Wisconsin

In November 1834, Capt. Gilbert Knapp staked a claim to 141 acres at the mouth of the Root River, naming it Port Gilbert. This site became the city of Racine.

During the pioneer years, Racine was dubbed "the Belle City" of the Great Lakes (from the French word belle, meaning "beautiful"). The growth of this beautiful city and its harbor was captured in vintage postcards at a time when people sent little notes and messages to friends and family the way people use e-mail and cell phones today. These cards are like vignettes showing the changes that have taken place since one century ago - a pictorial documentation of Racine preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Through the medium of historic photographs, Cudahy, Wisconsin: Generations of Pride captures Cudahy's evolution from the late 1800s to the present day. Featuring over 200 historic images from both the Cudahy Historical Society and Public Library as well as photographs from private resident collections, this book tells the stories of the people who settled there: where they worked and worshiped, how they lived, and how they celebrated. Today, Cudahy is in the midst of downtown redevelopment, and community pride continues to grow with each generation.

What unknown spirits lurk among the living in the Gateway to Wisconsin?

oin Candice Shatkins, a founding member of the Paranormal Investigators of Kenosha, as she uncovers the spooky secrets and unlikely legends of Kenosha County. From a secret burial chamber under a library to Wisconsin's very own Wolfman, a shipwreck on Black Tuesday to the haunted observatory tower of a former seminary and boarding school, Kenosha's ghosts are sure to delight visitors and residents alike in this stirring account of the area's historic haunts.

German immigrants are responsible for making the great town of Milwaukee what it is today.

German immigrants began arriving to Milwaukee in the 1830s. By 1859, over one-third of the city was German. They opened schools and churches, started businesses, ran for office, and introduced professional German theater, art, and music to the city. Milwaukee soon became known throughout the United States--and even abroad--as the ""German Athens of North America."" There is a reason Milwaukee is known as the city of beer and brats, why it is here that the biggest Germanfest in the country takes place, and why still today the German language can be seen and heard throughout the city. As the well-known German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine stated in 2008, ""Deutscher als Milwaukee ist nirgendwo in Amerika"" (There is nowhere in America more German than in Milwaukee).

Geneva Lake was formed by a glacier tens of thousands of years ago. The Oneota left historic footprints with a cultural gift in the form of the shore path.

The path is accessible for all to walk just as the natives did many centuries earlier. Images of America: Geneva Lake illustrates the early history of the communities surrounding the lake--Lake Geneva, Linn, Fontana, and Williams Bay--through scrapbooks, vintage photographs, and storytelling. The chapters in this book cover the history of people, places, pioneers, physical chores, and play at Geneva Lake. Families who have spent time at the lake for generations share enchanting memories, and those new to it can experience ""lake living years ago.""

Milwaukee is best known for its beer - and rightfully so. But in the days of Prohibition, the big alcohol suppliers were not Miller, Blatz, Schlitz, and Pabst.

The Mafia had control, and it made its money by running alcohol as far away as Canada and Indiana, as well as with counterfeiting, the numbers racket, and two of the biggest heists in American history. From then on, the sky was the limit, as the Mafia indulged in extortion, protection rackets, and skimming from Las Vegas casinos. The Cream City had its crooked lawyers, corrupt cops, and even a mayor on the take. There was the blood of those who dared to stand in the syndicate's way, who were found dead in ditches or as victims of car bombs. The members of the Mafia included doctors, real estate men, restaurateurs, tavern owners, funeral directors, union presidents, and the most famous Milwaukee gangster of all, Frank Balistrieri. While now considered extinct, the Milwaukee Family was once a dominant force in the Midwest.

See for yourself why Elkhorn, Wisconsin, was named of the 100 best small towns in the United States.

Designated the Walworth County seat in 1838, Elkhorn has maintained a slower pace of life despite its exciting history and its growth as a community. Music provided to its citizens entertainment as well as employment, with the establishment of a prosperous band instrument industry. Elkhorn was also once known as the ""Christmas Card City,"" when images from around town were featured on several Hallmark cards.

In 1995, Elkhorn was included in Norm Crampton's book, ""The 100 Best Small Towns in America"". Elkhorn's residents agree that their town meets the book's criteria--a spirit of community, a feeling of safety, a commitment to the well-being of its children and a growing population.

Local historian Yance Marti uncovers the rough and rowdy blackguards who once made Milwaukee infamous.

The Cream City of yesteryear was a dingy haven for scofflaws and villains. Red-light districts peppered downtown's landscape, but none had the enduring allure of River Street, where Kitty Williams and Mary Kingsley operated high-class brothels. Chinese opium dens flourished in the backrooms of laundries. The demise of the Whiskey Ring brought down local distillers in a nationwide scandal that nearly reached the Oval Office. As a result, Police Chief John Janssen and the Committee to Investigate White Slavery and Kindred Vice waged a protracted battle to contain the most brazen offenses.

A History Lover's Guide to Milwaukee offers something for visitors and lifelong residents alike.

Often described as a "big small town,'? Milwaukee's quirky character stems from its many neighborhoods--each with its own stories to tell. Early territorial disputes, for example, led to the horribly (or humorously) misaligned streets of downtown. The city's signature rectangular pizza was born in the Third Ward. In Kilbourntown, Teddy Roosevelt was saved from an assassin's bullet by the smallest of items. Not far from that spot, eight baseball team owners formed the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs. And no matter the neighborhood, a fantastic glass of suds is never far away in this renowned beer city.

Leading readers on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood tour, author and Milwaukee native Jim Nelsen pinpoints the fascinating historic locations of the Cream City.

Befitting its role as Wisconsin's thumb, Door County has its own unique pulse. It is the "Door of the Dead," which some historians blame for more shipwrecks than any other body of freshwater in the world.

It is also the idyllic paradise "north of the tension line," that sends many unsuspecting tourists spiraling into an addiction that lands them in a summer home. The variety of nature's splendors and terrors is matched by the cast of characters that has risen up among them. In Door County Tales, these characters are given free rein, which seems only proper in a place where one might walk out of a restaurant and see goats grazing on the roof.

For over a century, drag has been an unstoppable force in Milwaukee nightlife. On June 7, 1884, "The Only Leon'? brought the fine art of female impersonation to the Grand Opera Hall, launching a proud local legacy that continues today at This Is It, La Cage, Hamburger Mary's, D.I.X. and innumerable other venues.

Historians Michail Takach and BJ Daniels recognize that today's LGBTQ liberties were born from the strength, resilience, and resistance of yesterday's gender non-conforming pioneers. This is a long overdue celebration of those stories, including high-rolling hustler of the Fourth Ward "Badlands'? Frank Blunt, over-the-top dinner theater drag superstar of the 1950s Adrian Ames, and "It Kid'? Jamie Gays, first-ever Miss Gay Milwaukee and Latin community hero.

And many, many more.

Located in northwest Wisconsin and surrounded by Beaver Dam Lake, the city of Cumberland is known as the "Island City." The lake was known to the local Ojibwa tribe as Che-wa-cum-ma-towangok, or "Lake Made by the Beavers."

With over 1,100 acres of open water, the lake's resources brought in loggers to cut the big stands of timber to be milled into wood that would build the northern part of Wisconsin. Soon, an influx of Italian immigrants called Cumberland home, creating one of the largest communities of people of Italian descent in the entire state. The early pioneer families - Miller, Hines, and Ritan - had established stores, mercantile businesses, and livery stables to help the community grow. Over the years, many notable people have come from the area, including Olympic gold medal wrestlers John and Ben Peterson, statesman Thomas St. Angelo, and football standout Julius Alphonse. Stokely Foods, Ardisam, and 3M also call the area home. When the railroads came, the town became a destination for settlement and agriculture. After the timber industry moved away, the community became a popular place for summer cottages and homes.