Shows
Places of LegendCase 18: Smugglers of Portland, ORThe north side of Portland, Oregon, in the late 1800s was the scene of a violent, raucous waterfront, where illicit cargoes from Asia were offloaded, drunken sailors “shanghaied,” the brothels were always busy, and dark opium dens offered escape from the burdens of life. The profits from all these vices—including the smuggling of illegal immigrants from China—flowed to the elegant south side of town.
In this next episode we’ll travel to the docks, whiskey joints, opium dens, and boarding houses of the north side of Portland, Oregon in the late 1800s, a lawless di...
2018-08-2936 min
Places of LegendCase 18: Smugglers of Portland, ORThe north side of Portland, Oregon, in the late 1800s was the scene of a violent, raucous waterfront, where illicit cargoes from Asia were offloaded, drunken sailors “shanghaied,” the brothels were always busy, and dark opium dens offered escape from the burdens of life. The profits from all these vices—including the smuggling of illegal immigrants from China—flowed to the elegant south side of town.
In this next episode we’ll travel to the docks, whiskey joints, opium dens, and boarding houses of the north side of Portland, Oregon in the late 1800s, a lawless di...
2018-08-2936 minPlaces of LegendCase 17: Master Thief of Miami BeachDiamond necklaces, rings, and other expensive baubles were an irresistible attraction to the light-fingered burglars who preyed on the wealthy winter visitors to Miami Beach in its early days. One particularly light-fingered jewel thief became the arch-villain of this elegant resort scene. Even after his arrest and imprisonment, the enormous hauls of jewels lifted by this sly criminal kept his legend alive.
The stylish winter playground of Miami Beach in the Roaring Twenties and 1930s—a narrow strip of sandy beaches and luxurious Art Deco hotels—was a popular gathering place for Hollywood celebrities and the nation’s weal...
2018-08-1530 minPlaces of LegendCase 17: Master Thief of Miami BeachDiamond necklaces, rings, and other expensive baubles were an irresistible attraction to the light-fingered burglars who preyed on the wealthy winter visitors to Miami Beach in its early days. One particularly light-fingered jewel thief became the arch-villain of this elegant resort scene. Even after his arrest and imprisonment, the enormous hauls of jewels lifted by this sly criminal kept his legend alive.
The stylish winter playground of Miami Beach in the Roaring Twenties and 1930s—a narrow strip of sandy beaches and luxurious Art Deco hotels—was a popular gathering place for Hollywood celebrities and the nation’s weal...
2018-08-1530 minPlaces of LegendCase 16: Annie goes over the FallsWho dreamt up the stunt of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel? Through the 1800s, countless daredevils and would-be heroes attempted all sorts of stunts at the Falls and in the rapids below. But the first to go over the Falls—and survive—did not fit the usual mold of a thrill-seeking daredevil. She was a 63-year-old music teacher named Annie Edson Taylor, who quickly became a national celebrity.
Niagara Falls is many things: a heart-pounding source of power, an old-fashioned honeymoon destination, a tacky tourist mecca, and a seemingly magnetic attraction for daredevils of all kind...
2018-08-0130 minPlaces of LegendCase 16: Annie goes over the FallsWho dreamt up the stunt of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel? Through the 1800s, countless daredevils and would-be heroes attempted all sorts of stunts at the Falls and in the rapids below. But the first to go over the Falls—and survive—did not fit the usual mold of a thrill-seeking daredevil. She was a 63-year-old music teacher named Annie Edson Taylor, who quickly became a national celebrity.
Niagara Falls is many things: a heart-pounding source of power, an old-fashioned honeymoon destination, a tacky tourist mecca, and a seemingly magnetic attraction for daredevils of all kind...
2018-08-0130 minPlaces of LegendCase 15: Mutiny in James BayThe great explorer Henry Hudson was determined to discover a Northwest Passage to the riches of Asia through the frigid bay in North America that still bears his name. Hudson’s voyages of exploration are viewed as pioneering triumphs. But in this episode, we’ll tell the tale of his last, fateful mission—a dangerous and obsessive expedition into uncharted waters that ended in terror, violence, and mutiny—and an enduring mystery.
In the Great Age of Discovery, the frigid waters of Hudson’s Bay in northern Canada were believed to lead directly to a sea route...
2018-07-1839 minPlaces of LegendCase 15: Mutiny in James BayThe great explorer Henry Hudson was determined to discover a Northwest Passage to the riches of Asia through the frigid bay in North America that still bears his name. Hudson’s voyages of exploration are viewed as pioneering triumphs. But in this episode, we’ll tell the tale of his last, fateful mission—a dangerous and obsessive expedition into uncharted waters that ended in terror, violence, and mutiny—and an enduring mystery.
In the Great Age of Discovery, the frigid waters of Hudson’s Bay in northern Canada were believed to lead directly to a sea route...
2018-07-1839 minPlaces of LegendCase 14: Perfume Bootleggers in St. Paul?Were 70 jugs of dark liquid discovered in a storeroom of an abandoned Saint Paul hospital startling evidence of an ingenious Prohibition-era scheme? Clues lead to a small cosmetics company accused of bootlegging cheap alcohol-based fragrances into drinkable booze. Their guilt or innocence was never proven. Do the 70 jugs of cheap perfume offer a clue to a Prohibition-era mystery?
Saint Paul, Minnesota, was a notorious haven for gangsters and bootleggers, thanks to a corrupt arrangement with the municipal police force. Throughout the Prohibition-era, the city was filled with speakeasies and alcohol flowed freely. A bizarre relic...
2018-07-0432 minPlaces of LegendCase 14: Perfume Bootleggers in St. Paul?Were 70 jugs of dark liquid discovered in a storeroom of an abandoned Saint Paul hospital startling evidence of an ingenious Prohibition-era scheme? Clues lead to a small cosmetics company accused of bootlegging cheap alcohol-based fragrances into drinkable booze. Their guilt or innocence was never proven. Do the 70 jugs of cheap perfume offer a clue to a Prohibition-era mystery?
Saint Paul, Minnesota, was a notorious haven for gangsters and bootleggers, thanks to a corrupt arrangement with the municipal police force. Throughout the Prohibition-era, the city was filled with speakeasies and alcohol flowed freely. A bizarre relic...
2018-07-0432 minPlaces of LegendCase 13: Blood Feud on Tug ForkThe series of violent events that erupted in southern Appalachia in the 1870s and 80s, known as the “Hatfield-McCoy Feud,” evokes stereotypes of backwoods blood feuds and caricatured “hillbillies” with loaded shotguns. This episode will offer a very different version of the Hatfield-McCoy story that uncovers clues to the real reason for the feud and how the caricatured image of the hillbilly was born.
The rugged borderland between West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky are famous for its rich veins of anthracite coal, which have profoundly shaped its national image and regional landscape. But our story will take place in the e...
2018-06-2031 minPlaces of LegendCase 13: Blood Feud on Tug ForkThe series of violent events that erupted in southern Appalachia in the 1870s and 80s, known as the “Hatfield-McCoy Feud,” evokes stereotypes of backwoods blood feuds and caricatured “hillbillies” with loaded shotguns. This episode will offer a very different version of the Hatfield-McCoy story that uncovers clues to the real reason for the feud and how the caricatured image of the hillbilly was born.
The rugged borderland between West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky are famous for its rich veins of anthracite coal, which have profoundly shaped its national image and regional landscape. But our story will take place in the e...
2018-06-2031 minPlaces of LegendCase 12: Dinner at Delmonico’sThe elegant entrance to Delmonico’s restaurant in Lower Manhattan still welcomes billionaires, politicians, and visiting VIPs. It was here in the early 1800s that the upscale American restaurant was born. But the telltale clues contained in an early printed menu reveal how the name “Delmonico’s” also became a familiar brand name for eat-and-run lunchrooms for New York’s working poor.
Just a few blocks away from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the frenetic hub of the economic life of the nation, the imposing colonnaded entrance of Delmonico’s Restaurant still represents a...
2018-06-0634 minPlaces of LegendCase 12: Dinner at Delmonico’sThe elegant entrance to Delmonico’s restaurant in Lower Manhattan still welcomes billionaires, politicians, and visiting VIPs. It was here in the early 1800s that the upscale American restaurant was born. But the telltale clues contained in an early printed menu reveal how the name “Delmonico’s” also became a familiar brand name for eat-and-run lunchrooms for New York’s working poor.
Just a few blocks away from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the frenetic hub of the economic life of the nation, the imposing colonnaded entrance of Delmonico’s Restaurant still represents a...
2018-06-0634 minPlaces of LegendCase 11: Murder on the Gunness FarmOn an isolated farm just outside LaPorte, Indiana, some unspeakable acts took place in the early 1900s. They remained deep and deadly secrets until a package of love letters was discovered in an immigrant’s cabin in South Dakota—letters that revealed the shockingly murderous intent of a widowed farm wife named Belle Gunness.
Local rumors had it that the Gunness farm, in rural northern Indiana, had a macabre history of misfortune, tragedy, and suicide. But no one expected that all the previous calamities that befell this property would be far overshadowed by the serial murders that took...
2018-05-231h 05Places of LegendCase 11: Murder on the Gunness FarmOn an isolated farm just outside LaPorte, Indiana, some unspeakable acts took place in the early 1900s. They remained deep and deadly secrets until a package of love letters was discovered in an immigrant’s cabin in South Dakota—letters that revealed the shockingly murderous intent of a widowed farm wife named Belle Gunness.
Local rumors had it that the Gunness farm, in rural northern Indiana, had a macabre history of misfortune, tragedy, and suicide. But no one expected that all the previous calamities that befell this property would be far overshadowed by the serial murders that took...
2018-05-231h 05Places of LegendCase 10: National Hobo Convention of Britt, IowaBritt is a mecca for hobos — wanderers and boxcar riders with names like “Railroad Randy” and “50-Tooth Slim.” Every August they gather and swap stories about their rambling lives that ironically reflect changing American visions of home.
The National Hobo Convention convenes in Britt, Iowa the second week every August, bringing together a colorful assembly of hitchhikers, rail riders, ramblers, and roamers from all over the United States. Since the late 1800s, the figure of the hobo—with baggy pants, battered hat, and meager possessions wrapped up in a cloth bindle on a stick resting on the shoulder—has...
2018-05-0936 minPlaces of LegendCase 10: National Hobo Convention of Britt, IowaBritt is a mecca for hobos — wanderers and boxcar riders with names like “Railroad Randy” and “50-Tooth Slim.” Every August they gather and swap stories about their rambling lives that ironically reflect changing American visions of home.
The National Hobo Convention convenes in Britt, Iowa the second week every August, bringing together a colorful assembly of hitchhikers, rail riders, ramblers, and roamers from all over the United States. Since the late 1800s, the figure of the hobo—with baggy pants, battered hat, and meager possessions wrapped up in a cloth bindle on a stick resting on the shoulder—has...
2018-05-0936 minPlaces of LegendCase 9: The Vampire of Griswold, ConnecticutDid vampires roam the swamps and forests of early New England? A grotesquely vandalized grave discovered in the small town of Griswold, Connecticut, revealed a ghoulish secret that had been concealed for almost 200 years.
The small town of Griswold, Connecticut, settled in the late 1690s by farmers from Massachusetts and Rhode Island seeking a life free from strict Puritan religious restraints, conceals a gruesome secret. The sudden unexpected discovery of human remains in a sand and gravel pit led to the discovery of an early American “vampire” whose grave was intentionally opened and whose mortal remains were inten...
2018-04-2535 minPlaces of LegendCase 9: The Vampire of Griswold, ConnecticutDid vampires roam the swamps and forests of early New England? A grotesquely vandalized grave discovered in the small town of Griswold, Connecticut, revealed a ghoulish secret that had been concealed for almost 200 years.
The small town of Griswold, Connecticut, settled in the late 1690s by farmers from Massachusetts and Rhode Island seeking a life free from strict Puritan religious restraints, conceals a gruesome secret. The sudden unexpected discovery of human remains in a sand and gravel pit led to the discovery of an early American “vampire” whose grave was intentionally opened and whose mortal remains were inten...
2018-04-2535 min