Massachusetts Curiosities

Discover more than 200 of the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Bay State has to offer in this completely revised and updated edition.

Your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things Beantown has to offer!

Discover Nebraska's curious underside with this oddly entertaining little guide! Travelers with a taste for the bizarre, tacky, and hilarious can visit the Avoca Quack-Off, learn about the inland Linoma Lighthouse, view a Roller Skating Museum, and pay a visit to the world's largest covered wagon. Only true Cornhuskers could capture the essence of these and other authentic Nebraska phenomena, and Rick Yoder and David Harding do their home state proud.

Your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Hawkeye State has to offer!

The author of Legends & Lore of Cape Cod delves deeper into the colorful local history of Massachusetts’s quaint seaside region. Cape Cod may be a popular tourist destination, but it has a strange and distinctive history. The Pukwudgies were two- to three-foot beings with smooth gray skin, hairy faces and horns. These shape-shifting, mischievous “little people” are connected to Wampanoag Indian mythology. Edward Rowe Snow, a New England historian who was also known as “the Flying Santa,” delivered Christmas presents to lighthouse keepers and their families. Jeremiah’s Gutter was a canal in Orleans and the first Cape Cod Canal. Join author Robin Smith-Johnson as she uncovers the secrets behind many unique places, remarkable events and fascinating people. Includes photos!

This laugh-out-loud guide will introduce readers to the offbeat people, places, and events of the Bay State.

Since the days of John Smith and Squanto, the coast of Massachusetts stretching south from Boston to Plymouth has been transformed. Once an isolated Puritan colony, the region has made an indelible mark on the annals of New England history. Discover the remarkable story of the town of Marshfield, learn about the first female minister from Weymouth and experience the sweet aroma wafting from Baker Chocolate Company in Dorchester with this engaging collection of vignettes from historian and author Ted Clarke. From the rocky relations between Native Americans and the early colonists to the boom and bloom of the region, Clarke lends insight into how the past reflects on the present south of Boston.