Hometown History

In the spring of 1903, attorney James Buchanan Marcum faced a terrible daily calculation in Jackson, Kentucky. For seventy-two days, the most prominent lawyer in Breathitt County refused to leave his own home without his infant son pressed against his chest. The reasoning was as simple as it was horrifying: the men who wanted him dead would not risk shooting a man holding a baby. Marcum had made enemies of the most powerful political machine in eastern Kentucky, Judge James Hargis and Sheriff Ed Callahan, by challenging their stolen elections in open court. In a county where at least thirty political murders had already gone unpunished, Marcum was the last reformer standing.Timeline of EventsThe violence in Breathitt County, known as "Bloody Breathitt," stretched across decades of political warfare rooted in post-Civil War factionalism. Key dates in the Hargis-Marcum conflict include:1901: legal challenge Hargis wins county judge and Callahan wins sheriff in a disputed election; Marcum takes the FusionistApril 13, 1902: Hargis property Dr. B.D. Cox, an anti-Hargis physician, is killed by more than twenty buckshot wounds near theJuly 1902: Town Marshal James Cockrell is shot from a courthouse window; Curtis Jett suspectedMay 4, 1903: behind by Curtis Jett J.B. Marcum is assassinated in the Breathitt County Courthouse doorway, two shots fromAugust 1903: Frankfort Jett and accomplice Tom White convicted; life sentences at the Kentucky State Penitentiary inFebruary 6, 1908: Department Store Judge Hargis is shot and killed by his own son, Beach Hargis, inside the Hargis BrothersMay 4, 1912: to the day after Marcum's murder Ed Callahan is shot from ambush through the window of his store at Crockettsville, nine yearsHistorical Significance The assassination of J.B. Marcum became a turning point for Breathitt County and for Kentucky's approach to political violence. The case drew national press coverage and forced Governor J.C.W. Beckham to deploy state militia troops, the third such deployment in the county's history. The subsequent trials, moved far from Jackson due to the impossibility of seating an impartial local jury, demonstrated both the depth of the region's corruption and the limits of legal reform in Appalachian Kentucky at the turn of the twentieth century. The Ballad of J.B. Marcum, recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1937 and preserved at the Library of Congress, transformed a courthouse murder into enduring folk memory. Today, the Breathitt County Museum at 329 Broadway Street in Jackson preserves the county's violent history alongside its Appalachian heritage, and the county that once could not insure a single building is known for its Honey Festival and for filling its entire World War I service quota with volunteers, no man drafted. Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history Episode 203 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane WatersAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On April 6, 1936, two tornadoes merged over Gainesville, Georgia, and in just three minutes, killed 203 people, the deadliest tornado in a single building in American history. This is the haunting story of the Cooper Pants Factory disaster and how one catastrophic afternoon changed building codes forever.Gainesville, nestled in the Blue Ridge foothills, was thriving during the Great Depression. Known as the "Queen City of North Georgia's Mountains, " this manufacturing hub of nine thousand residents had managed to weather the economic crisis better than most American towns. Cotton mills, poultry plants, and garment factories provided steady work for families desperate for income. At the corner of West Broad and Maple Streets stood the Cooper Pants Factory, a brick structure built in 1893 where approximately 125 workers, mostly young women and girls, stitched trousers for meager wages that nonetheless kept families fed.But the building had a fatal flaw: one staircase. One entrance. One exit. For 125 people.The morning of Monday, April 6th began like any other. Sewing machines hummed to life. Thread was loaded. Workers settled into their shifts with no knowledge that a meteorological catastrophe was forming in the mountains to the west. Just the day before, an F5 tornado had devastated Tupelo, Mississippi, killing over 216 people, the fourth deadliest tornado in American history. The same storm system that spawned that destruction was now pushing eastward, producing a dozen tornadoes across the Southeast in less than twenty-four hours.Gainesville had no warning system. No sirens. No weather radar. Two separate storm cells were forming in the hills west of town, moving inexorably toward each other on a collision course with fate.Among those who would experience the disaster firsthand was C.F. "Stubby" Fiammett, a tobacco salesman attempting to drive to town when the unthinkable happened. As the two tornadoes merged directly over the city, the Cooper Pants Factory, that building with one staircase for 125 people, became a death trap. The structure collapsed in on itself, trapping workers under tons of brick and twisted steel. Fiammett found himself pinned under the wreckage, conscious and listening as the screams of trapped factory workers echoed through the ruins around him. For nearly three hours, he lay there, trapped, as the sounds of human suffering grew fainter. Not because rescue was arriving, but because the women were dying.This episode explores the meteorological perfect storm, the architectural failures that amplified the tragedy, and the survivors' harrowing accounts of those three minutes of hell. We'll examine how this single disaster forced America to completely rethink building safety codes, fire exits, and structural standards. The Gainesville tornado became a watershed moment in American disaster history, proof that sometimes it takes unimaginable tragedy to force systemic change.Join us as we walk the streets of this Georgia town and uncover the human stories buried in the rubble of industrial America. This is Hometown History: where local stories changed the world. Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history Episode 202 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane WatersAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the sweltering summer of 1888, a Tampa saloon keeper named R.D. McCormick stepped off a train in Jacksonville, Florida, carrying something far deadlier than luggage. Within weeks, the disease known as Yellow Jack would transform America's booming winter playground into a quarantined city of the dead, sending refugees fleeing north only to be met with armed guards, locked gates, and threats of gunfire. Of the roughly fourteen thousand people who stayed, one in three would contract yellow fever. Four hundred and twenty-seven would never recover.Jacksonville in 1888 was no ordinary Southern city. A progressive coalition of working-class whites and African Americans had swept the previous year's election, seating five Black council members, a Black municipal judge, and twenty-three Black police officers. The epidemic shattered that experiment in biracial governance. As elected officials fled, civilian leaders stepped forward. Colonel J.J. Daniel organized the Jacksonville Auxiliary Sanitary Association, hiring hundreds of doctors and nurses before the fever claimed his own life. Dr. Alexander Darnes, Jacksonville's first African American physician, stayed to treat patients from both communities. A woman known as Mrs. A.B. Anthony went house to house delivering milk to the sick at her own expense.Timeline of Key EventsThe 1888 Jacksonville yellow fever epidemic unfolded with terrifying speed across five months, from a single diagnosisto a city-wide catastrophe.July 28, 1888: R.D. McCormick diagnosed as first confirmed yellow fever caseAugust 10, 1888: Board of Health officially declares epidemic; Jacksonville Auxiliary Sanitary Association formedSeptember 3, 1888: Acting Mayor J.W. Archibald evacuates the cityLate September 1888: Peak week, 944 new cases and 70 deaths in seven daysNovember 25, 1888: First hard frost kills mosquitoes and effectively ends the epidemicDecember 15, 1888: National and state quarantines officially lifted Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history Episode 201 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane WatersAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Bessemer City, North Carolina. September 14th, 1929. A flatbed truck kicks up Red Carolina dust on a back road outside Bessemer City. The boards rattle beneath 22 pairs of feet. No one in the truck bed carries a weapon. They are textile workers heading home from a roadblock that turned them around. They did what they were told. They turned back, and the cars behind them kept coming. In that truck bed, gripping the wooden side rails, a 29-year-old woman feels the September heat press against her skin. TIMELINE 1900: in the southern Appalachian Mountains. 1929: A flatbed truck kicks up Red Carolina dust on a back road outside Bessemer City. 1935: and ran as a non-union shop until it closed in 1993. 1986: North Carolina proposed a historical marker near the Loray Mill. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Bessemer City is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 200 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 168 (Hickory, North Carolina) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

September, 1912, Forsyth County, Georgia, 30 miles northeast of Atlanta, farming country, red clay roads, pine forests thick enough to block out the afternoon sun. The air sits heavy. It smells like turned earth and wood smoke. More than a thousand black Americans live here. They own land. They go to church. William and Ida Bagley own 60 acres. Grant Smith preaches on Sunday. Children walk to school along dirt paths worn smooth by generations of feet. TIMELINE 1912: stayed all white for 75 years, and then drowned the evidence under a lake. 1913: a grand jury drops all charges against Tony Howell. 1920: census recorded 30 black residents, where there had been more than a thousand. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Forsyth County is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 199 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You're standing on Route 100 in Waterbury, Vermont, in November 1891. The air smells like wood smoke and coming snow. Behind you, the last maples hold on to their copper leaves. Ahead on a hill that commands the entire valley, workers are laying the final stones on a building that will change everything. The Vermont State Asylum for the Insane. Four stories of red brick, 200 windows catching the afternoon light, italianate towers that look, from certain angles, almost welcoming. TIMELINE 1891: The air smells like wood smoke and coming snow. 1900: it houses 400 patients. 1925: Every third person you pass works at the asylum. 1947: electroconvulsive therapy. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Waterbury is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 195 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 184 (East Montpelier, Vermont) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Riceville, Maine. Somewhere in the forest of eastern Maine, there's a town that no longer exists. It's a summer morning, sometime in the early 1900s. A traveler makes his way down a rutted logging road through dense strands of hemlock and spruce. He's headed for Riceville, a company town built around a tannery on Buffalo Stream. He knows the place. Maybe a hundred people live there. Workers, families, children who attend the schoolhouse at the north end of town. But when he arrives, something is wrong. TIMELINE 1880: census records show just 10 people living there. 1883: money, that's an almost incomprehensible sum. 1890: Riceville had exploded to 136 residents. 1898: James Rice and his brothers Francis X and John took full control, forming the Hancock Leather Company. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Riceville is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 194 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In a lighthouse keeper's cottage on Prudence Island, Rhode Island, six people huddle on the floor. It's September 21st, 1938. Outside, a wall of gray-green water is racing across Narragansett Bay, 16 feet of churning ocean pushed by winds exceeding 100 miles per hour. George Gustavus, the lighthouse keeper, stands with his wife Mabel, his 12-year-old son Edward, and three neighbors who came seeking shelter. They'd climbed upstairs when the water started rising. TIMELINE 1823: on Goat Island in Newport Harbor, it was dismantled and moved stone by stone to Prudence Island in 1851. 1933: 28 years he'd spent here. 1937: George Gustavus has finally arrived at his new posting. 1938: it's become a summer colony, though the year-round folks remain tight-knit. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Prudence Island is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 193 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 192 (Watch Hill, Rhode Island) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Watch Hill, Rhode Island. It's one o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon in September 1938. Miss John McKisson Camp is hosting a luncheon on the rocks at Weakapog, just east of Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Her guests gather in their summer finest. Linen dresses, straw hats, the quiet elegance you'd expect from old money families who've summered here for generations. Someone mentions that the sea looks restless today. Another guest points to a strange yellow light hanging over the water. TIMELINE 1938: Miss John McKisson Camp is hosting a luncheon on the rocks at Weakapog, just east of Watch Hill, Rhode Island. 1945: in the small, quiet town of Fayetteville, West Virginia. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Watch Hill is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 192 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 171 (Exeter, Rhode Island) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Deal Beach, New Jersey. It's 6.10 on the morning of November 13th, 1854, and the gale-force winds that rattled windows all night have driven the few families of Deal Beach from their beds. Through the fog and driving rain, they see her. A massive three-masted clipper ship, full sails still set, stuck hard on the outer sandbar, just 500 yards from shore. The ship's bell. That's what woke them. The incessant staccato clatter cutting through the storm. Someone aboard is ringing that bell, desperate, rhythmic, unceasing. TIMELINE 1854: and the gale-force winds that rattled windows all night have driven the few families of Deal Beach from their beds. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Deal Beach is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 191 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

January 14, 1913. Hazardville, Connecticut. A winter morning at the old powder mills, now operating under the Hercules Powder name for exactly 30 days. Workers Charles Blunden and Jacob Stocker went about their routines, same as they had for years. The machinery hummed. The river flowed past stone walls built to contain disasters. Then four blasts ripped through the mill in rapid succession. The sound reached Hartford, over 20 miles away. TIMELINE 1835: along the Scantic River in northern Connecticut. 1837: wiped out his savings. 1913: Hazardville, Connecticut. 1968: 784 acres where hikers now walk past ruins of dam structures, race walls, and pressing mills. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Hazardville is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 190 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ord, Nebraska. January 12th, 1888. Morning. A one-room schoolhouse six miles south of Ord, Nebraska. 40 degrees in January. Unseasonably warm. The morning where farm kids arrive without their heavy coats because it feels like spring decided to show up three months early. Minnie Freeman, 19 years old, is teaching her first real class. 13 students, ages 6 to 14. And there's Frankie Gibbon in the back row, not paying attention to arithmetic because he's playing with something else, a ball of twine. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Ord is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 189 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lewistown, Montana, 1889. Mid-June, 1889. The Judith River runs cold through central Montana Territory. The water flows down from the Little Belt Mountains, snaking through grassland where cattle ranches have only just begun to replace the buffalo herds. A rancher riding his property spots something caught against the rocks near samples crossing. At first, he thinks it's driftwood. Then, he gets closer. A body. A woman, face down. Well-dressed. Too well-dressed for drowning. Before the weekends, four more will surface. TIMELINE 1889: The Judith River runs cold through central Montana Territory. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Lewistown is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 188 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Globe, Arizona. Saturday night, November 16th, 1907. Approaching midnight in Globe, Arizona's red-light district, two Globe police officers found him lying in the dirt. A 25-year-old Finnish miner named Richard Veklund. He'd been drugged and robbed. His pockets were empty. Over a hundred dollars, gone. The officers tried to rouse him, asked where he lived. Veklund managed to open his eyes. In a voice so weak they could barely hear him, he whispered, Room 18, International. The officers froze. TIMELINE 1820: the well-known British writer Sidney Smith mocked the United States for its lack of culture and sophistication. 1900: to somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 by 1906. 1906: a little over a year before Veclund's death. 1907: Approaching midnight in Globe, Arizona's red-light district, two Globe police officers found him lying in the dirt. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Globe is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 187 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 80 (Grand Canyon, Arizona) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Taos, New Mexico. On the morning of July 3rd, 1929, U.S. Deputy Marshal Jim Martinez stood outside Arthur Rothford Manphy's fortress-like mansion in the heart of Taos, New Mexico. He'd come to serve legal papers to the 70-year-old Englishman, but the moment he approached the back door, he knew something was quite wrong. Flies. Hundreds of them. Blackening the screen door, their buzzing audible from 20 feet away. Martinez scaled the high adobe wall. TIMELINE 1848: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised to protect existing Spanish land grants. 1894: he discovered a scheme that would define the next 30 years of his life. 1897: Manby claimed ownership of virtually the entire Martinez Grant. 1929: found itself at the center of a mystery that remains unsolved 95 years later. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Taos is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 185 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

East Montpelier, Vermont. September 5th, 1889, 11 o'clock in the morning. Laura Cutler Gold walked up the path to her family's farm in East Montpelier, Vermont, wearing yesterday's wedding dress. She'd been married for 14 hours. Her new husband, George, stopped at the woodshed to gather kindling for the stove. Inside the farmhouse, the elderly woman Laura had hired as a chaperone was waiting with a warning. Sherman Caswell, the hired hand who'd worked the farm since 1867, was upstairs, and he was drunk. TIMELINE 1867: was upstairs, and he was drunk. 1884: and his wife Fanny in 1888, their only daughter Laura inherited everything. 1889: 11 o'clock in the morning. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of East Montpelier is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 184 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 195 (Waterbury, Vermont) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Turtle Lake, North Dakota. April 24th, 1920, a farmhouse three miles north of Turtle Lake, North Dakota. In a small bedroom, an eight-month-old baby girl has been crying for two days straight. She's soaked through her diaper, soiled, weakening from hunger and cold, but no one comes to feed her. In the kitchen, by all accounts, five bodies are piled in the root cellar beneath a trapdoor. The mother, the oldest daughter, three younger children, a hired boy, shotgun wounds, hatchet wounds, blood everywhere. TIMELINE 1920: a farmhouse three miles north of Turtle Lake, North Dakota. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Turtle Lake is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 183 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 169 (Wahpeton, North Dakota) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's just past midnight on July 5th, 1943, in Boise City, Oklahoma, and Forrest Bork is sound asleep above his post office on the courthouse square when the explosion hits. The whole building shakes. Bork jolts awake, thinking one thing. Someone's cracking the safe downstairs. He creeps to his window in the dark, and there's already a group of men in the alley, staring at his garage across the way. The doors have been blown clean open. There's a crater in the dirt three and a half feet deep. TIMELINE 1890: Nobody really wanted it. 1943: right in the middle of World War II, United States military forces accidentally bombed Boise City, Oklahoma. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Boise City is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 182 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 174 (Osage County, Oklahoma) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

186: Opelousas, Louisiana: The Boy Two Mothers Claimed, A 92-Year DNA Mystery Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

March 1849. Workers searching the woods between Edgefield and Abbeville County, South Carolina, stumbled across a shallow grave. Inside, the decomposing body of a man. The coroner arrived, examined the remains, recorded his findings in careful detail, the clinical precision that shows up in death records of the era. Cause of death, a leaden ball shot from a gun or pistol by the hands of some person or persons unknown. TIMELINE 1839: designed by Charles Beck, associate of South Carolina's famous architect, Robert Mills. 1849: Workers searching the woods between Edgefield and Abbeville County, South Carolina, stumbled across a shallow grave. 1850: roughly four months after his conviction, Martin Posey was executed by hanging in Edgefield. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Edgefield is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 181 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 99 (West Columbia, South Carolina) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hagerstown, Indiana. September 1908, Philadelphia train station. 18-year-old Ralph Teeter stands on the platform, one suitcase in hand. It contains a year's worth of clothes. He's traveled alone from Hagerstown, Indiana, a town of 2,000 people. Everyone knows him there. The streets are memorized. Every building corner echoes back his location through the click of his metal-tipped shoes. Philadelphia is chaos, unfamiliar, uncharted. Ralph is here because the University of Michigan rejected him. TIMELINE 1896: became America's first blind engineer and invented technology that's now in millions of cars. 1908: Philadelphia train station. 1995: essentially they lived their lives as if Ralph could see normally. 2000: The main employer, Railway Cycle Manufacturing Company. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Hagerstown is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 180 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 104 (Brown County, Indiana) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Gay Head, Massachusetts. At 3.45 in the morning, on January 18, 1884, the lookout aboard the passenger steamer City of Columbus screams a warning into the darkness. Devil's Bridge buoy is off the port bow. It should be starboard. Second mate Edward Harding yells, heart a port, but it's too late. The ship strikes jagged underwater rocks at full speed. The grinding crack tears through the iron hull. The sound echoes across black water like the scream of tearing metal. TIMELINE 1878: at Chester, Pennsylvania, she was 275 feet long, with an iron hull and a 1500 horsepower steam engine. 1884: the lookout aboard the passenger steamer City of Columbus screams a warning into the darkness. 1981: and her network of associates has infiltrated the U. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Gay Head is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 179 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. It's 1931. Dewey Flack is 17 years old when he steps off the train in Gawley Bridge, West Virginia. He came from North Carolina. One-way ticket in hand. A promise. Send home money. His parents and five younger siblings are counting on him. It's the worst year. Of the Great Depression. There are no jobs back home. The tunnel project in West Virginia. It's paying work. It's hope. Two weeks later, Dewey is dead. His lungs filled with white silica dust. So pure it turned them to stone. TIMELINE 1930: just six months after the stock market crash. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Gauley Bridge is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 178 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 177 (Wheeling, West Virginia) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wheeling, West Virginia. It's a Sunday afternoon in late 1939. 3,000 people pack into Wheeling's Capitol Theater, West Virginia's largest venue between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. But they're not here for a movie. They're not here for vaudeville. They're here to watch their neighbors perform on a national radio broadcast. The orchestra tunes up on stage. 42 musicians, machinists, crane operators, stenographers, dressed in matching uniforms. The Steel Sisters rehearse in their harmonies backstage. TIMELINE 1919: The general steel strike begins. 1920: And for 15 years after that defeat, there's almost no union organizing in the steel industry. 1930: Then, in 1933, the National Industry Recovery Act sparks renewed organizing. 1933: But there's another shadow over Wheeling Steel. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Wheeling is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 177 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 178 (Gauley Bridge, West Virginia) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

August 3rd, 1915, downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, 8.45 at night. For the past five hours, an artificial lake has been growing in the middle of the city. Four city blocks flooded, water 30 feet deep in places, held back by a clogged culvert at 26th and State Streets. Fire Chief John McMahon stands at the edge, watching the reservoir rise. All day, police and firefighters have tried to clear the debris, blocking the culvert. They've used dynamite. It didn't work. TIMELINE 1915: downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, 8. 1934: when Cleveland was at the center of a series of brutal killings. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Erie is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 176 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Athens, Tennessee. It's around 2.30 in the morning on August 2, 1946. The McMinn County Jail in Athens, Tennessee is surrounded. Armed veterans, some estimates say as many as 500, crouch behind storefronts, police cruisers, and the brick walls of the First National Bank across White Street. They've been firing rifles at the jail for six hours. Inside, 50 deputies and county officials huddle away from windows as bullets chip the brick walls. One of the men outside, a Marine named Bill White, nods to the others. TIMELINE 1776: Now, before we go further, you may have heard this story before. 1936: when Paul Cantrell rode Franklin Roosevelt's coattails to become sheriff. 1946: The McMinn County Jail in Athens, Tennessee is surrounded. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Athens is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 175 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 73 (Nashville, Tennessee) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Osage County, Oklahoma. It's around 3 in the morning on March 10, 1923. In Fairfax, Oklahoma, Rita Smith sleeps in her bedroom. Her husband, Bill, is in the adjacent room. Their teenage white servant, Nettie Brookshire, sleeps upstairs. Five gallons of nitroglycerin sits beneath the house. The explosion obliterates the structure. Neighbors three blocks away feel their windows rattle. The Smith house simply disappears. Rita and Nettie die instantly. Bill survives, barely, with massive injuries. TIMELINE 1808: and 1839, the Osage ceded 96. 1870: under relentless pressure from white settlers in Kansas, they negotiated one final move. 1897: the Phoenix Oil Company drilled their first successful well along Butler Creek. 1912: lease auctions were held under the famous million-dollar elm tree in Pawhuska. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Osage County is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 174 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 182 (Boise City, Oklahoma) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Kalaupapa, Hawai'i. Imagine a place of breathtaking beauty that is also a prison. Picture what are among the tallest sea cliffs on earth, a sheer wall of green and black stone plunging nearly 4,000 feet into the churning Pacific. This fortress of rock seals off a flat, leaf-shaped peninsula from the world behind it. For centuries, this was a vibrant, sacred part of Hawaii. But in 1866, its profound isolation was weaponized. The Kingdom of Hawaii chose this stunning landscape as a place of permanent exile. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Kalaupapa is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 173 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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 shores. Arriving fifty years after Congress banned the transatlantic slave trade and made it punishable by death, these captives were quickly hidden and distributed to local plantations before the ship was burned and sunk to destroy the evidence. But this story doesn't end with enslavement. After emancipation in 1865, a group of thirty-two survivors did something extraordinary: they pooled their resources, purchased land north of Mobile, and founded their own community. They called it Africa Town, a settlement where they could preserve their language, customs, and dignity on American soil. This episode explores how these remarkable men and women, torn from kingdoms in present-day Benin and Nigeria, built a thriving community that still exists today, more than 160 years later.Timeline of EventsJuly 1860: The schooner Clotilda arrives in Mobile Bay with 110 enslaved West Africans, the last known illegal slave shipment to AmericaJuly 1860: Captain William Foster burns and scuttles the Clotilda in the Mobile River to hide evidence of the crime1865: Civil War ends; Clotilda survivors gain freedom after five years of slavery in Alabama1866-1870: Approximately 32 survivors purchase land and establish Africa Town (later Africatown) north of Mobile1872: Community builds Union Baptist Church, their first institution1910: Mobile County Training School founded, becoming educational center for Africatown1927-1931: Author Zora Neale Hurston interviews Cudjo Lewis (Oluale Kossola), documenting his firsthand account1935: Cudjo Lewis dies at age 94, the last known survivor of the transatlantic slave trade in AmericaMay 2019: Archaeologists discover and verify the wreck of the Clotilda in the Mobile RiverJuly 2023: Africatown Heritage House opens, featuring "Clotilda: The Exhibition" and artifacts from the shipThis remarkable settlement emerged during Reconstruction, when most formerly enslaved people had no resources and faced violent opposition. The Africatown founders defied these odds, creating schools, churches, and self-governing institutions while maintaining cultural connections to West Africa.Historical SignificanceAfricatown represents the only known American community founded and led entirely by African-born survivors of the slave trade. Unlike other Black settlements of the era, residents spoke Yoruba, Ewe, and Fon languages into the 1950s and maintained West African naming traditions, burial practices, and storytelling customs. The community's existence challenges common narratives about slavery's erasure of African identity, these founders consciously rebuilt pieces of home from memory. Zora Neale Hurston's 1927 interviews with Cudjo Lewis, published as "Barracoon" in 2018, provide one of the only firsthand accounts of the Middle Passage and the experience of direct capture from Africa. The 2019 discovery of the Clotilda's wreckage, verified by the Alabama Historical Commission, has sparked renewed interest in Africatown's history and the ongoing work of descendant communities to preserve their ancestors' legacy. Today, Africatown faces environmental challenges from industrial development but continues as a living memorial to resilience, self-determination, and cultural survival against extraordinary odds.Sources & Further ReadingNational Museum of African American History and Culture: Slave Wrecks Project and Clotilda research initiativehttps://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/initiatives/slave-wrecks-project/africatown-alabama-usaAfricatown Heritage House & History Museum of Mobile: "Clotilda: The Exhibition" featuring artifacts from the ship and stories of the 110 survivorshttps://clotilda.comAlabama Historical Commission: Official archaeological discovery and verification of the Clotilda shipwreck (2019)https://www.mobilecountyal.gov/africatown-heritage-house-2Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation: Descendant community organization preserving Africatown history and culturehttps://africatownhpf.org"Barracoon: The Story of the Last 'Black Cargo'" by Zora Neale Hurston: Published 2018, based on 1927-1931 interviews with Cudjo Lewishttps://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/barracoonSmithsonian Magazine: "The 'Clotilda,' the Last Known Slave Ship to Arrive in the U.S., Is Found" (May 2019)https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/zora-neale-hurston-barracoon-last-survivor-slave-trade-180968944Subscribe to Hometown History every Tuesday for forgotten American stories. Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Exeter, Rhode Island. It's just before dawn, March 17th, 1892. In the graveyard beside Chestnut Hill Baptist Church, five men gather around a crypt, sealed since winter began. Their breath fogs the air. A lantern flickers in the cold. The coffin opens. Inside lies the body of Mercy Lena Brown. She died two months ago, yet her skin is strangely intact. Her nails have lengthened. And when a spade presses to her chest, blood rises to the surface. Someone whispers, she's the one. TIMELINE 1786: to 1892, At least 80 known cases of exhumations were documented in New England. 1859: of a family in Vermont who dug up their loved one to end a streak of deaths. 1883: his wife Mary Eliza died of consumption. 1892: she was placed in the family crypt. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Exeter is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 171 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 192 (Watch Hill, Rhode Island) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ottawa, Illinois. A young woman, barely out of her teens, dips a fine-tipped brush into a bowl of glowing paint. It's 1922, inside the old Ottawa High School, and sunlight streams through the tall windows, illuminating motes of dust that dance in their golden shafts of light. But these are no ordinary dust motes. They glitter with a faint, otherworldly luminescence. Before her is a tray of small black clock dials. She brings the brush to her mouth. TIMELINE 1922: For a small town hit hard by the coming Depression, the factory was a godsend. 1925: Radium Dial had hired medical experts to examine its employees. 1938: the commission ruled decisively, in favor of the women. 1939: when the Supreme Court declined to hear her case. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Ottawa is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 170 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wahpeton, North Dakota. The Twelve-year-old Edward Williams grips a rope with all his might, feet slipping in the muck. A grizzled circus worker rushes over to help. Edward stumbles back, wide-eyed. Suddenly, a blinding flash of lightning engulfs the big top. The main tent pole shatters under the bolt. Men are thrown to the ground. For an instant, everything and everyone is stunned into silence. Rain drips through a gaping hole in the canvas as smoke and steam rise from the splintered pole. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Wahpeton is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 169 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 183 (Turtle Lake, North Dakota) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hickory, North Carolina. It's just before sunrise, on Saturday, June 24th, 1944. In the woods by Lake Hickory, North Carolina, floodlights cast long shadows over a bustling campfire turned construction zone. Dozens of volunteers, men too old for the war, women in handkerchiefs, even off-duty soldiers, work throughout the night. Hammers cling against nails. Hand saws whirr through pine boards. A line of cars, ambulances, and even a borrowed hearse winds down a dirt road toward a freshly painted stone building. TIMELINE 1916: epidemic killed thousands. 1943: a major outbreak hit places like Chicago. 1944: when polio came to Hickory. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Hickory is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 168 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 200 (Bessemer City, North Carolina) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wabash, Indiana. It's the night of March 31st, 1880. A sleepy town in Indiana explodes into the future with the flick of a switch, becoming the first city in the world to light its street with electricity. People gasped in wonder. Some called it magic. Others, a miracle. But like all American towns, Wabash would face darkness too. Empty storefronts. Lost jobs. A Main Street on life support. TIMELINE 1854: and I realized, they must have felt some of what I had. 1880: burst a flood of lights that made world history. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Wabash is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 167 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 180 (Hagerstown, Indiana) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Washington, DC. It's 4 a.m. on the Western Front. A freight car converted into a makeshift ward jolts to a halt. Inside, nurses in ankle-length khaki skirts move like clockwork, checking pulses, setting splints, whispering words of positivity to boys who haven't seen home in two years. What you're hearing is a profession reborn, modern nursing. , the podcast that traces the world's biggest moments back to the people who lived just down the street. TIMELINE 1854: Turned away by Britain's war office, she did what entrepreneurs do, built the British hotel near the front lines. 1861: Abraham and Mary kept this as a rental, with plans of returning after serving in Washington. 1865: she refused to come back, and the house was later donated to the state of Illinois. 1896: became America's first blind engineer and invented technology that's now in millions of cars. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Washington is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 166 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

London, England. It's 2.30 in the morning, November 1854, in a makeshift army hospital perched above the Bosphorus Strait. Rats scurry between cots stacked like bunk beds. Every few minutes, another stretcher swings through the door. Another young man, shivering from cholera, or minus a limb, he marched in with yesterday. Footsteps. Then, light. A single oil lamp slices the darkness. Behind it, a tall woman in a gray dress. Florence Nightingale. But in this moment, the soldiers call her something else. TIMELINE 1647: laborers toiling away at the Tower of London uncovered two small skeletons while clearing away rubble from a staircase. 1820: in the Italian city of Firenze. 1851: she trained at Kaiserwerth Institute in Germany, one of the few places that would accept a lady of her class. 1854: in a makeshift army hospital perched above the Bosphorus Strait. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of London is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 165 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

London, England. The year is 1910. Florence Nightingale has just passed away, leaving behind a legacy that forever changed healthcare. It's hard to believe there was a time when nursing wasn't the noble and respectable profession it is today. In fact, there was a time when people didn't want to be associated with nursing at all. It was considered a low-status occupation that you could learn without needing a formal education. TIMELINE 1647: laborers toiling away at the Tower of London uncovered two small skeletons while clearing away rubble from a staircase. 1820: in the Italian city of Firenze. 1851: she trained at Kaiserwerth Institute in Germany, one of the few places that would accept a lady of her class. 1854: Turned away by Britain's war office, she did what entrepreneurs do, built the British hotel near the front lines. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of London is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 164 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Fayetteville, West Virginia. It was Christmas Eve, 1945, in the small, quiet town of Fayetteville, West Virginia. The Sauter family home, nestled in the Appalachian Hills, was bustling with excitement. Ten children were eagerly anticipating Christmas morning, while their parents, George and Jenny, watched the holiday unfold. The tree was decorated, and the younger children hung stockings by the fireplace before heading to bed. TIMELINE 1945: in the small, quiet town of Fayetteville, West Virginia. 1949: uncovered several bone fragments. 1968: Jeannie received a strange letter in the mail. 1969: still believing that his children were alive. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Fayetteville is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 163 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 178 (Gauley Bridge, West Virginia) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Como Bluff, Wyoming. There is nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition. It encourages people to do better, and it can lead to innovation. Just like the one between Apple and Microsoft, that has resulted in countless technological advancements for us. Or the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, which has led to major developments in space exploration. But competition can sometimes take a dark turn, evolving into a rivalry. TIMELINE 1877: railway workers William Reed and Carlin discovered fossils near Como Bluff, Wyoming, they contacted Marsh. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Como Bluff is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 162 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hollywood, California. explore one of the most fascinating chapters of American film history, the curse of rebel without a cause. Generally, you would believe a horror film set would leave actors feeling like they've been cursed. But a romantic drama? Well, hold on. In 1955, one of Hollywood's most iconic romance films, Rebel Without a Cause, was released. But it was more than a romance film. TIMELINE 1955: one of Hollywood's most iconic romance films, Rebel Without a Cause, was released. 2018: 34,372 claims have been approved for a total of $2,243,205,380. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Hollywood is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 161 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 88 (Crescent City, California) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In 1929, a recovering alcoholic and twice-discharged military veteran named Frank Bruce Robinson made a $2,500 investment that would transform a small Idaho college town into an unlikely center of American religious innovation. From his home in Moscow, Idaho, Robinson launched Psychiana, a mail-order religion that promised followers they could "literally and actually speak to God" through the power of positive affirmation. What began as a bold advertising gambit during the depths of the Great Depression grew into a phenomenon that reached 67 countries, employed over 100 people, and made Moscow's post office relocate to handle up to 60,000 pieces of mail per day. Robinson's "Now God" philosophy rejected traditional concepts of heaven, hell, and salvation, instead teaching that divine power existed in the present moment and could be channeled through mental affirmation to solve immediate problems, from financial struggles to health issues. His 20-lesson correspondence course, costing between $20 and $40, attracted desperate followers seeking hope during America's darkest economic crisis, including high-profile adherents like convicted kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. But Robinson's success came with fierce opposition from local religious groups who vandalized his property, challenged his immigration status, and labeled him a "mail-order prophet." Despite legal battles, threats, and controversy, Psychiana thrived through World War II before finally declining after Robinson's death in 1948, leaving behind a fascinating chapter in American religious history that reveals both the power of hope and the dangers of exploitation during times of crisis.Timeline of Events1886-1889: Frank Bruce Robinson born (claimed New York; brother said England), creating later immigration controversy1925: Robinson begins formulating ideas for new religion while living in Portland, Oregon1928: Robinson relocates to Moscow, Idaho, to develop his religious philosophy with more writing time1929: Psychiana officially founded from Robinson's Idaho home with $2,500 investment ($46,000 today)1929 (First Year): Movement reaches 67 countries with 36,000 followers; first ad generates $23,000 profit1933: Robinson purchases printing press to cut costs at $2,000/month, angering local printer George Lampfer1930s: Movement employs 100+ people, becoming largest private employer in Latah County, Idaho1944: Follower testimonials claim miraculous recoveries, including restored hearing1948: Frank Robinson dies; son Alfred attempts to continue movementPost-1948: Movement declines due to increased postage rates and reduced public interestDuring this period, America experienced the Great Depression (1929-1939) and World War II (1939-1945), creating desperate conditions that fueled demand for Robinson's messages of hope and empowerment.Historical SignificanceThe Psychiana movement represents a uniquely American phenomenon where entrepreneurial innovation, spiritual seeking, and economic desperation converged during one of the nation's most challenging eras. Robinson's mail-order religion pioneered what would later be recognized as the positive thinking movement and prosperity gospel, ideas that continue to influence American spirituality today. The movement's success reveals how economic crisis creates vulnerability to charismatic leaders offering simple solutions to complex problems, a pattern that has repeated throughout American history. Psychiana's ability to thrive during both the Great Depression and World War II demonstrates the enduring human need for hope during times of uncertainty, regardless of the source. The movement's international reach, spanning 67 countries from a small Idaho college town, showcases how modern communication technology (in this case, the postal system) could democratize religious movements and create new forms of spiritual community that transcended traditional geographic boundaries. Robinson's legacy remains contested: some view him as an opportunistic exploiter who preyed on desperate people, while others see him as a genuine religious innovator who provided comfort and meaning during difficult times. The story raises enduring questions about the relationship between faith and reason, the ethics of religious entrepreneurship, and the responsibility of spiritual leaders to their followers.Sources & Further ReadingUniversity of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives (Psychiana Collection)Idaho State Historical Society records on Frank Robinson and Psychiana movementContemporary newspaper accounts from The Moscow Post and regional publications (1929-1948)Academic research on American new religious movements and Great Depression-era spiritualityHistorical documentation of mail-order religious movements in early 20th century AmericaLooking for more forgotten stories from America's past? Subscribe to Hometown History for weekly explorations of the surprising events that shaped small-town America.v Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New York City, New York. You have probably heard the phrase, to pull a crater, but do where it comes from? It basically means to disappear, and it originated from one of the most infamous disappearances in American history. explore the disappearance of Judge Crater, a case of how a man simply vanished from the face of the earth, leaving behind a mystery that has puzzled everyone for decades. TIMELINE 1926: New York City was adorned with a sparkle of snow and a festive glow. 1969: a date the Met Museum won't soon forget. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of New York City is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 159 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New York City, New York. There are times when global change can impact you in ways you did not expect. Think about how the internet completely revolutionized the way we communicate, shop, and even find love. Or how the smartphone put the world at our fingertips, changing our daily lives in ways we couldn't have imagined. Or recently, how the COVID-19 pandemic changed how we work. These are things you have experienced firsthand, so what it feels like. TIMELINE 1926: New York City was adorned with a sparkle of snow and a festive glow. 1969: a date the Met Museum won't soon forget. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of New York City is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 158 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Portland, Indiana. It's one of the great literary mysteries in America. My view is that it will remain a tantalizing mystery. These were the words of Don Swain, author of The Assassination of Ambrose Beers, A Love Story. And it is the perfect way to start today's episode. Today, we will be exploring the case of Ambrose Beers, a renowned writer who just vanished without a trace. His last letter hinted he was off to somewhere unknown. TIMELINE 1913: Ambrose Bierce is thought to have traveled south, aiming to meet up with Pancho Villa in Chihuahua, Mexico. 1914: that the news made it to the Indianapolis papers. 1975: the patient population drops below 600 for the first time in 50 years. 1985: fewer than 300 patients. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Portland is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 157 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 180 (Hagerstown, Indiana) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Here on Hometown History, we've covered our fair share of government projects and cover-ups. Governments are known for their secrets. From covert operations to hidden facilities, they usually keep their most important plans out of public sight. Think about Area 51, long rumored to be the site of UFO research, or the secretive Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. It's almost like an open secret. We know they exist, but we don't know everything. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of White Sulphur Springs is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 156 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 178 (Gauley Bridge, West Virginia) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

San Francisco, California. When someone shares a secret, it rarely stays quiet. Just like a game of telephone, each person adds their own little extra detail, and the story grows bigger and more exciting with each new version. That is pretty much how rumors work, and it's exactly what happened in this case, too. Back in 1872, a whispered hint about diamonds, hidden somewhere in the American wilderness, started small. TIMELINE 1850: in the United States. 1865: it sank right off the coast here. 1872: a whispered hint about diamonds, hidden somewhere in the American wilderness, started small. 1898: in Bloomington, Illinois. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of San Francisco is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 155 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 88 (Crescent City, California) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Homestead, Florida. Hidden away in the sunny shores of Florida lies a structure that is both an architectural wander and a mysterious legend. And as you would expect from my episodes, the story behind it is as curious as the structure itself. In today's episode, we are exploring the mystery of the Coral Castle, a castle that was built single-handedly by a man using nothing but homemade tools. TIMELINE 1920: they'd been building farms in North Dakota for 40 years. 1938: still soaking wet, still grieving, having just been pulled from the water after his wife and youngest son drowned. 1951: He left behind zero explanation of how he built Coral Castle. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Homestead is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 154 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Boston, Massachusetts. The British are coming. A cold spring night, a lone rider, and a warning. The rider pushed through the darkness of the night, alerting people of the imminent danger that was about to hit them, and stirring them to action just as the colonies were about to fight for independence. This rider was Paul Revere, a folk hero of the American Revolution, but also the founding father of propaganda. TIMELINE 1735: in Boston, Massachusetts, which was part of the British Massachusetts Bay Colony at the time. 1754: when his father died, Paul was devastated and left handling the home by himself. 1756: two years after his father's death, Paul decided to join the military. 1757: Paul retired from the army in 1757. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Boston is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 153 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 179 (Gay Head, Massachusetts) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Cleveland, Ohio. A fog-laden Kingsbury run, in the air thick with mystery as the city of Cleveland sleeps unknowingly. It's here, in this shadowy gully, that a gruesome discovery was made, one that would start a series of horrifying finds. Today's episode takes us to the year 1934, when Cleveland was at the center of a series of brutal killings. TIMELINE 1872: a whispered hint about diamonds, hidden somewhere in the American wilderness, started small. 1934: when Cleveland was at the center of a series of brutal killings. 1935: Near Kingsbury Run, at the base of a place named Jackass Hill, lay the body of a 28-year-old male. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of Cleveland is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 152 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New Haven, Connecticut. Secrets. Secret societies get a bad rap, and with good reason. We don't know much about them, but what we do know isn't good. Stealing bodies, manipulating the government, worshipping Satan, the creepiest and most unconventional things you can think of. Just the words, secret society, makes your imagination run wild, with the worst possible outcomes. And while it may be true in some cases, not all secret societies work like that. TIMELINE 1865: a conflict that pitted the Union against the Confederacy, composed of states that had ceded from the Union. 1875: America seemed to be moving toward recovery from the trouble of the last few years. 1900: membership statistics showed a strong presence in several states, with Pennsylvania leading with over 62 members. 1949: thanks to Brother Francis Walter, who was not only a congressman, but also a proud member of the Order. WHY THIS MATTERS The story of New Haven is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know. Episode 151 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters If you liked this: Episode 190 (Hazardville, Connecticut) Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-historyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy