Invisible Ground

Our 20th episode is all about Nelsonville, Ohio, which is home to our two newest Immersive Historic Sites: the Nelsonville Brick Kilns and the city's historic Public Square. They join our previous site at Stuart's Opera House (featured in episode 15). We will talk about both places in this episode and learn more about the town’s Black History, its connection to professional baseball, and its indus...

For this episode of Invisible Ground, we spotlight the other big piece of this project, our series of Immersive Historic Sites, now at 17 sites around the region. Hear all eight of the newest audio pieces from the Invisible Ground app, one for each of the new markers since the last time we did this. Each audio interpretation welcomes you to the location and lets you hear the story from someone dir...

This episode is all about the Athens Armory, covering everything from the National Guard's early days to the historic building itself and the people who passed through its walls. We learn about Black soldiers from southeast Ohio in World War I, go back to when the lot was part of the Athens Brick Company and hosted a few tent revivals before construction on the Armory began, and the connections of...

For this episode, we head to the village of Amesville in Athens County, where this small town boasts a significant history, including one of Ohio’s first libraries, the American Revolution, the Underground Railroad, and some fascinating stories of people, places, and events. MUSIC: Todd Jacops - "Rain Spring" The Peel - "Sunset Circus" Sportfishing USA - "Feeling So Strange" Dead Winds of Summer -...

In this episode of Invisible Ground we visit Rendville, a small town in Perrry County, Ohio a historic Black community. Hear about this community's story and the important people who called it home, and the work being done to preserve that legacy well into the future. MUSIC: Todd Jacops - "Rain Spring" Brian Harnetty - "Rendville" Daniel Bachman - "Blue Ridge Turnpike" Brian Harnetty - "Corning" D...

We head to Stuart's Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio, a 145 year old historic theater and performing arts center that is the cornerstone of that town's Public Square. Dedicated to the arts and its community for its existence, learn about George Stuart and his Opera House, and the incredible stories of that building's history. MUSIC: Todd Jacops - "Rain Spring" Bill MacKay - "Plaza Serenade" Natura...

For this episode of Invisible Ground we spotlight the other big piece of this project, our series of Immersive Historic Sites at eight locations around Athens County. Hear all eight of the audio pieces from the Invisible Ground app, one for each of the markers. Each audio interpretation welcomes you to the location and allows you to hear the story from one person, someone who is directly connected...

For this episode, we head to a very special place: the grounds of the Athens Asylum. It has held its place on a hill overlooking Athens and Ohio University for over 150 years, and its grounds and buildings, as well as the people who called it home, have many stories to tell.  We will just scratch the surface this time,  join us to learn more about Levi Scofield, the early days of the Asylum, Radar...

We head up to the village of Chauncey in Athens County for this episode. We talk about the coal mine and tipple once found where the Chauncey-Dover Community Park (and soon an Invisible Ground Immersive Historic Marker) is today and its impact on the landscape past and present. There's a huge mine strike, Ivy League University presidents, retired Civil War generals heading to the bar, explosions,...

Invisible Ground heads over to Ohio University's College Green in Athens, Ohio to learn all about one of the most prominent backdrops to all who have lived in this town: the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. We learn about why it's there, what it means, and the times that have changed around it, on it, and well... literally from its hands. And we hear about the life of Athens County's most important...

Invisible Ground travels to the small town of Albany, Ohio to learn about its important connection to the Underground Railroad, and early Black education in the United States. We learn about the Albany Enterprise Academy, and its predecessor, the Albany Manual Labor Academy: the legacies they leave behind, the forgotten places on the landscape, and the incredible people who walked through their do...

Invisible Ground heads to the literal center of Uptown Athens to dive into the history of the Athens County Courthouse in this episode. The current Courthouse dates to 1880 and contains so many stories, we learn more about this building, the ones that came before it, and the connections inside and outside of Athens County. Plus, hear a bit more about the oldest buildings on Court Street in a speci...

No history or documentary storytelling in this episode, this time it is all focused on The Music of Invisible Ground! To celebrate the pre-order of our compilation of the same name on vinyl, cd, and digital download (which you should make sure to go pre-order and support at igg.me/at/invisiblegroundmusic ) we are diving into the sounds you hear throughout the podcast. Music from Todd Jacops, Power...

Learn a bit more about the Berrys, the Davisons, Mount Zion, and the Westside of Athens in these short stories. Students from the Andrew Jackson Davison Club at Athens Middle School researched, interviewed, wrote their script, and recorded their narration in only a few weeks! This episode is part of a project for Tantrum Theater and their debut play Hotel Berry, and is a collaboration with Invisib...

Enjoy this special story courtesy of the Andrew Jackson Davison Club at Athens Middle School about the Westside neighborhood in Athens and its West State Street Cemetery. The students researched, interviewed, wrote their script, and recorded their narration in only a few weeks! This episode is part of a project for Tantrum Theater and their debut play Hotel Berry, and is a collaboration with Invis...

Enjoy this special story courtesy of the Andrew Jackson Davison Club at Athens Middle School about Mount Zion Baptist Church in Athens, Ohio and its historic importance to the Black community here in Athens and beyond. The students researched, interviewed, wrote their script, and recorded their narration in only a few weeks! This episode is part of a project for Tantrum Theater and their debut pla...

Enjoy this special story courtesy of the Andrew Jackson Davison Club at Athens Middle School about Andrew Jackson Davison and Eliza Brown Davison. The students researched, interviewed, wrote their script, and recorded their narration in only a few weeks! This episode is part of a project for Tantrum Theater and their debut play Hotel Berry, and is a collaboration with Invisible Ground, the Andrew...

Enjoy this special story courtesy of the Andrew Jackson Davison Club at Athens Middle School about Edward and Martha Jane Berry! Learn a bit more about the Berry's, their story, what their hotel was really like, and their important legacy. The students researched, interviewed, wrote their script, and recorded their narration in only a few weeks! This episode is part of a project for Tantrum Theate...

This episode is about the historic Mount Zion Baptist Church in Athens, Ohio, which is celebrating 150 years since the founding of its congregation. The church, the building, and the institution are a central part of the lives of the Black community in Athens County and beyond. A building that still remains with us, when so many others have been erased with their history, culture, and stories too....

We journey to the Little Cities of Black Diamonds, a collection of company towns, villages, mines, and settlements in a region around the borders of Athens, Perry, Morgan, and Hocking County. A region that powered America's industrial revolution and created the environment and foundation for the United Mine Workers, and the modern labor union movement. We learn all about the area from the people w...

This is a bonus piece for Invisible Ground! It is the same audio orientation from Ada-Woodson Adams you will find in our Invisible Ground app (you can download it for Apple and Android!) for the first of our Immersive Historic Markers at the former site of The Berry Hotel at 15 North Court Street in Athens, Ohio. Be sure to go try it out! And to listen to the full episode about The Berry Hotel in...

Music in this episode includes: Todd Jacops - "Rain Spring" Ummonumental - "Elephant" The Peel - "Lucy's Song" Weedghost - "Self-Indulgent" disjointed mike - "reflections of a dawn meadow" Yasmin Williams - "I Wonder (Song For Michael)" Weedghost - "Ghost of a Weed" Matthew J. Rolin - "Cabin" Unmonumental - "Trail of Angels" The Peel - "Autumn" Powers/Rolin Duo - "Amaranth" Matthew J. Rolin - "Dep...

In this episode of Invisible Ground, we head over to eastern Athens County to learn about Tablertown and the unique family history of David Butcher. In the middle, we have a short piece about a historical mystery in the backyard of some friends. And we wrap up this installment with a quick story about Rural Action and their Ride Through Time series, which takes public history and interpretation of...

Marietta, Ohio was the first permanent white settlement in 1788 was thought of as the Western frontier of the "Old Northwest".  Founded by early settlers from the Ohio Company, who had received land from the United States after their service in the American Revolution, they were not the first people to call the confluence of the Muskingum and the Ohio home. The large and mysterious mounds that dot...

The history of Athens, Ohio and its neighborhoods and people told through the historic West State Street Cemetery. A public and immersive piece of history for Southeast Ohio that is the final resting place for veterans all the way back to the Revolutionary War, escaped slaves who came to Athens for freedom, town founders, and many other people who walked these streets before us. Brian talks to a w...