It was 1810 when a group of men from Connecticut roved west to Ohio, establishing the first permanent settlement in what became North Ridgeville. Led by David Beebe Sr., they foraged for food and shelter. The pioneer spirit of the aggregation sustained them and others who followed. Farming provided sustenance and many farms including those owned by the Solomons, Gerharts, and others have continued the tradition. Education was greatly respected and 10 school districts became part of the community's landscape. An early school still stands on Jaycox Road, where retired teachers Julie Bajda and Barb Sutton reenacted the roles of teachers from earlier times. The former Buffalo Trail became Center Ridge Road, the city's main thoroughfare, and, in 1960, the township developed into a city governed by a mayor, council, and various department heads. Businesses, such as Buescher's Hardware and the Bogner Funeral Home opened and remain today. Groups of residents cultivated interests into organizations with a goal of working together seamlessly for the good of the community.

Featuring over 200 striking photographs from the 1920s through 1980, Black America: Cleveland, Ohio celebrates the rich history of this great city's African-American community. Its neighborhoods, churches, civil, religious, business and cultural leaders, musical icons, and sports heroes are all brought to life here through the archives of local newspapers and historical societies, as well as the private collections of many Cleveland residents.

For more than half a century, the Franklin Castle's dark fa ade has lured curiosity seekers from around the world. Behind its iron gates, this Victorian-era structure harbors rumors of everything from insanity to mass murder. Disembodied voices echo from empty rooms, doors open and close of their own accord and cold spots drift about the manse. Witnesses swear to sightings of a woman in black and a young girl in white, believed to be the ghostly apparitions of the wife and daughter of the original owner, Hannes Tiedemann. Using previously unpublished photographs, interviews, family accounts, floor plans and nearly forty years of research, authors William G. Krejci and John W. Myers finally reveal the true and definitive history of Cleveland's notorious Franklin Castle.

Now in paperback.One of the most beloved figures in Cleveland entertainment history

Music fans who grew up with Rock and Roll in Cleveland remember a golden age. We were young, so was the music, and the sense of freedom and excitement the Rock and Roll scene delivered was electric. There were so many great clubs, like the Agora, where every big band seemed to break in the 1970s. The trendsetting radio stations, from A.M.'s WIXY to F.M.'s groundbreaking "Home of the Buzzard," WMMS. And all those memorable shows. The free Coffee Break Concerts--remember Sprinsteen just when he hit it big? The gigantic World Series of Rock. Nights on the lawn at Blossom (including local favorites the Michael Stanley Band and their record-setting sellout streak). This book collects the favorite memories of Clevelanders who made the scene: fans, musicians, DJs, reporters, club owners, and more. Includes rare photographs and other memorabilia such as concert posters, bumper stickers, pins, and ticket stubs.

Adele's memoir, Peter and the Wolves, recounts her friendship with the late great Peter Laughner, Cleveland's answer to all things underground and punk in the 1970s. Adele and Peter's collaborations appear in Smog Veil's groundbreaking 2019 box set, also available from Amped. The book is Bertei's intimate recounting of the musical education she received from Laughner; of their complex artistic kinship, and the vivid trajectory of the 'live fast die young' ethos that extinguished the light of a radiant rock and roll heart.

Fran Belkin's collection of t-shirts wound up in boxes in the attic, until one day she realized these mementos chronicling over thirty years of Cleveland rock and roll history could illustrate the incredible story of a most unusual family business: Belkin Productions.The shirts and swag paint a picture of the times, the music, the bands and the concert promotion company her husband Jules and his brother Mike built into a powerhouse on the national music scene. In Rock This Town!, Fran's collection is artfully woven together with vintage snapshots, concert photography and intimate stories shared by the Belkin Productions crew who lived them. This book is for those of us who were out front, standing drenched in a World Series of Rock downpour, singing along to every word of our favorite song, Bic lighters in the air, screaming for another encore. This is a love letter to every fan of rock and roll.