The Anytown, USA Podcast: Recent Episodes
Courtney and Ty
Each episode, we randomly choose a new location in the USA and find out the most interesting story we can about it.
Hey, it turns out that Vermont really WAS a Republic! But man, did they mess up when it came to its original name. That and more in our exploration of Windsor, VT>
We check out Smyrna, Delaware, the site of the last legal hanging in the United States... in 1996. Also, prison riots and Amish markets.
On September 12, 1931, Thalia Massie stormed out of a Navy dance in Waikiki and set off a chain of events that would a man dead, captivate Americans on the mainland and change the political face of Hawaii right up to the present day. It was known as the Massie Affair.
In 1733, Akwamu slaves rebelled against their Danish masters and took the island of St. John by force. But why did their rebellion ultimately fail?
As a young boy, Chinook tribal member Ranald MacDonald had dreamed of exploring Japan. The only problem was that the country had been closed to foreigners for 200 years and was known to execute any who dared to break this law. But why would he let a little thing like that stop him?
James Jesse Strang had a vision. It involved an island in the middle of Lake Michigan and an angelic decree that he was destined to be its king.
Haverhill, Massachusetts has such a rich recorded history that we had a bit of trouble finding one thing to focus on. But Hannah Duston made the cut.
In this Anytown, USA/City on the Edge mashup, your hosts Ty Bannerman, Courtney FitzGerald and Mike Smith take a look at Cedar Crest, New Mexico, and the peculiar man who founded it.
There's a good chance that the first dinosaur you ever saw was a "Dippy." Where did it come from? How did it wind up in dozens of museums across the world? Why did it get such a stupid name? Find out in this episode.
When the US Air Force was looking for empty land on which to build a massive MX missile base, Juab County, Utah, seemed like a no-brainer. After all, only 10,000 people lived there. Unfortunately for them, one of those people was Cecil Garland.
We tell the story of how Garland stood firm against the US Government's plan to exploit the land he loved.
The first European claim on land that would become part of Fulton County, NY was a tract of Mohawk hunting ground called the Valley of the Crooked Stream. We tell the ignominious story of how this parcel came into European hands.
From the legacy of colonialism to forgotten Japanese soldiers, we enter uncharted territory (literally) with our first episode devoted to a US territory.
We look at Johnson County, Iowa, named after a particularly hypocritical vice president of the United States, and the town of Oxford, where nearly every citizen was photographed in 1984 and then again in 2005.
Springfield is all about Abraham Lincoln, but hey, what about Mr. Accordion? Also, the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon, a giant PLAYABLE bell tower.
Somehow, Mountain Home, Idaho, isn't in the mountains. In fact, it was founded when one town more or less swiped a post office from another. In this episode, we talk about this little town's peculiar history, as well as Evel Knieval's fateful fall in the nearby Snake River Canyon. Along the way, we'll meet a scoundrel stage coach baron and visit a charming wall made of pennies.
We check out Bloomfield, CT, one-time home to the New England Muscle Bicycle Museum and the most depressing group of Whigs in the world. Also: Legends of black dogs in the nearby Hanging Hills, and Harriet Beecher Stowe's declining years.
Why was Orford, New Hampshire's original name "Number Seven." Who is the ghostly presence that stalks nearby Mount Moosilauke? And who really invented the steam engine? We answer those questions, and more, in this episode on Grafton County, NH.
We check out the island town of Barnegat Light, named after the US's second tallest lighthouse, and find stories of airship disasters, cranberrie bogs and Bloody pine robbers. Oh, and muskrats.
We are joined by a REAL LIVE one-time Oxford, Mississippi resident who fills us in on the city's history. We then take a dive into the Ole Miss riots, when white supremacists tried to stop James Meredith, the Universty's first black student, from enrolling.
We take a trip to Cleveland County, Arkansas and find out how Coach Bear Bryant gained his name and Stephen Dorsey lost a county. Hint: Wrestling bears is better for your reputation than stealing railroads.
We are joined by guest Moxie LaBouche of the Your Brain on Facts podcast to discuss some creepy goings-on in Richmond, Virginia. Confederate statues, grave robbers and even a vampire each make an appearance.
We visit Itasca County, home of lakes, logging and long-ago louts. We tell the story of Sam Christy, an 1880s roustabout who could take a real beating, and look at one of the last altercations between the US Army and a Native American group, the Battle of Sugar Point. Also, who stole the ruby slippers?
We look at the history of Tensas Parish and uncover a terrible story of voter suppression in the wake of Reconstruction.
The atlas takes us to Lake County Oregon, home to geologic oddities and the rumors of rangewars past. We tak about alkali lakes where fish won't swim and the legacy of the Sheepshooters.
In this special bonus episode, we chat with Justin Evans (of the Geneation Why and The Peripheral Podcasts) about a story from his hometown's past: the Kansas City Massacre.
A small resort community in the California mountains hides a dark history. Yep, we're going there: It's the freaking Donner Party.
We take a look at Morven, North Carolina, where a community comes together to support literacy. Then, we investigate the nearby ghost town of Sneedsboro and a tale of disappearance that began at its once-famous Inn. Along the way, we meet Blind Boy Fuller, a virtuoso of Piedmont Blues.
We start in Pamplin City, one-time manufacturers of popular clay pipes and end up in Appomattox Courthouse, the site of Robert E. Lee's surrender to U.S. Grant.
Our ongoing journey takes us to Barber County, Kansas, where we learn the story of the the hatchet slinging temperance warrior, Carrie A. Nation, and the 1893 Land Run where 100,000 settlers raced for a chance at the American Dream.
We take a look at Eagle County, Colorado, home of the Gore Range which was named after one of the worst people to ever slaughter buffalo, Sir St. George Gore. Courtney tells the story of how the Utes were forced out of their homeland due to a misguided, reform-minded bureaucrat.
We talk about the history of Cascade County, MT, from Lewis and Clark's bear encounters to the environmental legacy of the Anaconda Smelter Stack. Also: the interracial founders of Belt, MT and the natural wonders of the Great Falls themselves.
We start in Manhattan, Nevada, a town that's died and been reborn several times, before checking out the rest of Nye County. We find stories of a man who tried to turn himself into a tiger and a US county with a population of 0, no buildings and no paved roads. Finally, we touch on the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository and the problem of how to warn future generations away from our deadly trash.
We virtually travel to Onida, South Dakota, learn about the life of African American homesteader Norvel Blair, the "science" of water witchery and the intriguing varieties of Hutterites, an anabaptist sect similar to the Amish.
We check out Richland Springs, Texas (go Coyotes!) and learn about San Saba County, where football games are played over an unmarked graveyard. For our history segment, we go back to the 1890s, when honest townsfolk lived in fear of the San Saba Murder Society. Until, that is, Captain Bill McDonald arrived with the Texas Rangers and saw that law and order was restored.
On a cold night in January, 1891, local gambler and influential citizen John Sheedy was felled by a blow to his head. Although doctors determined it wasn't life-threatening, he was dead by 10pm the next day. What happened? Was it a convoluted plot by his wife's lover, or were there even more sinister forces at work? This episode, we discuss the Great Sheedy Murder Case, learn the peculiar reason Lancaster NE was renamed "Lincoln," and check out the National Museum of Roller Skating.
We learn about a tiny town in Kentucky with a surprisingly rich past, which includes one of the last arson attacks of the Black Patch Tobacco War, and the birthplace of the first African American National Parks superintendent (and the 3rd to graduate from West Point). Not to mention a healthy dose of Daniel Boone-era frontier life.
Each episode, we choose a random county from an atlas of the continental USA and try to find the most interesting history, folklore and stories about it. On our very first episode, the pen falls on Anderson, Indiana and leads us to delve into the Great Indiana Gas Boom of the late 19th century. When a massive reservoir of natural gas was found below eastern Indiana, a bonanza of industry and profit followed. Unfortunately, so did waste and wild excess. Join us as we tell the story of Indiana's brief tenure as natural gas capital of the world