Author Prudy Taylor Board has compiled a collection of historical articles about the intriguing, but little known, people and events in the history of Fort Myers. Board traces the development of the city's prestigious neighborhoods and parks, while introducing readers to some of the most captivating and eccentric characters.

'Cozzens is a master storyteller' The Times From the devastating invasion by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to the relentless pressure from white settlers 150 years later, A Brutal Reckoning tells the story of encroachment on the vast Native American territory in the Deep South, which gave rise to the Creek War, the bloodiest in American Indian history, and propelled Andrew Jackson into national prominence, as he led the US Army in a ruthless campaign. It was a war that involved not only white Americans and Native Americans but also the British and the Spanish, and ultimately led to the Trail of Tears, in which the government forcibly removed the entire Creek people, as well as the neighbouring Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations, from their homelands, leaving the way open for the conquest of the West. No other single Indian conflict had such a significant impact on the fate of the country. Wonderfully told and brilliantly detailed, A Brutal Reckoning is a sweeping history of a crucial period in the destruction of America's native tribes.

From the days of early tribes that hunted and fished to the tourists who later relaxed on the beaches, St. Simons Island has been part of the changing landscape of Georgia's coast. When Gen. James E. Oglethorpe established Fort Frederica to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the threat of Spain, it was, for a short time, a vibrant hub of British military operations. During the latter part of the 1700s, a plantation society thrived on the island until the outbreak of the War Between the States. Never returning to an agricultural community, by 1870 St. Simons re-established itself with the development of a booming timber industry. And by the 1870s, the pleasant climate and proximity to the sea drew visitors to St. Simons as a year-round resort. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a sleepy little place with only a few hundred permanent residents until 1941.

Ocean Shores was the newest city in Washington for nearly 40 years, but for centuries before it had been a place of permanent occupation and food gathering for Native American tribes and a place for sea otter hunters, pioneers, and settlers to reach the interior of the Olympic Peninsula. Before Ocean Shores, there was the dream of a town called Cedarville followed by the reality of Lone Tree with its post office and 200 residents. Point Brown Peninsula was a village of survival for Polynesian Kanakas, Finns living on the edge of society, migrant workers called Bluebills, and a Hooverville for depression-era families. After World War II, when developers first conceived of creating a "Venice of the West," many said their dream would never last. However, in 1970, Ocean Shores became a city and today has entered its 50th year of development.

The Olympic Mountains rise up from the sea with moss-draped forests growing right to the water's edge. Glaciers crown steep slopes while alpine meadows and lush valleys teem with elk, deer, cougars, bears, and species known nowhere else on earth. The Olympic National Park was created in 1938 to protect the grandeur of the Olympic Mountains. The rugged coastal area was added in 1953. To further protect this remnant of wild America, Congress designated 95 percent of the park as the Olympic Wilderness in 1988. Today it is recognized as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site and one of the most popular wilderness destinations in North America. It is a place that changed the people who would conquer it. Farmers gave up; miners found no riches; loggers reforested. Tourism came early and endures.

At 7:30 a.m. on June 16, 1944, George Junius Stinney Jr. was escorted by four guards to the death chamber. Wearing socks but no shoes, the 14-year-old Black boy walked with his Bible tucked under his arm. The guards strapped his slight, five-foot-one-inch frame into the electric chair. His small size made it difficult to affix the electrode to his right leg and the face mask, which was clearly too large, fell to the floor when the executioner flipped the switch. That day, George Stinney became, and today remains, the youngest person executed in the United States during the twentieth century.How was it possible, even in Jim Crow South Carolina, for a child to be convicted, sentenced to death, and executed based on circumstantial evidence in a trial that lasted only a few hours? Through extensive archival research and interviews with Stinney's contemporaries-men and women alive today who still carry distinctive memories of the events that rocked the small town of Alcolu and the entire state-Eli Faber pieces together the chain of events that led to this tragic injustice. The first book to fully explore the events leading to Stinney's death, The Child in the Electric Chair offers a compelling narrative with a meticulously researched analysis of the world in which Stinney lived-the era of lynching, segregation, and racist assumptions about Black Americans. Faber explains how a systemically racist system, paired with the personal ambitions of powerful individuals, turned a blind eye to human decency and one of the basic tenets of the American legal system that individuals are innocent until proven guilty. As society continues to grapple with the legacies of racial injustice, the story of George Stinney remains one that can teach us lessons about our collective past and present. By ably placing the Stinney case into a larger context, Faber reveals how this case is not just a travesty of justice locked in the era of the Jim Crow South but rather one that continues to resonate in our own time. A foreword is provided by Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History Emerita at Baruch College at the City University of New York and author of several books including Civil War Wives: The Lives and Times of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant.

The Erie Canal was completed in 1825 and became the backbone of an economic and cultural explosion that defined the image of New York. The canal's development spurred successful industry and a booming economy, sparking massive urban growth in an area that was previously virtually unexplored wilderness. People poured west into this new space, drawn by the ability to ship goods along the canal to the Hudson River, New York City, and the world beyond. Erie Canal is a compilation of 200 vintage images from the Erie Canal Museum's documentary collection of New York's canal system. Vintage postcards depict life and industry along the canal, including not only the Erie itself but also the lateral and feeder canals that completed the state-wide system.

Since the 1789 charter of the country's first state university, Chapel Hill has attracted people from all over who found that the village was the perfect place to put down roots. In this collection, local newspaper columnist Valarie Schwartz celebrates many of Chapel Hill's most notable residents, from the World War II veteran who came to law school after the war and ended up as president of the UNC system for thirty years to the couple from the Midwest who arrived in 1935 and spent their careers building the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. Featuring stories of struggle and success from all walks of life, "Remembering Chapel Hill" is a tribute to the twentieth-century citizens who made the town what it is today: 'the Southern part of heaven.'

Washington's storm-ridden outer coast stretches from Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the Columbia River, to Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a distance of about 150 miles. Historians have labeled these waters "the Graveyard of the Pacific" and "the Unforgiving Coast." Despite their hazards, sea routes to, from, and along the coast have been busy. Maritime fur traders and explorers, warships, Gold Rush shipping, passenger vessels, lumber carriers, break-bulk freighters, container ships, and tankers have plied these waters. Concurrently, fisheries developed along the coast, adding to the number of vessels at risk. To assist mariners sailing these waters, the United States built its first lighthouse on the Washington coast at Cape Disappointment in 1856. Additional lighthouses, lightships, and lifesaving stations soon followed. With more than 180 images from archives throughout the Pacific Northwest, this collection documents their history.

This leatherbound collection of classic works traces the founding of America, from the birth of the nation in the late 1760s to the creation of a more perfect union at the end of the early 1800s. It celebrates the pursuit of life, liberty and justice and the freedoms that define America through notable documents as well as significant pieces, writings and speeches by famous figures and the founding fathers commenting on historic events. This volume includes the full texts of "On Civil War" by Benjamin Franklin, "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, "The Declaration of Independence" and many more. A beautiful addition to any home library, the bonded-leather edition also features a satin-ribbon bookmark, distinctive stained edging, and decorative endpapers.

Killing Crazy Horse is the latest installment of the multimillion-selling Killing series is a gripping journey through the American West and the historic clashes between Native Americans and settlers. The bloody Battle of Tippecanoe was only the beginning. It's 1811 and President James Madison has ordered the destruction of Shawnee warrior chief Tecumseh's alliance of tribes in the Great Lakes region. But while General William Henry Harrison would win this fight, the armed conflict between Native Americans and the newly formed United States would rage on for decades. Bestselling authors Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard venture through the fraught history of our country's founding on already occupied lands, from General Andrew Jackson's brutal battles with the Creek Nation to President James Monroe's epic "sea to shining sea" policy, to President Martin Van Buren's cruel enforcement of a "treaty" that forced the Cherokee Nation out of their homelands along what would be called the Trail of Tears. O'Reilly and Dugard take readers behind the legends to reveal never-before-told historical moments in the fascinating creation story of America. This fast-paced, wild ride through the American frontier will shock readers and impart unexpected lessons that reverberate to this day.

When the sun slips behind the trees and shadows lengthen near dusk, the mountains and valleys of Highlands and Cashiers whisper with stories of lost loves, deals gone bad and ghosts who walk the night. Learn the stories and firsthand accounts of hauntings and the hard to explain. Is that a whisper winding through the hemlocks, or is it just the wind?

In the last quarter of the 19th century, a circle of 16 tall Cottonwood trees stood in the wash that extended to the Verde River just north of where the old jail building now stands. Cattlemen and ranchers from Oak Creek and the mountains made their overnight stops under these trees and the location became known as "The Cottonwoods." The lush riparian area attracted hardy settlers, and Fort Verde's military camp and the copper mines of Jerome provided a ready market for agricultural goods. Thus began the town that was soon to become the commercial hub for the Verde Valley. Today the incorporated city of Cottonwood serves an area population of over 55,000 and boasts a diverse economy based on health care, education, tourism, and the service and retail industries. With its moderate climate, beautiful setting, and small-town charm, combined with the amenities of a larger city, Cottonwood continues to attract steady growth and tourism.