Jennie Cyr disappeared in 1977. Jerilyn Towers vanished in 1982. Lynn Willette never came home on a night in 1994. Each woman had a relationship with James Hicks, who in 2000 confessed to murdering them, dismembering their bodies and burying the remains alongside rural roads in Aroostook County. This is their story. Trudy Irene Scee follows Hicks from the North Woods to west Texas, detailing three decades of evasion, investigation and prosecution....

Nestled below the cliffs of West Rock, the peaceful hamlet of Westville has made a name for itself over the years as an important manufacturing center and scenic refuge. Well known for harboring the regicides who signed the death warrant of England's Charles I, the village has also seen its share of patriots, pirates, rascals and murderers in the three centuries since its settlement. From the legends of the infamous Captain Thunderbolt to the inventor...

From the story of Rhode Island's first colonist (who contrary to your elementary-school history book wasn't Roger Williams) to the revolutionary precursors to the Boston Tea Party to the wedding of Jack and Jackie Kennedy, “It Happened in Rhode Island” captures some the great events in American History and the history of the small, but fascinating, Ocean State.

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers' Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country's shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck,...

European explorers were captivated by the seemingly endless bounty of natural resources on Cape Cod Bay. One Englishman declared that the codfish were so thick one could walk on their backs. Early settlers quickly learned how to harness the bay's resources and excelled at shore whaling, shipping and salt making. But as these new industries flourished, the native Wampanoag, who helped the fledgling colony to take root, nearly vanished. Author Theresa...

In 1897, a stranger named Reverend Prescott Jernegan arrived in Lubec and made a bold claim: he could extract gold from seawater. To do so, he used so-called accumulators of electrically charged rods in iron pots. Fooling many, he actually hid the gold beneath a wharf in the Bay of Fundy during the night. He and his accomplice, Charles Fisher, preached with fervent enthusiasm as they built their factory and encouraged inspections, which reversed doubters...

Nothing in Redfield Proctor's early life suggested greatness. He almost died in the Civil War, squandered his inheritance and disliked farming and practicing law. But in 1869, a scheming woman enlisted his help in gaining control of a bankrupt marble mill. Proctor turned it into the largest marble operation in the world, creating his greatest legacy - Washington, D.C., with its many marble monuments and buildings. Using his fortune, he founded a political...

Milford, Massachusetts, incorporated in 1780, rests on the cusp of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. Granite and manufacturing jobs drew immigrants to this small town during the Industrial Revolution to form a richly textured community. In this collection of the best of his columns, local historian Paul E. Curran chronicles the lives and achievements of many who left indelible imprints on Milford. Some contributed distinctive...

Nestled at the foot of Wachusett Mountain, Princeton has come a long way since the days when cows outnumbered its citizens. Today, within its small circumference, the town boasts four nationally registered historical districts. With an array of styles from Colonial to Greek Revival, Richardsonian to Romanesque, its distinguished architectural landscape serves as a lasting reminder of the town's many transitions. Anderson, Dubman and Fiandaca document...

Just hours after the "shot heard 'round the world" marked the start of the American Revolution, the news from Lexington set alarm bells ringing in Framingham. Minutemen from the town rushed along the road to Concord to help cut off the retreat of British troops. In Salem, where dozens of women were accused of witchcraft, Framingham's founder, Thomas Danforth, helped to end the hysteria and afterward provided sanctuary in Framingham for the families...