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Colorful tales of the MS Gulf Coast from specters to sodas and from buccaneers and pioneers.

The story of the Mississippi Golden Gulf Coast can't be told without a few tall tales--pirates, buried treasure, ghosts and colorful characters pepper its diverse past. From incredible stories of the pirate Jean Lafitte to iconic legends like Barq's Root Beer, travel from Bay St. Louis to Biloxi and every nook and cranny in between to discover the legends and lore of Mississippi's Golden Gulf Coast. Local historian Edmond Boudreaux explores this exciting history, recounting the fantastic tales that launch the reader into the past and create a truly captivating history.

The second largest city in the state, Gulfport is the business center of south Mississippi. Many of the city's cherished landmarks and businesses have been lost to Hurricanes Camille and Katrina, the development of shopping malls and Interstate 10. Gulfport's answer to the quintessential '50s malt shop, Stone's Ice Cream, became a favorite hangout for students, families and businessmen throughout its long history. The Paramount Theatre was famous for its annual Christmas raffle during the '50s. Known as the "Hosts of the Gulf Coast," the Friendship House Restaurant served up a great cup of coffee along with its celebrated Hospitality Menu. Historian John Cuevas takes a look back at Gulfport's shops, restaurants, nightclubs, cinemas and more from a bygone age.

Biloxi's beaches and casinos make the city a haven for Gulf Coast tourists. And since it's one of America's oldest communities, local residents have seen many iconic treasures come and go. Before Hurricane Katrina, more than 150 historical structures dotted the area. Of those, 60 were lost to the devastating storm, including the Father Ryan House, built in the early 1840s. In 1969, Hurricane Camille flattened the Baldwin Wood Lighthouse. Other structures like Biloxi City Hall on Main Street faded away with the passage of time, having stood resolute for decades. Author Edmond Boudreaux recalls Biloxi's most significant and cherished landmarks.

Although many bluesmen began leaving the Magnolia State in the early twentieth century to pursue fortune and fame up north, many others stayed home.

These musicians remained rooted to the traditions of their land, which came to define a distinctive playing style unique to Mississippi. They didn't simply play the blues, they lived it. Travel through the hallowed juke joints and cotton fields with author Roger Stolle as he recounts the history of Mississippi blues and the musicians who have kept it alive. Some of these bluesmen remain to carry on this proud legacy, while others have passed on, but Hidden History of Mississippi Blues ensures none will be forgotten.

Join author Richelle Putnam as she recounts how Mississippian's resolve and fortitude brought the state through one of the hardest economic times in American history.

When the Great Depression erupted, Mississippi had not yet recovered from the boll weevil or the Flood of 1927. Its land suffered from depleted forests and soil. Plus, the state had yet to confront the racial caste systems imprisoning poor whites, African Americans and other minorities. Nevertheless, innovative Mississippians managed to keep their businesses and services open. Meanwhile, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs fostered economic stimulation within the state. Author Richelle Putnam also highlights the state's spiritual and cultural giants, who rose from the nation's poorest state to create a lasting footprint of determination, pride and hope during the Depression era.

North Mississippi's idyllic rolling hills and deep forests hide a history steeped in blood. America's first serial killers, the Harpe brothers, brutally murdered as many as fifty people at the end of the 1700s before finally meeting their end on the Natchez Trace. During Reconstruction, politician William Clark Falkner, great-grandfather of the author William Faulkner, was shot in the streets of Ripley by a former business partner after being elected to the state legislature. In the 1960s, Samuel Bowers and the Mississippi Klan tried to start a national race war by orchestrating the Freedom Summer murders and the Ole Miss Riot. Kristina Stancil details the shadowy side of North Mississippi.

The history of Jackson is filled with gripping tales of horrors and heroism. Join Ryan Starrett and Josh Foreman as they reveal the hidden past of the City with Soul.

A recording company founded in the mid-1960s with the expectation of competing with New Orleans and Memphis was a national success, outlasting its better-funded rivals. Known as the "Devil's Backbone," the Natchez Trace is the graveyard for countless travelers slain by the road's numerous serial killers, brigands and land pirates. Yet one mass grave stands above the others: the Boyd Mounds, which hold the remains of thirty-one Choctaws. Although legend has it that the father of Jackson, Louis LeFleur, was a Canadian trapper famous in high society for his dancing, the truth is even stranger.

Inside are thirteen little-known tales from the Gulf Coast from Lake Borgne to Mobile.

Sail into the Mississippi Sound with Bienville, the Frenchman covered in serpentine tattoos. Meet the heroes of the Sound: fearless Father LeDuc, who faced down Yankee pillagers; the wild woman of Horn Island, who could shoot as well as any man; and Ray Nosaka, who fed his body to the dogs of war, all in service of his country. Glimpse a school of the Sound's own patron fish, the striped mullet, Biloxi's bacon. But don't get too comfortable on the beach - a hurricane is always on the horizon. Join authors Josh Foreman and Ryan Starrett on this journey into the hidden history of the Mississippi Sound.

This narrative history of Hattiesburg, MS illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped its cultural and natural history.

Founded by William Hardy at the confluence of rivers and rail lines, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is today a capital of education, healthcare, commerce and the armed forces in the Gulf South. In this new biography of the Hub City, experience its story as you never have before. Hunt and forage alongside Native American tribes centuries before European settlement. Build a cabin with pioneer lumbermen on the edge of the forest, jostling for profit in the cavernous Piney Woods. Train with soldiers at Camp Shelby on the eve of deployment in World War II, and march alongside civil rights activists during Freedom Summer in 1964. In this narrative history, author and Hattiesburg native Benjamin Morris offers a captivating account of the Hub City from its prehistory to the present day, from its darkest hours to its brightest futures.

From the hills to the coast, the people of Mississippi have stories to tell. Most would never guess that Raleigh, Mississippi, once played host to the National Tobacco Spitting Contest. Over in Okolona, children are told of the man who lived--and died--deep down in a hole and scared passersby. From the gandy dancers who built the first train tracks in Mississippi to the eight-foot-tall man who lived in the woods of Columbia, read tales that range from common myth to a good bit of righteous gossip. Author and storyteller Diane Williams traveled across the Magnolia State to gather these local legends and has compiled them into an inquisitive, laugh-out-loud collection.