Michael J Bielawa's User Profile - Atlas Obscura

Michael J Bielawa

Michael Bielawa’s explorations take him to northeast America's most mysterious, and abandoned, sites. He’s shared his findings on TV, radio and in print: including reanimating the dead in New England with NPR, long-lost 19th century baseball fields with Major League Baseball, Men In Black and the Lake Champlain Creature with the Connecticut Post and attempts to pilfer P.T. Barnum's corpse with London’s Fortean Times. Bielawa lectures throughout Connecticut and his Wicked Walks, each October for The Barnum Museum (and in 2018 co-sponsored by Atlas Obscura), documents Bridgeport, Connecticut as one of America’s most paranormal downtowns. He is the author of Wicked Bridgeport and Wicked New Haven.

Michael J. Bielawa, Author

2018
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Leaderboard Highlights

Michael J Bielawa's activity rankings

1^st

Places visited in Bridgeport, Connecticut

1^st

Places visited in Meriden, Connecticut

1^st

Places visited in Waterbury, Connecticut

2^nd

Places visited in Rocky Hill, Connecticut

2^nd

Places visited in Manchester, Vermont

5^th

Places visited in Connecticut

5^th

Places visited in Wareham, Massachusetts

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New Milford, Connecticut

Gaylordsville Spite House

The best revenge is a five-tiered layer cake of a dwelling.

Calvin the Courageous

Added by Calvin the Courageous

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Bayou St. John Confederate Submarine

A mysterious find dredged from Louisiana waters.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

New York, New York

Crabs of Cleopatra’s Needle

Curious crustaceans support an obelisk from ancient Egypt that now stands in modern-day Central Park.

aboychuk

Added by aboychuk

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Tree of Life

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.

Added by Bridget S

New Orleans, Louisiana

Séance Room at Muriel's Jackson Square

The restaurant keeps a hidden séance room on the second floor and reserves a table for the spirit of the former owner each night.

Laura Zazueta

Added by Laura Zazueta

New Orleans, Louisiana

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Boarding House

A house of courtship where the Jazz Age's most storied lovers got their start.

Lady Delaney

Added by Lady Delaney

New Orleans, Louisiana

Scallop Shell Pulpit

The oldest operational cathedral in the U.S. has one shell of a way of projecting speakers' voices.

satxwdavis

Added by satxwdavis

Lafayette, Louisiana

LARC's Acadian Village

A reimagined 19th-century Acadian village featuring authentic Cajun-style homes filled with artifacts specific to the period.

vagabondblonde

Added by vagabondblonde

St Francisville, Louisiana

Cat Island Bald Cypress

Located in a remote part of a Louisiana wildlife refuge, this tree has been standing for more than 1,200 years.

exjayex

Added by exjayex

St. Francisville, Louisiana

The Day the Civil War Stopped

Every year, a Louisiana town remembers a brief Civil War truce inspired by Masonic brotherhood.

Lady Delaney

Added by Lady Delaney

New York, New York

The Players

A posh members-only club with a literally dramatic history.

meganmichelle

Added by meganmichelle

Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Whydah Pirate Museum

This Cape Cod museum exhibits what it claims is the only authenticated pirate treasure in the world.

Maria Valeria Diaz

Added by Maria Valeria Diaz

Milford, Connecticut

Silver Sands State Park

This park is home to a massive bird sanctuary. And maybe buried treasure!

Added by wolf39us

Charleston, South Carolina

Rainbow Row

Thirteen pastel palaces in downtown Charleston add a gorgeous splash of color to the city.

bakedinthehole

Added by bakedinthehole

Charleston, South Carolina

Stede Bonnet Hanging Site

Most historians agree that the so-called "Gentleman Pirate" wasn't much of either of those things.

J Ginsberg

Added by J Ginsberg

St. Louis, Missouri

Burial Place of Chief Pontiac

A plaque on the side of a parking garage marks the burial place of a great Ottawa chief.

Added by jtchibnalljr

St. Louis, Missouri

The Girl in the Shadow Box

One man's unrequited love stands in a glass box forever.

Fred Cherrygarden

Added by Fred Cherrygarden

St. Louis, Missouri

Bellefontaine Cemetery

The first rural cemetery west of the Mississippi is home to the elaborate tombs of St. Louis' local beer barons.

St. Louis, Missouri

Chuck Berry's House

The red brick house where the father of rock 'n' roll wrote some of his classic hits.

AaronNetsky

Added by AaronNetsky

St. Louis, Missouri

Grant's Farm

What was once a presidential estate is now an exotic menagerie and home to the Budweiser Clydesdales.

chelseadeptula

Added by chelseadeptula

St. Louis, Missouri

Wainwright State Office Building

One of the world's earliest skyscrapers.

Added by jtchibnalljr

St. Louis, Missouri

Old St. Louis County Courthouse

The Old Courthouse takes visitors on a captivating trip through St. Louis' timeline.

chelseadeptula

Added by chelseadeptula

St. Louis, Missouri

Eros Bendato

A creepy sculpture of a decapitated head invites viewers to see St. Louis through its empty eyes.

Bkern

Oneida, New York

Cross Island Chapel

Possibly the smallest church in the world floats in the middle of a pond.