Transportation

Exploring Pittsburgh's Ups and Downs

In Pittsburgh, the elevation varies wildly, fluctuating 660 feet from highest to lowest points throughout the area and making it one of the hilliest cities in the United States. Throughout this unruly and physically challenging landscape, the city's first mass transportation system was built – a steadily expanding network of public stairways, locally referred to as city steps, these flights of stairs are a throwback to a very different time in history and a very different Pittsburgh. Authors Laura Zurowski, Charles Succop and Matthew Jacob present the history of the Steel City steps and a walking guide to their scenic locations today.

What really happened on the circus train in 1918? Read the story of this tragedy for the entertainment industry of the time.

In the cool, pre-dawn hours on a June night in 1918, a train engineer closed his cab window as he chugged toward Hammond, Indiana. He drifted to sleep, and his train bore down on the idle Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train. Soon after, the sleeping engineer's locomotive plowed into the circus train. In the subsequent wreckage and blaze, more than two hundred circus performers were injured and eighty-six were killed, most of whom were interred in a mass grave in the Showmen's Rest section of Chicago's Woodlawn Cemetery. Join local historian Richard Lytle as he recounts, in the fullest retelling to date, the details of this tragedy and its role in the overall evolution and demise of a unique entertainment industry.

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.

What disturbing secrets surround the cold, deep waters of Lake Michigan?

Sudden violent storms and rocky shoals have claimed the lives of countless mortals foolish enough to brave the treacherous surf of Lake Michigan. But is there another, unnatural force at work? A force that spirited away a ship’s captain from a locked cabin without a trace? A force that caused a perfectly airworthy jet to fly into the waves, taking all its passengers to a watery death? Perhaps these tragedies are linked to numerous UFO sightings over the lake. Or perhaps a clue might be found in the prehistoric Stonehenge-like structures discovered deep beneath the crystalline blue surface.

Historian and storyteller Gayle Soucek will explore the mysteries behind the area known as the Lake Michigan Triangle.

Railroads are central in the history of Georgia. Explore 200 years of railroad expansion and consolidation in this must-read for railroad and Georgia history fans.

Before the start of the Civil War, Georgia had ten railroads, five of which figured significantly in General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea.

The number of rail lines in the state ballooned after the war. Many were founded by individual entrepreneurs like Henry Plant and Thomas Clyde, while the biggest railroad of them all (Southern Railway) was created out of whole cloth by New York financier J.P. Morgan. At the close of the nineteenth century, consolidation was already in process, and by the end of the next century, only three significant railroads remained in Georgia.

Author and historian Robert C. Jones examines Georgia's rail history over the past two centuries and today.

Lake Erie has seen its share of disasters, claiming more ships per square mile than any other body of freshwater. Read the mysteries of its most mysterious and notorious wrecks and disappearances.

The great lakes have seen many ships meet their end, but none so much as Lake Erie. As the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is prone to sudden waves and wildly shifting sandbars. The steamer Atlantic succumbed to these conditions when, in 1852, a late night collision brought 68 of its weary immigrant passengers to watery graves. The 1916 Black Friday Storm sank four ships -- including the unsinkable James B. Colgate -- in the course of its 20-hour tantrum over the lake. In 1954, a difficult fishing season sent the Richard R into troubled waters in the hopes of catching a few more fish. One of the lake's sudden storms drowned the boat and three man crew. At just 50 miles wide and 200 miles long, Lake Erie has claimed more ships per square mile than any other body of freshwater. Author David Frew dives deep to discover the mysteries of some of Lake Erie's most notorious wrecks.

Trace the monumental story of a transatlantic flight to the Century of Progress Exposition. In an era when transatlantic travel was still dangerous, Italy caused a sensation by announcing its participation in the upcoming Century of Progress World’s Fair would be highlighted by an unprecedented formation flight from Rome to Chicago. Led by renowned aviator Italo Balbo, the squadron of two dozen seaplanes accomplished a daring navigational feat that was commemorated by a number of civic monuments that stand in Chicago to this day. Since the United States fought Italy in World War II, the monuments have weathered decades of intermittent controversy. Don Fiore provides a fascinating account of the complex legacy of Balbo’s flight.

Experience the thriving industry and commerce of Richmond during the Gilded Age.

The Richmond Locomotive Works was born out of the ashes of the evacuation fires at the end of the Civil War. The company grew, despite numerous financial and personnel difficulties, to become one of the city’s single-largest employers, an industrial behemoth that provided livelihoods to thousands upon thousands of men over the course of its existence. Over a span of sixty years, the facility produced a myriad of industrial products, including thousands of steam locomotives that traversed rails throughout the United States and across the world.  

Historian Nathan Vernon Madison provides, for the first time since its closure in 1927, a thorough and complete history of this Richmond institution.

Among more than two hundred auto companies that tried their luck in the Motor City, just three remain: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But many of those lost to history have colorful stories worth telling.

J.J. Cole forgot to put brakes in his new auto, so he had to drive it in circles until it ran out of gas. Brothers John and Horace Dodge often trashed saloons during wild evenings but used their wealth to pay for the damage the next day. David D. Buick went from being the founder of his own leading auto company to working the information desk at the Detroit Board of Trade. Author Alan Naldrett explores these and more tales of automakers who ultimately failed but shaped the industry and designs today.

In early twentieth-century New York, few could have imagined a train terminal as grandiose as Pennsylvania Station.

Sandhogs would battle the fiercest of nature to build tunnels linking Manhattan to New Jersey and Long Island. For decades, Penn Station was a center of elegance and pride. But the ensuing rise of the airplane and automobile began to diminish train travel. By the mid-1960s, the station was tragically destroyed. The loss inspired the birth of preservation laws in the city and the nation that would save other landmarks like Grand Central. Author Paul Kaplan recounts the trials and triumphs of New York’s Penn Station.

Considered to be one of the most scenic roads in America, the Kancamagus Highway draws thousands of tourists to New Hampshire annually.

The highway, which runs between Conway and Lincoln and through the towns of Albany and Waterville Valley, was fully opened in 1967, but the development of the highway itself took over 120 years to become a reality.  The Kancamagus is the gateway to the southern White Mountains and such celebrated natural sites as Sabbaday Falls, Lower Falls, and Rocky Gorge, to name just a few.

Join historian and author Glenn Knoblock as he details the development of this Granite State treasure, and offers a comprehensive guide to all there is to see and do along the “Kanc”.

The author of Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses shares tales of disaster and misfortune on the Great Lakes.

Losing one's life while tending to a Great Lakes lighthouse sadly wasn't such an unusual occurrence. Death by murder, suicide or other tragic causes--while rare--were not unheard of. Two keepers on Lake Superior's Grand Island disappeared one early summer day in 1908, their decomposed remains found weeks later. A newly hired and some say depressed keeper on Pilot Island in Wisconsin's Door County slit his own throat after a consultation with a local butcher about the location of the jugular vein. A smallpox outbreak in the late 1890s led to the tragic death of a lighthouse hired hand on South Bass Island in Lake Erie.

Join author Dianna Stampfler as she uncovers the facts (and debunks some fiction) behind some of the Great Lakes' darkest lighthouse tales.

Wrecks and disasters have been part of New England’s railroad history since the 1830s. Derailments, head-on collisions, equipment failures, and human error all contributed to the tragic list of events between 1853 and 1966.

Forever etched in the public's memory is the horrific bridge disaster at South Norwalk, Connecticut - the deadliest railroad event to occur in the region that claimed forty-six lives. The catastrophic rear-end collision at Revere, Massachusetts, and the head-on crash of the Quebec Express in West Canaan, New Hampshire are among the eighteen wrecks explored herein.

Renowned railroad author Gregg M. Turner details the deadliest rail disasters across six states, their causes and some of the safety improvements they inspired. 

At the turn of the twentieth century, railroads meant progress, growth and development.

In the 1890s Southport, North Carolina became the target destination for a major coaling terminal for ships sailing the Atlantic coast. A new terminal would require a railroad to bring in coal and other supplies. More than twenty companies were formed to pursue this idea over the years, with a few actual accomplishments, but most were purely speculative. Wearying the expectant town for more than twenty-five years, the vision for a great port was whittled down until local entrepreneurs finally built a 30-mile rail line to connect the town to Wilmington.

Local author and railroad historian Mark Koenig chronicles the short life of a short line and the long process of making it a reality.

An amazing piece of Brainerd’s proud past

For over eighty years, the Northern Pacific Railroad Shops was the largest employer in the Brainerd area. After the Depression, the NP provided steady jobs for Brainerd railroad workers, whose paychecks contributed to the growth of Brainerd. The NP Shops built freight cars and conducted maintenance and disassembly of the NP’s rolling stock. The workforce of several trades called themselves “shop dogs.” Shop dogs built a workplace culture with its own jokes, stories, ethics, and nicknames – an unintended circumstance could result in a nickname, such as Scoop Swanson or the Soo Line Bull, that stuck to a shop dog for the rest of his life. After shop dogs retired and the NP shops closed, their nicknames and stories live on. Author Bob Roscoe gathers the stories from this vital piece of Brainerd history.

New York's unique and majestic canals stretch over 524 miles from Albany to Buffalo and between the southern tier counties of Tompkins  and Schuyler to the Quebec border.  

While much has been written on the nation building Erie Canal of the nineteenth century, much less has covered the third iteration of the waterway, the New York State Barge Canal. Deemed a historic corridor by the Federal Parks system in 2000, the Empire State's canal system has been in continuous operation since 1825, longer than any other man made transportation system in North America.  

Author Susan P. Gateley reveals the history, beauty and present day state of New York State's grand canal system.

Explore the story of the birth and growth of Glenside, one of Philadelphia's oldest and most preeminent suburbs.

In 1857, the rutted Germantown & Willow Grove Turnpike passed through farmland as it crossed paths with the bustling North Penn Railroad. The community of Glenside would one day be the result of that crossing. A visitor getting off the train would see green vistas of rolling fields, tasseled corn, and lounging cows. Discovering the area in the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy industrialists constructed lavish country estates to escape the health perils of the city in the summer, and by the end of the century, enterprising developers had begun dividing the land into plots for respectable country homes for Philadelphia’s burgeoning middle class.

Historian Thomas J. Wieckowski tells the entertaining story of how one of Philadelphia’s first and most esteemed suburban communities grew from such humble beginnings.

Journey down one of the most important roadways in the annals of Illinois transportation history. Stretching from Chicago to Cairo, the Egyptian Trail was one of the earliest “improved” roadways in Illinois. Dating to 1915, it was the longest road in the state, running four hundred miles through 20 counties and over 60 towns. The project was the brainchild of two Mattoon men, Dr. Iverson Lumpkin and Ernest B. Tucker, who realized the southern reaches of the state should be linked with Chicago along the same path as the Illinois Central Railroad. Though long forgotten today, the trail also served as the basic template for the route of Interstate 57. Author James R. Wright takes a road trip through the fascinating heritage of the Egyptian Trail.

The stretch of California coast from San Francisco to Monterey has seen its share of disastrous shipwrecks with devastating losses, but there are also stories of courage, innovative rescues and unique salvage operations. Uncover the tale of the adventurous, ill-fated Sir John Franklin, now marked only by a nearly forgotten cemetery, and relive the wreck of the New York, one of the most notorious ships to ever sail. Learn about the Coastside's worst maritime tragedy, when the passenger steamship San Juan was struck by the oil tanker twice her size and sank in minutes, plunging seventy-five men, women and children into the sea.

Join author JoAnn Semones as she shares the stories of doomed ships that found their end along Coastside California.

Facing the fury and danger of Lake Michigan

Ever since French explorers first cast their eyes on Lake Michigan, this huge inland sea has been the scene of thousands of shipwreck rescues and tragedies. As mishaps and disasters proliferated, a dedicated service of lifesavers arose. Braving perilous conditions, these servicemen pulled those aboard the merchant schooner Havanna from certain death. The intrepid St Joseph Lifesavers saved the crew and passengers of the City of Duluth. Sadly, not all rescues ended in heroism, as was the case with the doomed Arab that went down along with two other ships.

Author Michael Passwater captures the stories of shipwrecks and the brave men and women that risked their lives against an angry Lake Michigan.

The history of the Western North Carolina Railroad is a tale like no other, filled with tragedy, heroism, brains, blood, sweat, tears, nitroglycerin and humor.

Now a tourist mecca, the Great Smoky Mountains were a remote and inaccessible place until well after the Civil War. Using first enslaved and later convict labor the Western North Carolina Railroad and Murphy Branch connected the mountains with the remainder of the state by rail for the first time in 1891. The railroad brought commerce and tourism. Though its vital role was eventually eclipsed by the automobile, tourists and rail buffs continue to come to Bryson City to experience travel by steam train on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

Local authors Jacob Morgan Plott and Bob Plott tell the story of a line that refused to die.

Explore Philadelphia’s relationship with the underground, as old as the city itself, dating back to when Quaker settlers resided in caves alongside the Delaware River more than three hundred years ago.

Explore the city under the The City of Brotherly Love, which became a national and world leader in the delivery of water, gas, steam, and electricity during the industrial age. The construction of multiple subway lines within Center City took place during the early twentieth century. An intricate subsurface pedestrian concourse was also developed throughout the downtown area for the city’s inhabitants. From Thirtieth Street Station and Reading Terminal to the Commuter Rail Tunnel and transit lines that were never built, Philadelphia’s infrastructure history is buried under the earth as much as above. Join authors Harry Kyriakodis and Joel Spivak as they reveal the curious aspects of the Quaker City’s underground experience.

Trace the haunted heritage of America’s Mother Road across Oklahoma. Route 66 may seem like a quieter thoroughfare than it was in its heyday, but the ghosts of Oklahoma’s past bustle along unabated. When the sun sets on the Road of Dreams, the shadows of its roadside attractions take on a nightmarish cast. British airmen disappear into the mist above Miami. Phantoms stir in the Dust Bowl’s shallow grave. A westbound Frisco train hops the rails outside Kellyville. Author Tanya McCoy expertly weaves amongst the spirits still traveling along Oklahoma’s historic Route 66

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The surpsing story of the Cog Railway on Mount Washington, and how one eccentric man's dream paved the way.

On July 3, 1869, the three-and-one-third-mile track leading to the summit of picturesque Mount Washington opened for public use. Once, only those daring enough to scale the 6,288 feet could enjoy the splendor of the scenery, but now everyone could journey to the summit using the invention of retired businessman Sylvester Marsh, who dreamed of this mountainous mode of transportation. Created at the height of the age of rail, the Cog Railway continues to chug up the mountain and into the hearts of tourists each year. Local historian Bruce D. Heald ties the history of its construction together with the grand romance of the railway as they triumphantly converge at the top of Mount Washington.

On the night of November 26, 1898, with a killer storm of historic proportions approaching, the steamer Portland set out from Boston. By the following night, the winter hurricane sent the vessel to the depths of Massachusetts Bay off Cape Cod, claiming nearly two hundred lives.

On the Cape, a few dozen victims of the Portland disaster washed ashore, while ships piled up in harbors, high tides swept away railroad tracks, and the landscape and beaches were changed forever. Several Cape Cod mariners went to sea and never returned, caught in the gale’s evil clutches.

Local author Don Wilding revisits this disaster and the heroic deeds of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the Cape’s citizenry in what came to be known as “The Portland Gale.”

Beyond the grand facades and trappings of the Main Line cream-and-crystal crowd are hidden tales and scintillating stories.

Author Mark Dixon's collection of articles from Main Line Today explores the region's offbeat and oft-forgotten history. With a keen eye and a touch of humor, Dixon delves into the Welsh origins of nearly unpronounceable towns and the journey of the Sound of Music's Trapp family to Merion. From anecdotes of the socialite who divorced her husband when he had the gall to survive the sinking of the Titanic to the Wayne native who turned from the convent to a career as an internationally renowned opera star, Dixon brings to light the lost pages of Main Line history.

Explore the facts and mysteries surrounding the history and collapse of Richmond, Virginia's Church Hill Tunnel. A must for fans of railroad and Richmond history.

Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was in shambles after the Civil War. The bulk of Reconstructionbecame dependent on the railways, and one of the most important links in the system was the Church Hill Tunnel.

The tunnel was eventually rendered obsolete by an alternative path over a viaduct, and it was closed for regular operation in 1902. However, the city still used it infrequently to transport supplies, and it was maintained with regular safety inspections. The city decided to reopen the tunnel in 1925 due to overcrowding on the viaduct, but the tunnel needed to be strengthened and enlarged. On October 2, 1925, 190 ft. of the tunnel unexpectedly caved in, trapping construction workers and an entire locomotive inside.

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the tunnel and the mystery surrounding its collapse. There were cave-ins and sink holes above the surface for decades after the tunnel was sealed up, and in 1998, a reporter from the Richmond Times-Dispatchdid an investigation, trying to determine the current condition of the tunnel. In 2006, the Virginia Historical Societyannounced its efforts to try and excavate the locomotive and remaining bodies.

Originally commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt as he built his maritime empire in New York, the Steamboat Lexington eventually became the most prestigious steamship on the heavily trafficked Long Island Sound...

But in 1840 a fire broke out on the ship, igniting poorly placed bales of cotton which destroyed the ship in minutes. Emergency rafts sank and rescue boats were unable to reach the ship in time. Only four among the over one hundred and forty on board survived by clinging to bales of cotton. The incident would be the worst maritime disaster in Long Island history.

Author Bill Bleyer presents the harrowing story of a ship’s journey from glory to tragedy.

Long Island's history is filled with fascinating firsts, magnificent mansions and captivating characters.

From Glenn Curtiss, the first pilot to fly a plane on the island, to Earle Ovington, who carried the country's first airmail, the area has been known as the cradle of aviation. Millionaire William K. Vanderbilt's Long Island Motor Parkway, remnants of which still remain, was the nation's first highway. The desolate ruins of an exiled Albanian king's estate lie in the midst of the woods of the Muttontown Preserve. Captain William Kidd, pirate chaser turned pirate, is rumored to have buried treasure on the island.

Elmhurst native Richard Panchyk reveals the rapidly vanishing traces of Long Island's intriguing history.

For more than five centuries, the waterways surrounding Long Island have profoundly shaped its history.

Familiar subjects of lighthouses, shipwrecks and whaling are found alongside oft-forgotten oddities such as Pan-American flying boats landing in Manhasset Bay in the early days of transatlantic flight. From the British blockade and skirmishes during the American Revolution to the sinking of merchant vessels by Germany in World War II, the sea brought wars to these shores. By the later part of the 20th century, Gold Coast millionaires commuted in high-speed yachts to Manhattan offices as the island’s wealth grew. Historian Bill Bleyer reveals Long Island’s nautical bonds from the Native Americans to current efforts to preserve the region’s maritime heritage.

On the evening of January 2, 2009, Captain Matteo Russo and crewman John Orlando got underway aboard the fifty-four-foot fishing vessel Patriot, from the iconic State Pier in Gloucester, Massachusetts, bound for nearby fishing grounds in search of cod. They never returned.

What happened less than eight hours later on that bitter and dark winter early morning that caused the Patriot to sink? Why did the Coast Guard deliberate more than two hours before launching a rescue mission? Using official documents, numerous interviews and insight as a search and rescue commander, maritime historian Captain W. Russell Webster, USCG (Ret.), expertly documents the tragedy of the Patriot, with startling findings. He deftly explores the condition of “normalcy bias” linked to this heartbreaking case, which can cause people—including Coast Guard personnel—to deny and sometimes over-deliberate threats to human life.

With Fast Mail train No. 97 an hour behind schedule, locomotive engineer Steve Broady, according to legend, swore to put her in Spencer on time or put her in Hell.

Through eyewitness reports and court testimonies, historian Larry Aaron expertly pieces together the events of September 27, 1903, at Danville, Virginia, when the Old 97 plummeted off a forty-five-foot trestle into the ravine below. With more twists and turns than the railroad tracks on which the Old 97 ran, this book chronicles the story of one of the most famous train wrecks in American history, as well as the controversy surrounding The Wreck of the Old 97, that most famous ballad, which secured the Old 97 a place within the annals of American folklore.

Tucked along the north bank of the Columbia River lies Pearson Field, thought to be the nation’s oldest continuously operating airfield.

The golden age of aviation in the Pacific Northwest began at this spot with the touchdown of a dirigible bearing airmail letters, but that was only the first of many remarkable moments. From its conversion into a sawmill to provide spruce for World War I warplanes to hosting unexpected Russian airmen, Pearson Field adapted to serve the region through wars and peace alike. The Army Air Corps called it home for decades, and it attracted aviators like daredevil Silas Christofferson and Tex Rankin, who ran his own flight school.

Author Martin Middlewood dives into the stories of the men and women who turned a grassy field into the historic site it is today.

Journey the historic path from wagon ruts to blacktop highways across Nebraska.

For centuries, Nebraska’s Platte River Valley has served as a natural passageway for the nation’s travelers. The Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails guided intrepid settlers west. Soon, the Pony Express, roughly following those trails, provided the first direct mail service connecting the West Coast with east of the Mississippi River. These historic routes later evolved into the transcontinental railroad, the Lincoln Highway, and eventually modern-day Interstate 80. History buffs, road-trippers, and the generally curious alike can navigate the tracks that each era of travel left locally and nationally. 

Blending vivid historical detail with memorable personal narratives, author Andrea M. Riley offers an enlightening journey through one of the country’s most important transportation corridors.

With the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, Staten Island was changed forever.

Sewers, schools, roadways, and even the politicians of New York City were not prepared for the onslaught of relocating Brooklyn residents who sought a rural lifestyle. Houses were bought as quickly as they were built. Schools were scrambling to find seats for thousands of newly arriving students. The antiquated sewer system of Staten Island could not handle the overload and there simply wasn't enough room for all of the septic tanks needed.

Who were the allies or adversaries of development? Who sought to make a meaningful plan for Staten Island's future?

Author Patricia Salmon examines the preparation, design, and opening of "The Bridge," as well as how it impacted the citizens of Staten Island during the next decade. 

A war over riches on the Columbia River.

While the Civil War raged, a group of captains, merchants, bankers and gamblers in the Pacific Northwest formed the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The first capitalistic enterprise in the new state, they aimed to develop the richest and most powerful transportation operation in the region, dominating hundreds of miles of river traffic from the Pacific Coast to Montana. Achieving such status was anything but easy. They battled competitors, lawyers, the river herself, and defectors within their management team. In the unregulated business environment of the nineteenth century, men like John Ainsworth made their own rules, often deploying frontier justice against their enemies.

Join author Mychal Ostler as he recounts the battle for power that shaped an industry.

A contest between grassroots activism and corporate greed

In one of the great political and economic movements of the nineteenth century, a fraternal organization of Midwest farmers permanently changed the trajectory of American railroads. When rising shipping rates threatened their ability to get their crops to market, these small farmers banded together to form the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. Deftly handling the levers of power in their clash with robber barons, the organization’s pattern of regulation all but controlled the development of national rail policies for more than a century.

Historian Daniel Faas details the history of the Grange Movement and its role in shaping the Midwest and the modern American rail system.

Minnesota is often called the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but it could also be called the Land of 20,000 Bridges. /

During the early days of the state, the Mississippi River and its many tributaries barred and disrupted transportation and commerce. To span these obstacles, communities battled to build and maintain bridges. Their efforts created a variety of bridge designs and purposes—from small hiking and biking bridges to concrete beams across rural rivers. Across the area, one can behold wonders like the beautiful Stone Arch Bridge, the La Crescent Swing Bridge, the Point Douglas Drawbridge, the elegant Winona Main Channel Bridge as well as other massive structures crossing the Mississippi.

Studying and photographing these amazing structures, local author Steve Gardiner celebrates the innovation and determination of Southeast Minnesota./      

One of the unsung heroes of the auto world, C. Harold Wills designed the Model T when he worked as Henry Ford's right-hand man.

Later, he founded his own company to produce the legendary Wills Sainte Claire. Every endeavor displayed his trademark inventiveness, from the development of the overhead cam engine to the toboggan run on the roof of his house. He used his money to create one of the first worker model cities at Marysville, Michigan. In this long-overdue biography, Alan and Lynn Lyon Naldrett preserve the legacy of an automotive icon.

Explore Boise’s Bloody History!

Shortly after the nearby discovery of gold in 1862, outlaws and ruffians from all over began to congregate in newly platted Boise City.  One of the city's only recorded pistol duels settled a dispute between a covetous husband and the lover of a young damsel--both happened to be lawyers. After getting busted running a long con, the King of Boise's Underworld was sent to the penitentiary. What could be called the area's first mass shooting occurred when an Alaskan gold miner sought revenge against the young woman who stood him up. A local postmaster found himself in a notorious case of a love triangle gone wrong. And, a death cult returned the mummy of one of its followers to Boise. Authors Mark Iverson and Jeff Wade go beyond the traditional histories to gain an appreciation for the lives often willfully removed from history's pages and thus forgotten.

True stories and vintage photos of this bustling New York City borough, covering everything from crime and corruption to a beloved Christmas poem.

Queens has a history filled with fascinating firsts, cool characters and ramshackle ruins. From the nation’s first modern highway to the first-ever transatlantic flight, the borough has long been at the forefront of modern transportation.

Poet Clement Clarke Moore was inspired by childhood memories of Elmhurst when he wrote the poem “’Twas the Night before Christmas.” The infamous William “Boss” Tweed once fled jail to a secret hideout in a Bayside hotel. The remains of the old Creedmoor Hospital complex in Queens Village are haunting, as are the eerie remnants of Fort Tilden in the Rockaways.

In this fascinating book, Richard Panchyk reveals glimpses of the hidden history of Queens.

From 1837 to 1900 the tiny borough of Stonington, Connecticut was a major transportation hub on the route between New York and Boston. Steamboats leaving Manhattan followed Long Island Sound to Stonington Harbor where passengers boarded trains for the rest of the journey to Providence or Boston.

Stonington’s Steamboat Hotel, built in 1838 near the piers and railroad yard, was home to saloons, restaurants, a pool hall, a cigar shop, a tailor and a barber shop. Merchants, hotel keepers and saloon workers passed through the building, each with their own unique story.  Many of them were immigrants or first-generation Americans, and they are a window onto a late 19th-century class of merchants and service workers.

   Join local author Stuart Vyse as he reveals a lively portrait of remarkable harmony in a small village that was far more diverse than it is today.

This book chronicles the history of the HMS Gaspee, a sloop in the British Royal Navy that was sent to patrol the waters of Narragansett Bay in 1772.

The Gaspee cracked down on smugglers and enforced British customs regulation, particularly the Stamp Act. The ship and her captain, William Duddington, were quickly hated by colonists for their campaign of brutality, harassment, and arbitrary enforcement. When the Gaspee ran around in shallow waters, while in pursuit of a colonist merchant ship, they took immediate action. The colonists, led by John Brown and other local notables, burned Gaspee and wounded her captain. This act of revolt preceded the Boston Tea Party by 18 months.

The Story of the Railroad Visionary Who Put San Angelo on the Map.

Over 100 years ago, Arthur Stilwell built 2,300 miles of railroad, founded 40 cities, and added $1 billion to the US economy. He was a visionary. He was controversial. He picked San Angelo for a main depot on his Kansas City, Mexico and Orient railway line. But he hadn’t counted on the Mexican Revolution and challenging characters like the revolutionista general, Pancho Villa. Meanwhile, San Angelo wrestled with neighboring Texas town Sweetwater for the right to host the depot. Dr. Linda Thorsen Bond sorted through scores of sources to piece together the fascinating fragments of Stilwell’s dream of steam.

A Highway Runs Through It

When U.S. Highway 29 between Greenville and Spartanburg was completed in 1946, it became the first modern super highway in the Upstate region. Known by many as the Super Highway, it was lauded as the “finest type in the country.” Although it is technically a north–south highway, it takes a meandering course across piedmont ridges, adding side roads and economic development. The businesses that grew along the corridor created a new landscape for the region. J. Harley Bonds was a longtime furniture store owner who helped desegregate Greer High School. W.O. Ezell helped beautify Spartanburg with his landscaping. Authors William “Lynn” Duncan and Scott Withrow explore the fascinating history of this well-traveled Upstate highway.

Lost in the Flames

On October 21, 1836, a bustling crowd gathered at the docks in Saint John, New Brunswick, to witness an extraordinary spectacle. The steamship Royal Tar was embarking on yet another voyage from New Brunswick to Portland, Maine, laden with a cargo of peculiar passengers. For this fateful voyage, the Royal Tar had been transformed into a circus ship. Onlookers watched as cages slowly rolled past—exotic birds in one, two lionesses in another and the regal striped Bengal tiger in a third. Then the star of the show slowly made his way across the gangplank. Mogul, the mighty Asian elephant, took his spot on the upper deck of the ship as it steamed out of the port.

After four days of stormy weather, a devastating fire engulfed the ship. The ensuing chaos left thirty-two people dead, and many of the animals were pushed overboard into the frigid waters of Penobscot Bay in a last-ditch effort to save them. The rest died in their cages. Jane Parks Gardner reveals how this tragic event left an indelible mark on Maine’s maritime history.

Author Geoffrey Reynolds explores the story of Holland, Michigan's unique legacy of maritime craftsmanship.

Holland's boat-building tradition took root in the 1840s, as Dutch immigrants crafted flatboats and watercraft for residents. Just a century later, the city's commercial boat-building industry flourished. The innovation of fiberglass-reinforced plastic changed the traditional structure of boats, revamped the industry and re-created the blueprint for U.S. pleasure boats following World War II.

The Roamer Boat Company's masterfully-welded sheet steel cabin cruisers led to the 1955 purchase by the Chris-Craft Corporation to create the Roamer Boat Corporation. Local craftsmen, like the Jesiek brothers, found the transition from furniture building to boat building seamless. But with the success of larger manufacturers, smaller boat shops declined.

For nearly two centuries, the beacons of light stations guided vessels through the deceptively hazardous waters in and around Hampton Roads.

Eleven light stations have dotted the southeastern coast of Virginia since the days of the early republic. Starting with Alexander Hamilton’s establishment of the federal lighthouse service, their story meanders through the American Civil War, Reconstruction, the Second World War and beyond, tracing the development of maritime commerce in the region. The keepers themselves were mostly white men from Virginia or North Carolina, however, caretakers also included immigrants, women, and formerly enslaved men. For almost two hundred years, these stalwarts maintained the beacons that guided vessels through these waters.

They also rescued those in peril. Far from being isolated, their collective lives were intertwined with the events and innovations that shaped the nation. Local historian Benjamin Trask tells their stories.

The history of one of the most important airports in the US comes to life in over 150 historical photos.

In 1942, a stretch of Illinois prairie that had served as a battleground and a railroad depot became the site of a major manufacturing plant, producing Douglas C-54 Skymasters for World War II. Less than twenty years later, that plot of land boasted the biggest and busiest airport in the world. Many of the millions who have since passed through it have likely only regarded it as a place between cities. But for people like Michael Branigan, who has spent years on its tarmac, they know that O'Hare is a city unto itself, with a fascinating history of gangsters and heroes, mayors,  presidents and pilots.

They Didn’t Need to be There

It was a calm, moonless night in late April 1865. Robert E. Lee had surrendered. Abraham Lincoln was dead. Assassin John Wilkes Booth and accomplice David Herold, previously hiding in the swamps of Southern Maryland, had crossed the Potomac River to safety. The barge Black Diamond was anchored with the Potomac Flotilla near Blackistone Lighthouse, hoping to prevent that crossing and catch the perpetrators. All onboard were unaware that they were too late. The steamer Massachusetts was running downriver carrying U.S. soldiers back to their regiments. By dawn, the Black Diamond was on the bottom of the river, the Massachusetts was crippled and eighty-seven men were dead. Author Karen E. Stone reveals the story of a heroic pursuit turned tragic.

Discover the Shipbuilding Dynasties that Built Philadelphia's Maritime Industry

The waterfront of Kensington and Fishtown in Philadelphia attracted a host of innovative and hardworking shipwrights from America’s earliest days. As fleets transitioned from wooden-hulled ships of sail to iron steamships, the tradesmen of Kensington’s shipwright dynasties were at the forefront of the global shipbuilding industry throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Kensington’s shipyards saw the birth of screw propulsion, revolutionizing the speed and reliability of ships forever afterward. The Industrial Revolution in Philadelphia, which earned the city its motto “Workshop of the World,” fostered innovation and invention in the local maritime industry. For this reason, Kensington shipwrights commanded worldwide respect.