Dubious advice for socializing at parties, great advice for learning about your city's history!
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You can find Sanborn Maps for downtowns across the country on the @librarycongress website, or check out @hmcplalabama to see Huntsville maps in person!
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What's your best/worst way to make history nerd friends at parties? My recommendation is to come to the @tweedridehsv this Saturday for leisurely biking, stylish outfits, and stops for history talks and snacking! Check out their page to register and preview the route.
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#historicmaps #alabamahistory #historypodcast #huntsvilleal #huntsvillealabama #downtownhsv
If you want the extended version of the story, check out the Lily Flagg's Signal episode "The Black Widow of Hazel Green" wherever you stream your podcasts!
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#alabamahistory #historypodcast #huntsvilleal #alabamapodcast #huntsvillealabama #hazelgreen
The story, somehow increasingly embellished each year, pops up every Halloween in the Huntsville area, so of course I had to cover it (and its origins) on the show.
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I did a whoooooooole podcast episode on this (fittingly called "The Black Widow of Hazel Green"), but long story short the tales of Elizabeth Routt as a nefarious woman disposing of multiple husbands can be traced back to 1) a pamphlet written by a man named Abner Tate with whom she had been majorly feuding and 2) some ✨pizazz✨ added in a 1930s newspaper article about her house.
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Did Elizabeth off her six spouses or was she incredibly unlucky in a time where modern (antebellum) medicine kinda sucked? While we'll never know for sure, it's a fascinating study in how sensationalizing a historical tale and cherry-picking quotes from primary sources can lead to the birth of a local legend.
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Want to know Elizabeth's backstory, why Abner was feuding with her, and learn more about the other people wrapped up in it all, plus hear the pettiest stories I've ever gotten to share from local history? Stream Lily Flagg's Signal "The Black Widow of Hazel Green" wherever you get your podcasts.
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#alabamahistory #historypodcast #huntsvilleal #huntsvillalabama #downtownhsv #alabamapodcast
They weren't just throwing a week-long party, they were setting the stage for how the city and its history would be talked about for generations...
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The newest episode, "How Do You Spell Sesquicentennial?", premiers August 26 on podcast listening apps everywhere!
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#alabamahistory #historypodcast #huntsvilleal #huntsvillealabama #alabamapodcast #downtownhsv
"Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!" - Arthur
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While some of the Library of Congress's collection is digitized and available for free online, not everything I wanted to see could be found on the website. I was already in DC, and I'd been watching a lot of @mychal3ts videos, so I figured: why not get a library card?
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Not going to lie: the historian imposter syndrome is huge, so it took a lot of hyping myself up to go and do this, but everyone there was super kind and helpful!
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#historypodcast #libraryofcongress #alabamapodcast
Part one of ??? on the actual best travel experience (not sponsored, alas 😅)
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If you're wondering what this has to do with Huntsville history (you know, the thing the podcast is about), have no fear: it's absolutely related. Trains are a huge part of our city's past, even if there isn't currently an active passenger train station.
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For about a century, trains were a primary way people got to and from Huntsville. The Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company (the ones responsible for the yellow depot built in 1860 on Church Street) was formed in 1846 and eventually made Huntsville one of their division headquarters. It was this railroad's importance that led to the US capturing the depot in 1862 during the Civil War: control of the trains meant control of supply and troop movements.
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#alabamahistory #historypodcast #alabamapodcast #amtrak
Future history?!
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Normally my posts are about buildings that used to be here or have been standing for over a generation, but yesterday I got to tour the brand new Huntsville city hall along with @historyhsv president Heather Adkins, William Hampton of @huntsvillerevisited , and hundreds of other Huntsville residents. It was a good time.
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Not to get all philosophical, but... It's always wild to think about how there may be someone down the road who will be researching this building the way I and other history nerds research the older buildings (@sparrowdronehsv had a post on this, too!).
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#huntsvilleal #huntsvillealabama #alabamapodcast #alabamahistory #historypodcast
Side hustles and heart failure, am I right? 😅
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I want to give a huge and sincere thanks to everyone who has been supporting the show and life's wild timing. If you've ever shared an episode with a friend or interacted with a post or otherwise been on the side of "history isn't boring!"... thank you 💜
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Going forward, the episode release schedule will be a bit less standardized, but don't worry: I'm not going anywhere. In addition to podcast releases, the history bike ride starting at @rocketcity_ebikes is coming up next weekend, then Huntsville history bar trivia at @innerspacebrewing a week after that, and then ???
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#huntsvilleal #huntsvillehistory #alabamahistory #historypodcast #ihearthsv #downtownhsv #alabamapodcast #huntsvillepodcast
Fun fact, there other other Huntsvilles, including one in Texas, and I sometimes get asked about them by mistake!
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As a combined "April Fools" and educational experience, this week's podcast episode is in fact about Huntsville, Texas (or as I call it, "the other one"). After all, it IS named after Huntsville, Alabama, and there are some interesting similarities between the two cities.
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Find "A Brief History of Huntsville" wherever you stream your podcasts, then come back next week for more Huntsville (Alabama!) history fun.
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Featuring clips by me at @burrittonthemountain, a @huntsvillehavoc game, and lots of walks around town.
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#huntsvilleal #huntsvillealabama #alabamahistory #alabamapodcast #historypodcast
This meme has been in my brain for weeks, you're welcome. (People remember this meme, right? Was 2011 really that long ago?)
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Five days to season four and even more Huntsville (AL) history in podcast form!
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#huntsvilleal #huntsvillehistory #alabamahistory #historypodcast #ihearthsv #downtownhsv #alabamapodcast #huntsvillepodcast
Happy first birthday to the silly cow podcast with the poorly photoshopped logos! 💜
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While every single cool thing I've gotten to do as a result of starting this show wouldn't fit in a single video, I thought I'd make a commemorative little highlights reel in honor of the one year anniversary of the first episode.
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Hugest of thanks to everyone who has ever listened to the show, and here's hoping I remember to take more pictures in this next year.
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Featured in the reel are:
@hmcplalabama
@hsvpilgrimageassociation
@burrittonthemountain
@hsvutilities
@tiavalya
@listwithpaula
@merrimackhall
@invisiblehistoriesproject
@harrisonbrothershardware
@historichuntsville
@wisconsinhistoricalsociety
@montesanostatepark
@wearehuntsville
@smartereveryday
@wlrh_89.3
@imlikeanegg
@tsghuntsville
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#huntsvilleal #huntsvillehistory #alabamahistory #historypodcast #ihearthsv #downtownhsv #alabamapodcast #huntsvillepodcast
Three days until season three means three pieces of Huntsville history hiding in plain sight!
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We’ve got old masks outside the VBC on Monroe St., the “HDT” on the façade of the Times Building at the intersection of Holmes and Green, and the old wall visible from Andrew Jackson just south of the Five Points intersection.
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There are plenty of these hidden-ish historical artifacts around town, and I’d love to hear your favorites! Which have you noticed before?
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To learn more about these and other historic Huntsville places, check out the show! Season three of the podcast premiers Monday, July 10.
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Postcard of the Elk’s Theatre courtesy @uaharchives and the photo of Pierce’s castle courtesy @hmcplalabama Special Collections 💜
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#huntsvilleal #huntsvillehistory #alabamahistory #historypodcast #ihearthsv #downtownhsv
