How much did early Americans drink? A lot.
By 1830, American citizens drank 7 gallons of ethanol a year per capita. (Most of them drank whiskey.) That’s close to...
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Found 1910’s and 20’s photos from rural Kansas and Illinois
Found photos gift us a captivating peek into the daily lives of people of the past. These pictures, from my...
St. Louis then and now (video)
Since St. Louis’ founding in 1764, the city on the Mississippi, with its Lewis and Clark history, revolutionary Eads Bridge,...
The Piasa bird: the dragon of the Mississippi River
The Piasa Bird was a mythological bird-like creature that preyed along the Mississippi River. According to legend, it could latch...
Rock Island’s gruesome Civil War prison
Andersonville prison is the most infamous prisoner of war camp of the Civil War. But it wasn’t the only Civil...
The day the music died
“I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride Something touched me deep inside The day...
Cleveland’s flammable river
"The Cuyahoga will live in infamy as the only river that was ever declared a fire hazard." - Congressman Louis...
St. Louis’ Forgotten Mounds
The Mississippian culture, one of the most fascinating cultures in world history, built earth mounds from Minnesota down to the...
3 videos comparing the Chicago of the past with today.
The windy city has changed over the years. The indigenous Miami-Illinois tribes called it shikaakwa, meaning onion, after the abundance...
How a “Mad Gasser” terrified a town in rural Illinois
"He moves through the night as nimbly and secretly as a cat, squirting a sweetish gas through bedroom windows.” -...