The imposing outcrop of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island is synonymous with inescapable fear and unforgiving intimidation—its notoriety inextricably linked to its 29-year tenure as a maximum-security federal penitentiary. While this era of infamy has captured the public imagination, it represents only a single chapter of the island’s complex historical narrative. While surveying San Francisco Bay in August 1775, Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala chartered a prominent ro

In January 1692, a mysterious affliction tormented the parsonage of Samuel Parris, the reverend of Salem Village parish. The minister’s...

On August 4, 1892, a horrific crime of seismic proportions sent shockwaves through the headlines. An elderly New England couple...

The socioeconomic programs of Reconstruction stimulated extensive infrastructural development within the former Confederate states....

Tuberculosis (TB) was a well-established global affliction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The disease—commonly referred...

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum stands in commanding silence over the town of Weston, West Virginia—an imposing relic of America’s...

Eastern State Penitentiary, once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, stands a barren ruin of its former self. This...