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Terror in the Tri-Cities

Built along the 33rd Parallel, rumor has it that the cities of Chandler, Mesa, and Tempe are magnets for the unexplained. Mysterious tales of a cursed Ouija Board, restless pioneer spirits, and specters lurking in underground tunnels are just a few of the unsettling stories attributed to this phenomenon. Whispers about the accidental death of Santa Claus haunt Mesa, while in Chandler, spirits continue to celebrate in their favorite bars and lurk in the San Marcos Hotel. At the university campus in Tempe, ghosts of former staff and students are said to appear in the library and dorms. 

Author Debe Branning explores the spooky side of the Tri-Cities.

Built on top of ancient burial grounds or over forgotten cemeteries, schools like the Lee Williams High School seem to attract spirits who wander the halls long after the final bell. In Ruby and Vulture City, the old wooden schoolhouses where the town’s children used to gather are said to be haunted by the shades of those unaware their lessons have ended. Even Old Main at the University of Arizona, with its beautiful stone facades, is plagued by whispers of ghostly professors gliding across the marble floors.

Join author and paranormal historian Debe Branning as she explores the spooky side of Arizona’s schools.

A phantom stagecoach materializes on Weatherford’s Main Street, the galloping hooves of invisible horses tugging witnesses back towards the nineteenth century. A stroll through the enchanting Chandor Gardens might lead to an encounter with its creator, renowned English portrait artist Douglas Chandor. The apparition of a former judge lingers around Parker County Courthouse, while the Old Jail Museum’s corridors are filled with disembodied voices and echoing footsteps. Visitors to Old Greenwood Cemetery might hear the quiet sobbing of the woman who was murdered by a jealous lover or feel a cold nudge against their hands when they pass by a canine buried alongside his owner. Author Teal Gray walks through miles of Weatherford's history to unwind years of its haunted lore. 

A beloved watchmaker, a reluctant politician and a legendary Texas Ranger.

The legacy of Burnet County rises from a solid prehistoric batholith of pink granite that built the state capitol, established an industry and is still being quarried. The natural beauty and resources of the region drew the attention of politicians on the path to power, including a U.S. president whose influence built the dams that electrified rural Central Texas. As communities modernized, its citizens made history, electing the first female mayor in the state before women could even vote.

Author Suzanne Freeman, whose own roots sink deep into the rocky soil of Burnet County, chronicles the remarkable people, both famous and forgotten, who shaped the county and the Lone Star State.

Decades of Duty

IIn 1881, the first Buffalo Soldiers arrived in Arizona pursuing elusive Apaches. Over the following decades, African Americans from the Tenth U.S. Cavalry and Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Infantry added to the laurels won by the Ninth U.S. Cavalrymen. For more than six decades, Black soldiers served with honor, from campaigns against determined Native Americans to facing dangers along the turbulent border as the Mexican Revolution raged. During the dark days of World War II, they prepared for combat against foes both abroad and at home. All the while, they faced an ever-present, persistent enemy: racism.

Author John P. Langellier brings to life the rich history of Buffalo Soldiers in the Copper State.

Personal stories of life in Galveston in the mid-nineteenth century.

In 1855, Friedrich Gloor was just nineteen when he was sent from Basel, Switzerland, halfway around the world to teach at the First German Lutheran Church school in Galveston, Texas. He spent the next eleven years writing letters to his family about a place that was very different from his Swiss home. The climate was harsh, with stifling heat and bitter cold, droughts and floods. He provides a firsthand account of the treatment of slaves, frontier justice by hangings and burning criminals in the streets, shipwrecks, the yellow fever epidemic and the Civil War. However, Friedrich was haunted by something from his life in Switzerland for which he constantly asks for forgiveness. Friedrich’s secret remains shrouded in mystery, but his letters are a vivid glimpse into the pivotal moments of Galveston’s early history.

Aloha, Texas!

Texas may be famous as the birthplace of both Willie Nelson and western swing, but its thriving ukulele community also boasts a rich heritage. Say howdy to the cowboy who plays ukulele and washtub bass at the same time. Don’t leave Austin’s famous music scene without visiting one the country’s biggest ukulele clubs. Jeff Campbell picks his way across the Lone Star State, where the ukulele jams with reggae among the eastern pines and a former Singing Bellhop of Amarillo attempts to strum for fifty hours straight.

After legendary sheriff Pat Ware was thrown from his horse on a very muddy Commerce Street, the Gainesville Daily Hesperian observed that he “had enough mud sticking to his wardrobe to start a land boom in the Panhandle.” The Hesperian had an eye for detail, down to the autumn leaf pen wiper Dr. Arthur Carroll Scott received as a wedding present and the raid on Fount Duston’s watermelon patch. Ron Melugin has pored over thousands of articles from the newspaper’s frontier era, piecing together advertisements for Botanic Blood Balm and a county clerk’s train robbing spree. It is an account of bygone Gainesville so vivid that modern readers can almost see, hear and even (in the case of the 1894 privy ordinance) smell it.

In the mid-1830s, German pioneers found an area 30 miles north of Houston thriving with pure water, an abundance of timber, and rich agricultural resources.

In 1838, the Republic of Texas granted to serviceman William Hurd 320 acres. In the early 1900s, the nucleus of the landscape caught the eye of the Trinity & Brazos Railroad as a favorable stop to the Port of Houston. For 25 years, the town prospered as a major rail stop for commodities from all around the area. In May 1933, oil was struck, which catapulted the small town into one of the largest producing oil fields in the South. The oil boom created a community that has thrived on small-town culture with a melting pot of heritages. Former and current residents alike share a deep-rooted sense of community and are proud to call Tomball their “Hometown with a Heart.” 

Descendants of early pioneers and Lone Star College–Tomball Community Library staff have collected community photographs to share these historic hometown images. 

A guide through the history of the Playground of the Southwest.

Established in 1839, Galveston was the largest city in Texas for much of the state's early history. The island city has hosted the likes of Cabeza de Vaca, Jean Lafitte, Sam Houston, Jack Johnson, King Vidor, and Sam Maceo. A strategic target during the Civil War and military stronghold during both World Wars, Galveston endured through countless calamities, including the most damaging hurricane to hit the United States. From historic mansions to long-hidden outposts of the vice district, author Tristan Smith surveys the best places to catch a glimpse of the Oleander City's past, whether that comes in the form of museum treasure or Seawall panorama.

Celebrate the athletes of St. Edwards University.

Competitive sports have crowned the St. Edward's University hilltop from the very beginning. Early on-campus games and intramurals in the late 19th century evolved into the first organized sport of baseball, followed by a period of excellence during the 1920s and 30s, most notably in football. The 1970s were marked by the advent and growth of athletic programs for women and a gradual ascendency to a strong and regionally competitive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics [NAIA] program. Even as the school transitioned to a top-tier NCAA Division II program, it could look back on more than a century of athletic achievement. Author John Knorr remembers the key figures and fascinating stories of St. Edward's athletics.

During the 1800s, when northeast Oklahoma was part of Indian Territory, many fugitives from US justice, like Henry Starr and Cherokee Bill, sought refuge in its hills and hollows. Statehood in 1907 did little to tame the area. Northeast Oklahoma remained a hideout for outlaws into the gangster era of the 1930s, when one of the biggest manhunts in history failed to flush Pretty Boy Floyd from the rugged Cookson Hills. Even in modern times, the region has been home to its share of desperate characters and notorious incidents. Join award-winning author Larry Wood as he chronicles dramatic criminal episodes in northeast Oklahoma history. 

In the days after 9/11, the country was on high alert. So when an alarming incident occurred just off the Texas coast on the early morning hours of September 15th, authorities immediately assumed another terrorist attack had taken place. A towing vessel collided into a support pillar of the Queen Isabella Causeway, causing an 80-foot section of the bridge to tumble into the ocean. Unfortunately, the gaping hole left in the bridge was not visible to cars traveling to and from South Padre Island to the mainland city of Port Isabel, Texas. Robert Espericueta, along with his cousins, happened to be in the only other boat on the waters that night. Espericueta collaborates with author Juan Carmona to track the extraordinary events of a bewildering catastrophe and a heroic rescue.

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. 

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.

Step into the historic grandeur of a Texas icon - The Tremont House.

The storied history of the Tremont House began when Texas was still an independent Republic. Since then a series of hotels bearing that illustrious name have operated as a hub of Galveston high society. Buffalo Bill, Stephen Crane, Clara Barton walked the corridors of The Tremont House, along with presidents, millionaires, actors and countless other celebrities. Having witnessed the Gilded Age, the Jazz Era and every decade in between, the hotel was reborn in the 1980s to continue its legacy of hospitality and luxury. Join author Kathleen Maca as she explores the captivating secrets and remarkable heritage of the Tremont House.