For most of the 20th century, the "Crossroads of America" was literally at the intersection of U.S. 41 and the National Road, right at the corner of Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue in downtown Terre Haute, Indiana. Although the crossroads has shifted, Vigo County is still a major transportation center perched on the high side of the Wabash River, made famous by songwriter Paul Dresser. Captured here in over 200 vintage images is the history of Terre Haute and Vigo County, chronicling the area's earliest days all the way through to World War One. Offering a unique historical account using only postcard images, this new book showcases the people, buildings, neighborhoods, schools and events that shaped the region, including Eugene V. Debs, Chauncey Rose, Collett Park, and the 1913 Tornado and Flood.

Join local historian Tim Crumrin as he reveals the blackguards, rogues and swindlers of Terre Haute's rough and rowdy past. For more than a century, Terre Haute earned its reputation as a sin city. One of the most notorious red-light districts in the Midwest, the West End, housed sixty brothels and nearly one thousand prostitutes at its height in the 1920s. Across this sordid scene strode the stylish and indomitable Edith Brown, the city's most famous madam. When Prohibition made the city bootlegger central, violence erupted as rival gangs vied for turf. Gamblers flooded in from all corners of the country, making Terre Haute's Wire Room second only to Las Vegas. Through it all, corrupt politicians like Mayor Donn Roberts profited handsomely from grift and deception.