The graceful spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel ascends weightlessly from the floor to the choir loft rising a total height of almost twenty-five feet. Not a single nail was used in its construction; it lacks any central support. Built in 1881, it still evokes wonder. What is the secret of its miraculous design?

Featured in the 1930s as one of the world’s great enigmas by “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,”hundreds of thousands of the faithful and the merely curious journey to the chapel to see it every year. Local legends ascribe the staircase to the work of a mysterious visitor, an unknown itinerant carpenter who arrived suddenly, worked silently, and disappeared without a trace once the miraculous work was done. In this episode we investigate the tradition that the Loretto staircase was constructed by a heavenly visitation of St. Joseph, patron of woodworkers—and we will reveal the historical identity of the mysterious craftsman who built the spiral staircase and the centuries-old tradition he brought with him to Santa Fe.

Music and FX Credits

Carpentry – planing timber by hand, by abcopen, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial , https://freesound.org/people/abcopen/sounds/164211/

Hora est, MWV B 18 (For Male Chorus), performed by Papalin, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license https://musopen.org/music/44163-hora-est-mwv-b-18/

Untitled sacred music, by Rannar Sillard, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD7Hg1UdAAM

Succubus intro, by zagi2, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial , https://freesound.org/people/zagi2/sounds/368015/

Franz Joseph Haydn, Mass in C major, Hob. XXII:9, performed by the Orchestra and Chorus of St. Martin Eisenstadt, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license https://musopen.org/music/43349-mass-in-c-major-hob-xxii9/

Flight Hymn, by Ross Bugden,Licensed under a Creative Commons 4.0 International license, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCr0bsng60Y

Little Gray Mule (Roscoe Holcomb, Overhand/Drop-Thumb gCGCD), by Clifton Hicks, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHpyuM-J9f8

Horsewagon steady:stop dirt:pavement, by lefthandwinnie, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, https://freesound.org/people/lefthandwinnie/sounds/403158/

J.S. Bach, Bourree from Violin Partita no. 1 , BWV 1002, guitar arr., performed by Accou, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, https://musopen.org/music/44003-bourree-from-violin-partita-no-1-bwv-1002-guitar-arr/

Tender Steps by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/56286 Ft: Javolenus

DFA by onlymeith (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/onlymeith/53446 Ft: DJ Vadim, Geert Veneklaas

A distant gunshot, by InspectorJ, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license, https://freesound.

At the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, site of the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, a gang of bumbling counterfeiters plotted to steal the President’s body. The plot quickly became a ghoulish comedy of errors, largely forgotten in the annals of American history.

The Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, the site of the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, was the site of one of the most bizarre Secret Service operations in history. The body of the savior of the Union and one of our greatest presidents had lain peacefully in his coffin since his assassination at Ford’s Theater in Washington eleven years before. But a gang of bumbling counterfeiters from Chicago, believed that Lincoln’s poorly guarded tomb could be a gold mine for them. They plotted to steal the assassinated President’s body and hold it for a cash ransom and a full pardon for one of their imprisoned comrades. Yet this ghoulish plan quickly became a comedy of errors largely forgotten in the annals of American history, in which the body snatchers were arrested and imprisoned—and the primary role of the Secret Service as the agency responsible for the protection of presidential bodies began.

Music and FX Credits

* Blue Circles by unreal_dm (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/unreal_dm/33850 Ft: CSoul

* 12 Etudes in All the Minor Keys, Op.39 – V.(Symphony for Piano Solo) – Marche funebre (Andantino), performed by Luis Sarro, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://musopen.org/music/performer/luis-sarro/

* A Remington 1858 being fully cocked ready to fire. Sony MZ-RH1 + AT822. by fastson, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/fastson/sounds/51057/

* Remington gunshot, Sound of a Remington 1858 being cocked and fired. Recorded with AT822 stereo-mic and Sony MZ-RH1, by fastson, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/fastson/sounds/50618/

* A cold New Year Steam Event on the Battlefield Line, by konakaboom, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/konakaboom/sounds/332413/

* Shop door bell, by 3bagbrew, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/3bagbrew/sounds/57743/

* Horse drawn carriage, arrive and stop, by Sirderf, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/Sirderf/sounds/333680/

* Printing press, by KMerrel, Licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling License. https://freesound.org/people/KMerrell/sounds/64641/

* The Last Train to Koszalin ft. Kara Square & Javolenus by Doxent Zsigmond (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/doxent/42636 Ft: Kara Square, Javolenus

* Waltz in A minor, Op. 34 no. 2, performed by Olga Gurevic, public domain mark 1.0, https://musopen.org/music/performer/olga-gurevich/

* Chanter’s Song by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.

Is this bizarre, rambling Victorian mansion haunted by the spirits of gunshot victims—and by the ghost of an eccentric heiress who inherited both a fortune and a curse? A closer look at hidden facts of the mansion’s history reveals a different tale.

The Winchester Mystery House just south of San Jose, California, has been a popular and spooky tourist attraction since it opened to the public in 1923. By now the story is familiar to the thousands of visitors who experience the otherworldly thrill of exploring its labyrinthine halls, staircases that bizarrely lead to nowhere, hidden compartments, and, of course, a closed chamber in the middle of the sprawling mansion that is billed as the “Séance Room.”

Some guides report that after dark, long after closing time, they have heard eerie footsteps approaching down the Victorian mansion’s countless hallways and disembodied voices whispering unrecognizable names.

But the spirits, the curse, and never-ending hauntings of the famous mansion are all part of a carefully constructed, money-making tall-tale. But that is not to say that the Winchester Mystery House has no historical value. Its existence as a tourist attraction was a brilliant stroke of imagination and public promotion. In fact, this is the story of how the Winchester Mystery House became the model for haunted houses at amusement parks and Halloween fright houses all over the United States.

Music and FX Credits

* “Footsteps, Concrete, A.wav” by InspectorJ, copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/336598/

* Small group gasps in unison remix of Freesound by CaptainVideo89, remix by Timbre, Licensed under a Creative Commons Non-commercial Attribution (3.0) license, https://freesound.org/people/Timbre/sounds/106391/

* Maple Leaf Rag, performed by Stefano Ligoratti, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license, https://musopen.org/music/performer/stefano-ligoratti/

* The Wild Wild West, That1lightskin, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license, https://freesound.org/people/That1lightskin/sounds/360636/

* Steam Train, by gadzooks, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license, https://freesound.org/people/gadzooks/sounds/39413/

* Steam Train Horn, by eliasheuninck, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license, https://freesound.org/people/eliasheuninck/sounds/170848/

* Lyric Pieces, Op. 43 – 2. Solitary traveller – Ensom Vandrer (For Recorder Ensemble), performed by Papalin, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license, https://musopen.org/music/performer/papalin/

* Lyric Pieces, Op. 43 – 4. Little Bird – Liden Fugl (For Recorder Ensemble), performed by Papalin, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license, https://musopen.org/music/performer/papalin/

* Empty rooms (small theme) by _ghost (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/_ghost/31006

* Wes’ earthquake 4-16-95.wav Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/phantaglyph/sounds/49646/

Ghosts still inhabit the site of “Custer’s Last Stand.” The responsibility for the bloody encounter has long been a matter of bitter debate. Explore some surprising evidence that casts the event in a totally new light.

In the middle of the Crow Indian Reservation in southeast Montana stands a solid stone house that has seen its share of ghostly happenings. Mysterious lights, creaking footsteps, doorknobs mysteriously turning, sudden shrieks, and doors slamming—even the terrifying apparition of a headless cavalryman who silently passes through the building’s walls. Little wonder that many have claimed that the building is haunted. Standing at the edge of a national military cemetery, the “Old Stone House” was used to temporarily store the bodies of military veterans awaiting burial. Yet restless spirits roam far beyond the stone house and the cemetery grounds. Supernatural visions of violence, pain, dread, and panic repeatedly materialize across the nearby hills, gullies, and broad river valley beyond.

Listen to the story behind the haunting of the Stone House and the surrounding land — a story that is quite different than the schoolbooks taught us about the battle at the Little Bighorn.

Music and FX Credits

* Spooky door, by Snapper4298. 2014. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/Snapper4298/sounds/254985/

* Native hand drum, by Sandyrb. 2009. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/sandyrb/sounds/86653/

* Native American style flute in F#4, by Wood_Flutes. 2015. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/Wood_Flutes/sounds/264942/

* Ghost, by Draconihype, 2010. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/Draconihype/sounds/100369/

* Haunting Voices, by l_forbes, 2013. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/l_forbes/sounds/204073/

* Death Scream, by Syna-Max, 2008. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/Syna-Max/sounds/58793/

* Eagle Feather, by Kerri Lake, 2006. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.  https://freesound.org/people/kerri/sounds/27257/

* Cricket Seasoning by Quarkstar (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Quarkstar/56509

* Adventure Western Music, by Ross Bugden. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (4.0) International license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDPMAuv-3nk

* Wasteland, by Ross Bugden. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (4.0) International license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eAalHA1bAc

* Cavalry, by RT759 2013. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.  https://freesound.org/people/RT759/sounds/199403/

* Fire Forest Inferno, by Dynamicell, 2006. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/Dynamicell/sounds/17548/

Like a shapeshifter, ever-changing her imagined character and physical appearance, the spirit of Marie Laveau refuses to fade away. In New Orleans’s famously eerie St. Louis Cemetery #1, you may recognize a past that you have made for yourself.

In the eerie St. Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans, one particular mausoleum wears its sterile image uneasily. Now hidden beneath a thick coat of plaster are hundreds of X’s marking secret prayers for love, death, and revenge — fervent supplications to Marie Laveau, a free woman of color widely recognized as New Orleans’s Voodoo Queen. Who was this extraordinary woman who still attracts such veneration? What powers did she possess in her lifetime and what powers does she still possess today?

Music and FX Credits

* Swamp, by LilyMarie, Licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus license. https://freesound.org/people/LilyMarie/sounds/108241/

* Frater Perdurabo – Crowleymas Soundscape by Calling Sister Midnight (c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Noncommercial Sampling Plus license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/romancito/28754, Ft: Bidone, pitx, queeniemusic, debbizo

* Part 1 walk through French Quarter, by _HAP_, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/_HAP_/sounds/401166/

* Soli Rhythm, panta_rei, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/panta_rei/sounds/116654/

* Voodoo Ceremony: Beginning, 2014, Port au Prince, Haiti, recorded by Caroline Berliner and Félix Blume, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/felix.blume/sounds/395899/

* Two horse drawn carriages, by dobroide, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/dobroide/sounds/330674/

* Live performance of Desiade Nyo Toronto African Drumming and Dancing Group, FutuReale Interviews, by Omar, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuACwDPdRPE

* Oklahoma summernight wildlife, by eric5335, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/eric5335/sounds/55349/

* Person going under water, by johonbravo, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/johonbravo/sounds/398344/

* African drumming at night, by hutsvoid, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/hutsvoid/sounds/202419/

* Dog howl, by CGEffex, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/CGEffex/sounds/158975/

* Running gravel or dry leaves loop, by bevangoldswain, Licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus license. https://freesound.org/people/bevangoldswain/sounds/54778/

* Dog Bark, by Juan Merie Venter, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.

Gooey death and destruction is no laughing matter. Follow the tragic chain of events that led corporate greed for war profiteering to devastate a crowded immigrant neighborhood.

In this episode, our Place of Legend is now a public playground just off busy Commercial Street in Boston, where a small green plaque affixed to a low wall near the public bocce court tells of the “Great Molasses Flood” in exceptionally unemotional terms. Blaming the disaster on “structural defects” in the storage tank and “unseasonably warm temperatures,” the inconspicuous knee-level plaque conceals far more than it reveals. For the suspects in the Great Molasses flood were variously identified as bomb wielding anarchists, corner-cutting metal workers, and the inexplicable act of a perplexing God. The real cause was that profits were more important than human lives to the executives of the Purity Distilling Company and their heartless actions remain to this day far more vivid in local neighborhood lore than in the deadpan text of a plaque placed at the site of the horror by the highbrow Bostonian Society.

Listen to the sticky story of Boston’s industrial disaster — which traces its way through the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the trenches of WWI battlefields, and the run on liquor experienced on the eve of Prohibition.

Music and FX Credits

* Lava Loop, by Audionautics. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/Audionautics/sounds/133901/

* Pirate ship at Bay, by CGEffex. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/CGEffex/sounds/93678/

* Medley of American revolutionary war music, by Sturbridge Colonial Militia, under a Creative Commons Public domain mark (1.0). https://archive.org/details/MusicOfTheRevolutionaryWar/Medley.mp3

* World War 1 Trench Warfare Battlefield Sounds, by paulbogus. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/paulbogush/sounds/345723/

* Creaking Metal Soundscape 2, by Speedenza, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. https://freesound.org/people/Speedenza/sounds/203925/

* Rodeheaver, Homer A, H. S Taylor, and J. B Herbert. [Debrewer’s big hosses illustrated Temperence song]. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197656/

* Train crash, by CGEffex, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. https://freesound.org/people/CGEffex/sounds/94178/

Within sight of the Vegas Strip, mushroom clouds rose high into the air. Enemy attack? Tragic accident? Just the Defense Department reassuring America that it could survive atomic war.

In our second episode we travel to a desolate stretch of arid scrubland in southwestern Nevada, where from 1951 to 1958, the blinding flashes and towering mushroom clouds of atmospheric atom bomb tests rose from the desert floor. It is today a contaminated, radioactive wasteland. But the strange story of an all-American suburb built to be vaporized offers a jarring glimpse at Cold War nuclear madness—and how we have largely forgotten the vivid, visceral feelings of seeing a mushroom cloud rise over American territory.

From secret laboratories to atomic beauty pageants — from Duck and Cover to all-night bomb watching parties, listen to the story of how the Nevada Test Site helped to create the Atomic Age.

Listen here — or find us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music.

Music and FX Credits

* Duck and Cover [remix] (2005) by Rev T. (Tyson Saner) (c) copyright 2005 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.

* Atomic bomb test on Bikini Atoll, 1946 – enhanced and restored by CGEffex

* Yesterday’s News by texasradiofish (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.

* Slip into Something More Jazzy by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.

How did the spirit of a New England railroad man come to haunt a Kansas hotel? Join us in exploring a pioneer city where a forgotten battle over slavery can still be felt today.

Welcome to Places of Legend, a new podcast that digs into places with stories. Stories that are shared in schoolyards, on sidewalks, and around campfires. Let’s call it Cultural Heritage that hasn’t been stuffed and mounted yet. It’s scary, it’s hilarious, it’s sometimes grotesque, and almost always hidden. Places of Legend will provide stories that pull back the curtain to reveal the unexpected and the bizarre.

In this inaugural episode, we explore Room 506 in the Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence, Kansas, where it is rumored that the ghost of the self-styled Colonel Eldridge haunts guests to this day.

The Eldridge Hotel is one of those historic hotels with palms, marble, and chintz-covered sofas in the lobby—everything meticulously restored to elegant tourism’s golden age. But it also holds, a spirit, a fleeting presence, some even say it’s the ghost of Colonel Eldridge himself—who refuses to let the time when Lawrence was bloody be forgotten. There were no rules to follow. Survival was everything. And even in his ghostly form, Colonel Eldridge has survived.

Listen to the podcast to learn about the bloody tale.

Music and FX Credits

* Elevator sound effect, Trautwein, https://freesound.org/people/Trautwein/sounds/262574/

* Elevator Music Drum Loop, Miafas http://free-loops.com/2948-elevator-music.html

* Hotel Keycard, Joe Deshon, https://freesound.org/people/joedeshon/sounds/118230/

* Graveyard Zombie Blues, Martijn de Boer, http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/47758