The forgotten story of Pennsylvania’s Grand View Ship Hotel and an unexpected discovery along the historic Lincoln Highway. Sometimes the most fascinating places aren’t the ones we plan to visit. They’re the ones that catch our attention just long enough to make us pull over. We were driving through Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Mountains on our way … Read more
Hidden beneath sprawling live oaks on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, stands a massive concrete reminder of a battle that never happened. Fort Fremont was built at the end of the nineteenth century to protect one of the most important naval facilities along the southeastern coast. It was armed with enormous disappearing guns, staffed by … Read more
Some places seem destined for a single purpose. A school is built to educate. A courthouse is built to deliver justice. A hospital is built to heal. Then there are places like Rivers State Prison. What began as a hospital dedicated to treating one of America’s deadliest diseases eventually became a prison, only to spend … Read more
Some Places Refuse to Be Forgotten Most people visit Rock Springs Run State Reserve for the hiking trails, wildlife, and beautiful Florida wilderness. We came looking for a ghost town. Hidden beneath towering pines and miles of sandy trails lies the forgotten community of Ethel, Florida. Once home to pioneering families, a railroad stop, a … Read more
Where the River Still Waits There are places that vanish quietly, and then there are places like Ellaville—towns that don’t disappear so much as sink. Tucked along a bend of the Suwannee River, Ellaville was once one of Florida’s most prosperous lumber towns. In the late 1800s, steam whistles echoed through the trees, steamboats lined … Read more
Some places whisper their stories. These caves?They echo them. Deep in the Withlacoochee Forest, two sinkholes carved into Florida’s limestone belly — Dames Cave and Peace Cave — wait like open mouths in the earth. Their edges are framed in ferns, roots dangle like veins, and the ground drops away without warning. These are some … Read more