Michael Kleen

Tales of Coles County, Illinois Michael Kleen

The sixth and final edition of Tales of Coles County, Illinois combines the original Tales of Coles County, the Legends and Lore of Coles County, and a new third section on the hidden history of Coles County with updated pictures, additional legends, and new stories.

First published in 2004, Tales takes an entertaining look at local history through vivid historical fiction. When four EIU students are stranded during a violent storm, they seek shelter with an strange elderly couple. The four will never look at Coles County the same way. With each story, they learn more about the place they've come to call home.

Legends and Lore reveals over a dozen hidden stories from the from the area's past and present, including ghost stories, folk tales, and other lore. When did a poltergeist terrorize one rural family in Pleasant Grove Township? What is the real story behind the "Mad Gasser of Mattoon"? Why do they call one stretch of road "Dead Man's Curve"? The answers to these questions and more can be found in this definitive volume.

Part three, Hidden History, examines events some believe are better left unremembered. What is the history of Coles County's ghost towns? What were some of its most infamous murders? What happened in the Tornado of 1917? Never-before published information about Mattoon's battle with Prohibition and even a chapter on the 1920s KKK is inside.