Places of Legend

Places of Legend


Latest Episodes

Case 18: Smugglers of Portland, OR
August 28, 2018

The 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,

Case 17: Master Thief of Miami Beach
August 14, 2018

Diamond 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...

Case 16: Annie goes over the Falls
July 31, 2018

Who 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 ...

Case 15: Mutiny in James Bay
July 17, 2018

The 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.

Case 14: Perfume Bootleggers in St. Paul?
July 03, 2018

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 drin...

Case 13: Blood Feud on Tug Fork
June 19, 2018

The 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.

Case 12: Dinner at Delmonico’s
June 05, 2018

The 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 pr...

Case 11: Murder on the Gunness Farm
May 22, 2018

On 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 t...

Case 10: National Hobo Convention of Britt, Iowa
May 08, 2018

Britt, Iowa 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 and life stories that ironically reflect changing American visio...

Case 9: The Vampire of Griswold, Connecticut
April 24, 2018

Did 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.