Though only a handful remain today, the Capital City once boasted a wealth of illustrious hotels and raucous two-bit establishments. Grande dame hotels like the Neil House, the Great Southern, the Hartman, the Chittenden and the Deshler achieved the height of elegance and refinement. More modest establishments were frequented by fugitive Confederate generals, notorious bootleggers and Fidel Castro's family. Join the Gilded Age bachelors who decked out banquet halls to look like camping sit...

Columbus grew from a one-horse town to a metropolis one day at a time. Tom Betti and Doreen Uhas Sauer of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation have selected the 365 most fascinating city history vignettes for each day of the year. Match your seasons up to the full range of Columbus history, from the marching band hired to test the strength of incomplete statehouse stairs in January 1857 to the prohibition of public dancing in city parks in December 1913, and enjoy delightful tidbits every day...

One of the first buildings in Central Ohio in the 1790s was a tavern and 200 years later--Columbus as a "foodie" town shows renewed interest in discovering its historic "liquid assets." Once historic taverns in frontier Columbus featured live bears chained to giant wheels, pumping water for travelers in need of a shower and giving new meaning to the term "watering hole." Existing historic taverns in Columbus span from 1830s through the 1930s and still have little-known histories, stories, ...

Discover the stories behind historic Columbus neighborhoods and their engaging landmarks. The community centers that locals call home aren't just points of interest but places that have shaped history beyond their communities and even Ohio. This encyclopedia of Columbus neighborhoods gives voice to the rich heritage residing in the bell towers, parks and streetscapes of Franklinton, German Village, King-Lincoln, Olde Town East, Short North and the University District. Along with WOSU's awa...

A definitive chronicle of the 1871 Chicago Fire as remembered by those who experienced it—from the author of Chicago and the American Literary Imagination.Over three days in October, 1871, much of Chicago, Illinois, was destroyed by one of the most legendary urban fires in history. Incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago had grown at a breathtaking pace in the intervening decades—and much of the hastily-built city was made of wood. Starting in Catherine and...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“Travels with George . . . is quintessential Philbrick—a lively, courageous, and masterful achievement.” —The Boston GlobeDoes George Washington still matter? Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washington’s unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies, which were now an unsure nation. Travels with George mar...

A lively history of Boston’s emergence as a world-class city—home to the likes of Frederick Douglass and Alexander Graham Bell—by a beloved Bostonian historian“It’s been quite a while since I’ve read anything—fiction or nonfiction—so enthralling.”—Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter IslandOnce upon a time, “Boston Town” was an insulated New England township. But the community was destined for greatness. Betwe...

A treasury of trivia from the New-York Historical Society: "An extraordinary tapestry depicting New York's story.... An almost addictive read."— Library JournalFor years, the librarians at the New-York Historical Society have kept a record of the questions posed to them by curious locals and visitors to the city. Who was the first woman to run for mayor of New York? Why are beavers featured on the city's official seal? Is it true that a nineteenth-century ...

When George Washington bade farewell to his officers, he did so in New York's Fraunces Tavern. When Andrew Jackson planned his defense of New Orleans against the British in 1815, he met Jean Lafitte in a grog shop. And when John Wilkes Booth plotted with his accomplices to carry out an assassination, they gathered in Surratt Tavern. In America Walks into a Bar, Christine Sismondo recounts the rich and fascinating history of an institution often reviled, yet always central to Ameri...

Executive jets and yachts are the quintessential tableau of today's tycoons. A century or more ago it was Pullman Palace Cars and yachts. The Palace Cars were ornate, featured extravagant pomp, from crystal chandeliers and marble baths to sumptuous bedrooms, libraries and living rooms walled in mahogany, with servant quarters nearby. The man who made this possible, George Pullman, catered to the wealthy, provided unique cars built to individual tastes and standards, but also gave ordinar...

A leading expert on the past, present, and future of public monuments in America.An urgent and fractious national debate over public monuments has erupted in America. Some people risk imprisonment to tear down long-ignored hunks of marble; others form armed patrols to defend them. Why do we care so much about statues? Which ones should stay up and which should come down? Who should make these decisions, and how?Erin L. Thompson, the country’s leading expert...

Discover one of America's most historic cities through 30 dramatic true stories spanning Boston's 400-year history, and then visit the places where history happened on walking tours of the city's historic neighborhoods. Boston expert Charles Bahne reveals some of the city's most shocking moments, from a murder mystery on the Harvard campus to the mistake that sent two million gallons of molasses pouring down Commerce Street. Other essays explore major historic events including the Boston T...