The internet has a version.
The record has another.

Researched history about places with documented pasts, and the myths that grew around them.

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Episodes

Nineteen places, and what actually happened at them.

Every episode separates what the record says from what gets repeated. Folklore is labelled folklore.

A hand was erased from this photograph — episode

A hand was erased from this photograph

And the Library of Congress is the one that says so.

 A private club lowered the dam — episode

A private club lowered the dam

Johnstown, 1889. The court called it an act of God.

 A forest that floats — episode

A forest that floats

Spirit Lake, Washington. Still on the surface, forty-six years on.

 A wave out of a calm lake — episode

A wave out of a calm lake

Lake Michigan, 26 June 1954. Eight dead, or seven.

 They turned a river around — episode

They turned a river around

Chicago, 1900. Missouri sued in the Supreme Court.

 For eighteen days there were six Great Lakes — episode

For eighteen days there were six Great Lakes

Lake Champlain, 1998. Public Law 105-160.

 The jet that merged with the target — episode

The jet that merged with the target

Lake Superior, 1953. The file contradicts itself.

 The light they explained, and nobody stopped visiting — episode

The light they explained, and nobody stopped visiting

Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Michigan Tech solved it in 2010.

 The river that goes nowhere — episode

The river that goes nowhere

Devil's Kettle, Minnesota. Solved by arithmetic.

 The log that will not lie down — episode

The log that will not lie down

Crater Lake, Oregon. Tracked since 1896.

 The lifeboat that came back — episode

The lifeboat that came back

Lake Erie. Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, 1909.

 No such entry, no such log — episode

No such entry, no such log

Flannan Isles. Three keepers, 1900.

 The lake that drained itself — episode

The lake that drained itself

Lake Peigneur, Louisiana. 1980.

 The internet gets it half right — episode

The internet gets it half right

Lake Lanier. Oscarville, 1912.

 What is really at the bottom — episode

What is really at the bottom

Lake Tahoe. A dive that never happened.

 A town holding its breath — episode

A town holding its breath

Lake Norman. East Monbo, 1962.

 The county seat they drowned — episode

The county seat they drowned

Lake of the Ozarks. Linn Creek, 1931.

 The triangle that isn't magic — episode

The triangle that isn't magic

Lake Michigan. Flight 2501, 1950.

 The lake that never gives up her dead — episode

The lake that never gives up her dead

Lake Superior. The Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975.

Map posts

One fact, drawn from the survey data.

Between episodes: a single sourced fact per post, drawn from the same bathymetric and hydrographic records the research starts from.

Swipe, and a thumb appears — map post

Swipe, and a thumb appears

The same negative, before it was retouched.

 Only one Great Lake is entirely American — map post

Only one Great Lake is entirely American

Michigan. The other four are shared with Canada.

 A coastline has no single length — map post

A coastline has no single length

Lake of the Ozarks, 1,150 miles. NOAA declines to settle it.

 Erie replaces itself every 2.6 years — map post

Erie replaces itself every 2.6 years

Superior takes 191. The EPA calls it retention time.

 London Bridge is in Arizona — map post

London Bridge is in Arizona

10,276 granite blocks, numbered one by one and shipped.

 1,700 wrecks. 277 found. — map post

1,700 wrecks. 277 found.

Lake Erie holds more than any other Great Lake.

 Michigan and Huron are one lake — map post

Michigan and Huron are one lake

NOAA counts them as one, at the Straits of Mackinac.

 The deepest lake in the country — map post

The deepest lake in the country

Crater Lake. 1,943 feet, and it is not Superior.

 Four things about Lake Tahoe — map post

Four things about Lake Tahoe

Enough water to cover all of California.

 Superior holds every other Great Lake — map post

Superior holds every other Great Lake

And three more Lake Eries. Real tributary data.

If we cannot source it, we do not say it.

The whole point of the channel is the second half of its name. That only works if the sourcing is real.

Real records

Government photographs, period engravings, county and court records. Never AI-generated imagery presented as archival.

Folklore stays labelled

When a story is folklore, the episode says so out loud. The interesting part is usually the gap between the two.

Cut, don't guess

A claim we cannot stand behind gets cut rather than softened. Sources are posted with every episode, corrections included.

Lake Michigan bathymetric map print

The maps behind the episodes.

Every lake in the series is drawn from public bathymetric survey data, the same source the research starts from. Printed on archival paper and shipped from the shop.

Browse the prints

When there's a new one.

One note when an episode goes up, with the part of the record that would not fit in ninety seconds. No schedule, no forwarding, nothing else.

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