It’s History

Explore the history of Venice Beach, Los Angeles—from Abbot Kinney’s vision and the snowstorm that sparked it, to the coin toss that changed its future and the ambitious construction of the beach and canals. Learn how the canals operated, why they became problematic, what remains today, and follow a journey to retrace the lost canals beneath Venice’s streets.

Chapters:

00:49 Abbot Kinney: The Man Behind the Dream

03:13 The Snowstorm that Led to Venice Beach's Creation

04:27 A Coin Toss that Changed Venice Beach Forever

05:19 Building Venice Beach: The Grand Construction

06:55 The Venice of America: Grand Opening Day

07:25 Exploring the Canals of Venice Beach

08:50 The Nightmare of the Venice Beach Canals

10:45 What's Left of the Venice Beach Canals Today

13:25 Rediscovering the Lost Canals of Venice Beach

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wacker Drive is a multilevel street in Chicago’s Loop, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River. Most of it is double-decked: the upper level for local traffic and the lower for through traffic and trucks serving buildings (originally a dock). Considered a precursor to the modern freeway, it was designed with pleasure vehicles on the upper level. It’s the only street in Chicago prefixed with all four cardinal directions on different segments. Named for city planner Charles H. Wacker, its tiers are known as Upper Wacker Drive and Lower Wacker Drive; a short section adds a third tier, often called Lower Lower (or Sub Lower) Wacker Drive.

#Chicago #WackerDrive #LowerWacker #ChicagoRiver #UrbanPlanning #Infrastructure

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A concise history of New York City’s Croton Distributing Reservoir, the mid-19th-century engineering project that brought clean drinking water to the city. Built on Murray Hill with a capacity of about 100 million gallons, it required major excavation and the transport of massive stone blocks from distant quarries, including in New Jersey. The video examines its impact on firefighting, industrial growth, and public health during events like the mid-19th-century cholera epidemic, its connection to the devastating 1835 fire, its demolition to make way for New York’s library, and what remains at the site today.

Chapters:

- 02:09 – New York’s first major source of fresh water: the Collect Pond

- 03:18 – Why the Croton Aqueduct needed a reservoir

- 05:49 – The role of 5th Avenue in early New York waterworks

- 08:40 – Construction of the Croton Distributing Reservoir

- 11:08 – How the reservoir transformed New York’s water infrastructure

- 12:22 – Demolition of the reservoir

- 12:57 – Making way for New York’s library

- 14:04 – What remains of the reservoir today

#CrotonAqueduct #NYCHistory #UrbanInfrastructure

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In autumn 2022, the Mississippi River fell to extraordinary lows: near Memphis, Civil War shipwrecks resurfaced with intact artifacts; at Baton Rouge, a steamboat hull last seen in 1915 was exposed; and saltwater from the Gulf advanced roughly 60 miles upstream, contaminating drinking water. The river didn’t run dry, but the conditions were unprecedented by historical standards.

This episode traces these events to engineering decisions after the catastrophic 1927 flood, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used levees and artificial cutoffs that shortened the river by about 170 miles. While effective for flood control, the faster, straighter river—lacking floodplains and natural reserves—proved vulnerable in drought, contributing to the record lows of 2022 and 2023.

#ItsHistory #MississippiRiver #AmericanHistory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that Chicago's Merchandise Mart has its own zip code? Opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, spanning 4 million square feet. Its significance led to a dedicated L stop and a connection to a now-abandoned 60 miles of underground freight tunnels.

Merchandise Mart was built above a massive train yard, facilitating freight train deliveries in the heart of Chicago for many decades. This near-century-old art deco masterpiece, located on the banks of the Chicago River, serves around 20,000 people daily.

Video Highlights:

- Importance of Merchandise Mart’s land to Chicago trade

- Construction and size of Merchandise Mart

- Grand opening details

- Merchandise Mart as a "city within a city"

- Tour of Merchandise Mart

- History of radio broadcast at Merchandise Mart

- The Merchandise Mart train station

- Fate of the Merchandise Mart’s rail freight yard

- Features of Merchandise Mart’s basement

- Connection to Chicago freight tunnels

- Link to the Chicago Flood and its impact on Merchandise Mart

- Transformation of the Chicago Loop due to Merchandise Mart

#ITSHISTORY #MerchandiseMart #ChicagoHistory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of It’s History, we explore the story behind the Lincoln Tunnel, one of the busiest vehicular tunnels in the world, connecting New York to New Jersey. The tunnel sees over 100,000 cars daily and around 21 million annually.

Topics covered include:

- Inspiration from the Holland Tunnel

- Proposed underwater tunnels

- Financial struggles and funding methods

- Engineering feats involved in its construction

- Ventilation system and significant events in its history

#LincolnTunnel #HollandTunnel #UrbanHistory #ItsHistory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High in the hills of Griffith Park, Los Angeles, lies the abandoned remains of the first zoo, built in 1912. Once a symbol of civic ambition, the original Griffith Park Zoo became a cautionary tale of poor planning, limited funding, and misunderstandings about animal welfare. This episode delves into the zoo's cheaply constructed cages, the public scandal related to its cramped enclosures, and the New Deal renovations that briefly hid deeper issues. It covers the zoo's quiet closure in the 1960s and its afterlife as an urban ruin and graffiti-covered hangout.

#LosAngeles #AbandonedPlaces #ItsHistory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay presented by host Ryan Socash.

In this episode, we explore the intricate history of the global sugar trade with a focus on New York and the Domino Sugar Refinery.

Chapters:

00:00 - How New York was a Part of the Global Sugar Trade

01:52 - The History of New York’s Havemeyer Family’s Sugar Company

03:48 - The impact of the Industrial Revolution on Sugar Trade

05:48 - Overview of sugar refining processes

06:33 - Functions of the 1880’s Domino Sugar Factory

08:44 - Expansion of the Domino Sugar Refinery in 1881

11:08 - 1920’s expansion of Domino Sugar beyond Brooklyn

13:06 - The challenging history of the global sugar trade

18:44 - The downfall of New York’s Domino Sugar Refinery

19:55 - What remains of Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Refinery

24:39 - The legacy of New York’s Domino Sugar Refinery

Scriptwriter - Brandon Evans,

Editor - Karolina Szwata,

Host - Ryan Socash.

Some media elements in this video are used under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law for purposes of commentary, criticism, and education.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of IT’S HISTORY, host Ryan Socash delves into the fascinating story of the Washington Monument.

**Chapters:**

00:00 - Introducing The Washington Monument

03:32 - America’s Other Washington Monuments

01:53 - The History of George Washington

06:29 - What the Washington Monument Represents

07:13 - How Politics Almost Prevented the Washington Monument

08:38 - The Washington National Monument Society

09:37 - Washington Monument’s Design

10:48 - First Phase of Construction of the Washington Monument

13:05 - Why Politics Again Stopped Construction of the Washington Monument

16:07 - Finishing Construction of the Washington Monument

18:28 - The Recreates of the Washington Monument

19:13 - The Story of Washington Monuments Memorial Stones

21:03 - Modernising the Washington Monument

22:06 - When Earthquakes and Hurricanes Damaged the Washington Monument

23:24 - Washington Monument's 1982 Incident

24:37 - The Legacy of the Washington Monument

**CREDITS:**

Scriptwriter - Brandon Evans

Editor - Karolina Szwata

Host - Ryan Socash

Music/Sound Design - Dave Daddario

**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. Events of factual error/mispronounced words/spelling mistakes will be addressed in this section.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Los Angeles is home to a unique network of forgotten pedestrian tunnels built in the early to mid-20th century. Originally constructed to ensure safe passage for pedestrians across busy intersections, these tunnels have largely fallen into disuse over the years. Today, many remain abandoned or have been repurposed, showcasing a historical glimpse into the city's past foot traffic. Their hidden entrances and eerie ambiance attract urban explorers and history enthusiasts, emphasizing the importance of preserving these remnants of Los Angeles's diverse history.

#UrbanExploration #LosAngelesHistory #ForgottenTunnels

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices