In Episode 145, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll the beaches of Maine’s Vinalhaven Island in Penobscot Bay reminiscing about the circus, and exploring the history and wreck of the Royal Tar—one of New England’s worst maritime disasters. In October of 1836, 32 people perished along with a menagerie of animals from the Burgess and Dexter’s Zoological Institute in an event that still haunts the coast of Maine.

The Wreck of the Royal Tar

Twice each week, legend hunter, author, and historian Jeff Belanger and radio host Ray Auger explore the ghosts, monsters, aliens, folklore, history, roadside oddities, true crime, and legends of New England in this award-winning podcast. If you give us about twenty minutes, we’ll give you something strange to talk about today. The bizarre is closer than you think!

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Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 57 – Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike up to an old cellar hole and cemetery in Pawtuckaway State Park in New Hampshire, in search of an eccentric photographer from the late 1800s named George Goodrich. However, folks around the nearby town of Raymond called him: The Barefoot Farmer. Though he looked like a disheveled vagabond to the untrained eye of tourists, locals knew he was one of the wealthiest men in town. This episode first aired December 10, 2020.   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

FtV – The Barefoot Farmer of Patuckaway

In Episode 345 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit the Newtown Bee parking lot in Newtown, Connecticut, to experience the site of a brutal unsolved axe murder of a local cobbler and the profound haunting that followed soon after. Managing Editor Shannon Hicks from The Bee joins us for this one.    See more here:  https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-345-the-cobblers-ghost-has-no-shoes/   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends  

The Cobbler’s Ghost Has No Shoes

Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 56 – Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit a memorial off the side of the road in Alfred, Maine, that marks the site where America’s first elephant was gunned down in cold blood back in 1816. The elephant named Old Bet had toured throughout New England for eight years before a jealous farmer named Daniel Davis gunned her down as she approached the town of Alfred. Old Bet was part of one of America’s earliest circuses, and if not for the tiny memorial along Route 4, her legend may be lost forever. This episode first aired April 1, 2021.   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

FtV – The Slaying of Old Bet

In Episode 344 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Warwick Neck, Rhode Island, to search for the Crime Castle of Carl Rettich. In the 1920s, during the height of Prohibition, Rettich ran Rhode Island’s bootlegging game with an iron fist, and if you crossed him… with a mobster staple of his own invention: cement shoes.    See more here:  https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-344-carl-rettichs-deadly-footwear-and-murder-mansion/   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

Carl Rettich’s Deadly Footwear and Murder Mansion

Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 55 – Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger take a stroll down a road to nowhere in search of ghosts and a monster. The abandoned section of Downs Road in Bethany, Connecticut, is home to a host of legends whose roots date back more than a century-and-a-half and include ties to a strange New Haven cult whose leader claimed to have the ability to raise the dead. This episode first aired July 16, 2020.   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

The Wreck of the Royal Tar

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