Hometown History

By Shane WatersSociety & Culture True Crime History

Hometown History episodes

September 30, 2020 Mackinac Island: Where Cars Were Banned in 1898
When you arrive at Mackinac Island, the first thing you notice is the way it sounds. You realize you've never been in civilization for this long. In towns and streets, and restaurants and post offices. Without the sound of internal combustion. Without any horns, or any amped up stereo systems, or traffic jams, or the people beside you lip-syncing obnoxiously behind the rolled-up windows of their cars.
TIMELINE
1812: Just days into the War of 1812, the British had reclaimed Fort Mackinac by surrounding it with forces outnumbering its defenders, 10 to 1.
1875: About 50 years later, in 1875, Mackinac Island was named, after Yellowstone National Park, America's second national park.
1898: Horse-drawn carriages remain, much as they were in 1898, the primary mode of public transportation.
1903: Five years before Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903, a few hours south in Detroit.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Mackinac 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 6 | 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-history

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15 min
September 15, 2020 The Fox Islands and the Children of the Snow
Fox Islands, Michigan. This new year, why not let Audible expand your life by listening? Explore over 1 million audiobooks, podcasts, and exclusive Audible originals that'll inspire and motivate you. Tap into your well-being with advice and insight from leading professionals and experts on better health, relationships, career, finance, investing, and more. Maybe you want to kick a bad habit or start a good one.
TIMELINE
1867: The South Island is famous for its natural beauty and has a decommissioned light station containing two towers, the first from 1867 and the second from 1934.
1960: Back in 1960, the state's money to buy the island had topped out at $3,500.
1996: Rumor has it that Francis Sheldon died somewhere in the Netherlands, probably in Amsterdam, on or around September of 1996.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Fox Islands 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 5 | 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-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
12 min
September 01, 2020High Island's House of Virgins: Michigan's Cult
In the early 1900s, thousands of Americans joined a religious commune that promised actual eternal life, and handed over their life savings to prove their faith. When members inevitably died, they were buried in unmarked graves as punishment for their "faithlessness." This was the House of David cult of Benton Harbor, Michigan, whose bearded baseball teams toured with Satchel Paige and whose founder turned a thriving religious community into his personal harem.
High Island, a remote outpost in Lake Michigan, served as the cult's penal colony and hideout for what they called the "House of Virgins", young women spirited away in the night whenever authorities came looking for evidence of sexual exploitation. Behind the traveling sports teams and wholesome image was a darker story of manipulation, control, and unmarked graves on a forgotten island.
This is forgotten American history that reveals how charismatic leaders weaponize spirituality for power, and why thousands believed in a promise that was literally impossible to keep.
Subscribe to Hometown History for weekly deep dives into America's most surprising local stories.
How a religious leader promised eternal life and buried believers in dishonor when they died
The House of David's bizarre success as traveling sports teams with floor-length beards
High Island's role as both penal colony and hideout for exploited young women
The "House of Virgins" and cryptic telegrams about "green lumber" and "dry lumber"
What happened when the cult's sexual exploitation scandal went to trial
The unmarked graves that remain somewhere on the island today
Key Figures:
Benjamin Purnell ("Brother Ben") - Founder and self-proclaimed seventh messenger of heaven
House of David members - The "Michigan Israelites" who believed in eternal life
Timeline:
Early 1900s: House of David cult founded in Benton Harbor, Michigan
Peak years: 250,000 annual visitors to main campus; sports teams tour nationally
Multiple occasions: Young women hidden on High Island when authorities investigated
Cult trial: Benjamin Purnell died during legal proceedings
2018: Two living members remained in Benton Harbor
Present: High Island uninhabited; buildings and graves disappeared from landscape
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

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
10 min
August 10, 2020 America's Only King: Beaver Island's James Strang
Beaver Island, Michigan. The rate of violent deaths for kings throughout European history has been roughly 20%. The rate of violent deaths in the history of American kings, 100%. Every king in our national history has died a violent death. The rate of murder among the kings of Europe, as opposed to battlefield deaths or bloody accidents, has been roughly 15%. North America, again 100. Every American king has been murdered. Stranger yet, every king in American history has been assassinated in the harbor of St.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Beaver 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 3 | 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-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
13 min
July 01, 2020 The Real Dorothy of Oz: A Bloomington Tragedy
Bloomington, Indiana. The year was 1850 in the United States. American Express was founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo. Los Angeles, San Francisco are incorporated as cities in California. And in Bloomington, Illinois, the Bloomington Cemetery was founded. 170 years after its founding, as you travel slightly south of the city center, you enter the now Evergreen Memorial Cemetery on East Miller Street. This old sleepy cemetery has suffered from vandalism and deterioration over its many years.
TIMELINE
1850: The year was 1850 in the United States.
1856: Lyman Frank Baum, or better known as L. Frank Baum, or to his family and friends as Frank, was born on May 15, 1856, in New York.
1898: By November 1898, Frank was putting together the story that Maude had been pushing him to write.
1899: Father Goose, his book, became the best-selling children's book of 1899.
1900: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900.
1956: By the time the book enters the public domain, in 1956, three million copies would be sold.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Bloomington 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 2 | 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-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
11 min
May 01, 2018 Wabash's Blinding Light: First Electric City
Wabash, Indiana, 1880. The city council was in the middle of a heated fight over gas lamps and municipal lighting costs when a Cleveland inventor named Charles Brush offered them something nobody had tried before. He would install his arc lighting system on top of the county courthouse for $1,800. The vote barely passed. On the night of March 31, 1880, four lamps capable of producing a glow equal to 3,000 candles each fired from the courthouse dome. The streets below flooded with light. Wabash, a town of 15,000 people, had just become the first city in the world to light its streets with electricity.
This episode features TJ Honeycutt, collections assistant at the Wabash County Historical Museum, who walks through the original sources, the courthouse that still stands on its hill overlooking the town, and the arc light still on display inside the museum. If you go to the Wabash Wikipedia page, someone has called this claim a farcical notion. TJ has spent years gathering the evidence to the contrary.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Wabash beat every major city in the world to electric municipal lighting, and most people have never heard of it. The courthouse where those first lights burned still stands. The clock they installed still keeps time. And one of the original arc lights is still inside the museum two blocks away. Sometimes the biggest moments in history happen in the smallest towns.
Episode 1 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 140 (Cleveland, Ohio) tells the story of Charles Brush and how he illuminated a city and changed America forever.
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

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
14 min
January 23, 2018 Bonus: Launch
Three out of five people dream of writing a book. Few follow through. What does it take to take that from dream to reality? In this special preview we hear as John August (Go, Big Fish, Charlie, and The Chocolate Factory) takes his dream and turns it into a reality. Will it be successful?
Subscribe to Launch today: www.wondery.fm/launch
17 min

About Hometown History

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Discover forgotten stories from small-town America that never made it into history books. Hometown History is the podcast uncovering hidden American history—overlooked events, local mysteries, and…