It’s History

It’s History

By Ryan SocashHistory
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It’s History episodes

  • What's inside the secret 28th floor?
    Towering 398 feet over Niagara Square, Buffalo City Hall is one of the largest Art Deco buildings in America. Behind its mosaic-covered halls and a cosmic stained-glass ceiling that maps the exact night sky over Buffalo in 1931 lie a building full of secrets: a restricted prisoner passage known as the Tunnel of Tears, a passive cooling system that harnesses gales off Lake Erie with almost zero electricity, and a hidden 28th-floor observation deck reachable only by an unmarked stairwell. Built at the height of the Great Depression and finished on time, on budget, and without a single worker death, the building watched Buffalo rise as the electric “City of Light” and then nearly fall apart as industry collapsed and the city went broke. This episode climbs to the secret top floor, walks the Tunnel of Tears, and explores how a city too poor to demolish its own landmark helped preserve one of North America’s finest Art Deco buildings.
    #ItsHistory #Buffalo #ArtDeco

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    23 min
  • Inside NYC’s hidden train at Waldorf 🚇
    Beneath Midtown Manhattan lies a secret rail siding: Track 61. Built in the 1910s as part of Grand Central’s service yard, it originally hauled coal and ash. When the Waldorf Astoria was built above it in 1931, the track became a private platform connected to the hotel by a freight elevator. Over decades it carried generals, presidents, and celebrities — Franklin D. Roosevelt used it, and Andy Warhol staged a party there in the 1960s. This episode separates myth from fact, traces Track 61’s origins in New York’s golden age of rail, and explores why it remains an enduring urban mystery.
    #GrandCentral #WaldorfAstoria #UrbanHistory

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    22 min
  • I can’t believe Chicago did this 😮✈️
    IT’S HISTORY — Weekly tales of American urban decay, hosted by Ryan Socash.
    Episode: The Mystery of Meigs Field Airport
    This episode examines how Meigs Field came to be, its opening in Chicago, Mayor Daley’s attempts to shut it down and his overnight destruction of the field, and the site’s status today.
    Chapters:
    0:00 The Mystery of Meigs Field Airport
    0:41 How Meigs Field Airport Came To Be
    3:20 Chicago Opens Meigs Field Airport
    6:21 Mayor Daley Tries To Shut It DOWN
    7:55 Daley's OVERNIGHT Destruction of Meigs Field Airport
    10:00 Meigs Field Airport Today
    Credits:
    Editor — Karolina Szwata
    Host — Ryan Socash
    Music/Sound Design — Dave Daddario
    Disclaimer: Some media elements in this episode are used under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law (Title 17, Section 107) for purposes of commentary, criticism, and education.
    Notice: Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only — always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error, mispronounced words, or spelling mistakes will be addressed in retractions published in this section.
    #MeigsField #Chicago #UrbanDecay #ItsHistory

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    14 min
  • What's Below Chicago's Bean? The Lost Railyard

    Beneath Chicago’s Cloud Gate lies the city’s dramatic transformation. This episode traces Grant Park's evolution from marshland and post–Great Fire landfill to a bustling urban landmark, exploring Daniel Burnham’s 1909 vision and Montgomery Ward’s efforts to keep the lakefront “forever open, clear and free.”

    We examine the deck-over that led to Millennium Park, featuring Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, and Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate. Additionally, we uncover the hidden world beneath: Millennium Station, the Pedway, garages, and historic freight tunnels. Discover why Chicago’s front yard is both a monument to beauty and a marvel of buried infrastructure.
    #Chicago #GrantPark #MillenniumPark


    (00:45) Cloud Gate


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    34 min
  • Pearl Harbor: the secrets still here
    Chapters:
    00:00 Unveiling Pearl Harbor: Exploring the Forgotten Stories of Infamy
    00:53 Rising Tensions: From Diplomatic Clashes to the Road to Pearl Harbor
    03:35 Behind Enemy Lines: The Espionage at Pearl Harbor
    09:15 Missed Signals: The Radar Oversight at Pearl Harbor
    12:46 Resilience and Recovery: Stories of USS Nevada and USS California at Pearl Harbor
    IT’S HISTORY — Weekly tales of American urban decay, hosted by Ryan Socash.
    Disclaimer:
    Some media elements in this video are used under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law (Title 17, Section 107) for purposes of commentary, criticism, and education.
    Credits:
    Scriptwriter — Gregory Back
    Editor — Karolina Szwata
    Host — Ryan Socash
    Music/Sound Design — Dave Daddario
    Notice:
    Some images may be used for illustrative purposes while reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Any factual errors, mispronunciations, or spelling mistakes will be addressed in this section.

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    19 min
  • Hearn: Toronto’s abandoned power giant
    A once‑cornerstone of Ontario’s power grid, the Hearn Generating Station loomed over Toronto’s waterfront and helped shape the city’s growth. At its peak it supplied about 10% of the province’s electricity, running 24/7 with massive turbines and steam. This episode traces Hearn’s rise, operation, and dramatic decline—from its ambitious beginnings on reclaimed marshland to its role in powering a growing metropolis—and examines the political battles, technological triumphs, and personal stories that defined its legacy. Today it stands abandoned but not forgotten.
    #UrbanExploration #TorontoHistory #ItsHistory

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    18 min
  • Route 66 wasn’t first—this was
    Long before Route 66 captured the American imagination, the Lincoln Highway—completed in 1913—was the United States’ first true transcontinental road, stretching from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. This episode traces the rise and quiet fall of the Lincoln Highway: from muddy wagon trails and volunteer road crews to cement milestones, patriotic branding, and fierce industrial politics. It explores how a group of dreamers and auto tycoons built a road without government help, changed how Americans moved, and ultimately watched it get dismantled by the federal highway system.
    Credits:
    Scriptwriter — Ryan Socash
    Editor — Karolina Szwata
    Host — Ryan Socash
    Music / Sound Design — Dave Daddario
    Some media elements are used under fair use provisions for purposes of commentary, criticism, and education. Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only; retractions will be published in this section if needed.

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    26 min
  • Bethlehem Steel: America’s toughest job?
    Bethlehem Steel: once the backbone of American industry, founded in 1857. The company produced steel for iconic structures such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building, grew to dominate the U.S. steel market during the two World Wars, and collapsed in the late 20th century. This episode examines the company’s rise and fall, the grueling working conditions inside the massive steelworks (relentless heat, extreme danger, long hours), and the legacy of innovation and hardship that many American families trace to Bethlehem Steel.
    IT’S HISTORY — Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay, hosted by Ryan Socash.
    Credits
    - Scriptwriter – Wyatt Catucci
    - Editor – Karolina Szwata
    - Host – Ryan Socash
    - Music/Sound Design – Dave Daddario
    Some media elements in this video are used under fair use provisions for purposes of commentary, criticism, and education. Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only; corrections or retractions for factual errors will be published in this section.
    #BethlehemSteel #AmericanIndustry #UrbanDecay #ItsHistory

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    16 min
  • Sears kit homes: America built by mail
    This episode examines Sears Catalog Homes (sold c. 1908–1940): kit houses ordered from the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog and shipped by train to buyers across the U.S., complete with pre‑cut materials and instructions. Offering over 400 designs at affordable prices, these kits helped many middle‑class families achieve homeownership during a period of rapid urbanization and economic growth. The Great Depression and World War II contributed to their decline as Sears exited the home‑building business. Today, Sears homes remain nostalgic symbols of early 20th‑century innovation, though many have deteriorated or disappeared.
    IT’S HISTORY — Weekly tales of American urban decay, presented by host Ryan Socash.
    Credits
    - Scriptwriter: Brent Mackesey
    - Editor: Karolina Szwata
    - Host: Ryan Socash
    - Music/Sound Design: Dave Daddario
    #SearsHomes #KitHomes #HistoricHomes #AmericanHistory #UrbanDecay

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    20 min
  • The Mercury: America’s lost streamliner
    In 1936 the New York Central unveiled the Train of Tomorrow — a sculpted, silver streamliner designed by Henry Dreyfuss that fused Art Deco aesthetics with cutting‑edge engineering, mile‑a‑minute speeds, and interiors that felt more like a private club than a Depression‑era passenger car. Despite its elegance and influence, almost no physical trace of the Mercury survives today.
    This episode explores how the Mercury was built from scrap, stunned America with futuristic design, inspired a generation of streamlined travel, and ultimately disappeared amid accidents, rising highways, shifting culture, and the decline of passenger rail. Using historic documents, passenger accounts, and period reporting, we examine what the Mercury meant, how it worked, and why it faded into history.
    Chapters:
    0:00 The Train That Looked Like a Spacecraft
    1:36 Why America Needed the Mercury
    3:57 A Radical Idea That Almost Didn’t Happen
    5:06 Built From Scrap, Transformed Into Beauty
    6:12 The Test Run That Stunned Reporters
    6:58 A Streamliner Becomes a National Sensation
    7:49 The Mercury Redefined American Travel
    8:54 Inside the Mercury: A Rolling Art Deco Lounge
    10:14 Speed Meets Reality: The First Tragedies
    12:36 When America Moved On
    14:19 The End of a Vision… and What We Lost
    Scriptwriter: Ryan Socash
    Editor: Karolina Szwata
    Host: Ryan Socash
    #ItsHistory #MercuryTrain #streamliner

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    18 min

About It’s History

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IT’S HISTORY is a ride through history – join us in discovering the world’s most important eras, the minds that changed everything, and the most important inventions of our time through weekly tales of Urban Decay.