Author: jake

Lost Wonderland, with Stephen Wilk (episode 210)

The show this week is all about Wonderland, the early 20th century amusement park at Revere Beach.  Dr. Stephen Wilk has deeply researched the investors and entrepreneurs who bought 27 acres of land along Revere Beach Boulevard and opened the park; the inventors behind rides like Shoot the Chutes, Hell’s Gate, and Love’s Journey; and the people who ran attractions like a firefighting demonstration, a wild west show, and a model Japanese village.  His new book Lost Wonderland: The brief and brilliant life of Boston’s million dollar amusement park reveals all of that, as well as changes in the broader economy that doomed Wonderland nearly from the beginning.  After opening in 1906, the park went through periods of success and bankruptcy in a meteoric run that lasted just four short years, while leaving a major cultural impression on the Boston area, and Revere in particular.


Continue reading Lost Wonderland, with Stephen Wilk (episode 210)

A Shooting at the State House (episode 209)

From our viewpoint in modern Massachusetts, with stringent gun licensing and background check laws, it’s hard to imagine how a young man with an extensive criminal record who had been involuntarily committed to multiple mental health institutions could walk into a store and walk back out with a shiny new handgun.  And from a post-9/11 point of view, with security at the forefront of every public space, it’s hard to imagine how an uninvited visitor could walk right into the governor’s State House office and open fire.  But on December 5, 1907, that’s exactly what happened, when a disturbed man with a gun and a grudge decided to pay a visit to our seat of government.


Continue reading A Shooting at the State House (episode 209)

Ghost Stories (episode 208)

In honor of Halloween, I’m going to be sharing eight of my favorite Boston ghost stories this week.  From haunted houses and inexplicable premonitions recorded by Cotton and Increase Mather in the years leading up to the Salem Witch hysteria, to Nathaniel Hawthorne encountering his friend in the reading room at the Athenaeum for weeks after the friend’s death, to the apparition that only seems to appear in Boston’s most venerable gay bar when only one person is there to see it, we’ll cover nearly four hundred years of paranormal claims. And if you’re wondering why parts of the recording aren’t up to our usual standards, it’s because I was recording this after midnight, and I fell asleep in the middle of recording multiple times.


Continue reading Ghost Stories (episode 208)

Launching the USS Constitution (episode 207)

The USS Constitution is the most famous ship in Boston history, and perhaps in the history of the US Navy.  When the Navy was reborn in 1794, the Constitution was among the first fleet of frigates that made up its backbone.  A decade later, the USS Constitution would earn a brilliant, nearly flawless record of naval combat against the British in the war of 1812, and today it stands as the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world and the last American ship to sink an enemy in a ship-to-ship duel.  However, the Constitution’s origins were far from flawless.  It was part of a procurement program that was nearly cancelled, and the famous frigate was almost scrapped before it was even completed.  After it was rescued and completed, the USS Constitution took not one, not two, but three attempts to successfully launch.


Continue reading Launching the USS Constitution (episode 207)

Joseph Chapman, from Boston to L.A. (episode 206)

Your humble host really misses travel, so this week’s episode is inspired by travel, both historic travel and my own. In the early 19th century,  a Boston shipwright’s apprentice went to sea with a whaling voyage, and ended up being recruited into a crew that was assembled in the Hawaiian Islands, then captured by Spanish authorities on the California coast and accused of piracy.  Escaping the gallows through hard work and Yankee ingenuity, Joseph Chapman would build a New England style mill for the San Gabriel mission, the first of its kind in Alta California.  He would live through tumultuous times, witnessing the independence of Mexico, the downfall of the mission system he had become part of, and eventually the American annexation of California.

(Don’t forget to vote for us for the “fan favorite” award!)


Continue reading Joseph Chapman, from Boston to L.A. (episode 206)

Matthew Dickey: Saving History with the Boston Preservation Alliance (episode 205)

This week, Jake sits down with Matthew Dickey, the Communications and Operations Manager at the Boston Preservation Alliance to discuss the organization’s important work in saving the historic nature of Boston’s many diverse neighborhoods.  They fight to preserve individual buildings of historic importance, but they also work to keep the cohesion of historic neighborhoods and raise awareness with the public through efforts like the Boston Preservation Awards.  Stay tuned to the end to learn how you can attend this year’s virtual awards ceremony, where HUB History will be one of the nine honorees.

(Don’t forget to vote for us for the “fan favorite” award!)


Continue reading Matthew Dickey: Saving History with the Boston Preservation Alliance (episode 205)

Peace in Boston After the Civil War (episode 204)

Since last week’s show was about Boston’s 1851 Railroad Jubilee, which was an enormous celebration at a time when the nation was in the midst of a rush toward civil war, it seemed appropriate to discuss the Grand Peace Jubilee this week.  Held in Boston in 1869, when the war was still a raw wound on the American psyche, the Peace Jubilee was a musical spectacular unlike anything the world had ever seen.  Composer Patrick Gilmore hoped to bind the country together and help it heal… and if he happened to get rich in the process, that would just be icing on the cake.  This week’s show also revisits another peacetime memory of the Civil War in Boston.  In 1903, after the pain of the Civil War had dulled, Boston gathered at what is now the “General Hooker Entrance” to the State House to dedicate a statue to the highest ranking general from Massachusetts during the war.

Vote for us as the “Fan Favorite” at this year’s Boston Preservation Awards! Continue reading Peace in Boston After the Civil War (episode 204)

Boston’s Railroad Jubilee (episode 203)

In September 1851, Boston threw an enormous party, a party big enough to span three days.  After 15 years of development, the railroad network centered on Boston stretched out in every direction, linking the port of Boston to the American Midwest and the interior of Canada, with the Cunard line’s steamers giving access to markets in England.  To celebrate the new era of railroading, the city threw a grand Railroad Jubilee and invited President Millard Fillmore, the Governor General of Canada, and dignitaries from all over the country.  Besides commerce and steam locomotives, this episode will highlight a growing split within the Whigs old political party; Boston’s ever-present competition with New York City; and the seemingly unavoidable rush toward a civil war over the question of slavery.

Vote for us as the “Fan Favorite” at this year’s Boston Preservation Awards! Continue reading Boston’s Railroad Jubilee (episode 203)

Boston Transportation Firsts (episode 202)

Co-host emerita Nikki and I are camping this weekend, so instead of a brand new episode, we’re giving you three classic stories about advances in transportation in Boston. First up, we’re going to take a look at a precursor to today’s MBTA.  In the late 19th century, a bold entrepreneur built a full sized, working monorail in East Cambridge, but failed to convince the city to adopt it for public transportation.  Then, inspired by last week’s show about the World Fliers, our second story will be about the first people to take to the skies in Boston.  In the early 19th century, daring aeronauts made a series of increasingly ambitious balloon ascents in Boston.  Finally, we’ll turn the clock back to the 1780s, just as the Revolutionary War was concluding.  At the time, the town of Boston was on a tiny peninsula, almost completely surrounded by water.  The ferry connecting Boston to the mainland struggled to keep up with demand, and Bostonians were looking for a better way… but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  


Continue reading Boston Transportation Firsts (episode 202)