Richard Caswell emerged during the Revolution as a vital leader of the Patriot cause. Though he was a loyal British subject who fought against the backcountry Regulator rebellion, he embraced America’
On November 23, 1887, white vigilantes gunned down unarmed black laborers and their families during a spree lasting more than two hours. The violence erupted due to strikes on Louisiana sugar cane pla
Founded in the Mahoning Valley during 1837, a tiny settlement of secular German immigrants grew into one of the most influential centers of Jewish life in the Midwest. Home to nationally renowned rabb
In 1871, Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann created a classic Pittsburgh institution. The business grew from a small store on the South Side to a mammoth clothing house downtown that outfitted the community. Th
When shoppers went to Younkers, they experienced something magical. Celebrities signed autographs, chefs gave cooking demonstrations and Miss Universe discussed the latest styles in swimwear. The flag
Early Oklahoma was a haven for violent outlaws and a death trap for deputy U.S. marshals. The infamous Doolin gang’s OK Hotel gunfight left five dead. Killers like Bible-quoting choir leader Deacon Ji
Since the early 1900s, Silver Lake has been a magnet for iconoclastic writers, architects and political activists. Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the Hollyhock House for socialist an
While some restaurants come and go with little fanfare, others are dearly missed and never forgotten. In 1962, patrons of the Caucus Club were among the first to hear the voice of an eighteen-year-old
It was a different time. Ladies wore gloves, hats and nice attire to luncheons at the Woman’s Exchange. Shillito’s provided a cosmopolitan environment for its patrons, while Mullane’s was the perfect
It takes stubborn dedication and passionate optimism to brave the frosty, wet conditions for the chance to shoot ducks and geese. And yet the tradition continues every year as more than one million wa
Niagara Falls, both a natural wonder and a tourist destination, played a prominent role on the homefront during the Second World War. Many men and women worked diligently stateside in wartime industri
Nestled in the Loess Hills, Council Bluffs grew from a frontier settlement of wickiups and log cabins. The outpost boomed as a gateway to the West when gold was discovered in California in 1849. The P
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, e
For more than one hundred years, Campustown has served the students and community of Iowa State University. The originally residential neighborhood west of Ames was born in the early 1900s, when the s
Frozen custard is more than a dessert in Milwaukee. It’s a culture, a lifestyle and a passion. From the stand that inspired television’s Happy Days to the big three—Gilles, Leon’s and Kopp’s—take a to
Slowly fading with the city’s ever-changing landscape, the places and people of Burbank’s past tell a vibrant story. Before the arrival of Warner Bros. and Walt Disney, First National Pictures built i
Extending from Roanoke to Mount Oglethorpe and bounded by the Appalachian Mountains, the Southern Highlands is one of the most diverse natural areas in North America. From beautiful flora like the Fra
In the early 1890s, farmers Albert Maulhardt and John Edward Borchard discovered Ventura County’s favorable conditions for a highly profitable new cash crop: the sugar beet. Not long after inviting su
Traveling across the treacherous and diverse landscape of western North Carolina is a challenge historically met with human ingenuity. Mountain traces of Native Americans, dusty stagecoach routes and
On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded during a labor demonstration near Haymarket Square. The ensuing gunfire and chaos brought a grisly end to what began as peaceful support for an eight-hour workday and l
The murder of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley is notorious more than four decades after it occurred. The only eyewitness said a man attacked Lindsley with a machete in broad daylight on the front steps of he
In 1883, railroad financier Henry Villard brought Portland and the Pacific Northwest their first transcontinental railroad. Earning a reputation for boldness on Wall Street, the war correspondent turn
The modern political landscape of Virginia bears little resemblance to the past. The commonwealth is a nationally influential swing state alongside stalwarts like Florida or Ohio. But with increased p
Paul Hatcher won 897 games as the head coach of the Robert E. Lee High School boys’ basketball team in Staunton. Astoundingly, he won 85 in a row from 2003 to 2006. In a career spanning forty-three ye
When the bustle of a city slows, towns dissolve into abandoned buildings or return to woods and crumble into the North Georgia clay. The remains of numerous towns dot the landscape—pockets of life tha
On Memorial Day 1933, Stanford executive David Lamson found his wife, Allene, dead in their Palo Alto home. The only suspect, he became the face of California’s most sensational murder trial of the ce
Muncie is the classic small American city. But for much of the past two centuries, the city fell victim to murder, corruption and the bizarre. Mayor Rollin Bunch went to prison for mail fraud, while h
Newcomers and visitors can still enjoy iconic San Francisco with activities like riding a cable car or taking in the view from Twin Peaks. But San Franciscans cherish memories of a place quite differe
Dinkytown belies its name with a big history and outsized influence on the culture of Minneapolis. It began as a business district serving the University of Minnesota and became a creative center betw
Despite Kentucky’s aim to keep a neutral position in the Civil War and Paducah’s Confederate tendencies, the Union captured the town soon after Confederate troops occupied Columbus. As a result, the T
Slumbering beneath a shroud of deep forest and deliberate secrecy, Bachelors Grove Cemetery still exerts a powerful pull on paranormal pilgrims and curiosity-seekers around the world. Shielding the or
Ridgefield is no stranger to life’s shadier characters. The history of this idyllic community includes cunning crooks, suburban embezzlers, bungling burglars and wandering scallywags. In 1894, a group
The riverfront always drew people to Stillwater. The Ojibwe and Dakota first settled here, later striking a treaty with Europeans, who quickly realized the St. Croix River’s potential as an ideal way
When the Northern Pacific Railroad laid its final tracks within the fledgling hamlet of Tacoma, it brought opportunity and wild characters by the car full. Seemingly overnight, the quiet Puget Sound v
Founded amidst the bloodshed of the French and Indian War, Pittsburgh is haunted by the ghosts of its gritty and sometimes violent past. Many believe American industrialist Henry Clay Frick still inha
Montana’s past embodied the rough, unforgiving and often vicious nature of the old Wild West. Unscrupulous gold camps and railroad expansion attracted the good, bad and ugly from all across the Union
Strange lights float in the Pocomoke Forest, withering houses decay in lonely fields and spirits linger along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The eerie landscape of Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore te
No house better reflects the personality and interests of its owner than Theodore Roosevelt’s cherished Sagamore Hill. After Roosevelt returned to Oyster Bay following the death of both his beloved wi
Oklahoma City boasts a rich heritage of gumption and perseverance, but there are many tales only whispered from shadows. A spectral woman may be seen in the upper window of the Overholser Mansion, loo
Historic Snohomish has enough ghostly tales for a town twice its size. A policeman named Henry, who died on the floor of the Oxford Tavern, haunts the popular watering hole alongside nearly twenty oth
