly 440,000 acres of bog and swamp lying in south Georgia and north Florida, is the largest blackwater wetland in North America. Almost all of these acres are protected by a National Wildlife Refuge, one of three access points to a land characterized by cypress, Spanish moss, and alligators. This book, with its broad overview of the Swamp and more detailed focus on certain aspects, has something for everyone, the nature-minded, history buffs, and regional culture enthusiasts. Read about the animals named for the Swamp—the Okefenokee fishing spider and zale moth—the history of lumbermen in the Swamp, the religious and musical practices of Swampers, and the novels and movies set in the Land of the Trembling Earth, including, of course, the infamous opossum, Pogo.

Visit the island where time stands still and explore the romantic, almost forgotten history of old Florida in this visual history.

Rich in small town atmosphere and old Florida history, Cedar Key is a quiet island community nestled among many tiny keys on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Refuge for birds and wildlife, Florida's oldest port, and home to artists and writers, the island has long been admired for its tranquility and natural beauty.

Join author and historian James C. Clark as he chronicles the history of the Sunshine State in this concise and captivating history.

In 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon first set foot on Florida's east coast. The land he discovered was a geographic anomaly so distinctive that astronaut Neil Armstrong said Florida was the first shape on earth he recognized on his return from a visit to the moon 456 years later. This unique state witnessed momentous events from the 1959 arrival of the first Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro to the 1981 launch of the Columbia, the first space shuttle.

Author Heather Leigh leads leaders into the haunted remnants of Florida’s ghost towns.  The term “ghost towns” brings to mind communities from the Old West where there were once bustling Boom Towns but today are abandoned and lonely pieces to the puzzles of the past. With this image ingrained into a person’s mind, it is challenging to visualize ghost towns with sandy beaches and palm trees swaying in the wind. A little-known fact about Florida is it is home to more than 250 ghost towns, many of which remain the home for the spirits of former inhabitants, civil war deserters, pirates, and more. Haunted Florida Ghost Towns covers the many abandoned locations in the Sunshine State where paranormal entities are known to roam. Take a journey into the world of the supernatural and learn the history behind why Florida has so many ghost towns and the energy that remains to fuel paranormal activity.

Gear up for a frightful journey into the mysterious Ocala National Forest.

Central Florida is known as the happiest place on Earth. But an hour’s drive from the amusement parks lies a forest swirling with mystery. For generations, locals have whispered about a dark energy coming from the Ocala National Forest and drifting into nearby towns. Supernatural beasts and apparitions. Ghost lights galore. From cults to monsters to the spirts of those who ventured in yet never reemerged, the woods have long been a source of rumor and tragedy. The vengeful Coyote Woman who dispatches those with evil natures. The soldier of Fort King who vanishes when addressed. The spectral monk of Astor, on the hunt for his killer. Author and folklorist Christopher Balzano takes readers among the trees and beyond to offer a glimpse into the true stories, urban legends and haunted folklore whispered among the residents of these deep woods..

Florida's swamps and sands hide a rich history and strange stories abound. Whether you live in the state or just have a fascination with its unique background these are stories to surprise and fascinate.

Florida has a history as diverse as its residents. And much of that is still hidden. Since the arrival of the Spanish in 1513, the state has played host to strange stories. A heartbroken senator entered a mental institution over unrequited love for an heiress. Thousands of British pilots trained in flight schools across the state. And the true, and darker, story of Pocahontas is linked with the first barbecue. Author and historian James C. Clark unearths a history hidden beneath swamps and sand for years.

Known for The Fest, Less Than Jake and Hot Water Music, Gainesville became a creative hub in the 1980s and '90s for many of punk rock's greats.

Whether playing at the Hardback or wild house parties, earnest acts like Against Me!, Spoke and Roach Motel all emerged and thrived in the small northern Florida city. Radon burst onto the scene with chaotic energy while Mutley Chix helped inspire local torchbearers No Idea Records. Through this succinct history, author Matt Walker traces each successive generation's contributions and amplifies the fidelity of the Gainesville scene.

Author Heather Leigh Carroll-Landon guides readers on a spine-tingling tour through Florida’s haunted lighthouses. Lighthouses dot the Florida coast, there to help seafarers navigate their way to shore. But when tragedy comes for Florida, it often blows in from the sea, giving the lighthouses and the cursed men and women inside a first look at horror. The lively spirits of teenage sisters inhabit the St. Augustine Lighthouse, where an accident claimed their lives, suspending them in their playful youth. A storm wiped out the Sand Key Lighthouse in 1846, claiming the lives of 16 whose spirits now chatter away—generally in contented tones but sometimes straying into anger. A Civil War casualty roams near the Amelia Island Lighthouses, holding to a promise to see his love one last time before departure.

Author Joy Sheffield Harris guides readers on an architectural tour through the religious diversity of the Sunshine State. Over 200 years have passed since the first Florida church was established and today the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine has been restored to capture its original beauty. Pioneer Village Church at Shingle Creek is home to a replica of one the first churches built in the Kissimmee, the St. John's Episcopal Church. The former St. Paul’s By-The-Sea is now the deconsecrated Beaches Chapel at The Beaches Museum and History Park in Jacksonville Beach. Travel throughout the state or enjoy the beauty of these and many more churches without leaving home.

Author Larry Lawson guides readers on a journey from the present to the other side, where the paranormal and tropics collide. Indian River County is an idyllic vacation spot on Florida’s east coast, not far south of Cape Canaveral. Known as part of the state’s famed “Treasure Coast,” many are unaware of the deep and fascinating history this area played in the development of the Sunshine State. Also lost among its visitors and residents are the chilling stories of the hauntings that accompany this rich history. It is here that a man named Waldo still looks after his family and properties, six decades after his death. Or a retired preacher is seen digging up his hidden treasure, days after he died.

More than four decades after it occurred, the murder of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley remains notorious… and unsolved.

The only eyewitness said a man attacked Lindsley with a machete in broad daylight on the front steps of her white mansion. Gossip swirled that neighbor Frances Bemis knew who killed Lindsley and would notify authorities. Bemis was later murdered on her nightly walk. Author Elizabeth Randall puts the rumors to rest through research culled from over one thousand pages of depositions, records, official county documentation and interviews.

With St. Augustine's 450th anniversary comes this new collection of seldom-heard stories from the Ancient City's past.

Discover how a single guard boat thwarted a pirate fleet attack with a diversionary fife-and-drum performance and how the mere act of a Spanish ship captain lopping off the ear of a British merchant sparked the War of Jenkins' Ear. From Spanish dons to barking Methodists and all the outrageous characters in between, master storyteller Drew Sappington entertains as he puts the story back in history through this fast and funny tour of Florida's hidden past.

Boasting over 15 million tourists visiting every year, this Florida city is one of America's oldest and one of its most popular.

The Making of St. Petersburg captures the character of this bay city through its past, from the Spanish clash with indigenous peoples to the creation of the downtown waterfront parks and grand hotels. Take a journey with local historian Will Michaels as he chronicles St. Petersburg's storied history, including the world's first airline, the birth of Pinellas County and the good old American pastime, Major League Baseball. The people and events in this work paint a beautiful portrait of a coastal Florida city and reveal St. Petersburg's sense of place.

Author Robert Redd traces the pivotal moments of the fight for Civil Rights in Florida.  The rights of all people are the rock upon which our American society is grounded. The state of Florida has many important stories in the fight for equality for women, African Americans, the elderly, and the LGBTQ community. Revisit the heroic efforts of Mary McLeod Bethune, the integration of Major League Baseball, the tragic failure of the Equal Rights Amendment, the change in how hurricanes are named, Civil Rights violence in St. Augustine, and more. Florida has often made national headlines in regards to Civil Rights activities. There’s ample progress to celebrate, but the struggle continues. As the third most populous state in the country, actions here have an impact nationwide.

The first orange groves, planted in St. Augustine in the 1500s by Ponce de León, were the precursor to what would become an integral part of Florida’s identity.

Orange groves slowly spread across the state, inspiring horticultural and manufacturing ingenuity. Discover the story behind Deland’s eccentric “citrus wizard” Lue Gim Gong, the rise and fall of smuggler Jesse Fish and the silver-tongued politician William J. Howey, who made his fortune selling plots of groveland through the 1920s. Celebrate the heyday of orange tourism and the farmers who weathered freezes, floods and citrus greening. Join author Erin Thursby as she explores the history of the Sunshine State’s most famous crop.

This first comprehensive history of the Jews of Florida from colonial times to the present is a sweeping tapestry of voices.

Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers. They have been integral to every facet of Florida's growth, from tilling the land and developing early communities to boosting tourism and ultimately pushing mankind into space. The Sunshine State's Jews, working for the common good, have been Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, leaders in business and the arts and more, while maintaining their heritage to help ensure Jewish continuity for future generations. This rich narrative - accompanied by 700 images, most rarely seen - is the result of three-plus decades of grassroots research by author Marcia Jo Zerivitz, giving readers an incomparable look at the long and crucial history of Jews in Florida.

See the Conch Republic through Hemingway’s eyes.

For a dozen years, perhaps the prime of his writing life, Ernest Hemingway resided in Key West, producing a consistent stream of important work that elevated his literary fame and cleared a path for the arrival and refinement of the Hemingway Myth. Travel in his footsteps and bask in the island magnetism that fueled the author while he wrote classics such as Death in the Afternoon and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.” Tour through more than seventy island locations that paint the perfect portrait of Papa’s consequential time on the island with author Mark Allen Baker as your guide. Step back in time to Hemingway’s Key West and stroll the town like an honorary member of the famed Hemingway Mob.

Miami's architecture is world renowned, but many historic treasures have been forgotten to time.

A Cold War missile base lies covered in graffiti. The Richmond Naval Air Station: a former blimp base, destroyed by hurricane in 1945. Homestead's old Aerojet complex: originally used in the testing and construction of experimental rockets, slowly demolished as part of a project to revitalize the Everglades. The Miami Marine Stadium: declared unsafe after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and stands abandoned today. Author David Bulit, creator of the blog Abandoned Florida, revives the history and secrets of the Magic City's vanishing gems.

Florida cuisine: twelve thousand years in the making, discover the the state's unusual and distinctive food influences and dishes.

From the very first prickly pears harvested by Paleo-Indians more than twelve thousand years ago to the Seminole tribe's staple dish of sofkee, Florida's culinary history is as diverse as its geography. Influences as diverse as French, Creole, Spanish, Cuban, Greek, Mexican, Caribbean, and more season Florida's eclectic flavors. Learn how Florida orange juice changed the look of the American breakfast table and discover the state's festival-worthy swamp cabbage. Through syllabubs, perloos, frog legs and Tupelo honey, author Joy Sheffield Harris serves up a delectable helping of five hundred years of Florida cuisine--all with a side of key lime pie, of course.

Chronicling Indians and aviators, stock cars and sand traps, Florida's First Coast is a delightful collection of vintage images and local lore, sure to enchant newcomers and residents alike.

p>A well-loved local, retired U. S. Navy Captain Jack Pate decided to tell others the story of the First Coast Beaches after falling in love with the area himself. Using the extensive collections of the Beaches Area Historical Society, Captain Jack introduces the history of the people who settled the Beaches area and their love-hate relationship with the two bodies of water that define it: the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean.

Author Robert Redd dives into the stories you won’t find in any orange juice–dispensing Florida Welcome Center. Swaying palms, sandy beaches and the promise of a good life have beckoned generations to Florida. But the Sunshine State’s allure is appealing to the upstanding and vile in equal measure. A key member of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy moldered in Florida soil—the same goes for the failed assassin of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Henry Flagler pushed the Florida legislature to alter divorce law so he could extricate himself from one marriage and start anew with a woman nearly four decades his junior. The Ashley Gang left a trail of bank robberies, stolen cars and dead bodies across South Florida. And from bootleggers to land boom con men to especially aggressive insurance fraudsters, Floridians have a history of making money the dirty way.

Author Larry Humes traces the events and characters that put Venice on the proverbial map. Venice is certainly not among the oldest cities in Florida. The fact that it even survived its rocky beginning is nothing short of remarkable. But it was luck and persistence that transformed the little City on the Gulf into one of Florida’s most sought-after destinations. Venice wouldn’t be what it is today without the Kentucky military school that saved the town from bankruptcy and the construction of an army air base that helped America win World War II while increasing the local population tenfold. And don’t forget the “Greatest Show on Earth,” which called Venice home for more than three decades.

Author Heather Leigh guides readers on a spine-tingling tour through Florida’s haunted roadside attractions. Florida roadways teem with amusements designed to extract a few bucks from weary travelers passing through. While most visitations are brief, some are eternal. Indeed, many of these Sunshine State amusements are inhabited by spirits who make their presence known. Blue beams ensnare tourists at the UFO Mecca that is Shoreline Park in Gulf Breeze. A bevy of specters can’t stop performing for guests at the Ringling Brothers Museum in Sarasota. Visitors to the are advised to be on their best behavior when they happen upon the infamous haunted doll at the East Martello Museum in Key West—the doll, Robert, is known to bring misfortune to those who disrespect him. 

Beaches & Bootlegging: The true stories of Prohibition Era Florida

Prohibition is recognized as one of the most unpopular laws in US history. It was so unpopular at the time that some Floridians weren’t all too keen on obeying it. Learn how it was instigated by small town Protestants who believed that newer immigrants living in big cities were immoral because of their emphatic use of alcohol. Prohibition bred corruption, defiance of the law, and hypocrisy as illegal bootlegging, moonshining and rum running replaced legitimate taxpaying industries. Florida actually voted state-wide Prohibition into law before the dreaded 18th amendment and was the only state to elect a governor from the Prohibition Party. Florida’s Bill McCoy “The Real McCoy” founded Rum Row and became an international celebrity as he made a mockery of the U.S. Coast Guard’s inability to squelch his innovative rum running operations. Al Capone, the infamous gangster, vacationed in Florida while his henchmen perpetrated the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Many virtually unknown stories of tragic killings in Florida during Prohibition are also recounted as author Randy Jaye guides readers through Florida’s Prohibition Era.

A gay love triangle, drug deals, and a murder. Just another night in West Palm Beach in 1984?

Jeffrey Heagerty was like most young gay nineteen-year-olds in South Florida in the 1980s, commonly finding himself and his friends at the popular Kevin’s Cabaret in West Palm Beach on Saturday nights. On one of those Saturday nights in 1984, Jeff vanished from the club, leaving his friends behind even though he was their ride home. His body was found in a canal the next morning and his car was missing, only to be found a month later, abandoned on the other side of town. Rumors of a love triangle, drug dealings and sexual encounters snarled police efforts at solving the case. The investigation stagnated and the case grew cold until the solution came from two unexpected sources: overlooked details in police photographs of Jeff’s car and a mysterious letter from an inmate in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Melt your face off with the guitar greats of Jacksonville.

In the 1960s, the electric guitar became for boys what Barbie was for girls. Legions of bands formed, composed of teens making a ruckus in the garage. But who could have guessed how many world-renowned greats would arise from the clangor? Guitar gods came forth from Los Angeles, London, Chicago, Nashville. But there is a southern city often overlooked, an unlikely incubator that produced more than a dozen greats. Legends such as Dickey Betts, Dave Hlubek, Duane Allman, Jeff  Carlisi, Mike Campbell and Derek Trucks emerged from Jacksonville, a far-flung city detached from the music hubs. Why did Jacksonville give rise to so many greats? Author Michael Ray FitzGerald explores the origins of this rocking story while paying tribute to the youngsters from Jax who joined the ranks of the guitar gods.

This history details the tumultuous lives of Miami Beach’s mid-twentieth century jet set, and features archival photos.

From roughly 1930 to 1960, Miami Beach attracted an exclusive colony of socialites, who mixed with Hollywood celebrities and dignitaries, such as Winston Churchill, as effortlessly as tonic mixes with gin.

Elizabeth Taylor announced her ill-fated engagement to the son of a former ambassador in Miami Beach. Other movie stars, such as Veronica Lake, were filmed in the enclave. Beautiful model Bab Beckwith, the first Orange Bowl Parade queen, dated John F. Kennedy while he was in Miami in 1944. Speedboat king Gar Wood bought his mistress a $100,000 bayfront home and then sued to force her to vacate the property. A tumultuous affair between John Jacob Astor VI and Lucille Stiglich led to the young model serving time in the Miami Beach jail.

Deborah C. Pollack delves into an era filled with excitement, style, humor and panache.

As longtime residents and newcomers alike can agree, Jacksonville holds within its city limits wonderful places to grow, play and contemplate the beauty of north Florida.

This entertaining collection of Dorothy Fletcher's By the Wayside columns will help you remember what it was like to see the world and Jacksonville with a sense of wonder and enthusiasm. From Marineland to the Soul Searchers to Peterson's 5 & 10, Remembering Jacksonville captures this coastal community's glory days, including fond recollections from local citizens who responded to the original columns.

Does the restless ghost of a murder victim haunt a Gulfport home? Does a doomed pirate search for his lost treasure at John's Pass? Are sea captains and Civil War soldiers still combing the area, years after their deaths?

With wit and style, the Queen of Haunts, Deborah Frethem, calls upon years of experience as the general manager and guide of Tampa Bay Ghost Tours to present legends of sinister deeds and whispers of the past from Florida's haunted peninsula.

Preserved in these pages are the rich and storied history of the scenic waterfront town of Panama City Beach.

In a collection of nostalgic and lighthearted vignettes, local author Jeannie Weller Cooper recounts the history of Panama City Beach, the barrier islands and beach for old Panama City. First inhabited by Native Americans in the years before the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Panama City Beach has always proved a good hideout for fugitives, from Native Americans fleeing from European invaders to runaway slaves, Civil War soldiers, outlaws and rumrunners. In 1929, the first Hathaway Bridge was completed; connecting Greater Panama City to the beach, but the lagoon and the beach remained a sleepy curiosity until the bombing of Pearl Harbor mobilized the United States to war. Now Panama City Beach is home to thousands of residents, as well as being a renowned tourist destination.

The Spooky Side of Paradise

Travel a few miles from the beaches and resorts of Southwest Florida and a darker, different side of the Sunshine State surfaces. In Arcadia, the spirits of tormented children rise from the grave to play tag near their headstones. A murdered fisherman walks on water near Marco Island, screaming with the voice of a hog. Walking through downtown Fort Myers may mean walking into the ghost of man in a top hat who hops from building to building. And it all might be caused by a curse on an old Spanish tyrant. Join author Christopher Balzano as he explores some of the creepiest ghostly legends and chilling hauntings of the Gulf Coast.

Join a trio of Florida historians on this exploration of Florida by air. 

Few states can claim an aeronautical heritage as rich as Florida’s. From early flights in tiny cloth-covered planes to the latest rocket ships, and from the first passenger flights to journeys that span the globe, Florida skies have seen the most primitive forms of aviation evolve into the most technologically advanced. In 1910, Lincoln Beachey won $1500 at the Orange County Fair for staying in the air for five minutes, just three years before Domingo Rosillo made the 90-mile flight across the Florida Strait in two hours and eight minutes, setting world records for both distance flown over water and altitude attained. A couple decades later, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan left Miami on the first leg of their around-the-world flight that ended in disaster.

Author Rick Vaughn uncovers the stories that keep Tampa’s passion for the National Pastime burning.  Since 1913, Tampa has provided the background for some of the Major League Baseball’s most iconic spring moments led, of course, by the longest home run of Babe Ruth’s career. Tampa was the scene of the Grapefruit League’s first no-hitter and the only spring time All-star Game. It was the first gathering place of the Big Red Machine and the Core Four. Well over 125 Hall of Famers honed their craft among the city’s three major league ballparks: Plant Field, Al Lopez Field and Steinbrenner Field. All of it resulted from a diverse city’s love of the game that began with baseball-crazed cigar factory workers before the turn of the 20th century.

Beyond the sunny shores and emerald waters of Panama City, restless spirits lurk.

The ghosts that haunt this lovely city are reminders of Florida’s past: the battles, murders, and destructive acts of nature that took the lives of countless men and women. Staff at the City Center for the Arts can still hear the footsteps of inmates pacing the cells of the Old County Jail that once occupied the grounds, and a phantom known as Virginia still frequents the elevators of the historic Bay County Courthouse. Not all spirits bring doom and gloom, however—one local family learned how to befriend the resident ghost of their new home that was fond of whistling at night. Using extensive research and interviews, author Beverly Nield details the ghastly history of haunted Panama City.

Join Lakeland residents Randall M. MacDonald, Susan Priest MacDonald and Sarah E. MacDonald as they explore the differences between the Lakeland of yesterday and today. Historical images of eclectic buildings and notable scenes stand side by side with their modern equivalents in order to depict the changes that have occurred in Lakeland over the past century. Take a look at downtown Lakeland, Munn Park and local lakes as they were transformed by transportation, industry and technology. This fascinating book documents how the rural crossroads of Lakeland turned into a thriving modern city.

In Remembering Fort Myers: The City of Palms, author Prudy Taylor Board has compiled a collection of historical articles about the intriguing, but little known, people and events in the city's history. Board traces the development of the city's prestigious neighborhoods and parks, while introducing readers to some of the most captivating and eccentric characters.

A Florida Home to Baseball Stars

Pinellas County is known for hosting spring training for Major League Baseball teams, as well as the hometown Tampa Bay Rays. Yet there is another side to the county’s baseball history—its local people and teams. Some made it to the Majors, such as Howard Johnson, Casey Kotchman and Toby Hall. Several coached or scouted in the pros, including Tom Kotchman, Tom Zimmer and Tim Wilken. Hundreds of Pinellas ballplayers have been drafted by Major League Baseball, forty-four alone out of Seminole High School. And then there is the tragic tale of Steve Georgiadis, whose life ended during routine surgery. Author Dan Hirshberg brings the heroes of Pinellas County baseball to the forefront.

Author Joshua Ginsberg guides intrepid readers on a journey into Orlando’s haunted history. More than 70 million people visit Orlando annually. Some travel for pleasure, others come for business, but once the glow of the nightly fireworks over the Magic Kingdom fades, the City Beautiful plays host to a different set of guests…from beyond the grave. Do those who played roles in bringing the city to life continue to inhabit it well after their deaths? Encounter July Perry and the ghosts of Wall Street Square, the apparition known as the Lady of Lucerne, the unquiet victims of Sunland Hospital, restless residents of Greenwood Cemetery, and a great many others. 

Known for its pleasant climate and inviting gulf coast waters, St. Petersburg has always attracted sun lovers in search of their own piece of paradise.

As with many Florida cities nestled next to the Gulf of Mexico, St. Petersburg has experienced growth and change that has left few reminders of the once easy-going lifestyle that defined the city. As early as 1905, the city of St. Petersburg began creating postcards to attract not only tourists, but also business-minded individuals seeking an opportunity to take part in the area's growth. Depicting the area's beloved beaches and other sources of natural beauty, as well as a number of local businesses, these surviving postcards offer a glimpse of St. Petersburg in a golden age that is often forgotten.St. Petersburg, Florida: A Visual Historyby local author Wynelle Deese revisits a treasured time in St. Petersburg's past through the vintage postcards of this fascinating Florida destination. The images depicted in these postcards allow readers to travel back to the St. Petersburg of the early 20th century and relive the early innocence of the Sunshine City.

From small ports to large ports, from rivers to creeks, from lakes to lagoons, water routes have been essential to Florida’s development as a commercial, recreational, agricultural, and cultural entity. With more than 30,000 lakes and ponds and some 1,700 rivers, creeks, and streams, Florida ranks second in the list of wettest states in the USA. Native Americans used the rivers, creeks, and lakes as routes to various locales within the peninsula while harvesting fish and other aquatic edibles to sustain their daily lives. Early European settlers followed suit and supplemented their diets with the bounty from the oceans and fresh water sources. Into statehood, settlers relied on the same sources for food while using fresh water to make the land productive for food and cash crops. By the early decades of the 20th Century, water became a marketable attraction to lure millions of tourists to Florida for recreation and sports. The trend continues today. Join a trio of authors on this look at the immense impact water and maritime activities have played in the development of Florida.