A WOOPs, A Blue Moon, & A Secret City

These three things may seem to have nothing in common. Yet they do in my latest release, a novella called Beneath the Rare Blue Moon.

The story takes place in eastern Tennessee and begins on October 31, 1944, the night of a blue moon.

WOOPs

The heroine, Kathleen Forrest, is with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Women Officer of Public Safety unit. These women were not part of the military, like WACs or WAVEs, and their stories aren’t nearly as well-known.

Yet, their responsibilities were considered so important they were taught judo, trained to handle guns, issued .38 caliber pistols, and often worked with trained military dogs.

Since the men were heading off to fight in WWII, the TVA hired these women to guard and protect potential targets, such as hydroelectric dams, aluminum factories, and other important industries, from sabotage (TVA).

“Blue Moon”

You’ve probably heard of the phrase “once in a blue moon” which, literally, has three definitions:

The second full moon in a month. That means the date falls at the end of the month. 

The third full moon when four moons appear in a season. Usually, only three moons appear in winter, spring, summer, or fall.

The moon’s appearance when, under certain atmospheric conditions, it takes on a bluish hue. This can happen when “volcanic eruptions or large-scale fires release particles into the atmosphere” (Blue Moon).

The next blue moon is May 31, 2026.

Our next seasonal blue moon is May 20, 2027.

The Story ~ Kathleen Forrest, a WOOPs heroine of Beneath the Rare Blue Moon, has an unusual experience on a blue moon night when she disarms a potential “saboteur.”

“Secret City”

To find the “Secret City” on a map, you’ll need to locate Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

It’s also known as the “Atomic City” and, by those who lived and worked there, “The Reservation.”

The town was built by the military as a base for the Manhattan Project, the top-secret atomic bomb research program. 

Here’s the scientific info: 

“The Y-12, K-25, and S-50 plants were each built in Oak Ridge to separate the fissile isotope uranium-235 from natural uranium, which consists almost entirely of the isotope uranium-238. The X-10 site, now the site of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was established as a pilot plant for production of plutonium using the Graphite Reactor, used to develop full-scale plutonium production…” (Oak Ridge).

The Story ~ Kathleen and Army intelligence officer Roger Craig are recruited on a secret mission to find a possible saboteur in the "Secret City." 

I visited Oak Ridge a few years ago. The community center built by the Army as a gathering place for the residents is now a small history museum with amazing exhibits that preserve and honor the town’s legacy.

Beneath a Rare Blue Moon released this week and is available on Amazon.

Johnnie Alexander writes award-winning stories of enduring love and quiet courage. Her historical and contemporary novels weave together unforgettable romance, compelling characters, and a touch of mystery. A sometime hermit and occasional vagabond who most often kicks off her shoes in Florida, Johnnie cherishes cozy family times and enjoys long road trips. Readers are invited to discover glimpses of grace and timeless truth in her stories. Connect with her at johnnie-alexander.com.

Photos

Norris Dam ~ By Johnnie Alexander

City Seal. By http://www.cortn.org/PW-html/CDBGConsolidatedPlanHomePage2008.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64434822

Aerial View. By Department of Energy Oak Ridge - http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1931232 

Shift Change. By Ed Westcott / US Army / Manhattan Engineer District - Ed Westcott / American Museum of Science and Energy, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7006834

Billboard outside Oak Ridge. By James E. Westcott - https://www.flickr.com/photos/amse/2965051856/sizes/z/in/photostream/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12075242

The Chapel on the Hill ~ By Johnnie Alexander

Sources ~ Each source accessed on December 5, 2025.

Blue Moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon.

Oak Ridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge,_Tennessee. Accessed December 5, 2025.

TVA. https://www.tva.com/the-powerhouse/stories/home-front-defenders. Accessed December 5, 2025.

Florida Architect: Dwight James Baum

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Dwight James Baum. But I’d wager a bag of peanuts you’ve heard of the Ringling Brothers Circus. 

Five of the seven Ringling Brothers, known as the “Circus Kings,” began their rise to fame in 1870 with one traveling show. Over the following decades, they created an empire by expanding their own shows and acquiring others. They even purchased the Barnum and Bailey Circus for $400,000 in 1907.

What does that have to do with Dwight James Baum?

He was the renowned architect commissioned by John Nicholas Ringling and his wife, Mable, to design their mansion in Sarasota, Florida—the circus’s winter quarters.

Baum’s Bio

• June 24, 1886 ~ born in Little Falls, New York.
• 1909 ~ graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in architecture.
• 1912 ~ opened his own firm in the Bronx, New York area.
• 1923 ~ became the youngest architect to win a Gold Medal from the Architectural League of New York.
• 1931-32 ~ won for “best two-story house in the United States (1926-1930)”  from the American Institute of Architects (Bjorklund).
• December 14, 1939 ~ died in New York City.

Cà d'Zan

The estate, built by Owen Burns and completed in 1926, was named Cà d'Zan which is Venetian for “The House of John.”

Because John “turned every detail of its construction over to” his wife, (“a gift he gave freely”), the mansion is also known as “The House of Mable” (Moody). 

The Ringlings lost their wealth during the Great Depression, and John bequeathed his beloved Cà d'Zan to the state of Florida. After decades of neglect, the mansion was used as Miss Haversham’s broken-down manor in a 1998 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.

Today, after a lengthy restoration with a price tag of approximately $15 million, the estate is a museum and tourist attraction.

The mansion’s Venetian Gothic influence—such as the Gothic arches and terra cotta ornamentation—was inspired by a trip that John and Mable Ringling took to Venice. 

But that isn’t the only architectural style included in Baum’s design. Visitors will also note “Italian Renaissance, Moorish, and Spanish-inspired elements drawn from different historic periods” (Ca' d'Zan).

Country Life titled their October 1927 feature article on the fifty-six-room mansion as “A Venetian Palace in Florida” (Ca' d'Zan).

Baum’s Legacy

In addition to the Ringling mansion, Baum designed several civic buildings, including the Sarasota Times Building (1925) and the Sarasota County Courthouse (1926). During that same time period, he designed more than forty Mediterranean Revival style house in Temple Terrace, Florida.

Baum wasn’t only a renowned architect. His other pursuits involved historic preservation issues, photographing historic buildings, writing articles, working as a consulting architect for Good Housekeeping, and designing the magazine’s building exhibit for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. 

Fun Trivia Fact ~ Dwight Baum is a distant relative of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz series.

Your Turn

Have you ever visited a historic home that left you speechless? What details or craftsmanship stood out most to you?

Ca’ d’Zan means “House of John.” If you could design a “House of You,” what name or theme would you choose?

One rare night. One risky mission. A second chance at love.

Johnnie Alexander writes award-winning stories of enduring love and quiet courage. Her historical and contemporary novels weave together unforgettable romance, compelling characters, and a touch of mystery. 

A sometime hermit and occasional vagabond who most often kicks off her shoes in Florida, Johnnie cherishes cozy family times and enjoys long road trips. 

Readers are invited to discover glimpses of grace and timeless truth in her stories. Connect with her at johnnie-alexander.com.

Photos

Ceiling Mural: By MarissaSarah99 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110780641

Entrance Foyer: By Daderot - Own work, Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66521179

Front Façade: By HMSyume - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=156306739

Front Gate (Original Gateway to the Residence): By Upstateherd - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120444812

Springfield Daily Tribune scan: By Unknown author - The Springfield Daily Republican, Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=165190567

Sources

Bjorklund, Victoria Baum. “Dwight James Baum: The World’s Most Famous Architect from Little Falls.” Little Falls Historical Society. Accessed November 8, 2025. 

Ca' d'Zan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%27_d%27Zan

Moody, Laura. “Sarasota's Ca' d'Zan is filled with architectural beauty, and a great love story.” Fox 13 Tampa Bay. Published February 27, 2019. https://www.fox13news.com/good-day-tampa-bay/sarasotas-ca-dzan-is-filled-with-architectural-beauty-and-a-great-love-story

https://littlefallshistoricalsociety.org/writing-series/dwight-james-baum-the-worlds-most-famous-architect-from-little-falls

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_James_Baum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ringling

Florida Artists ~ George Inness, Jr.

I confess I’d never heard of George Inness, Jr. (nor George Inness, Sr., also recognized as an important artist) before researching Florida artists.

And yet, this renowned landscape artist and philanthropist contributed so much to the one Florida town’s cultural development that it is often referred to as the City of Arts.

That town is Tarpon Springs, located on the west coast of Florida in the Tampa Bay area, and it’s also known for its Greek heritage, freshly caught fish, and sponge-diving. (I’ve been a tourist there ~ the fish and the baklava are great and you can buy all kinds and sizes of sponges!)

Mr. Inness (January 5, 1854 – July 27, 1926) was born in Paris, France and lived an intercontinental life. While living on the East Coast of the U.S., his father often took him to Europe. 

He began his artistic career as a magazine illustrator but eventually attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He later opened a studio and even became “an Officer in the Académie des Beaux Arts, a rare distinction for an American” (Hall of Fame).

Once he returned to the U.S. in 1900, Mr. Inness became a snowbird. He lived in Cragsmoor, New York, but wintered in Tarpon Springs. The latter is where he spent his most productive years as a landscape painter.

The Unitarian Universalist Church in that Florida city owns eleven of his works. A few of these are murals painted on the church sanctuary walls.

Museums that include his paintings in their collections include: 

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• New Jersey’s Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
• Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, Daytona Beach, FL 

“He is recognized as a great Florida artist for his depiction of the state’s unspoiled landscapes full of the flora and fauna of his time” (Hall of Fame)."

Here’s an interesting tidbit ~ Financial success seemed to be launched after Mr. Inness sold a large painting of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington to his father-in-law, the founder of a publishing company.

Mr. Inness’s 27-room Florida home, known as Inness Manor, became a famed artists’ colony. It boasted a large painting studio and artists’ cottages where other prominent painters often visited.

Chetolah, his New York home, has its own claim to fame ~ it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Johnnie Alexander is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of more than thirty works of fiction in multiple genres. She is both traditionally and indie-published, serves as board secretary for the Mosaic Collection, LLC (an indie-author group) and faculty chair for the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference; co-hosts Writers Chat, a weekly online show; and contributes to the HHHistory.com blog. With a heart for making memories, Johnnie is a fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips. Connect with her at JohnnieAlexander.com.

Photos

George Inness, Jr. Portrait By Internet Archive Book Images ~ https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43632603; no restrictions

Sources

Hall of Fame ~ https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/george-inness-jr/

Unitarian Universalist Church in Tarpon Springs ~ https://www.uutarpon.org/inness-paintings/

Florida Architects ~ Lake County Historic Mansions

 

 

The first woman to become a member of American Institute of Architects’ New York chapter wasn’t formally trained as an architect. 

 

Instead, Katherine Cotheal Budd (born in 1860 in Clinton, Iowa), had studied art and design at the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art (Long Island) from 1891 to 1894. After that, she studied with William R. Ware, an architect who also taught at Columbia University. She achieved her AIA membership in 1924.

 

The Howey Mansion, Howey-in-the-Hills

 

Ms. Budd is notable for designing the Howey Mansion, built in 1925 for citrus magnate William J. Howey and his wife, Mary Grace Hastings Howey. The house “is a great example of the Mediterranean Revival architecture that appeared during the state’s land boom era” (Dykstra).

Howey House, circa 1925

The mansion’s twenty-room interior featured high ceilings, original hand-painted tiles, and a grand staircase. Florida’s elite attended the glamorous parties held beneath the red tile roofing. Even Calvin Coolidge was a guest! 

 

Though the house fell into disrepair over the decades, the magnificent house has been restored and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Harry C. Duncan House, Tavares

 

 

Ms. Budd also designed a historic home in Tavares which is considered “one of the best examples of the Colonial Revival style in Florida” (Duncan). This mansion, built for Harry C. Duncan, a prominent community leader, was added to the National Register in 1997. Mr. Duncan was a colleague of William Howey—in fact, he helped persuade Mr. Howey to move to Lake County where both these homes are located.

Legacy

 

Though she maintained her architectural practice in New York City, Ms. Budd often traveled to Europe. She lived in Florida from about 1926 to 1928, apparently staying in the Sunshine State for health reasons after her two major commissions. During her long career, Ms. Budd designed hospitals, churches, and more than a hundred houses.

 

She also teamed up with other notable women architects to design Hostess Houses for American military camps during World War I. The YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) commissioned these newly constructed buildings to provide a comfortable place where soldiers could entertain their families and “as places for women to gain experience in managing complex and relatively large institutions” (Brandimarte).

 

Ms. Budd was not only a talented architect. She also wrote articles focusing on kitchen, pantry, and Japanese design for such journals as American Homes and Gardens, Architectural Record, and Country Life. 

 

In 1940, Ms. Budd moved to Tucson where she taught arts and crafts as a Girl Scouts volunteer. She died, at age 90, in 1951. 

Your Turn ~ Which architectural style do you prefer--Mediterranean Revival (the Howey Mansion) or Colonial Revival (the Duncan House)?

 

More Info

 

This site has amazing photos of Howey Mansion’s interior and details more of its history ~ https://abandonedfl.com/howey-mansion/.

 

More info about Ms. Budd and the Hostess Houses, including photos, can be found at this site ~ https://misspreservation.com/2016/03/16/seven-years-the-hostess-house-and-the-female-architect-and-mississippi/.

 

Johnnie Alexander is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of more than thirty works of fiction in multiple genres. She is both traditionally and indie-published, serves as board secretary for the Mosaic Collection, LLC (an indie-author group) and faculty chair for the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference; co-hosts Writers Chat, a weekly online show; and contributes to the HHHistory.com blog. With a heart for making memories, Johnnie is a fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips. Connect with her at JohnnieAlexander.com.

 

Photos

Harry C. Duncan House ~ https://web.archive.org/web/20101215202455/http:/dhr.dos.state.fl.us/facts/reports/places/index.cfm?fuseaction=FullImage&id=897

Harry C. Duncan House ~ By Ebyabe ~ Own work, CC BY 2.5, ~ https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1841470. 

Howey House, circa 1925 ~ Florida Memory offers all images under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 (PDM 1.0). This indicates that the images are free from all known copyright restrictions. For more information, please visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

Howey Mansion, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida ~ Ebyabe via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Brandimarte, Cynthia. "Women on the Home Front Hostess Houses during World War I." https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/592789. (Accessed April 6, 2025.)

Dykstra, Jon. "15 of the Finest Historic Mansions in Florida (Gilded Age South)." https://www.homestratosphere.com/historic-mansions-florida/. (Posted November 17, 2024; accessed January 2, 2025).

Harry C. Duncan House. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_C._Duncan_House. (Accessed April 6, 2025).

Florida’s Featured Artist ~ Mary Ann Carroll

 

The Florida Highwaymen, mostly self-taught artists who sold their landscapes from the trunks of their cars in the 1950s and 60s, included one amazing and talented woman.

 

Mary Ann Carroll, the only woman of the twenty-six Original Highwaymen, once said: “'From my youth, I could draw anything I could see'” (History). 

 

That talent eventually led to her recognition as “an icon on the Highwaymen Heritage Trail” (Carroll). 

Since this group of Black artists were excluded from showing their work at art galleries, they traveled throughout southeast Florida and went door-to-door to sell their colorful impressionistic paintings—unique artwork unlike any others of the era.

A reporter for the New York Times wrote: “More than anything, what distinguished the Highwaymen artists were their colorful landscapes…Organic colors were not their main focus; they wanted to wow buyers with burnt-orange Florida skies or unnaturally florescent clouds” [Hurd].

Ms. Carroll, like the other twenty-five Highwaymen, “travelled across the state, selling her art at hotels, offices, and restaurants where she was not allowed to drink, eat, or even sit. If the Highwaymen faced discrimination at every door they knocked on, then the challenges--and dangers--were magnified for Carroll. She took pride in always having her pristine Buick gassed and ready to go and her small handgun cleaned and ready to use” (Florida).

 

As difficult as finding buyers must have been for a mother of seven children, Ms. Carroll’s artistic career provided a better income than working as a maid, nurse’s aide, or housepainter. Plus, when she wasn’t traveling, she could work from home.

 

When she was on the road, however, she managed to stay in touch with her children despite the lack of cell phones. She holds the distinction of being the first woman in the Fort Pierce CB (citizens band radio) Chapter. Her handle was Lady Heartbreaker #101, and she affectionately referred to her children as Baby Heartbreakers (Memorial).

 

The Highwaymen faded into obscurity during the 70s and 80s but enjoyed a resurgence in the mid-1990s when “Jim Fitch, a Florida art historian, and Jeff Klinkenberg, of the St. Petersburg Times, wrote several newspaper articles about the group whom Fitch dubbed ‘The Florida Highwaymen’ for their business of selling art door-to-door along US Highway 1” (Wikipedia). 

 

The publicity renewed interest in the Highwaymen and increased the value of their paintings. Attics were searched and yard sales were scoured for forgotten Highwaymen artwork!

 

We learn this from the Florida Department of State (FDOS) website:

 

“Since the revival of interest in the Highwaymen, [Mary Ann Carroll’s] paintings are now in great demand. Her work is noted for her use of vivid colors. Besides being an accomplished painter, Carroll was a musician and gospel singer and could be found on Sundays preaching and singing at her own ministry in Fort Pierce.”

 

Quick Bio

 

Born ~ November 30, 1940 in Sandersville, Georgia

Parents ~ Lenora "Coot" Jones Pullen and B.W. Snead

Married ~ James Brady Carroll

Died ~ December 4, 2019

Buried ~ Pine Grove Cemetery, Fort Pierce, Florida

 

Important Dates

 

2004 ~ All 26 Florida Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

 

May 2009 ~ Ms. Carroll was elected the first president of the Florida Highwaymen Artists and History Center.

Untitled Poinciana Tree

May 2011 ~ As guest of honor at a prestigious First Lady’s Luncheon, Ms. Carroll presented an original poinciana tree painting to Michelle Obama.

February 2019 ~ Ms. Carroll was named as Florida's Featured Artist in Celebration of Black History Month by Casey DeSantis, Florida's First Lady. 

 

March 2020 ~ The Florida Legislature honored the Florida Highwaymen by creating a specialty license plate.

 

Legacy

Ms. Carroll often referred to herself as "Queen of the Road." An annual exhibition of the Florida Highwaymen’s artwork is held at the A. E. Backus Gallery and Museum, Fort Pierce, Florida.

 

Tallahassee’s Museum of Florida has paintings by twenty-three of the original twenty-six artists in their collection.

Your Turn

Did you know about Mary Ann Carroll or the Florida Highwaymen before reading this post? Does their colorful style appeal to you? Which of these paintings would you want in your home?

Johnnie Alexander is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of more than thirty works of fiction in multiple genres. She is both traditionally and indie-published, serves as board secretary for the Mosaic Collection, LLC (an indie-author group) and faculty chair for the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference; co-hosts Writers Chat, a weekly online show; and contributes to the HHHistory.com blog. With a heart for making memories, Johnnie is a fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips. Connect with her at JohnnieAlexander.com. 

Photo

 

Untitled Poinciana Tree; Oil on canvas, 2004; H: 29” W: 35”; Acquired from the artist in 2004; Collection of the Museum of Florida History. https://dos.fl.gov/historical/museums/historical-museums/united-connections/women-in-history/mary-ann-carroll/

Sources

Carroll ~ https://highwaymenajbrown.com/mary-ann-carroll/

FDOS (Florida Department of State) ~ https://dos.fl.gov/historical/museums/historical-museums/united-connections/women-in-history/mary-ann-carroll

Florida ~ https://www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com/highwaymen/mary-ann-carroll/

History (Orlando County Regional History Center) ~ https://www.thehistorycenter.org/mary-ann-carroll/

Hurd, Gordon K. (2019). “Alfred Hair: A charismatic businessman who created a movement for Florida’s black artists.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/obituaries/alfred-hair-overlooked.html

Memorial ~ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205398989/mary-ann-carroll

Wikipedia ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Highwaymen_(landscape_artists)

Tiny Island, Big History

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

So, as if my life didn't have enough happening, I decided it was a good idea to sign on with a monthly challenge with a few other authors who are part of my local writer's chapter. Although I've remained consistent with article writing, copywriting and copyediting, it has been a few years since I last had a fiction novel release. This challenge is helping me flex those story muscles and form a daily habit that will lead to me finishing this book that has been sitting on my computer for far too long.

Although the research is already done, today I'm sharing a little background of unique facts about this little island called Chincoteague, just off the Eastern Shore of Virginia and to the east of the Delmarva Peninsula.

CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND

The history of human activity in Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, begins with the Native Americans. Settlers from Europe swooped in and overtook the land in the late 17th century, but until then, the Chincoteague Indians used it as a place to gather shellfish. They aren't known to have lived there, though, as the island lacked suitable soil for their agriculture. Marshland doesn't typically grow much of anything except reeds.

Picturesque view of Chincoteague away from the populated
portion of the island (looking toward Assateague)

Once the European settlers inhabited the island, a series of disputes over who would own the island ensued. That led to patents being issued and a final resolution of an even split between two gentleman. With ownership of the island settled, it mostly existed as a place to house livestock, since they could feed off the marsh grasses. No need for fences or other enclosures to prevent the animals from straying either. How far could the animals go when they're on an island surrounded by water? (grins)

This led to the origin of the ponies on Assateague, though legends reported a Spanish shipwreck which left the ponies as cargo to swim to the nearest island. Historians believe the legend of the shipwreck simply became entwined with the history of the ponies until it was accepted as "truth." Funny how history does that from time to time. Makes me wonder just how much of unrecorded history is truly fact or merely embellished truths spoken from generation to generation until the truth and the embellishment can no longer be separated. Have you ever come across details like this?

Anyway, back to Chincoteague.

Stanley Jester (a distant cousin) harvests oysters by hand at low
tide in his oyster bed in the shallows of Chincoteague Bay

For the next hundred years or so, the island remained a place to house livestock for owners living on the mainland of Virginia. Following the Revolutionary War, residents realized the potential of business and industry through the abundance of shellfish in the area. This industry became so big, shipments went as far north as New England to the cities steadily growing there, and as I mentioned last month, my grandfather's family lived here. It was shellfish being provided to the White House under President Woodrow Wilson which led to my great-grandfather's cousin marrying the president while he was in office, leaving me with a family connection to "American royalty."

Throughout these years of shellfish and seafood industry, Chincoteague thrived. In 1876, a rail line completed a stop just 5 miles from the island with a steamship completing the distance. This gave oystermen an efficient means of getting their shellfish to market and began the wave of tourists escaping the city heat in the summer. Tourism hasn't slowed since.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* If you had an island similar to Chincoteague just a short distance across a narrow channel from where you lived, what would you do with it?

* Are you a fan of shellfish or seafood? What's your favorite?

* What recounting of an event do you know where the real truth has been fused with legend or unrecorded history? How much is true and what is legend?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below.

** This note is for our email readers. Please do not reply via email with any comments. View the blog online and scroll down to the comments section.

Come back on the 9th of each month for my next foray into historical tidbits to share.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has embellished stories since childhood, thanks to a very active imagination and notations of talking entirely too much. Honing those skills led her to careers as an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, while also working as a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help improve their lives in a variety of ways, but especially from the inside out.

Currently, she lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, three dogs, and three cats in southeastern Kentucky. In her 20+ years as a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and has agent representation with Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.