Hometown History

Death Valley, California. In 1820, the well-known British writer Sidney Smith mocked the United States for its lack of culture and sophistication. In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book, or goes to an American play, or looks at an American picture or statue? This was a common sentiment at the time. America was a young country, barely 40 years old, and most Europeans viewed i...

Grand Canyon, Arizona. There's a scene in the show Mad Men that shook me up the first time I saw it. It's probably not the one you think. In the very first episode, the Draper family picnics along the interstate. The grass is green, the birds are out, and a small portable radio placed softly on a red and white checkered blanket. It's a deeply nostalgic picture of 1960s America. Is Bobb...

Eureka, California. One of my favorite movies as a kid was The Lorax, the original with this song. Under the trees, happy-deppy barbaloots. Under the trees, in our barbaloot suits. Under the trees, eating traculate fruits. Boldly succulent, deliciously deliciously sweetly succulent, fluous traculate fruits. When I first saw The Lorax, I had some sense that it was about protecting the environment,...

In March 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law, establishing the world's first national park. But Yellowstone's creation wasn't simply a political decision, it was the result of a deliberate artistic campaign. Long before most Americans knew about Yellowstone's geysers, hot springs, and dramatic landscapes, three artists began...

In 1864, three years into the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed legislation that would change America's relationship with nature forever. The Yosemite Valley Grant Act claimed California's magnificent valley for conservation, establishing a precedent that would lead to the National Park Service and inspire similar movements worldwide. While Yellowstone would become the first official "...

Ever wondered about the incredible stories hiding in your own hometown? The events too small for textbooks but too fascinating to forget? , the podcast that uncovers forgotten local American history from across the country. Each week, host Shane Waters digs into overlooked events, extraordinary people, and wild stories from small towns and big cities alike. These aren't the history lessons you...

When most people think of America's national parks, they imagine breathtaking landscapes, the towering cliffs of Yosemite, the geysers of Yellowstone, the misty valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains. But behind every protected vista lies a political battle, and in this special episode, Shane sits down with Will and Jim Patis, founders of More Than Just Parks, to explore the untold story of the...

Fountain City, Indiana. Before we jump back into the story of Levi and Catherine Coffin, the so-called president and first lady of the Underground Railroad, I thought it'd be helpful to review some of the code words common to the movement. Most of these will be intuitive once you get the hang of the railroad theme. Tracks were simply the routes abolitionists used to move the slaves north. Stat...

Fountain City, Indiana. So, Levi is confused at his young age because at the age of seven, he's thinking, wait a minute, these men have been taken from their families? All these thoughts are going through his head, and he's wondering, what did these men do that were so bad? And his father's, I'm sure, explaining to him they didn't deserve anything for this. They're enslaved...

Nashville, Tennessee. The tomb was vandalized in 2018. It was the only time in 130 some years that had ever happened. Fortunately, there was no structural damage to it, but it was spray paint. Tennessee limestone just drinks up spray paint. So we had to bring out a laser crew from Sweden. They had to build like a whole wooden structure covering the tomb so that they could use the lasers because th...

Nashville, Tennessee. What's the first step in becoming the most powerful man in America? For our seventh president, Andrew Jackson, the first step in his journey to prominence began with the purchase of his first slave. I sat down with Erin Adams, director of education at Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, a museum on the premises of the president's former home, to learn more. TIMELINE 1788:...

Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee. I'd like to introduce one of my favorite voices among anyone I've ever interviewed. Well, my name is Steve McDaniel, and I grew up, I'm seven generations in this community here at what we call Parker's Crossroads. Parker's Crossroads, Tennessee, is a small town of 284 people, but it has a big history. TIMELINE 1861: It became clear that this...

Nashville, Tennessee. When you think of ancient Greece, what images pop into your head? You probably think of the Olympics and philosophers like Plato and Socrates. You might think of stories like the Odyssey and the Iliad that you were forced to read in high school. And if you close your eyes and picture one ancient Greek building, I bet you are picturing the Parthenon, the iconic temple complex...

Memphis, Tennessee. Oh That's the voice of Dewey Phillips, hosting his radio show called Red Hot and Blue on WHBQ, a Memphis station. In the 1950s, more than 100,000 people listened to his primetime slot every day. If you couldn't make out what Dewey was saying, don't feel bad. I had to listen to it a few times myself. But for Memphians of that era, Dewey's frantic and crazed caden...

Memphis, Tennessee. In 2015, musical artist Jack White paid $300,000 for a 78 RPM record at auction. The record was of Elvis Presley singing the songs My Happiness and That's When Your Heartache Begins. It was the first record Elvis ever made. That $300,000 price tag is a far cry from the $4 that Elvis originally paid to make the record at Sun Studio, a place I recently visited. Elvis wanted t...

Memphis, Tennessee. Well, currently we are sitting in the center of Sun Studio, where rock and roll was born, here in Memphis, Tennessee. You're hearing the song, Rocket 88, widely considered to be the first rock and roll song ever recorded. It was recorded here, at Sun Studio, by Jackie Brinston and his Delta Cats. The Delta Cats included Ike Turner, one of the many legendary musicians, to re...

Nashville, Tennessee. In December 1864, Confederate troops were moving toward Nashville with the plan. Union troops had occupied the southern city for the last two years, and Lieutenant General John Bell Hood wanted to take it back. Luckily, the Union Army had prepared for this very moment by building a 180,000 square foot fortress near downtown Nashville called Fort Negley. The Union garrison arm...

Memphis, Tennessee. You'll see pretty browns in beautiful gowns. You'll see tailor-made and hand-me-downs. You'll meet honest men and pickpocket skill. You'll find that business never closes till somebody gets killed. If Beale Street could talk, if Beale Street could talk, married men would have to take their beds in war. Except one or two who never drink booze and the blind man on...

Wabash, Indiana. It was raining on the day of the execution, as Fletcher described it. The rain during the forenoon had the effect of making the streets and almost every other place exceedingly sloppy and muddy. The ground having recently been frozen, the mud was not very deep, but every place was very slippery. While the crowd were assembled around the jail waiting, a rather green young man attem...

Wabash, Indiana. Before it was called Ridge Valley, the community the French family was living in was known as Keller Station. Isaac Keller and his brother own large tracts of land in this area, as well as a popular inn and tavern that was the social hub of the neighborhood. Isaac Keller actually owned the land that the French's, and now the Hubbards, have been living on. On their way to the c...

Wabash, Indiana. Aaron French moved in from Cincinnati. He had only been here approximately six months, so he himself was a transient character. He had attempted to be a businessman in Cincinnati, involved in the meatpacking industry, and went broke. And so he decided to maybe try his hand at farming. So he moves up here, gets a place as a tenant farmer, and does what he can with that, and apparen...

Wabash, Indiana. I remember the first time I tried to visit the French family grave, just outside of Wabash, Indiana. It was a Sunday, in the middle of winter, one day before the mini blizzard that closed county schools and buried every car on Market Street up to its door handles. I had just moved to town, and I was feeling the things you feel when you move someplace new. I was wondering if the pe...

The sky to the west of the small town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, glowed red before the sunrise, on the morning of October 8, 1871. It was Sunday, and when the local priest stepped out of his church to greet local parishioners, the air was smoky and white ash fell like snow. The priest, whose name was Peter Pernan, turned and went back into the church and ran to the front of the sanctuary. He grabbed...

The mineral-stained cliffs of Pictured Rocks rise 200 feet above Lake Superior in colors you wouldn't believe, iron oxide reds, copper greens, manganese browns, and limonite whites. But here's the twist: this remote corner of Michigan might be more than just beautiful. According to Science Digest, Sault Ste Marie in the Upper Peninsula is projected to be the best place to live in America b...

A tourist pays $700 for a fishing charter on Michigan's Torch Lake, catches an 8-pound beauty, and brings home dinner. There's just one problem: that fish is six pounds of meat and two pounds of tumor. The lake won't be safe to eat from for another 800 years. Welcome to Michigan's copper country, where the industry that supplied 90% of the Union's copper during the Civil War le...