Bordered by the Hudson River and the Berkshire Mountains, Columbia County is part of the famously picturesque Hudson Valley region. But look beyond the rolling hills to discover the secrets of Columbia County. A mastodon tooth rolled down a farmer's hill in Claverack, changing the world's understanding of prehistoric times. President Martin Van Buren lost his wife, Hannah, in Kinderhook and hardly mentioned her again. Hudson's gallows were the scene of New York's last hanging, as hundreds of ticketholders looked on. Outcasts called "Pondshiners" hid in the hills of Taghkanic, and the only sign of their existence are the fantastic baskets they made. Join local author Allison Guertin Marchese as she explores these little-known stories of people and places, deeply woven into the history of Columbia County, New York.

The Albany Post Road was the vital artery between New York City and the state capital in Albany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It saw a host of interesting events and colorful characters, though these unusual and extraordinary stories, as well as their connection to the thoroughfare, are oft forgotten. Revolutionary War spies marched this path, and anti-rent wars rocked Columbia County. Underground Railroad safe houses in nearby towns like Rhinebeck and Fishkill sheltered slaves seeking freedom in Canada, and Frank Teal's Dutchess County murder remains unsolved. With illustrations by Tatiana Rhinevault, local historian Carney Rhinevault presents these and other hidden stories from the Albany Post Road in New York's mid-Hudson Valley.

Hudson Valley is steeped in mysteries, from Celtic chambers resting in the deep woods of Putnam to Millbrook's abandoned Bennett College. The beautiful, tree-spotted landscape of the Hudson Valley hides the strange and sometimes frightening stories of the region. In the Highlands, Iroquois chief Daniel Nimham gave his life for the cause of American independence. The great passenger steamship Swallow sank near the shores of Athens. And there is even one strange night in the Catskills where a legendary playwright miraculously survived a midnight plunge off the suspended Schoharie Bridge. Author Allison Guertin Marchese reveals a treasure-trove of curious tales recounting the most uncommon history of bad guys, bold girls, creepy colleges, missing mastodons and more in this wondrous region of New York.

The history of Jackson County, Michigan, brims with colorful characters and noteworthy episodes nearly lost to time. Jackson abolitionists used their barns, houses and hidden compartments to harbor freedom seekers traveling on the Underground Railroad. One even repelled an armed posse from Kentucky. A prominent druggist murdered his mother in 1889 and a jail guard in 1893.Evidence suggests he murdered his father too. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to Brown's Lake for relaxation in 1935, but a media mob had other plans. A popular Blackman Township roadhouse has a longstanding tradition of entertaining pioneers, stagecoach drivers and mobsters, but its secret guests are even stranger. Join local historian Linda Hass as she delves into these and other entertaining and often-overlooked stories.

Too often, the lives and works of authors who called Upstate New York home are overshadowed by the icons of New York City. Resting among Us uncovers the region’s rich literary heritage through Steven Huff’s journeys to the graves of writers both famous and celebrated as well as those that have been forgotten. While most Upstate residents are aware that Mark Twain’s grave is in Elmira and that James Fenimore Cooper’s is in Cooperstown, many people don’t realize a noted author may be buried in their local cemetery. For instance, Paul Bowles is buried in Lakemont, John Gardner in Batavia, Rod Serling in Interlaken, John Burroughs in Roxbury, and Adelaide Crapsey in Rochester. Interwoven with these remarkable literary lives are the connected stories of the region’s history and Huff’s own encounters and friendships with some of the writers included in the book. With directions to each author’s grave, as well as photographs of the graves and authors themselves, Resting among Us is the perfect companion for your own enlightening literary pilgrimage.

Today's travelers between New York City and Albany are more familiar with the Thruway than with the old Albany Post Road. But for centuries, this was the main highway between the Big Apple and the capital, and many exciting events occurred along its path in the Lower Hudson Valley. The Dutch Philipse family of Sleepy Hollow engaged in piracy, and tales of such misdeeds from the region inspired Washington Irving to write some of his most beloved stories. Later, prisoners used the road as an escape route from the original Sing Sing prison. During Prohibition, a "beer hose" ran through Yonkers, allegedly placed along the route by beer baron Dutch Schultz. With illustrations by Tatiana Rhinevault, local historian Carney Rhinevault uncovers the stories hidden behind the old mile markers of the Albany Post Road.

Situated between the mountains and the coast, Aiken County attracted ailing members of the southern planter class once the railroad from Charleston to Hamburg was completed in 1833. After the Civil War, grand hotels and sporting activities drew wealthy northern capitalists south for the winter here. A third era of prosperity came in the 1950s, when the Cold War prompted the construction of a nuclear reservation. Local author Tom Mack uncovers the lesser-known stories behind the major events that shaped the area's colorful past. Meet inventor James Legare, political insider George Croft and singing sensation Arthur Lee Simpkins. Learn about the controversial Graniteville murder of 1876 and how an abdicated king found solace in Aiken in 1936. And discover so many more interesting stories.

The Encyclopedia of New York State is one of the most complete works on the Empire State to be published in a half-century. In nearly 2,000 pages and 4,000 signed entries, this single volume captures the impressive complexity of New York State as a historic crossroads of people and ideas, as a cradle of abolitionism and feminism, and as an apex of modern urban, suburban, and rural life. The Encyclopedia is packed with fascinating details from fields ranging from sociology and geography to history. Did you know that Manhattan's Lower East Side was once the most populated neighborhood in the world, but Hamilton County in the Adirondacks is the least densely populated county east of the Mississippi; New York is the only state to border both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean; the Erie Canal opened New York City to rich farmland upstate . . . and to the west. Entries by experts chronicle New York's varied areas, politics, and persuasions with a cornucopia of subjects from environmentalism to higher education to railroads, weaving the state's diverse regions and peoples into one idea of New York State. Lavishly illustrated with 500 photographs and figures, 120 maps, and 140 tables, the Encyclopedia is key to understanding the state's past, present, and future. It is a crucial reference for students, teachers, historians, and business people, for New Yorkers of all persuasions, and for anyone interested in finding out more about New York State.