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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.

Bucks County was an original county in William Penn's newly formed Pennsylvania province and has carried the weight of history ever since. Join author Jennifer Rogers as she recounts the lesser-known history of Bucks County.

Industrial power in the region expanded in the late 1700s as Irish laborers sacrificed life and limb to construct a section of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Durham Furnace. In 1921, a gruesome train wreck claimed the lives of twenty-seven people, forever leaving its tragic mark on the busy rail lines emerging from Philadelphia. Raised a Quaker in Doylestown, James A. Michener went from local English teacher to Pulitzer Prize-winning author, leaving his philanthropic mark at the art museum named for him.

Long Island's history is filled with fascinating firsts, magnificent mansions and captivating characters.

From Glenn Curtiss, the first pilot to fly a plane on the island, to Earle Ovington, who carried the country's first airmail, the area has been known as the cradle of aviation. Millionaire William K. Vanderbilt's Long Island Motor Parkway, remnants of which still remain, was the nation's first highway. The desolate ruins of an exiled Albanian king's estate lie in the midst of the woods of the Muttontown Preserve. Captain William Kidd, pirate chaser turned pirate, is rumored to have buried treasure on the island. Richard Panchyk reveals the rapidly vanishing traces of Long Island's intriguing history.

New York's Finger Lakes region is filled with compelling characters, tragic disasters and fascinating mysteries.

Famed daredevil Sam Patch, known as the "Yankee Leaper," thrilled audiences at Niagara Falls but took his last jump into the Genesee River with his pet black bear, plummeting to his death. The first ever Memorial Day was celebrated in Waterloo in 1866 and inspired a nation to adopt the holiday. Seneca Lake claims its fair share of ships, including the Onondaga, which was blown up with dynamite as part of a spectacle to commemorate the sinking of the USS Maine. Author Patti Unvericht reveals the forgotten history of the Finger Lakes region.

An estimated three thousand shipwrecks lie off the coast of New Jersey - but these icy waters hold more mysteries than sunken hulls.

Ancient arrowheads found on the shoreline of Sandy Hook reveal Native American settlement before the land was flooded by melting glaciers. In 1854, 240 passengers of the New Era clipper ship met their fate off Deal Beach. Nobody knows what happened to two hydrogen bombs the United States Air Force lost near Atlantic City in 1957. Lessons from such tragic wrecks and dangerous missteps urged the development of safer ships and the U.S. Coast Guard. Captain Stephen D. Nagiewicz uncovers curious tales of storms, heroism and oddities from New Jersey's maritime past.

The Irish have a long and proud history in America, and New Jersey is no exception. Beginning with the first Irish immigrants who settled in every corner of the state, this vital ethnic community has left an indelible mark on all facets of life in the Garden State. New Jersey's Irish natives expressed their own discontent over British oppression by fighting alongside colonists in the American Revolution. Brave Fenians fought to preserve their new home in the Civil War. New Jersey's Irish also have become professional athletes, Unites States representatives, religious leaders, spies and business trailblazers. Author and Irish heritage researcher Tom Fox relays these and other stories that demonstrate the importance of Ireland to the development of New Jersey and the United States.

Much of the history of New York's scenic Mohawk Valley has been recounted time and again. But so many other stories have remained buried, almost lost from memory. The man called the baseball oracle correctly predicted the outcome of twenty-one major-league games. Mrs. Bennett, a friend of Governor Thomas Dewey, owned the Tower restaurant and lived in the unique Cranesville building. An Amsterdam sailor cheated death onboard a stricken submarine. Not only people but once-loved places are also all but forgotten, like the twentieth-century Mohawk Indian encampment and Camp Agaming in the Adirondacks, where Kirk Douglas was a counselor. Local historian Bob Cudmore delves deep into the region's history to find its most fascinating pieces of hidden history.

Staten Island has a rich and fascinating cultural legacy that few people outside New York City's greenest borough know about.

Chewing gum was invented on the island with the help of Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. Country music legend Roy Clark got his start as a virtuoso guitar player on the Staten Island Ferry. Anna Leonowens, who worked with the king's children in the Court of Siam and was the basis for The King and I, came back to Staten Island to write about her experiences and run a school for children. Join native authors Theresa Anarumo and Maureen Seaberg as they document the hidden history of Staten Island.

Queens has a history filled with fascinating firsts, cool characters and ramshackle ruins. Poet Clement Clarke Moore was inspired by childhood memories of Elmhurst when he wrote the poem "'Twas the Night before Christmas."

From the nation's first modern highway to the first-ever transatlantic flight, the borough has long been at the forefront of modern transportation. The infamous William "Boss" Tweed once fled jail to a secret hideout in a Bayside hotel. The remains of the old Creedmoor Hospital complex in Queens Village are haunting, as are the eerie remnants of Fort Tilden in the Rockaways. Author Richard Panchyk reveals glimpses of the hidden history of Queens.