The coffee industry was made for New York: complex, diverse, fascinating and with plenty of attitude. Since arriving in the 1600s, coffee held patriotic significance during wartime, fueled industrial
Established in 1822, Shockoe Hill Cemetery is the final resting place for many famous and infamous icons of Richmond. Most visited is the tomb of Chief Justice John Marshall, the longest-serving chief
Arlington County, for two centuries a center for government institutions, is a vibrant part of the Washington, D.C., community. Many notable figures made their home in the area, like Supreme Court chi
One of the earliest mill communities in the Massachusetts Bay Colony formed along Spot Pond Brook, a few miles north of Boston. Thomas Coytmore built the first mill in 1640 at the brook’s downstream e
Characters ranging from Mormon pioneers to Butch Cassidy all helped give the Beehive State color and tenacity. Uncover the state’s hidden gems with stories like the first group of Latter-day Saints wh
Victorian Boston was more than just stately brownstones and elite society that graced neighborhoods like Beacon Hill. As the population grew, the city developed a seedy underbelly just below its surfa
Minneapolis roared into the 1920s as a major metropolis, but it lacked the kind of outdoor amusement facilities common elsewhere across the country. In 1925, Fred W. Pearce introduced the Twin Cities
The story of the United States Transcontinental Air Mail Service, the first of its kind in the world, is one of romanticism and danger. Through calm or storm, in light or dark, a contingent of courage
Linville Gorge was the first Wilderness Area on the East Coast, approved by Congress in 1964. “The Grand Canyon of the East” was named for William Linville, a member of a party of long hunters in 1766
When beat cop Don Herion and his partner responded to shots fired on December 16, 1959, they didn’t know that they had heard the final, fatal salvo in one of the most contorted conflicts in the histor
For two centuries, Mount Washington has been the object of countless writers’ wonder and fascination. In this volume, more than twenty previously written pieces inspired by New England’s highest peak
In the long and bitter prelude to war, southern transplants dominated California government, keeping the state aligned with Dixie. However, a murderous duel in 1859 killed “Free Soil” U.S. Senator Dav
The Prairie State became a crucial testing ground for the grand American thought experiment on how a society should be constructed. Between 1839 and 1901, six different utopian communities chose Illin
History books burst at the seams with stories about Houston, Travis, Crockett and other icons of Texas history. Yet many of the Lone Star State’s fascinating figures—well known in life but forgotten i
When the Revolutionary War broke out and New York City had fallen in 1776, the forces of the king of Great Britain developed a network of forts along the length of Long Island to defend the New York a
First known as Nauset, Eastham once reached across the eastern half of Cape Cod from Bass River to the tip of what is now Provincetown. The area was home to the Nauset tribe for thousands of years bef
Steamboats transformed the Missouri Valley. Enterprising men like Joseph La Barge and Grant Marsh braved financial and mortal danger to reap fantastic profits from trade in furs and buffalo robes. But
Suwannee County is filled with forgotten echoes of its lost past, from demolished pioneer homes to defunct railroads to lost forts from the Seminole Wars. In the 1830s, ecotourism arrived. Local sulfu
Before North Dakota obtained statehood and entered the Union as a dry state, the region’s commercial beer industry thrived. A lengthy era of temperance forced locals to find clever ways to get a beer,
Sweets and the Sunshine State are a match made in heaven. Centuries ago, native Floridians used honey to sweeten dishes, as well as prickly pears and other wild fruits and berries. Spanish explorers i
At the turn of the last century, miner Joseph Lesher attempted to raise the price of silver by privately minting octagonal “Referendum souvenir medal” coins with values of $1.25 or $1. They were commo
In 1914, Charlotte Perry and Portia Mansfield envisioned a secluded institution nestled in the mountains, where art and nature could intersect. By the 1920s, their remote Perry-Mansfield Performing Ar
As South Dakotans endured the Great Depression and developing Dust Bowl in 1932, they elected a cowboy as their governor. Tom Berry rode in the great, iconic 1902 cattle roundup ordered by President T
Temperance workers had their work cut out for them in the Upper Peninsula. It was a wild and wooly place where moonshiners, bootleggers and rumrunners thrived. Al Capone and the Purple Gang came north
Like the train sitting at the bottom of its lake, the treasures of Estacada’s history often elude the casual observer. From covert operations in a famous hotel to the untold trimmings of logger lore,
Although it’s the birthplace of American wine, Hudson Valley vintages have yet to meet with the renown of those produced by the neighboring Finger Lakes and Long Island. In the 1600s, French Huguenots
Located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Seneca County has a fascinating history. Early settlers courageously fought off wild animals from wolves to panthers to tame the land and keep the new s
At the height of America’s Arts and Crafts movement, Detroit neighbors Horace J. Caulkins and Mary Chase Perry pooled their talents together to found Pewabic Pottery. With modest beginnings in 1903, P
From January to July 1942, more than seventy-five ships sank to North Carolina’s “Graveyard of the Atlantic” off the coast of the Outer Banks. German U-boats sank ships in some of the most harrowing s
The city of Syracuse and Onondaga County have a long and storied history of natural and man-made calamity. Although often considered a moderate weather region, Mother Nature has not spared it from des
Fifty years after Jefferson County found itself wedged between the Union and the Confederacy, President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany and the Central Powers. Suddenly towns like Shepherdstown
In 1900, Edith Wharton burst into the settled summer colony of Lenox. An aspiring novelist in her thirties, she was already a ferocious aesthete and intellect. She and her husband, Teddy, planned a de
Slavery is a tragic chapter in the history of Wilkes County with a lasting legacy. Prominent businessmen and celebrated civic leaders, like General William Lenoir and William Pitt Waugh, were among th
Beyond the beaten path of local landmarks, residents and tourists can find curious secrets, lost mysteries and fascinating legends. The famed Hope Diamond once found itself, and its mysterious curse,
Home to hundreds of faults, California leads the nation in frequency of earthquakes every year. Despite enduring their share of the natural disasters, residents still speculate over the inevitable big
The narrow streets and ancient pubs of historic Fells Point are filled with the spirits of the past. Pirates, privateers, sailors, smugglers and a host of others refused to let death change their addr
From its beginning as one of the most ambitious construction projects west of the Mississippi, the imposing red granite Lone Star statehouse loomed large in Texas lore. The iconic landmark rests on a
The Hudson Valley is drenched in history, culture and blood. In the fall of 1893, Lizzie Halliday left a trail of bodies in her wake, slaughtering two strangers and her husband before stabbing a nurse
The legendary tales of Central Ohio reach far beyond the region. Bigfoot-like creatures have been sighted in the state since the 1800s. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was the headquarters for the mil
On September 17, 1862, the forces of Major General George B. McClellan and his Union Army of the Potomac confronted Robert E. Lee’s entire Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Antietam in Sharps
