American Railroads

During a dark time in United States history, thousands of freedom seekers traveled the Underground Railroad through Ohio. The Buckeye State hosted about half of all fugitive slave traffic of the antebellum era. A mix of Northern and Southern settlers in the state added drama to a struggle that led to major benefits for the state and the country. Unfortunately, this epic past was obscured by silence and secrecy and then distorted with misinformation and folklore—until now.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, notwithstanding its merits as a feat of exploration, was also the first tentative claim on the vast interior and the western seaboard of North America by the United States. It set in motion the great movement west that began almost immediately with the first commercial overland expedition funded by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company and would continue with the establishment of the Oregon Trail and California Trail. That quest would reach its ultimate expression ...when the last spike was driven into the Union Pacific Railroad.

The son of a funeral home owner and his friend, a sea captain, transport the women they love, two enslaved women from Virginia plantations, North. Blurb: Letitia, a light-skinned house slave of the prominent Burwell family, learns that her father is the master of the plantation. As she helps them dress and fetches tea for the Burwell women, including her half-sister by blood, Lettie becomes more determined that she’ll not live out her days in servitude. But she's afraid of what could happen. When her mother dies from a beating that Burwell sanctioned, Lettie seeks any means of escape. ...

Everyone in Richmond has secrets. Especially the spies. Meg Brooks, widow, didn't stop spying for the Union when her job at the Pinkerton National Detective Agency ended, especially now that she lives in the Confederate capital. Her job at the Yancey bakery provides many opportunities to discover vital information about the Confederacy to pass on to her Union contact. She prefers to work alone, yet the strong, silent baker earns her respect and tugs at her heart. Cade Yancey knows the beautiful widow is a spy when he hires her only because his fellow Unionist spies know of her activities. ...

In an immersive, exciting narrative nonfiction format, this powerful book follows a selection of people who experienced the Underground Railroad.

Harriet Tubman was known as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. But this wasn’t a railroad that carried trains and freight but rather human lives that were desperately seeking freedom. It was a clandestine group of individuals (hence the name “underground”) scattered across the United States and Canada who helped facilitate the migration of those ensnared in the South’s scourge of slavery to the so-called free states and provinces of the North.

Transportation is the unsung hero in America's story. Stagecoaches, waterways, canals, railways, busses, and airplanes revolutionized much more than just the way people got around; they transformed the economic, political, and social aspects of everyday life. In Transportation and the American People, renowned historian H. Roger Grant tells the story of American transportation from its slow, uncomfortable, and often dangerous beginnings to the speed and comfort of travel today.

Miriam Thaggert illuminates the stories of African American women as passengers and as workers on the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century railroad. As Jim Crow laws became more prevalent and forced Black Americans to "ride Jim Crow" on the rails, the train compartment became a contested space of leisure and work.

It's the 1800s, the middle of the century, when cholera comes to Northwest Ohio -- claiming the life of Rebecca's mother. Still in her teens, Rebecca leaves her cabin in the woods to live with wealthy relatives in town. There, her new teacher introduces her to the Underground Railroad: a secretive operation that protected slaves as they moved from captivity to freedom. As the story unfolds, Rebecca learns that doing the right thing can be the hardest thing to do. Join her on her journey of personal growth.

They came by boat from a starving land, and by the Underground Railroad from Southern chains, seeking refuge in a crowded, filthy corner of hell at the bottom of a great metropolis. But in the terrible July of 1863, the poor and desperate of Paradise Alley would face a new catastrophe, as flames from the war that was tearing America in two reached out to set their city on fire.

Born free in 1821 to two parents who had been enslaved, William Still was drawn to anti-slavery work from a young age. Hired as a clerk at the Anti-Slavery office in Philadelphia after teaching himself to read and write, he began directly assisting enslaved people who were crossing over from the South into freedom. Andrew Diemer captures the full range and accomplishments of Still’s life, from his resistance to Fugitive Slave Laws and his relationship with John Brown before the war, to his long career fighting for citizenship rights and desegregation until the early 20th century.

Is the railway the birth and death of American Industry?

Oliver and Eleanor move into a strange old house full of secrets. They start to uncover clues about the house's long history and begin to piece together the secret lives of the people who lived there in the past. Being new kids can be hard, but especially new kids from the city moving to rural Ohio can be tough. Together they meet locals and make friends with Stella, Hannah, and Maverick who help uncover evidence to suggest their house was part of the Underground Railroad. Before they know it, they are knee-deep in secret tunnels and the pages of a journal that connect the people of the ...

“The great cast of characters add depth and intrigue to the plot. There's love, humor, suspense, nail biting moments and more to be enjoyed in these well-crafted stories.” – Author Jan Romes “Lillian’s quest for justice and truth sends her headlong into danger and treacherous politics. Everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted.” – Author Stephanie Parker McKean ‘The author takes us on journeys of twists and turns that spring surprise endings.” - Author Patricia La Vigne “the individuals are so well drawn, you'll find characters you recognize from your own life!” ...

Before the rails bound a nation, before love defied all barriers, there was a foundation laid in quiet longing and impossible dreams. Xiulan, the daughter of Chinese immigrants serving the Hastings family, has grown up in the shadow of wealth and privilege, her every day intertwined with the grandeur of the estate. But within her heart lies a secret: an unspoken affection for Robert Hastings, the heir who left for the Civil War when she was just a girl. Now, as the household eagerly anticipates his return, Xiulan’s quiet admiration blossoms into something deeper—something dangerous. ...

Built for speed and to conquer the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains, at the time of her arrival – and still to this day - she was the most technologically advanced and the last commercially built mainline passenger steam locomotive in the United States. This is the story and celebration of the 75-year legacy of Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad’s No. 614 ‘Greenbrier’ Class J-3a, 4-8-4 steam locomotive.

Before the Civil War, there was a crack team of abolitionists who used quilts and signal lanterns to guide enslaved people to freedom. RIGHT? WRONG! The truth is, the Underground Railroad wasn't very organized, and most freedom seekers were on their own.

Dive into the untold history of the courageous and forgotten, where legends are made and myths are shattered, even if you've never heard their names before… Are you frustrated by the same repeated tales of history's mainstream figures? Are you looking to uncover the hidden stories of those who dared to fight for freedom and justice against daunting odds? Do you long to deepen your understanding with accounts built on credible evidence, enriching your perspective of the past and inspiring your vision for the future?

Introducing Harriet Tubman Living as a slave with her family on an old Maryland plantation in 1853, twelve-year-old Rosebud Jackson had been helping her mother with the cooking for the Big House as long as she could remember. Rosebud’s world seemed like an endless pile of pots and pans to wash, food to prepare, and bread to bake. Her father worked long days in the fields while her fifteen-year-old brother Isaac was the stable boy. But when a series of tragedies strikes, Rosebud is left alone and very afraid. Her only hope is that the words of her father will come true: "Just listen for ...

Take an adventure through haunted railways and underground railroads where the ghosts are happy to greet anyone willing to pass them by. Visitor's report disembodied voices, the feeling of being touched and creepy entities with one very prominent dark shadow figure who shows up in his top hat. This haunted attraction was voted second best Autumn Road Trips in AAA Car and Travel Magazine.