Wicked (The History Press)
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Wicked Virginia City
by Peter B. Mires
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Perched on the side of a mountain in the Nevada desert, Virginia City existed for one reason only: to make money. The mining frenzy of the mid-nineteenth century uncovered veins of precious metals that would be expressed in billions today, attracting the enterprising madam Cad Thompson, the charismatic highwayman Nickanora and a plethora of swindlers. Miners, flush with their wages, supported a healthy economy of gambling, drinking and prostitution and even launched a few political careers. Sam Clemens, who became Mark Twain while reporting for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, called it "the livest town that America had ever produced." Join author Peter B. Mires as he explores the seamy side of this quintessential mining boomtown.
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Wicked Jurupa Valley
Murder & Misdeeds in Rural Southern California
by Kim Jarrell Johnson
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders a horrible 1928 national news story that inspired the 2008 movie The Changeling from director Clint Eastwood are only the most infamous despicable deeds that have bloodstained the rural countryside between Riverside City and the San Bernardino County line. Jurupa Valley has been a region of dark doings and scandalous misdeeds for generations. The city of Jurupa Valley was formed in 2011 from the area's smaller communities, including Wineville (renamed Mira Loma to escape the shame), Pedley and Rubidoux. Buried in its landscape are salacious sagas of unchecked bootlegging, payday orgies and gruesome murders. Author Kim Jarrell Johnson digs deep to disinter the unsavory stories that have traditionally marked her home city as a resting place of enduring infamy.
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Wicked Muncie
by Keith Roysdon
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
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 his police commissioner faced a murder rap. Viola "Babe" Swartz ran a brothel out of a truck stop that was raided by police at least a dozen times but ran for sheriff in the 1974 primary election. June Holland, of the locally famous Holland triplets, killed her neighbor for refusing to sell her house. Authors Keith Roysdon and Douglas Walker explore the notorious and unusual side of Muncie's history.
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Wicked Newport
Kentucky's Sin City
by Dr. Thomas Barker
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Controlled by the heavy hand of the mob and fueled by government corruption, Newport evolved through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries into a notoriously robust center of criminal activity. With top political and law enforcement officials often on the take, the seedy status quo became so excessive that a May 1961 issue of Time magazine declared, "Newport has developed such a gaudy brand of gambling and prostitution that it stands today as one of the nation's most blatant sin centers." Eastern Kentucky University Professors Gary Potter and Thomas Barker, both experts on organized crime, along with Jenna Meglen, offer up a captivating chronicle of Newport's criminal development, complete with thought-provoking assessments of the possible advantages that organized crime brought to the city commonly considered to be Las Vegas's predecessor.
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Wicked Phenix City
by Faith Serafin
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Before Las Vegas, there was Phenix City, Alabama--the original sin city. Once the sprawling capital of the Muscogee Indian Empire, the region took a sinister turn when a holy war engulfed the southern territories in 1812, leading to the murder of the infamous Chief William McIntosh. Later, atrocities continued at Fort Mitchell, the killing grounds for early Georgia politicians who fought to the death over rival politics and bitter feuds. By the 1950s, Phenix City was home to the "Dixie Mafia," and crime and corruption ruled over the little riverfront city. Take a walk with author Faith Serafin as she travels through the darkest recesses of Phenix City's past.
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Wicked Ulster County
Tales of Desperadoes, Gangs and More
by A. J. Schenkman
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Situated in the scenic Hudson Valley, Ulster County is a lovely location to make a home and raise a family, but it wasn't always so pleasant. Unsavory characters and immoral events have sullied its name. In the 1870s, the Shawangunk Mountains inspired fear rather than awe, as groups like the Lyman Freer and Shawangunk gangs robbed and terrorized locals, descending from the protection of the wooded peaks. Kingston was torched, arson blazed in Kerhonkson and even the Mohonk Mountain House was threatened by flames. In 1909, the Ashokan Slasher's bloody crimes and sensational trial captured headlines across the country. Discover these and other salacious stories buried in Ulster County's history.
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Missouri's Wicked Route 66
Gangsters and Outlaws on the Mother Road
by Lisa Livingston-Martin
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Tracing Route 66 through Missouri represents one of America's favorite exercises in nostalgia, but a discerning glance among the roadside weeds reveals the kind of sordid history that doesn't appear on postcards. Along with vintage cars and picnic baskets, Route 66 was a conduit humming with contraband and crackling with the gunplay of folks like Bonnie and Clyde, Jesse James and the Young brothers. It was also the preferred byway of lynch mobs, murderous hitchhikers and mad scientists. Stop in at places like the Devil's Elbow and the Steffleback Bordello on this trip through the more treacherous twists of the Mother Road.
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Wicked Syracuse
A History of Sin in Salt City
by Neil K. MacMillan
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Gangsters, train robbery, forgery and prostitution--these misdeeds are more often associated with New York City or the Wild West, but make no mistake, Syracuse, New York, has housed its fair share of vice and sinners. A riot prompted politicians to make Syracuse a city in the first place. A man who billed himself as "Dillinger the Second" once walked 'Cuse's streets, and a notorious gangster boasted of his desire to retire in Salt City. At the end of the nineteenth century, neither law enforcement nor fervent clergy could stop rampant illicit gambling. Local author Neil MacMillan tours the city of Syracuse, unearthing tales of its most infamous residents and their dastardly deeds--from strange murders to bounty jumpers to vandals.
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Wicked Newport
Sordid Stories from the City by the Sea
by Larry Stanford
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Founded by a small band of religious freedom seekers in 1639, Newport, Rhode Island, subsequently became a bustling colonial seaport teeming with artists, sailors, prosperous merchants and, perhaps most distinctively, the ultra-rich families of the Gilded Age. Clinging to the lavish coattails of these newly minted millionaires and robber barons was a stream of con artists and hangers-on who attempted to leech off their well-to-do neighbors. From the Vanderbilts to the Dukes, the Astors to the Kennedys, the City by the Sea has served as a sanctuary for the elite, and a hotbed of corruption. Local historian Larry Stanford pulls back the curtain on over 350 years of history, uncovering the real stories behind many of Newport's most enduring mysteries, controversial characters and scintillating scandals.
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Wicked Denver
Mile-High Misdeeds and Malfeasance
by Sheila O'Hare
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The Mile-High City was never above fatal bar brawls, poison plots or any of the other transgressions history would like to ignore. From the moment it sprang from the frontier, Denver was a hotbed of violent money disputes, acts of criminal insanity and every manner of wickedness associated with street and saloon life. Men posed as women while committing crimes, and murderous madams left trails of scarred girls and ruined lives. Some sordid tales are common Mile-High lore, like the case of the Denver Strangler, while others, like the Capitol Hill Slugger, who plagued the well-to-do neighborhood at the turn of the century, have disappeared from note...until now. Follow Sheila O'Hare and Alphild Dick through the tantalizing and wicked tales that undeniably sculpted the city.
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New Mexico Scoundrels
Outlaws, Rogues & Blatantly Wicked Men
by Donna Blake Birchell
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The rugged scenery of the New Mexico Territory formed a dramatic backdrop for get-rich-quick schemes and brazen acts of violence. The cast included serial killers, cattle thieves, train robbers and other evildoers who simply did not know when to quit. Roving bandits like the Black-Jack Ketchum Gang disturbed the peace along with outlaw lawmen like Albuquerque's Milton Yarberry. Donna Blake Birchell recounts the incredible exploits and fantastic tales of New Mexico's shamelessly dangerous characters.
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Wicked Bisbee
by Francine Powers
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Nicknamed the "Queen of Copper Camps" for having the richest copper mining operations in the world, Bisbee also was the scene of dastardly crimes. From drunken shootouts in saloons to strikers clashing with mining executives, the town's past is filled with stories of vengeance and street justice. The aftermath of an 1885 lynching led directly to the establishment of the Copper Queen Library, too late to deter the infamous Bisbee Massacre of 1883. In Lowell, an argument about an alleged affair ended in murder, while the Fly-Swatting Contest of 1912 encouraged a different kind of killing. Author, journalist and historian Francine Powers uncovers the real-life dramas of Wild West Bisbee.
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Wicked Winston-Salem
by Alice E. Sink
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The famed Piedmont Triad city of Winston-Salem has a history filled with depraved people committing untoward acts. From Libby Holman, the singer with a sultry, smoky voice accused of murdering her millionaire husband to the man caught with hundreds of gallons of beer, liquor, and a "tin lizard" whiskey still, residents of Winston-Salem were no strangers to depravity. And leave it to a band of organized tobacco thieves to break into dozens of warehouses and steal the livelihood of law-abiding citizens, or a group of drunkards threatening to spread smallpox when they were confined to quarantine to wreak havoc throughout the city. Join prolific local author Alice Sink as she recounts tales of the dastardly denizens and rakish residents of this North Carolina town.
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Wicked Danville
Liquor and Lawlessness in a Southside Virginia City
by Frankie Y. Bailey
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Prostitution, gambling, moonshine and drugs could all be found behind closed the closed doors of Danville, VA from 1919 to 1933. During Prohibition, the "Law and Order League," of Danville was, of course, "dry," but the city's mayor was personally was known to be "personally wet," and in 1911 citizens were shocked to discover that the police chief was a fugitive from a murder conviction in Georgia. That same period saw lynching, murders and the wreck of the Old '97. HP authors Frankie Bailey and Alice Green will examine the law and disorder of Prohibition era Danville with Wicked Danville: Crime, Justice, and Prohibition in a Southside Virginia City.
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Wicked Coeur d'Alene
by Deborah Cuyle
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Despite its inviting splendor, Coeur d'Alene was home to violent conflict and lascivious mischief in its earliest years. Newspapers echo accounts of desperate gamblers, prostitutes and prospectors who did everything they could to secure their own future-at all costs. Town druggist Mr. Salis Smith concocted medicine composed of 50-percent alcohol mixed with cocaine or opium for the despondent. Characters like Bootleg Mary or murderous Fatty Carroll, notorious for employing shallow graves, populate dark tales of hushed murders, illegal gambling and corrupt politics. From bloody mining disputes to outlaw train robberies, author Deborah Cuyle recounts the sordid, salacious and sinful sides of Lake City's past.
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Wicked Northern Illinois
The Dark Side of the Prairie State
by Troy Taylor
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
From the secrets of Joliet Penitentiary to the ferocious gunfights between the Ku Klux Klan and the Shelton Gang, Troy Taylor takes the measure of the dishonest sweat and innocent blood poured into the prairies of Northern Illinois. Meet the "fallen angels" of Decatur's red-light district, the Springfield counterfeiters who bungled stealing Lincoln's bones and the Aurora man who propped up his porch with the heads of his wife and brother-in-law. And if you dare, eavesdrop on the chilling confession of a man who left a dancer's corpse to the mercy of the railroad tracks: "So, I pat them on the cheek, call them sweet names, and kill them."
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Wicked Charlotte
The Sordid Side of the Queen City
by Stephanie Burt Williams
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Bootleggers, swindlers, gold miners and serial killers--Charlotte has courted them all. The Queen City is renowned for its skyline, sports teams and dizzying growth, but just below its smooth, polished exterior lies a dark past full of crime and myriad misdeeds. This second history of Charlotte has been concealed and denied by those who retell the city's story, and by those who have lived it. Until now. In Wicked Charlotte, discover the tale of the Chicago gangsters who invaded the city looking to pull a heist to fund sinister maneuverings in their boss's criminal trial. Learn how a golden nugget found in a nearby creek changed Charlotte from a trading crossroads into a rough and tumble town full of fortune seekers bent on finding a quick dollar and instant riches. And read about the details of the death of one of Charlotte's most gifted writers, who met his end in a seedy hotel room in Mexico. This raucous book sheds light on these incidents and many more, revealing a side of Charlotte's history that few will recognize. The sordid events described here took place on familiar streets and in well known neighborhoods, but rarely have the stories passed beyond the circles of those who lived them. Charlotte has played host to a multitude of villainous characters, and has seen scores of unsavory deeds played out on its shadowy streets. Wicked Charlotte brings it all to the forefront, as never before.
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Wicked Waterbury
Madmen & Mayhem in the Brass City
by Edith Reynolds
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
In its early days, Waterbury was a muddy swamp, a breeding ground for pestilence and mosquitoes. Yet the town's early settlers rarely strayed from the path of Puritan righteousness. By the turn of the twentieth century, however, this rigorously policed, morally upright community had become what one politician called a "crossroads of slime and evil."? Headlines boasted tales of corrupt politicians and love scandals, union strife and industrial sabotage. For sixteen years, Waterbury was the hideout for "Mad Bomber"? George Metesky, and in 1974 the town witnessed the double homicide that provoked the longest-running trial in Connecticut's history. From the controversial opening of a birth control clinic to the corruption of Mayor T. Frank Hayes, authors Edith Reynolds and John Murray document the major episodes that gave Waterbury the nickname "Sin City."?
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Wicked Flagstaff
by Suzanne Johnson
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
A rowdy red-light district, secret tunnels, and scathing newspaper editorials.
Once home to sheep herders and ranchers, the railroad brought a new breed of pioneer to Flagstaff. Entrepreneurs and outlaws alike flocked to the growing town, some finding success and others finding their end at Greenwood Cemetery. When saloons and bawdy houses rebelled against new blue laws, quick-thinking mayor Thomas E. Pollock found a compromise that appeased most locals. Incorrigible characters like Commodore Perry Owens and Ben Doney could be found in town at the Parlor Saloon, while Dutch May Prescott kept the red-light district in the black.
Author Susan Johnson uncovers the weird and wicked side of Flagstaff.
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Wicked Philadelphia
Sin in the City of Brotherly Love
by Thomas H. Keels
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Prim and proper Philadelphia has been rocked by the clash between excessive vice and social virtue since its citizens burned the city's biggest brothel in 1800. With tales of grave robbers in South Philadelphia and harlots in Franklin Square, Wicked Philadelphia reveals the shocking underbelly of the City of Brotherly Love. In one notorious scam, a washerwoman masqueraded as the fictional Spanish countess Anita de Bettencourt for two decades, bilking millions from victims and even fooling the government of Spain. From the 1843 media frenzy that ensued after an aristocrat abducted a young girl to a churchyard transformed into a brothel (complete with a carousel), local author Thomas H. Keels unearths Philadelphia's most scintillating scandals and corrupt characters in his rollicking history.
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Wicked Watertown
History You Weren't Supposed to Know
by W. F. Jannke III
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Watertown is a perfect place to raise children, where criminal mischief and scandal are the rare exception to the rule. Discover over a century and a half's worth of exceptions. Travel back to the origins of Watertown, when the house next door might be a brothel and the man on the street might be a serial killer. Hear the tale of poor ninety-five-year-old Mary Kodesch, whose son left her to freeze to death in the barn, and that of the two young boys whose 1890 campaign of arson targeted everything from a church to a box factory. Then press on into the violent history of the Cleveland Street poltergeist house as Jannke delivers a thrilling combination of thoroughly researched fact and inexplicable mystery that will leave the hardiest Watertown residents torn between eagerly turning the next page and nervously looking over their shoulders.
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Wicked Niagara
The Sinister Side of the Niagara Frontier
by Lorna MacDonald Czarnota
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Born of glaciers and turbulent waters, wars and struggles of native peoples, Niagara was powered by the dreams of men and women seeking refuge in a new land. Yet for all its rare beauty and rugged pioneering spirit, the Niagara region has sometimes drifted into shadows, affording its seedier citizens the cover they needed to do their dastardly deeds. A plot to invade Canada, a Mafia stronghold, madness, murder and savagery all lie hidden in the region's past. From the blood-soaked grounds of battle, local storyteller Lorna MacDonald Czarnota brings Wicked Niagara and grim tales of the region's early struggles into the light.
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Michigan Wicked Bay City
by Tim Younkman
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
From unscrupulous lumber barons to Hell's Half Mile, Bay City history casts a sinister shadow. Pope Leo XIII was forced to intervene when rioting Catholic immigrants seized St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and battled one another in the city's streets. The police discovered prostitute Lou Hall nearly beaten to death in the Block of Blazes. And respected publishing mogul Edwin T. Bennett's secret life led to the death of a young woman in a Bay City hotel room. Join author Tim Younkman for a wild ride into the city's wicked side.
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Wicked Kernersville
Rogues, Robbers, Ruffians & Rumrunners
by Michael L. Marshall
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The central Piedmont North Carolina town of Kernersville is known today for its quiet neighborhoods and lovely historic district homes. Few of its citizens would suspect that in earlier times the town had its fair share of unsavory characters. Wicked Kernersville lifts the veil from this little-known facet of the town's past and introduces the reader to incidents that prompted one early resident to lament that it was unsafe to walk the streets. Using material gleaned from old newspapers and other sources, longtime residents Michael Marshall and Jerry Taylor bring these stories to life, giving the reader a glimpse of the town's history unavailable from other sources.
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Wicked Watertown
History You Weren't Supposed To Know
by W. F. Jannke III
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Watertown is a perfect place to raise children, where criminal mischief and scandal are the rare exception to the rule. Discover over a century and a half's worth of exceptions. Travel back to the origins of Watertown, when the house next door might be a brothel and the man on the street might be a serial killer. Hear the tale of poor ninety-five-year-old Mary Kodesch, whose son left her to freeze to death in the barn, and that of the two young boys whose 1890 campaign of arson targeted everything from a church to a box factory. Then press on into the violent history of the Cleveland Street poltergeist house as Jannke delivers a thrilling combination of thoroughly researched fact and inexplicable mystery that will leave the hardiest Watertown residents torn between eagerly turning the next page and nervously looking over their shoulders.
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Wicked Charleston
The Dark Side of the Holy City
by Mark R. Jones
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
A beautiful Southern city distinguished by its opulent homes, towering church steeples and hospitality, Charleston, South Carolina, has long been associated with the genteel side of Southern living. However, beyond the outward appearances that most people associate with Charleston, there is another side that most visitors and residents would dare not believe is part of the very fabric from which the city's history was woven. Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City, by local resident and tour guide Mark R. Jones, opens the door to the dark alleys and seedy characters not often associated with the Charleston of today. From the sexual escapades of an original Lord Proprietor and the comings and goings of the most notorious pirates, to secret brothels and nightclubs, Jones leads the reader back to a time when "drinking, eating and whoring with more than fifty wenches" was perhaps more common in the Holy City than one may imagine.
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Wicked Edisto
The Dark Side of Eden
by Alexia Jones Helsley
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
For many, Edisto is a little slice of heaven--live oaks festooned with Spanish moss, winding waterways and crashing surf. Yet the waterways were pathways for privateers, smugglers and gunboats. Marauders terrorized residents. Privateers made life uncertain during the War of 1812. John Wilson and Andrew Gillon dueled to the death on the sands of Edingsville. The Civil War brought repeated skirmishes between Union and Confederate scouting parties. Join historian Alexia Jones Helsley as she recounts lost lives, early widows, dashed dreams, unseen secrets--the dark side of Eden.
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Wicked Springfield, Missouri
The Seamy Side of the Queen City
by Larry Wood
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
From its founding in the early 1830s, Springfield was a rough frontier town where whiskey flowed freely, gunplay and fistfights abounded and gambling thrived. The Civil War not only brought the horror of warfare home to Springfield but also introduced worldly vices like prostitution that were scarcely known in previous years. Yet throughout its history, Springfield has managed to maintain a veneer of respectability not shared by certain other towns of southwest Missouri that were founded as wild, wide-open mining camps, like Joplin and Granby. Join Larry Wood as he digs beneath the surface of Queen City history to expose notorious characters and capers that would make even Joplinites blush.
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Wicked Joplin
by Larry Wood
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
A strange sort of pride tends to embellish infamy, like the notion that Frank and Jesse James robbed every bank in Missouri. But the citizens of Joplin need not exaggerate their community's unsavory past. Founded in the 1870s as a booming lead-mining camp, Joplin was a wide-open town from the start, and its wild reputation persisted into the mid-twentieth century. A neighboring town's newspaper aptly described Joplin as a "naughty place."? Join author Larry Wood on a colorful tour of the city's raucous past.
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Wicked Ulster County
Tales Of Desperadoes, Gangs & More
by A. J. Schenkman
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Uncover Ulster County's hidden history of unsavory characters and stories of its wicked past.
Situated in the scenic Hudson Valley, Ulster County is a lovely location to make a home and raise a family, but it wasn't always so pleasant. Unsavory characters and immoral events have sullied its name. In the 1870s, the Shawangunk Mountains inspired fear rather than awe, as groups like the Lyman Freer and Shawangunk gangs robbed and terrorized locals, descending from the protection of the wooded peaks. Kingston was torched, arson blazed in Kerhonkson and even the Mohonk Mountain House was threatened by flames. In 1909, the Ashokan Slasher's bloody crimes and sensational trial captured headlines across the country. Discover these and other salacious stories buried in Ulster County's history.
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Wicked Wilmington, Delaware
by Kevin Mcgonegal
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Take a journey through crime and vice in twentieth-century Wilmington, from a Tatnall Street bawdy house to the corporate boardrooms of the DuPont Company. Visit the old New Castle County Workhouse, scene of a break-in by a lynch mob and the daring escape of a notorious murderer. A police chief trying to keep his corrupt practices under wraps, agents raiding political headquarters and a detective murdered on the street were all part of city life in the early twentieth-century. In later years, stories of a professional killer pleading self-defense, hiding his connections to a mobbed-up Teamsters boss, and runaway lovers caught up in an international extortion scheme show the city's darker side. Local historian Kevin McGonegal chronicles tales of Wilmington's infamous past.
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Wicked Carlisle
The Dark Side Of The Cumberland Valley
by Joseph David Cress
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
With Wicked Carlisle, author Joe Cress revisits the criminal history of Cumberland County. Taking a more focused and less bloody approach, Cress will largely bring new stories of mischief to the table, though he will revisit the lighter side of two or three crimes from Murder and Mayhem in Cumberland County. From stories of college pranks gone wrong, Carlisle's own Robin Hood and the robbing and subsequent torching of a beloved local theater (the Strand where the local HS now sits ) to abuses at the Carlisle Indian School and the town's connection to the raid on Harper's Ferry, Cress scours the underbelly of the borough for mischief and misdeeds.
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Wicked Monmouth County
by George Joynson
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
During the early twentieth century, Monmouth County saw more than its fair share of crime, conspiracy and corruption. In the midst of the Prohibition and Great Depression Eras, Detectives Jacob Rue, William Mustoe ("the man who could make a horse talk") and Harry Crook investigated, and sometimes participated in, much illegal activity. The careers of these fascinating men included investigations of brutal murders, ruthless gangsters, an attempted cyanide poisoning, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and a search for a vicious escaped leopard. From burglaries and bootleggers to speakeasies and swindlers, join historian George Joynson as he uncovers some of the county's seediest stories.
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Wicked Albany
Lawlessness & Liquor in the Prohibition Era
by Frankie Y. Bailey
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Albany, New York, experienced massive upheaval when the Volstead Act of 1919 established Prohibition. Crime already proliferated in the capital of the Empire State, with rival political machines stooping to corruption and the mob with their heavy-handed powers of persuasion. As it did nationwide, Prohibition in Albany served merely to force alcohol-related commerce underground and lawlessness and violence to the forefront of city activity.
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Wicked Wichita
by Joe Stumpe
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Early Wichita earned a wicked reputation from newspapers across Kansas thanks to a bevy of madams and murderers, bootleggers and bank robbers, con men and crooked cops. Gambler and saloonkeeper "Rowdy Joe" Lowe was the toast of the town before shooting down his rival, "Red" Beard, and skipping town. Robber and cop killer "Clever Eddie" Adams spread a wave of terror until the police evened the score. Dixie Lee ran the city's classiest brothel with little interference from authorities. Notorious quack "Professor" H. Samuels made a fortune selling worthless eye drops. And county attorney Willard Boone was chased out of town when he was caught with his hand in the bootlegger's cookie jar. Local author Joe Stumpe tells the real stories of the city's best-known and least-known criminals and misfits.
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Wicked Hartford
by Steve R. Thornton
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
One of the oldest cities in America, Hartford holds plenty of sinful stories. Famed inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt sold arms to both the North and South in the buildup to the Civil War. The notorious Seyms Street jail was the subject of national criticism and scandal for its deplorable conditions. Local journalist Daniel Birdsall fought to expose corruption in the powerful insurance industry and local government at the expense of his own printing presses. Tension between unions and "robber barons" such as Jay Gould spilled into the streets during the Gilded Age. Author Steve Thornton takes readers on an exciting journey through the seedy underbelly of Hartford's past.
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Wicked Albuquerque
by Cody Polston
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Albuquerque's early lawless reputation rivaled that of Dodge City and Tombstone. Its red-light district was known as Hell's Half Acre. Brothel owner Lizzy McGrath once had a local church demolished to build her new bordello. Milt Yarberry, the town's first marshal, was hanged for murder. And the controversial Elfego Baca, who had the gall to face Pancho Villa, survived a thirty-six-hour gunfight unscathed. Author Cody Polston presents the tales of those who slipped through the cracks of morality.
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Wicked New Haven
by Michael J. Bielawa
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Since its founding in 1638, the bustling Connecticut metropolis of New Haven has been plagued by all manner of sin and scandal. Stories of grave robbers and madmen in lighthouses are only a sliver of the Elm City's darker side. Author and historian Michael J. Bielawa chronicles the city's historic tales of pirates, mysteries and unusual deaths. Learn about Yale hauntings and Town and Gown riots, the Red Pirate William Delaney and the mysterious labor activist Frank Sokolowsky, whose strange murder in 1920 may have been at the hands of a jealous wife or part of a political plot. Discover the overzealous Wakemanites whose Christmas Eve exorcism led to the brutal murder of a man they believed possessed. Join Bielawa if you dare to peer into the shadowy corners of New Haven's wicked history.
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Wicked Shreveport
by Bernadette J. Palombo
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
In the rough-and-tumble days of the nineteenth century, Shreveport was on the very edge of the country's western frontier. It was a city struggling to tame lawlessness, and its streets were rocked by duels, lynchings and shootouts. A new century and Prohibition only brought a fresh wave of crime and scandal. The port city became a haunt for the likes of notorious bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde and home to the influential socialite and Madam Annie McCune. From Fred Lockhart, aka the "Butterfly Man," to serial killers Nathanial Code and Danny Rolling, Shreveport played reluctant host to an even deadlier cast of characters. Their tales and more make up the devilish history of the Deep South in Wicked Shreveport.
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Wicked Akron
Tales of Rumrunners, Mobsters and Other Rubber City Rogues
by Kymberli Hagelberg
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The searchlight finds Akron's darkest days, when citizens burned city hall to the ground and members of the Ku Klux Klan called the shots from the schoolhouse to the courthouse. Meet a grave robber who became a political leader, a mobster who ordered police murders and a beloved bootlegger turned bail bondsman. Say hello to Frank Hurn, a flashy, frenetic, fast-talking con man who was looking for suckers to invest in the Vulcans, an NFL team he promised to bring to Akron. From city saloon to suburban hideout, this is an alternative history lesson of the sometimes dicey coexistence of the well-heeled and the workers, men and women who lived big lives during Akron's fledgling days as a canal port, its pre-Depression heyday and zenith as a midwestern industrial success story.
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Wicked Ridgefield, Connecticut
by Jack Sanders
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
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 of bank robbers literally blew it in a heist at the Saving Bank-the explosion attracted witnesses to see the gang miss out on a grand haul of fifty dollars. Half a decade later, in 1940, a skeleton whose origins still befuddle experts was unearthed in a tree nursery. This look at the darker side of Ridgefield's past includes sad and tragic moments as well, such as newlyweds imprisoned in the Tombs, the Satanists of the '70s and a hermit murdered for love. Local editor Jack Sanders tells fascinating tales of two centuries of Ridgefield criminals, n'er-do-wells and even wayward do-gooders in this entertaining-and occasionally humorous-glimpse into some of the town's wickedest moments.
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Wicked Litchfield County
by Peter C. Vermilyea
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Thieves, rumrunners and rapscallions all color the unsavory side of Litchfield County history. Townspeople accused women of witchcraft simply for not bearing enough children in the early days of the region. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Owen Sullivan and William Stuart took advantage of the county's isolated stretches and a currency shortage to build counterfeiting empires. In 1780, Barnett Davenport's brutal actions earned him infamy as the nation's first mass murderer. Small-time speakeasies slowly took hold, and the omnipresence of alcohol-fueled crime led to the birth of the nationwide prohibition movement. Local historian Peter C. Vermilyea explores these and other devilish tales from the seedier history of Litchfield County.
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Wicked Prescott
by Parker Anderson
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Swindlers, confidence men and outlaws-the mountain shadows and Ponderosa pines surrounding Prescott conceal their grim histories and crooked ways. The small hamlet turned mining town became Arizona's first capital in 1864, and with wealth and power came every type of vice and crime. One block west of the famed Whiskey Row, the roaring red-light district attracted ladies of easy virtue, who often became victims of crimes of passion and coldblooded murder. Legendary crook Fleming "Jim" Parker escaped from Yavapai County Jail on the back of the sheriff's stolen horse. Cattle rustlers terrorized nearby ranches, while tavern brawls and liquor-fueled shootouts dominated newspaper headlines. More than ten legal hangings brought criminals to justice. Local author Parker Anderson recounts these and more wicked misdeeds from Prescott's wild early days.
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Wicked Tales From The Highlands
by John P. King
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
The Highlands was first sighted by Henry Hudson himself and is known as the place where the Jersey shore begins. Its beaches are perennially crowded with sunbathers, swimmers and families. But buried under the sands, the Highlands hides sins from the past. Sandy Hook claimed North America's first European murder victim, a passenger on Hudson's Half Moon. During Prohibition, mobsters supplied Bay Avenue businesses with plenty of booze. A man accused of shooting another with a cannon performed an Old West style jailbreak. And sometimes, soldiers stationed along the shores caused more trouble than they prevented. Read about these and other wicked deeds committed in New Jersey's Highlands.
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Wicked Northern Virginia
by Michael Lee Pope
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Behind the bucolic plantation estates of Northern Virginia lies a history of scandal. The region has a rotating cast of greedy supervisors, vain senators, bullying occupiers and party bosses. The Aryan Nations once flooded the streets of Arlington. Infamous floating brothels once sailed the Potomac. Even George Washington's death at his historic estate outside the capital is shrouded in mystery. Join journalist and author Michael Lee Pope as he serves a cookie full of arsenic on a cold platter of revenge.
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Wicked Fox Cities
The Dark Side of the Valley
by Frank Anderson
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Visit the wicked Fox Cities, full of place names like La Grand Butte des Morts ("the Big Hill of the Dead") and Winneconne ("the Place of Skulls") that date from an era when "settlement" was frequently synonymous with "slaughter." Even after the firm establishment of modern civilization, there remained an uneasy truce between lined pockets and bared knuckles that was often only brokered by heavy drinking. Stumble across the frozen Fox River and barge into local watering holes, where the only pauses in the revelry are discussions about desecrating Joe McCarthy's grave. Points of interest include the Oshkosh rat-betting scene, the Appleton "Union Street Resorts" and the Neenah tavern, where a world-champion boxer hid from the doctor who had bought his bones.
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Wicked Greensboro
by Alice Sink
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
In a town where ladies of the evening walked the streets (but were legally bound to hide their ankles) and trouble rolled through town on the famous railways, this Piedmont city has seen its fair share of iniquity. From Frank Lucas, the drug lord whose childhood in Greensboro served as the catalyst for a life of crime, to the teacher who ruled his students with a switch and a pocketknife, the tales in Wicked Greensboro capture the shady side of the Gate City's past. Travel with local author Alice Sink down the streets of old-time Greensboro to view a city riddled with prostitution, bootlegging and all manner of unsavory and mischievous depravity.
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Wicked Western Slope
Mayhem, Michief & Murder in Colorado
by D. A. Brockett
Part of the Wicked (The History Press) series
Early promoters of Colorado's Western Slope would have had settlers believe the area was one of proper behavior and upstanding morality. But this was not the case. Hot tempers led to quick trigger fingers and Main Street shootouts. Drinking, gambling and thieving were popular pursuits, and law breaking of all kinds thrived in this wild land. From Charles Graham, whose jealous rampage in Grand Junction is still talked about today, and the mysterious Friday the thirteenth murder of Jeanette Morris to Abe C. Ong, the mischievous pioneer bootlegger of De Beque, and Riverside's Mrs. Barnes and her foul crime, "History Sleuth" D.A. Brockett reveals some of the most outrageous and remarkable crimes in Western Slope history.