So many colorful stories are lost to time. The last passenger pigeon on earth, Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. The deadliest maritime disaster in American history was the explosion of the steamboat Sultana, built in the Queen City. Just outside the city, a young Annie Oakley beat her future husband in a shooting contest. The nation's first train robbery occurred in the Cincinnati area, and some clever victims hid jewelry in their hair and bodices. From the Black Brigade's role in protecting the city against Confederate siege to the original 1937 Cincinnati Bengals, author Jeff...

Cincinnati earned its nickname of "Queen City of the West" with a wealth of fine theaters and hotels, a burgeoning brewery district and the birth of professional baseball. Though many of these treasures have vanished, they left an indelible mark on the city. Revisit the favorite locales from old Coney Island to Crosley Field. Celebrate lost gems, such as the palatial Albee Theater and the historic Burnet House, where Generals Grant and Sherman plotted the end of the Civil War. Along the way, author Jeff Suess uncovers some uniquely Cincinnati quirks from the inclines and the canal to the...