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Join John R. Schmidt on a day-by-day look at some of Chicago's most fascinating lesser-known events.

Think you know Chicago? If you are thinking of Al Capone, the L, the Cubs, Barack Obama or the Great Fire of 1871, then you are remembering the highlights from the tour bus. Here's the rest of the story, day by day. Chicago opened the first blood bank, invented the vacuum cleaner and sent a bowling ball around the world. One high school football game drew 120,000 people. Chicagoans fought nineteen years over the name of a street. For fifty years, they saved a gallows for an escaped killer. And those are just some of the stories...

Blues history is steeped in Chicago's sidewalks; it floats out of its restaurants, airport lounges and department stores.

It is a fundamental part of the city's heritage that every resident should know and every visitor should be afraid to miss. Allow Rosalind Cummings-Yeates to take you inside the Checkerboard and Gerri's Palm Tavern, where folks like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Ma Rainey transformed Chicago into the blues mecca. Continue on to explore the contemporary blues scene and discover the best spots to hear the purest sounds of Sweet Home Chicago.

Explore the history of Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan as two camp staff members Ian Hopkins and Matt Horbal detail the adventures and adversities of the camp throughout the years.

Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan opened in the summer of 1929 with a vision of providing an outdoor experience for young people. It is owned and operated by the Northeast Illinois Council, Boy Scouts of America (BSA), in Highland Park, Illinois, and located in Pearson, Wisconsin. The camp's name comes from the Native American phrase meaning ""spring fed lake"" and originated in a contest won by a Scout from the North Shore Area Council, BSA. Thousands of young people and adults have hiked the trails, boated on the lakes, developed their scouting skills, and had countless adventures at the camp. The stories of how the camp was developed, built, and maintained by the North Shore Area Council, BSA, during difficult times, including war and the Great Depression, are shared within. Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan still serves young people, adults, and families from more than 40 communities.

Headquartered in Chicago, the Illinois Central Railroad was known as the ""Main Line of Mid-America.""

This was a major railroad cutting through the middle section of the United States with two major routes.The Main Line, which ran south out of Chicago toward New Orleans, and the Western Lines, which ran west toward Iowa. The Illinois Central Railroad had eight major freight yards in Chicago, which in 1937 handled nearly two million freight cars. It was also well known for its passenger service and operated some of the finest passenger trains: the Green Diamond, the all-Pullman Panama Limited, and the City of New Orleans. Chicago and the Illinois Central Railroad covers the railroad's operations within the city of Chicago, plus the outlying suburbs, from the late 1800s to 1960. It explores, through vintage photographs, the passenger and freight trains, suburban trains, locomotives, shops and repair facilities, and people that made the railroad function.

In the northeast corner of McHenry County, the Fox River winds its way through Johnsburg, a small village of German ancestry settled in the 1840s.

The center of all community activity was St. John's Catholic Church, which stood on the highest spot in town. Its steeples were visible when entering the village. On the other side of Johnsburg, Pistakee Bay was an unsettled area known for good hunting and fishing. Many of the visitors to Pistakee were wealthy businessmen or Chicago politicians who built large mansions here. The Pistakee Yacht Club with its colorful regattas brought visitors to both participate in and observe the white sails flying across the water. On summer evenings, the sound of music twinkled across the bay from parties held on the shore.

From scenes of the historic business district to the banks of Island Park, the vintage postcards of Geneva reveal a community rich in history and charm.

Geneva was an ideal location for settlement, with rich farming soil, a river to power the mills, and a plentiful supply of trees for lumber; it didn't take long to attract and support a thriving community. Incorporated in 1858, Geneva remains an idyllic village, home to fine architecture from the mid- to late-19th century, scenic parks along the banks of the Fox River, and a sense of community spirit and pride. Geneva in Vintage Postcards opens a window into the past, allowing us to experience what this community most wanted to present to others and what visitors most wanted to share with their families and friends.

From musicians and mobsters to mayors and men of the cloth, discover the fascinating history of Chicago's Irish history.

The history of the Irish in Chicago goes back to the days when the city was little more than an outpost on the prairie shores of Lake Michigan. Drawn by opportunities in the growing frontier town, Irish men and women who were fleeing economic hardship and famine in Ireland were quick to make their mark on Chicago's political, religious, and economic life. The unique position of the Irish among immigrant groups-English speaking and more culturally attuned to Anglo-American institutions, yet Catholic-allowed them to flourish in occupations and social positions for which they have become known. Most notably, the Irish in Chicago have produced eight mayors and many bishops. But Irish Chicago is also the story of those who built and enlivened the city: the policemen, firemen, priests, nuns and brothers, tavern owners, educators, transit workers, musicians, and ward politicians made good, and the north, south, and west side neighborhoods and parishes they inhabited.

Discover the Chicago community that transformed into a decadent escape after the Great Chicago fire.

Known as the ""Village in the City,"" the Beverly/Morgan Park community developed as a country retreat for Chicago's social, political, and economic elite after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The area's geography also affected its development; a ridge formed by the last glacier to visit the area over 12,000 years ago placed the community at the highest elevation in the city and made it a perfect place to build large elaborate homes. With a section of the neighborhood designated as the Ridge Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, Beverly/Morgan Park instantly stands out as a unique area of the city because of its diverse architectural styles, notable history, and strong sense of community.

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Aurora, Illinois with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

The history of Aurora, Illinois is one of diversity. This is the first book to trace the city's early days of its first white settlement through World War I and the early 1920s, as seen through the eyes of its diverse ethnic groups. Immigrants from northern, southern, and eastern Europe, southern Blacks, and Mexicans all came to provide their talents to the massive railroad industry and the dozens of factories in the city, which were producing various products to be used by the entire nation and as well as in the construction of the Panama Canal.

One of the phrases that has been used to describe Chicago's Southeast Side is ""smokestacks and steeples."" Today, the people of South Chicago, South Deering, the East Side, and Hegewisch look to the future.

The community initially developed because of the steel industry, but it has been affected by the decline of the American steel industry in recent years. The community is, in many respects, at a crossroads. Will economic redevelopment occur, and if it does, at what price? Will the ecology and environment, damaged by years of abuse and neglect, be restored and protected?This second book about the region tells the story of this interesting and vibrant Chicago community from a chronological approach. It looks at important themes of American history from the perspective of this urban, working-class community. Industrialization, urbanization, unionization, immigration, and Americanization were themes that played out on the Southeast Side of Chicago. It examines how the community dealt with problems like depression, wars, pollution, and the decline of heavy industry-especially the steel industry.

Through the 200-plus photographs and informative captions, this visual history by local author Sandra Bennett Williams seeks to remind residents of Hinsdale's charming past.

In 1858, the town of Fullersburg, centered at what is now York Road and Ogden Avenue, petitioned the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to develop a western route that would pass through their community. The track was eventually built, but finding the topography at Fullersburg unsuitable, the route curved one mile to the south through vacant prairie. Enterprising entrepreneur William Robbins seized this opportunity, purchasing land along the new route and creating a community: Hinsdale. Designed to be a commuter suburb, Hinsdale's clean air, safe streets, and large lots have made it the perfect choice for Chicago business leaders since its beginning. It remains without industry, reflecting the comfortable well-being of its residents.

The Chain O' Lakes has been one of Chicago's premier vacation spots since the 1880s. Witness its rich history in this collection of vintage postcards.

The nine major lake basins that make up the Chain O' Lakes region - Catherine, Channel, Grass, Bluff, Marie, Fox, Nippersink, Petite, and Pistakee - are all connected by the Fox River waterway and have, for over 100 years, been northern Illinois's leading destination for inland boaters, fishermen, picnickers, or those just hoping to relax and play at the beach. Luxurious mansions and swank resorts once dotted the more than 6,000 acres of shoreline. Many are gone today; some remain but have been vastly changed, but none are forgotten.

Captured here in over 200 vintage postcards are scenes from the chain's heyday, scenes that will seem at once faraway and familiar to the water-skiers, windsurfers, and other outdoor recreationists who populate the Chain O' Lakes today.

Ghost stories from the City of Gardens have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Welcome to the spooky streets of Rockford, Illinois!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know the Burpee Museum is haunted by the ghosts of years past? Or that if you take a cruise down Blood Point Road, you may be chased by haunted hounds and a pickup truck determined to run you off the road? Have you heard the of the witch who kidnapped children as an act of vengeance?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Rockford forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!