This large compendium features brief portraits and substantial biographies of the civic, political, and business leaders active in Wisconsin at the end of the nineteenth century. Some members of the clergy are also represented, as are a small number of musical and artistic figures and civil servants. The editors provide a historical introduction and an alphabetical index.

From 1870 to 1900, Louisville became a larger part of the American Industrial Revolution. The expansion of railroads was a key factor to becoming a center for industry, trade and commerce. Paul Jones Jr. helped the city become a world leader in bourbon production, and Louisville was the largest tobacco manufacturer due to successful brokers like Andrew Graham. John Leather's jean cloth facility was among the most productive in the world. The largest box factory also resided in the city, and Louisville became the banking capital of the South. Author Bryan S. Bush details those behind the massive industry in the City of Progress.

As a planned community, Indianapolis boasted finished frame and brick buildings from its beginning. Architects and builders drew on Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Gothic, Romanesque, and Italian Renaissance styles for commercial, industrial, public, and religious buildings and for residences. In Architecture in Indianapolis: 1820–1900, preservationist and architectural historian Dr. James Glass explores the rich variety of architecture that appeared during the city's first 80 years, to 1900. Glass explains how economic forces shaped building cycles, such as the Canal Era, the advent of railroads, the natural gas boom, and repeated recessions and recoveries. He describes 243 buildings that illustrate the styles that architects and builders incorporated into the designs that they devised in each era between 1820 and 1900. This book also documents the loss of distinctive 19th century architecture that has occurred in Indianapolis. It includes 373 photographs and drawings that depict the buildings described and locator maps that show where concentrations of buildings were constructed. Architecture in Indianapolis: 1820–1900 provides the first history of 19th-century architecture in the city and will serve as an indispensable reference for decades to come.

Information abstracted from 200 rare county histories & atlases published between 1876 and 1916.