236 Items Tagged

Local History

Interior of the Folk Art Center.

Asheville, North Carolina

Folk Art Center

A wonderful display of arts and crafts handmade by local artisans in the Southern Appalachians.

Fabric at the Homespun Museum.

Asheville, North Carolina

Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum

The fine fabric handwoven at Biltmore Industries was once coveted around the world.

Corner of Arkhivna Street.

Arkhivna Street

This street has over a half-dozen names, all at once.

The welcoming clown.

Baraboo, Wisconsin

International Clown Hall of Fame

This circus town museum recognizes the outstanding clowns of history.

TIBBIM puppets on display at the library.

São Paulo, Brazil

Puppet Cabinet at Monteiro Lobato Library

Dozens of vintage puppets are displayed in an unassuming hallway at the public library.

Replica of Ogden's Stump Spring showing the water fountains Joe Ballif installed.

North Ogden, Utah

Stump Spring

Water flowed out of the town's unusual tree stump fountain in the 1930s, and the well still runs today.

Permanently Closed

Vasehenge.

Zanesville, Ohio

Vasehenge

A circle of giant painted vases in the former pottery capital of the United States.

Morgantown, West Virginia

Henry Clay Iron Furnace

A well-preserved relic of the industrial age steel and iron works that dotted West Virginia.

Dick Whittington’s Cat.

London, England

Dick Whittington’s Cat

A monument to the thrice mayor of London who according to lore made his fortune by selling his rat-chasing cat.

The cockfight at Plaza Patria.

Aguascalientes, Mexico

Automaton Clocks of Aguascalientes

Public clocks around the city chime with bullfights, cockfights, old railways, and other local traditions.

Henderson',s flavour potato chips (or crisps as we say in England)

Henderson's Relish

Sheffield’s secret sauce has a cult following.

Portland troll bridge

Portland, Oregon

Portland Troll Bridge

Not-so-fearsome tiny trolls live under this wooden train trestle in Portland.

The toothbrush fence.

Te Pahu, New Zealand

Toothbrush Fence

Hundreds of toothbrushes hang from a wire fence along a quiet New Zealand road.

Broadway Bicycle School, founded in 1972, is one of the few countercultural spaces in Devin's book that are still around today.

Mapping the Lost Countercultural Hotspots of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Local librarian Tim Devin has found hundreds of buildings that once housed utopian groups.

Cara Giaimo April 24, 2018

The "Chamber Hodag" in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

Rhinelander, Wisconsin

The Hodag

The menacing creature had a tremendous influence on the local culture before being exposed as a hoax.

In the summer of 2016, the artist Dan Borelli changed the colors of the streetlights in Ashland, Massachusetts, to reflect underground concentrations of toxic chemicals.

In Massachusetts, an Artist Explores an Old Dye Factory's Toxic Influence

The Ashland-Nyanza Project uses color to promote history and healing.

Cara Giaimo February 15, 2018

Stoneham, Massachusetts

Where Shute Fell

This headstone-like marker inscribed with three words has been an utter mystery for over a century.

Eureka County Courthouse

Eureka County Courthouse

The current Eureka County Courthouse replaced an all-wooden structure that had previously been an ice-skating rink.