True stories we found in old American newspapers, photographs and books. Every quote comes right off the original page, and every story happened in a real American town.
34 true stories from 21 states
Hot Springs, Arkansas, March 1886
In 1886 the Chicago club took the baths at Hot Springs, Arkansas, under a pledge not to drink. That summer Spalding had detectives follow them.
St. Louis, Missouri, August 30, 1904
In the 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon, the first man home had ridden in a car, and the winner was kept going with strychnine and egg whites.
Burlington, Vermont, Summer 1903
In 1903, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson of Burlington, Vermont, made the first drive across America, with a mechanic and Bud, a bulldog in goggles.
Lookout Mountain, Georgia, October 20, 1930
Garnet Carter's putting course at Fairyland on Lookout Mountain started the 1930 miniature golf craze. What a round cost and how he sold out.
Grovers Mill, New Jersey, October 30, 1938
A 1938 radio play landed Martians at Grovers Mill, New Jersey. What the next day's papers said, and why the panic was smaller than the headlines.
Nome, Alaska, February 2, 1925
In 1925, 20 dog teams relayed diphtheria serum about 675 miles to Nome, Alaska. Balto led the last run through a blizzard. What the Nome Nugget reported.
Boston, Massachusetts, January 15, 1919
On January 15, 1919, a molasses tank on Boston's waterfront burst and flooded the North End, killing 21 people. What the papers reported, then and in 1925.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, September 1861
In 1861, Eau Claire soldiers bought a young eagle for $2.50, named him Old Abe and carried him into battle. What the old newspapers said about him.
Shelbyville, Tennessee, April 2, 1906
Dr. William Key of Shelbyville, Tennessee, taught his horse Jim Key to spell, count and make change. What the old papers said about the pair.
Clifton, Arizona, 1883
For ten years Arizona told of the Red Ghost, a wild camel with a dead man tied on its back. What the 1893 paper said, and where the camels came from.
Chicago, Illinois, November 28, 1895
On Thanksgiving Day 1895, six horseless wagons raced 54 miles through snow from Chicago to Evanston and back. Two finished. What the 1895 papers said.
South Pass City, Wyoming, February 14, 1870
In February 1870, a tie-breaking vote made Esther Morris of South Pass City, Wyoming, a justice of the peace. What the papers said about her court.
Onward, Mississippi, November 14, 1902
Near Onward, Mississippi, on November 14, 1902, Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear tied to a tree. A cartoon followed, then the teddy bear.
Hoboken, New Jersey, November 14, 1889
On November 14, 1889, Nellie Bly sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, with one small bag to race around the world. The old papers tell how she won.
Niagara Falls, New York, October 24, 1901
On October 24, 1901, Anna Edson Taylor, a schoolteacher from Bay City, Michigan, went over Niagara Falls in a barrel and lived. What the papers reported.
Grangeville, Idaho, February 19, 1914
On February 19, 1914, five-year-old May Pierstorff was mailed from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho, for 53 cents. Her hometown paper told the story that day.
San Diego, California, January 1916
In December 1915, San Diego promised rainmaker Charles Hatfield $10,000 to fill its reservoir. Then came the floods of January 1916. What the papers said.
Ord, Nebraska, January 12, 1888
On January 12, 1888, teacher Minnie Freeman led her pupils from a wrecked schoolhouse near Ord, Nebraska, to a farmhouse. What the 1888 newspapers said.
New York, New York, November 9, 1874
On November 9, 1874, the New York Herald said the Central Park animals had escaped and killed 49 people. It was a hoax, confessed in the last paragraph.
Argonia, Kansas, April 4, 1887
In April 1887, men in Argonia, Kansas, put Susanna Salter's name on a ballot as a joke. She won and became the first woman mayor in the country.
Olympia, Kentucky, March 3, 1876
On March 3, 1876, flakes of what looked like raw meat fell from a clear sky in Bath County, Kentucky. What witnesses, a butcher and the scientists said.
Sacramento, California, November 17, 1896
On November 17, 1896, a bright light crossed Sacramento's night sky and hundreds said it was an airship with a singing crew. The old newspapers tell the story.
Paducah, Kentucky, November 1, 1907
Wagons on stable roofs, gates on telephone poles, buggies on haystacks: what old newspapers reported the morning after Halloween, from Paducah, Kentucky, to Dakota.
El Centro, California, October 31, 1933
On Halloween 1933, the Imperial Valley Press in El Centro, California, had to explain "trick or treat" to its readers. The old newspapers show the phrase arriving.
Series of 45 patriotic quotes, one from each U.S. President.
New York
On the crest of a hill in Glen Cove, New York sits Killenworth, one of the country's finest mansions
Mississippi
Longwood, also known as Nutt’s folly, is a grand antebellum mansion in Natchez...
Connecticut
The Merritt Parkway was the first divided-lane, limited-access highway in Connecticut.
Florida
Alexander Graham Bell in Wicker Wheel Chair, 1922 This 1922 photograph shows Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, scientist, and patent holder of the first practical telephone, sitting in Florida during…
Abraham Lincoln was elected President largely because he was a rail-splitter.
New York
New York City’s first underground railway used pressurized air to propel train cars...
Abraham Lincoln was clean shaven his entire life until he received a letter from 11 year old...
Many people know that some of Walt Whitman's most popular works, "O Captain, My Captain" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", were written in tribute to Abraham Lincoln. What…
This daguerreotype is the earliest-known photograph of Abraham Lincoln, taken...
No story from there yet. We add new ones often.