Hometown History
Kanaal Besonderhede
Hometown History
Discover the untold stories hidden in your own backyard with Hometown History. We bring to life the forgotten events and local legends that never made it into the textbooks. Each episode uncovers the mysteries and pivotal moments that shaped small towns across the nation. Join us as we delve deep in...
Onlangse Episodes
175 episodes
Kalaupapa, Hawai'i: The Saint of Exiles and Hansen's Disease Colony
Between 1866 and 1969, the Kingdom and later State of Hawai'i sent over eight thousand people diagnosed with Hansen's disease—then known as leprosy—to...
Africatown: The Last Slave Ship Survivors Who Built a Town
In July 1860, under cover of darkness, 110 West Africans were smuggled into Mobile Bay aboard the Clotilda—the last known slave ship to reach American...
171: The Last New England Vampire
On a cold March morning in 1892, five men gathered at Chestnut Hill Baptist Church cemetery in Exeter, Rhode Island, to open a family crypt. Inside la...
170: Radium Girls of Ottawa: Shining Women, Deadly Glow
In 1922, a dream factory opened in Ottawa, Illinois, offering young women exceptional wages to paint luminous watch dials with a miracle element calle...
169: When Lightning Struck the Big Top
On June 10, 1897, the Ringling Brothers circus arrived in Wahpeton, North Dakota, transforming the small frontier town's ordinary morning into an extr...
168: The Miracle of Hickory: A Hospital in 54 Hours
In the summer of 1944, as World War II raged overseas and medical resources stretched thin, a deadly polio outbreak swept through western North Caroli...
167: How America’s Main Streets Are Fighting Back—The Wabash Playbook
In 1880, Wabash, Indiana became the first city in the world to light its streets with electricity—earning gasps of wonder and cries of "miracle!" But...
166: Nursing Through the Ages, Part 3 – The Rise of Modern Nursing
From battlefield tents to modern hospitals, nursing transformed from humble care work into one of the world's most trusted professions. This episode t...
165: Nursing Through the Ages, Part 2 – Florence Nightingale and the War on Death
It's 2:30 in the morning, November 1854. In a makeshift army hospital above the Bosphorus, rats scurry between cots as another stretcher swings throug...
164: Nursing Through the Ages, Part 1: The Dark Origins of Nursing
In 1910, Florence Nightingale died, leaving behind a transformed profession. But there was a time when nursing wasn't noble—it was shameful work that...
163: The Mysterious Disappearance of the Sodder Children: A Christmas Eve Tragedy
On Christmas Eve 1945, five children vanished from their family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia. When fire consumed the Sodder residence that nigh...
162: The Bone Wars: Paleontology’s Greatest Rivalry
When Othniel Charles Marsh secretly arranged to steal fossils from his friend Edward Drinker Cope's excavation site in 1868, he ignited one of the mos...
161: The Curse of Rebel Without a Cause: Hollywood’s Tragic Tale
In 1955, Rebel Without a Cause became one of Hollywood's most iconic films, capturing teenage rebellion with raw honesty. Within months of the premier...
160: Psychiana: The Mail-Order Religion That Swept America
In 1929, a recovering alcoholic and twice-discharged military veteran named Frank Bruce Robinson made a $2,500 investment that would transform a small...
159: The Vanishing of Judge Crater: New York’s Greatest Mystery
In August 1930, New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater walked into a taxi on a Manhattan street corner and vanished completely. His disappearanc...
158: How a Telegraph Cable Launched Tiffany & Co. to Fame
In August 1858, when the first transatlantic telegraph cable failed after just three weeks, most people saw disaster. Charles Lewis Tiffany saw opport...
157: The Vanishing of Ambrose Bierce: A Literary Mystery
In December 1913, one of America's most acclaimed writers sent his final letter from Chihuahua, Mexico, stating he was heading "tomorrow for an unknow...
156: Beneath the Greenbrier: America’s Cold War Bunker Exposed
Hidden beneath one of America's most luxurious resorts lies one of the Cold War's most remarkable secrets. From 1959 to 1992, the elegant Greenbrier R...
155: The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872
In 1872, two Kentucky prospectors walked into a San Francisco banker's office carrying a leather bag filled with rough diamonds. They claimed to have...
154: Secrets in Stone: The Mystery of Coral Castle
In the 1920s, a 5-foot-tall, 100-pound man suffering from tuberculosis began quarrying massive coral blocks—some weighing 30 tons each. Working alone...
153: Crafting a Revolution: The Legacy of Paul Revere
Paul Revere's midnight ride is legendary, but his real weapon wasn't a horse—it was his silversmith's tools. Through powerful engravings and propagand...
152: The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run
Between 1934 and 1938, a methodical killer terrorized Cleveland's Kingsbury Run, leaving behind 13 dismembered, decapitated bodies—many drained of blo...
151: Beyond the Myths: The Real Secret Societies of America
In 1864, Washington D.C. witnessed the birth of America's first congressionally-chartered fraternal organization—the Knights of Pythias. Based on an a...
150: Shadow of Pearl Harbor: The Internment of Japanese Americans
In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the military unprecedented power to forcibly remove anyone deemed a...
149: America’s Youngest Serial Killer: The Crimes of Jesse Pomeroy
In 1874, a 14-year-old boy named Jesse Pomeroy was sentenced to death for the brutal torture and murder of at least two children in Massachusetts. His...
148: The Dark Side of Paradise: Inside the Rat Utopia Experiment
In 1968, behavioral researcher John Calhoun created what he called "paradise" for mice—a perfectly controlled environment called Universe 25. Every ne...
147: A Century-Old Naval Mystery: The U.S.S. Cyclops
In March 1918, the USS Cyclops departed Barbados for Baltimore carrying 309 crew members and 10,000 tons of manganese ore. The massive Navy cargo ship...
146: Haunted Beginnings: The Rise of the Fox Sisters
In 1847, two young sisters moved into a supposedly haunted farmhouse in Hydesville, New York. What began as Kate and Maggie Fox playing pranks on thei...
145: Forgotten Wholesome Stories from America’s Past
Most of us sing "Happy Birthday" without knowing the two sisters who created it in a Louisville classroom. We've heard of Johnny Appleseed, but the re...
144: The Night Doctors
In the late 1800s, a terrifying legend spread through African American communities across the South: mysterious figures called the Night Doctors roame...
143: The Hollywood Blacklist
In 1947, paranoia swept through Hollywood like wildfire. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) launched investigations into suspected Comm...
142: Lewis Howard Latimer
When Thomas Edison finally perfected the light bulb in 1879, there was one massive problem: his carbon filament burned out after just a few hours. The...
141: The Truth about Movie Censorships
In 1921, Hollywood's biggest comedy star walked into a San Francisco hotel room—and walked out a pariah. Fatty Arbuckle, earning the modern equivalent...
140: The First Light: Charles Brush’s Lighting System
On April 29, 1879, Cleveland, Ohio became the first city in America to install public electric streetlights when Charles Brush's revolutionary arc lam...
139: The Truth About May Day
On May 4, 1886, a peaceful labor demonstration in Chicago's Haymarket Square erupted into violence when an unknown person threw a bomb into the police...
138: America’s Greatest Conspiracy Theory: The Disappearing Ship
On October 28, 1943, conspiracy theorists claim the US Navy made a destroyer vanish into thin air at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. According to the...
137: Battle of Alcatraz
In May 1946, six desperate inmates at America's most secure prison executed what should have been impossible: they overpowered nine guards, seized wea...
136: The Female Pirates of the Caribbean
In the early 1700s, two women did the impossible: they disguised themselves as men and became pirates in the Caribbean's most dangerous waters. Anne B...
135: The Whiskey Ring of 1875
In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant's administration faced its most devastating scandal. A secret conspiracy between Treasury officials and whiskey di...
134: The Real Stories of Project Blue Book
From 1952 to 1969, the United States Air Force conducted a classified investigation into unidentified flying objects from a secret facility at Wright-...