Boilermakers beware: There's a dark and secret side to to Lafayette's history that is sure to send shivers down the spine. From storied specters and urban legends, like Amelia Earhart's tragic figure haunting hangar number one at Purdue University Airport and sightings of the ever-elusive Bigfoot, to haunted houses and battlefields, with a guillotine suicide in the Lahr Hotel and the Trail of Death, authors Dorothy Salvo Davis and W.C. Madden leave no stone unturned as they examine the tragic past and the haunted present of Lafayette. With stories focusing on West Lafayette and White, Carroll and Warren Counties, "Haunted Lafayette" is a chilling read that no ghost enthusiast should miss.

From its humble beginnings as a place to swim and row a boat, Ideal Beach eventually became Indiana Beach, a small amusement park where families could have good old-fashioned fun. Founded by Earl Spackman in 1926, its popularity was bolstered by the addition of a dance hall that drew the top bands of the nation during the Depression and war years of the 1940s. When Earl passed away, his son Tom continued his legacy, setting Indiana Beach on a course that would make it one of the most popular vacation resorts and amusement parks in the entire Midwest, delighting nearly one million visitors every year.

The rotary jail was one of the more unusual architectural designs in history. In response to a need for better control over prisoners, 18 of the revolving, escape-proof structures were constructed in the United States from 1882 through 1889. They had their problems. There were mechanical difficulties, due to the extreme weight of the components. Unwary prisoners lost digits or limbs when carousels were rotated without warning-one lost his life. Because inmates could only be let out of their cells one at a time, some rotary jails were closed as fire hazards. This book describes in detail their construction, operation and eventual demise, as well as some of the colorful inmates that were held in them.

In 1947, the University of California and Yale University baseball teams took the field in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to play the first-ever NCAA Division I College World Series. It was a two-day, three-game Series with an attendance of less than 4,000. Today, it is a weeklong Series held in Omaha, Nebraska, with eight teams, tens of thousands of fans and millions more watching on television. This book covers each College World Series from the first game in 1947 through the 2003 Series, between Rice and Stanford universities. The authors devote a chapter to each decade, and then cover each game of each Series. They also provide information on standout players' careers (in baseball and other professions) after playing in the College World Series. NCAA Division II and III teams are also covered, and the appendix features short profiles of great college coaches.

For a dozen years during the 1940s and 1950s more than 600 women played professional baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Some of these women compiled some eye-popping statistics unequaled by their male counterparts: Sophie Kurys swiped 200 bases in one season; Joanne Winter hurled 63 consecutive scoreless innings; pitcher Jean Faut sported one season a .910 winning percentage. Few know that Joanne Weaver was the last professional baseball player to hit .400 in a season: .429 in 1954. This reference book contains the hitting, fielding and pitching records of all women who played in the AAGPBL during its 12-year history. The book also contains all of the team and individual playoff records of the league, compiled for the first time. Included herein are rosters of the all-star teams, as well as a listing of all pitching and batting champions. A brief history of the league is recounted. Complementing the statistics are photos of the league championship teams and key players.

While Elwood Haynes and the Apperson brothers are not as well known as Henry Ford, Ransom Olds and other famous automobile manufacturers, their contributions to the automotive industry are just as significant. They were responsible for one of the first functioning automobiles, if not the first, in the United States. After building their automobile in 1894, the three men formed the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company in Kokomo, Indiana, one of the first car manufacturing companies in the country. Three years after incorporation, a dispute over money caused the partnership to split up and Edgar and Elmer Apperson formed their own company. Both companies lasted until the mid - 1920s. This book is a history of these automotive pioneers and their companies: the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company, the Haynes Automobile Company, and the Apperson Brothers Automobile Company. It is richly illustrated with photographs of the factories, automobiles, personalities and advertisements.

One of the first minor leagues in history, the Western League (previously the Northwestern League) was founded by Ban Johnson in 1885 and was the predecessor of todays American League. The Western League endured a season to season existence until Johnson created the American League and the Western continued to be a part of the minors, employing such future Hall of Famers as Charles Comiskey, Dizzy Dean, and Connie Mack. The leagues demise in the minors came in the 1950s, but it was revived in 1995 as an independent league on the West Coast with no relation to the majors. This work begins with an introduction to the Western League and documents the history of the Western and the American leagues from 1885 through 1999. Included are photographs of teams and players who participated in the league and in-depth team and individual player statistics.

For a dozen years in the 1940s and 1950s, more than 700 women played professional baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Though some saw their brand of ball as a sideshow or wartime diversion, the women were all tough competitors and superb athletes. They set records that remain unequaled by their male counterparts, including Sophie Kurys' 201 stolen bases in a single season and Joanne Winter's 63 consecutive scoreless innings. And the 1944 AAGPBL All-Star game was the first night game at Chicago's Wrigley Field. This is the most comprehensive look ever at the players of this women's league. From Velma Abbott to Agnes ""Aggie"" Zurkowski, over 600 players are profiled. For each player, vital dates, place of birth, height, weight, defensive position, teams played for and seasons active are provided, along with complete career statistics. These data are followed (in most cases) by a brief biographical sketch that details the player's career, how she came to play in the league and information on her post-baseball career. Most of the photographs are from the personal files of the players and have never before been published.