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.

The author of Hidden History of Terre Haute and Wicked Terre Haute explores the home of sin in the Sin City. Home to uproarious saloons, swindling gambling dens, and thriving brothels, Terre Haute's infamous West End was so wild the Chicago Tribunecalled it "the scene of a hundred all night carousings." Pimps, pickpockets, and conmen roamed the crowded streets where legendary Madam Edith Brown's pleasure palace was the crown jewel of brothels. Yet more than a mere den in inequity, the West End was also a community that could put bickering differences aside and pull together to help their neighbors. And it wasn't only a place for seedy enterprise, but also a place for stores, cafes, and homes. Historian Tim Crumrin presents the first complete history of this legendary area and separates myth from reality to reveal the very human side of the West End.

"Who is an American?" asked the Ku Klux Klan. It is a question that echoes as loudly today as it did in the early twentieth century. But who really joined the Klan? Were they "hillbillies, the Great Unteachables" as one journalist put it? It would be comforting to think so, but how then did they become one of the most powerful political forces in our nation's history? In The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland, renowned historian James H. Madison details the creation and reign of the infamous organization. Through the prism of their operations in Indiana and the Midwest, Madison explores the Klan's roots in respectable white protestant society. Convinced that America was heading in the wrong direction because of undesirable "un-American" elements, Klan members did not see themselves as bigoted racist extremists but as good Christian patriots joining proudly together in a righteous moral crusade. The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland offers a detailed history of this powerful organization and examines how, through its use of intimidation, religious belief, and the ballot box, the ideals of Klan in the 1920s have on-going implications for America today.

The author of Hidden History of Terre Haute and Wicked Terre Haute explores the home of sin in the Sin City. Home to uproarious saloons, swindling gambling dens, and thriving brothels, Terre Haute's infamous West End was so wild the Chicago Tribunecalled it the scene of a hundred all night carousings. Pimps, pickpockets, and conmen roamed the crowded streets where legendary Madam Edith Brown's pleasure palace was the crown jewel of brothels. Yet more than a mere den in inequity, the West End was also a community that could put bickering differences aside and pull together to help their neighbors. And it wasn't only a place for seedy enterprise, but also a place for stores, cafes, and homes. Historian Tim Crumrin presents the first complete history of this legendary area and separates myth from reality to reveal the very human side of the West End.

From the days of French explorers and the establishment of Fort Harrison in 1811 to the rise of the "Pittsburgh of the West" and beyond, Terre Haute's history is a study in paradox. Home to prominent schools, railroads, and distilleries as well as social reformers, national figures, and corrupt politicians, the city that grew up along the Wabash suffered devastating setbacks but also soared to spectacular achievements.

Hoosiers witness their share of human darkness. Stoner delves into this dark side with a look at the most heinous murders that have taken place in each of Indiana's 92 counties.

Submitted for your consideration: the blind man who designed and built an automobile, the "volunteertree growing out of a courthouse roof, and much, much more.

Terre Haute might seem like a quiet river town, but the ghosts of the city's past ensure that things never grow too quiet! From the ghost of a green-eyed bulldog to a mausoleum phone, the town's cemeteries are a playground for those who have passed on to the other side. The spirits of children haunt the site of the former Glenn Home, where they once lived. The restless spirit of a girl who passed before her time lingers in a local salon, and the apparition of a faceless nun still wanders the hallowed halls of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. The former Condit residence has a long history of premature deaths, while the Preston House held its own secrets within its now vanished walls. Join tour guide and paranormal investigator Ashley Hood on a tour of Terre Haute's spectral history.