All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.Hidden.America.S03E01.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator] A forgotten town
in Oregon,

where locals fought
an outlaw religious group
for control.

They were accused of money
laundering and prostitution.

It's all over the world.

[narrator]
A wartime prison
on the Great Plains,

where the government
locked up
perceived traitors.

It was a dark era
in American history,

and it didn't make it
into textbooks.

[narrator]
And a battered building
in Florida

at the heart
of a unique industry.

[Drew] The time
when different cultures
were all very segregated,

it was
a melting pot of people.

[narrator]
Scattered across
the United States

are abandoned structures
and those
who know their stories.

These forgotten ruins reveal
the past of this land
and its people.

These are the secrets
of hidden America.

In the Pacific Northwest

lies a forgotten town
that found itself

at the center of one
of the most bizarre chapters
in American history.

[John] My family's been here
for generations,

and I love
this beautiful country,

and it's a very quiet,
mellow place to be,
most of the time.

[Bell] This really is
the middle of nowhere.

It feels like
you could drive for miles
without seeing another soul.

[Meigs] We're in Oregon's
Central Plains.

It's a land of big ranches
and small towns.

[narrator]
In this arid landscape,

a leafy oasis stands out.

But beneath the green canopy,

abandoned structures
tell a different story.

[Martin] It's almost
like something strange
happened here,

because it looks like

half the population
picked up and left

while the other half
stayed behind.

[Bell] There's an abandoned
playground,

which, oh, sends
chills down your spine.

It's obvious
nobody's been playing here
for decades.

[narrator]
These quiet streets
hide the secrets

of when a group of lawless
radicals seized control.

The place was occupied,
like a military force.

[Sherri] It's like
something out of a movie.

It would seem so surreal
to live in America

and have something like that
going on
on your own city streets.

[narrator]
The events that unfolded
in this remote town

gripped not only
the people of Oregon,

but all of America.

John Silvertooth
is one of
the last remaining people

to have lived through
this dark time.

[John] The history of the town
is like a roller coaster.

Things change
and they can change
pretty fast.

[narrator] For years,

the residents
of this small town
led a peaceful life.

Until some new neighbors
would land them

at the center
of international news.

This is Antelope.

In 1981, a 64,000-acre ranch,
called the Big Muddy,

was purchased
by a group of people

who claimed to want to use it
for agricultural purposes.

[narrator]
No one could have predicted

that this would lead
to a conflict so dramatic

it would scar
the region forever.

It turned out
that the purchasers
of the ranch

were followers
of an Indian mystic,

called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

[soft Indian music playing]

He had a history in India
of being a hypnotist.

He said he awoke
and found himself to be God.

I guess he talked
these other people into it.

They were recognizable
by their red, orange,
maroon and pink clothes,

and they were known
as Rajneeshees
named after their leader.

[John] Initially,
people were just amused

more than anything else,
or befuddled.

You know, it wasn't like
"Oh, we've got to
get rid of them.

[narrator] On the surface,
this seemed like
a small commune

centered
around peace and love.

But the leadership
was hiding some dark secrets.

[Meigs] Apparently,
the Indian government

had started looking into
some alleged
tax irregularities.

[John] Got their money
any way they could.

You know,
a lot of people
used to maintain

it was a, you know,
international criminal
organization.

[narrator]
As more and more followers
poured into the ranch,

it became clear

they had ambitions
way beyond
just farming this land.

What they wanted to do was,

you know,
pretty clear violation
of the land use laws.

[Bell] They built a dam.

They built an airport.

They even had
its own electricity grid.

Imagine how
that must have felt
for the people of Antelope.

An entire city built
just a few miles
away from them,

almost overnight.

[narrator]
By 1984, three years
after settling in Oregon,

the commune
was over 7,000 members strong,

and the leader himself
had moved to the ranch.

[Bell] The Bhagwan had a taste
for expensive things,
particularly cars.

It said that at one point
he owned a fleet
of no less

than 93 Rolls-Royces.

[John] They would line up
along the highway.

He would drive by real slow
and they would all bow to him.

[narrator]
But as the commune grew,
they ran into a problem.

The state of Oregon
had strict limitations

on what could be built
on ranchland.

Their plans to build a city
were shattered.

[John] They came in here,
they'd started buying property

and moving people in.

They thought,
"Well, if we can't have
our own city,

we'll take this one."

[Bell]
The locals wanted to stop
the commune taking over.

There was a real risk
that they could take over
the city government

and end up having a say
on things

like education
in the local schools.

They came up with
a drastic plan
to disincorporate the town,

so there was no government
to take over.

[narrator]
But when the time came
to vote on the matter,

it was already
too late for the locals.

The people of Antelope
were outnumbered, outvoted

and lost control
of their own town.

[John]
The first thing they did

was they named
the town Rajneesh,

and they changed
all the street names.

This place initially was
the post office
and the cafe,

and they turned
the whole thing

into Zorba the Buddha.
Rajneesh Cafe.

[narrator]
Soon the people of Antelope's
worst nightmare

would come true,

as Mayor Sherri Jamison
knows well.

The Rajneeshees took control
of the school system
and the syllabus.

[Sherri]
People were so opposed
to what they considered to be

the indoctrination
of their children,

that they pulled their kids
out of this public school

and sent them elsewhere.

And it's that way to this day.

[narrator]
But the commune's aspirations
didn't end there.

In order to build
their utopia,
they hatched a plan

to embed their followers
into the local government.

[Bell] With a council election
coming up,

the commune leadership
decided to try and get

some of their own people
into office.

[narrator]
And they were willing
to do anything

to get their way,
including acts of terrorism.

[narrator]
In the 1980s,
the Rajneeshees sect

was working on a plot
to take full control
of the town of Antelope.

They decided to start
importing new voters,

and they went to cities
around the US,

found homeless people
and said,

"We'll move you
to our community
in Oregon.

We'll feed you.
There is free love there."

[narrator]
But the Rajneeshees knew

that just padding
their numbers
wouldn't be enough.

To sway the election,

they would also have to keep
local voters
away from the polls.

In September 1984,

they did something
that would shock the world.

They got their hands
on a solution
of salmonella bacteria

and they started
going to restaurants
around the county

and pouring
the bacteria
into the salad bar.

The results were
pretty staggering.

Seven hundred fifty-one people
became infected
with salmonella

and 45 of them
wound up in the hospital.

Amazingly, no one died.

But they very easily
could have.

it was the first
and still to this day,

the largest
bioterrorist attack
in US history.

[narrator]
Ultimately, all the efforts
to sway the vote failed.

At the same time, the commune
was unraveling from within,

with authorities
hot on their trail.

In October 1985,
the FBI descended
on the ranch.

At the compound,
they found glass vials

that tested positive
for the salmonella

that had been found
at the salad bar.

[narrator]
But this was just
the tip of the iceberg.

They had
a whole series of plans

to assassinate
various officials
and other people.

[John]
The attorney general told me
I was on a list of people

that they wanted
to take care of.

[narrator]
In late 1985, the Bhagwan
was deported from the US

on immigration fraud charges
and moved back to India.

It was a great relief,
of course,
when the Rajneesh left.

It was like the war is over.

[narrator] Although the town
got its name
back in 1986,

for Antelope,
the damage was already done.

[Sherri]
When the Rajneesh were here,
probably half the people left.

That takes a lot
to make you leave your home.

[narrator]
Today, four decades later,

the remaining residents
of Antelope

are trying to put
this dark chapter behind them.

Brandie McNamee
is leading these efforts

by reopening the cafe
as a store

and setting up
an RV park next door.

We're doing
this hard work now

because we want to see
our kids have jobs here.

[narrator]
Brandie is also working
on getting

Dark Sky designation
for Antelope,

which would put it
on the map

as a top stargazing
destination.

[Brandie]
There's very few places
in the world

where they can say
they can see the Milky Way
from Main Street.

And the hope is to have
something new

that people know Antelope of

other than being
the Rajneesh town.

[narrator]
In northern Wyoming,

where the Rocky Mountains
give way to the Great Plains,

lies a site where
one government program

held thousands
of innocent people.

[Michele] There's a striking
mountain peak on the horizon

known as Heart Mountain.

It's the natural feature
that gives this place
its name.

But this is not
a heartwarming story.

[Aura] I have a photo
of myself at age two.

And so as long
as I can remember,

I knew that something
important happened here.

[narrator]
The desolate landscape
belies a surprising past.

[Sascha]
It's hard to believe,

but at one time,
10,000 people lived here,

making it
the third largest settlement

in the entire state
of Wyoming.

[narrator]
But after being inhabited
for only three years,

it was suddenly deserted.

It's almost like when
a carnival comes to town

and packs up and leaves

and just disappears,
leaving an empty field behind.

[narrator]
The remaining structures
hold the secrets

of a little told chapter
in American history.

[Michele] This is one
of those moments
in history

that, looking back,
it's hard to believe
that it ever even happened.

[narrator]
The people held here
endured great hardship

but also displayed
great courage.

[Aura]
They ended up becoming
to this date

the most decorated
military unit in US history.

[narrator] Aura Sunada Newlin
is an anthropologist

who has a connection
to this site
that runs far deeper

than simple academic interest.

There's something
really powerful
about coming here to this site

where my grandmother's family
kind of held it together

and made a life
without falling apart.

[narrator]
Before Aura's family
arrived here

they had been living happily
in America for 36 years.

But their lives were about
to be turned upside down.

[Aura] They had to leave
everything behind.

All they could bring with them
was what they could carry.

So, you know,
a couple of suitcases
and you have to decide.

Am I going to bring clothing
or am I going
to bring family photos?

[narrator]
One particular group of people
was being targeted.

[Sascha]
In the wake of the attack
on Pearl Harbor

and the successful invasion
of Pacific islands
by Japanese military forces,

a lot of Americans
in West Coast communities

started to express fears
about Japanese American
citizens in their midst.

[narrator]
On February 19th, 1942

President Roosevelt reacted
to this public hysteria

by ordering
anyone of Japanese ancestry
living on the West Coast

to be rounded up
and sent to so-called
relocation centers

in the name
of national security.

[Linda] Executive Order 9066
created military zones

in California,
Washington and Oregon.

The government then
forcibly removed Americans
from their homes.

In total,
around 120,000 people
were affected by this order.

The government cited
national security

as justification
for this policy,

but it clearly violated
some of the most essential

constitutional rights
of Japanese Americans.

[narrator] This is one
of ten large facilities

set up to house the entirety
of the nation's
Japanese American population

during World War II.

This is the Heart Mountain
incarceration camp.

[Aura]
It's astonishing to think

that instead of
looking out on empty farmland,

[stammering] there was
like a metropolis here.

[narrator]
Only one original barrack
remains

serving as an important window
into the lives
of the incarcerated families.

[Aura]
The feel of the air in here,

the smell and
the sounds
is very palpable,

as kind
of a full body experience.

These were designed
as military barracks.

This entire space
that we're in here right now,

would have actually been split
into three separate units

holding
three separate families.

[Sascha] They hung bedsheets
to further subdivide the space
and get privacy,

and they shoved newspapers
into the cracks in the walls

to try to keep out
the dust and the cold.

[narrator] Nine guard towers
and barbed wire fences
surround the camp.

But the people
incarcerated here,

eked out an existence
as close to normal
as possible.

There were
block representatives
and councilmen.

It was run
like its own city.

[Linda] There was a school
for the children.

There was also
a garment factory,
a cabinet shop and a sawmill.

[narrator] Little remains
of these buildings,

but below ground,
one structure
lives on as a testament

to the resilience
of those confined here.

The food rations
were so meager
that the community here

turned to farming the land
around them
to alleviate their hunger.

This is one
of the only
remaining structures

of its kind, uh,
in the country,

and I guess therefore
in the world.

[narrator] This vast space
was the camp's root cellar,

a natural refrigerator
for produce farmed on site.

[Linda]
The agriculture program

was so successful here

that not only was it able to
sustain the population
of Heart Mountain,

but also feed the other camps
around the country.

They say that this root cellar
stored 2.1 million pounds
of food that first winter.

[Michele]
When you look at the tough,
arid land here,

it really speaks
to their farming expertise.

[Aura] What started off as one
of the greatest hardships
at camp

turned out to be
one of the greatest triumphs

that we have
at Heart Mountain.

[narrator]
But the war effort would soon
directly affect Heart Mountain

through a new,
equally shocking
presidential mandate

leading to mass protests

and acts of heroism.

[bass drum playing]

[narrator] The Heart Mountain
incarceration camp

was the temporary home
for thousands

of Japanese American citizens
during World War II.

But in January 1944,
President Roosevelt

made an announcement
that rocked life at the camp.

[Linda]
Towards the end of the war,
America needed more troops.

And in a surprising twist,
the government turned

to the Japanese American men
who were at this camp.

[Sascha] They had been judged
to be enemies of the state,

their rights denied,
their possessions seized.

And now they were being told
that they would have
to go fight

for the same country
that had condemned them
without trial.

[narrator]
For a contingent here
at Heart Mountain,

being drafted was
too much to take.

[Michele]
It was such an important point
for many,

it was their breaking point,

their opportunity to say,
"No, this is too much."

[Aura] I think most of them,
it was on principle

saying, like, "I'm happy
to serve in the US military.

I'm patriotic to my country,
but not under
these conditions."

[narrator]
Heart Mountain
became the site

of the largest single draft
resistance movement
in American history.

[Sascha]
The military's attitude
was uncompromising.

Sixty-three
Heart Mountain residents

were prosecuted
for resisting the draft

in what became
the largest mass trial
in the history of Wyoming.

The judge used a racial slur
to sentence them all at once

to three years
in federal prison.

[narrator]
However, the draft protesters

were still in the minority
at Heart Mountain.

At least 385 men
incarcerated here
would serve in the military

and prove to be a real asset
to the nation's forces.

[Aura] My grandfather
had volunteered.

I had a great uncle
who was incarcerated
at Heart Mountain

when he was drafted,

ultimately became
something of a war hero.

Many of the men who'd been
interned at Heart Mountain

received awards and honors
for their service.

Two of them even received
the Medal of Honor.

[Michele]
Some Heart Mountain detainees
were members

of one of the most
decorated units
in the US military,

the all Japanese American
442nd Regimental Combat Team.

[narrator]
After the war was won,

Heart Mountain
Incarceration Camp shut down
on November 10th, 1945.

[narrator] The people confined
here were given
a train ticket

and $25 to rebuild
their shattered lives.

As for
the remaining infrastructure
at Heart Mountain,

the barracks were sold off
for a dollar apiece

to anybody
who could cart them away.

[Michele] There are still
dozens of buildings

in the Wyoming-Montana area
that have parts
of the barracks in them.

So in a way,
the camp still lives on.

[narrator] Since the end
of the war

and the closure of the camp,

many influential Americans
have sought to make amends

for the wartime imprisonment.

Two of them first met
at Heart Mountain as children.

[Aura] Norm Mineta
was incarcerated here
at Heart Mountain.

And young Alan Simpson
was living

just down the road
in Cody, Wyoming.

And there was
a Boy Scout troop
here at Heart Mountain.

And this Boy Scout
troop leader got together

with the Boy Scout
troop leader in Cody

and they said, "You know what?

We should get
our kids together."

The two became close friends
and remained allies throughout

their successful
political careers.

[narrator] In 1988,
Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson

collaborated
across party lines

to secure their most
significant political victory,

the Civil Liberties Act.

The passage of
the Civil Liberties Act
in 1988 stated explicitly

that a grave injustice
had been done
to Japanese-American citizens.

That was a huge admission
from the government.

[narrator] A new educational
institute is currently being
built here at Heart Mountain,

named after the senators.

[Aura] Really, this is
a history of race in America.

And what fear
and scapegoating can do

to a society
in really painful ways.

We are reclaiming
this history,

and I myself
am incredibly proud

to educate the public
about what happened here.

[narrator] On Florida's
Gulf Coast

stands a building that catered

to a revolutionary industry
and served as a sanctuary

for a budding criminal class.

It does feel surreal
to be in this space.

To know
that my ancestors built this.

Maybe I'm walking
in their footsteps.
I don't know.

We're in Ybor City,
just northeast
of downtown Tampa.

[Meigs] It's a really
historic neighborhood
built by immigrants.

People who came
from all over the world

to work in an industry

that barely exists
in the US today.

[narrator] A couple blocks
away from the interstate,

a dilapidated structure
sits abandoned.

You can see
this building
is kind of a wreck.

The concrete is breaking.

The rebar
is exposed and rusting.

[narrator] But some clues
point to a lively past.

Now this is
one big open space.

But you can see from all of
the different paint colors
on the walls

that these used
to be individual rooms.

[Drew] There are stories
about the local Tampa Mafia

using this as a hideout,

as a place for the local
mob bosses to gather.

It's not where
you would go inside

unless you were maybe okay
with some trouble.

[narrator] In Tampa, Florida,

few vestiges of the city's
colorful beginnings remain.

But Kim Sheridan-Dugmore
is determined

to keep
her ancestor's dream alive.

There's lore in my family.

We've talked about this place
since I can remember.

My grandmother would...
would tell me stories,

and it was all about
this place called Ybor.

[Linda] Ybor City's history
goes back to the 1880s,

back when Tampa itself
was just a tiny village.

[narrator] Drew Newman's
family first came here to work

in the industry
that built the city.

and they are still the owners

of the J. C. Newman
Cigar Company.

Cigars are the only reason

that Tampa exists today
the way it does.

And that's what created
Tampa's identity.

[narrator] Ybor City was
the vision of a refugee

escaping a brutal fate

as his adopted country
fought for independence.

[Michele] Vicente de Ybor
was a Spanish cigar maker,

who ran
a manufacturing company
in Havana, Cuba.

[Linda] Although
he was Spanish,

Ybor supported
Cuban independence

and he was even funding
Cuban revolutionaries.

[Michele] This
made him a target
for Spanish authorities.

He heard about
his imminent arrest.

So he decided to flee Cuba

and he headed
to the United States.

[narrator] Looking
for somewhere to rebuild
his life and business,

one place stood out
from the rest.

[Drew] Tampa's deepwater port
was perfect for the steamships

coming from Havana
laden with tobacco.

And it's the heat
and humidity

that make our weather
in the summer
kind of miserable,

are perfect for cigars.

[narrator] Having found
his El Dorado,

in 1885, Ybor embarked
on a colossal mission.

[Michele] Cigar making
was a specialized trade,

so Ybor wanted to bring
skilled workers with him
from Cuba.

They needed someplace
to live, however.
So he sought out some place

where he could essentially
build a company town.

[Linda] Ybor didn't fund
this city entirely alone.

He worked
with fellow cigar makers

Serafin Sanchez
and Ignacio Haya

to create everything
that they needed.

[Kim] I'm proud
of Seraphine Sanchez,
my second great-grandfather.

It was a big vision,

and they really wanted
to take care of their workers.

[Meigs] Along with Ybor,

Sanchez and Haya began
to develop the community.

They built factories,
stores and services,

and they built
a lot of housing,

which they made available
to workers

at 0% interest.

[narrator] But one
major difference

would set
this revolutionary town apart.

[Kim] They encouraged
other cigar manufacturers

to join them,

and a lot of companies came,

and Tampa became
the cigar center of the world.

[Drew] More cigars
were rolled here
in the city of Tampa

than anywhere else
on the planet.

[narrator] Ybor City became
more successful with time

and would soon get
its crowning jewel.

In 1910,

the Regensburg cigar company

also moved
in the neighborhood.

[Drew] They saw
what was happening
here in Tampa,

and they decided to build
what at the time was

the largest cigar factory
in the world,

known as El Reloj,
or Spanish for clock.

The factory made
a lot of headlines
as it's being built,

and Sanchez and Haya saw this

and they bought the land

across the street
from the factory.

[narrator] This is
the Sanchez y Haya building.

This structure would serve
the El Reloj factory

and Ybor City
for years to come.

[Drew] This building
was the center
of the neighborhood.

The second floor
was designed as a small hotel,

and the first floor was a cafe
and a restaurant and a bar.

[Meigs] It was
the first building in the area

to be made
of reinforced concrete,

which is really smart
in an area

that's often hit
with hurricanes.

[narrator] Workers from
all over the world

would flock to Ybor City,

but the South
was a hostile place
for immigrants.

To cater
to the town's workforce,

the Sanchez y Haya building

would have to defy
Florida's Jim Crow laws.

[Drew] The time
when different people,

they were raised
in different cultures

were all very segregated
here in then Ybor City.

It was a melting pot

of people all living together
in harmony,

all because they were
making cigars together.

Ybor City was
a town founded and populated

by almost only immigrants,

mainly from Cuba,
Spain and Italy,

and it was thriving.

[narrator] As
different cultures

brought together
different ways of life,

the Sanchez y Haya building

would unintentionally harbor
a growing underworld.

[Linda] The building
was a social hub,

so it kind of
stood to reason

that it would also
become a center

for the town's
less legal activities.

We have stories about how
the police raided the building

because there was
illegal bolita

being played downstairs.

[narrator] A numbers racket
often run by the Mafia,

bolita was a game of chance

where numbered balls
were withdrawn from a bag,

supposedly at random.

The problem was,
bolita was never a fair game.

There were so many tricks

that the mob bosses put
in order to rig the game.

For example, if you put
your hand into the bag

and you were friends with
a mob boss,

you'd pick out the ball
that was cold,

the ball that had been put
in the freezer.

Sometimes the ball
that they wanted you to pick
was heavy,

made out of lead.

[narrator] But it wasn't long

until sweeping
national change

would bring the good times
to a grinding halt.

[narrator] The Sanchez y Haya
building in Ybor City

was the center of the cigar
rolling community.

Yet new federal laws
were about to drastically
change life here.

In the 1920s,
Prohibition hit,

forcing the Sanchez y Haya
building to close its bar.

[narrator] It would be
the city's criminal underworld

that would come to the rescue.

It wasn't long before
they found a workaround

with the help
of the local Mafia,

and opened
their own speakeasy.

[Drew] So this building
became the place

for the local mob bosses
to gather.

This was
the old alcohol storeroom.

This room was walled off
on all four sides,

and kept hidden
from the, uh, police.

We knew it was a place
to store alcohol,

but it also might be used
to store people
who didn't pay their bills.

[narrator] For
the next decade,

the Sanchez y Haya building

was teeming
with thirsty patrons,

until a national crisis cast
a dark shadow over Ybor City.

[Michele] In the 1930s,

the Depression hit
and people could no longer
afford luxuries like cigars.

So many people would turn

to a cheaper product
like cigarettes,

or they would just
kick the habit altogether.

[Linda] Many of the factories

had to lay off workers
or even shut down completely.

And in a bid to save money,

a number of them went
from hand rolled,
specialized skilled labor

to mechanization.

[narrator] Just as life
in Ybor City
began to normalize,

a sudden shift
in government diplomacy

would be another body blow

for the town's
prized industry.

[Meigs] In 1962,

as a result of the rise
of Fidel Castro's government,

the Communist takeover
of Cuba,

the U.S. Government
imposed an embargo

on products from Cuba,

that included the high
quality Havana tobacco.

Many of the city's remaining
cigar factories shut down,

and Ybor City's economy
plummeted even further.

[narrator] While the El Reloj
cigar factory was saved

when it was bought
by Drew's great-grandfather
J. C. Newman,

the Sanchez y Haya building
wouldn't be so lucky.

[Drew] The hardest time
in Tampa's cigar story

was really
the 1970s and '80s.

Ybor City was a ghost town

and a lot of
the history was lost.

When I was
a little kid in the 1980s,

the building was boarded up,
but it wasn't vacant.

It was
the grungiest of dive bars.

[narrator] In the early 2000s,

the Sanchez y Haya building
closed its doors for good.

Today, after many years
of neglect,

Ybor City is undergoing
a huge revitalization.

Drew Newman
wants to make sure

the neighborhood
cigar making history

is not forgotten.

At the factory
across the street,

he's keeping
its traditions alive.

[Drew] This is
the last cigar factory

still rolling cigars
not only in the city of Tampa,

but the last
traditional cigar factory

operating in
he United States.

[narrator] As for
the Sanchez y Haya building,

the J.C. Newman Cigar Co.

has plans to bring it back
to its roots.

My vision is that
when you walk in
the Sanchez y Haya building

in two years,

it's gonna look
like it did 100 years ago.

The second floor
is gonna be an inn.

The first floor
is gonna be a cafe,
a bar, a cigar lounge.

[Kim] It's very exciting
to see

my family's building
come back to life.

That brings such joy
to me and my whole family.

[narrator] Thirty miles
south of Philadelphia,

in the suburbs
of the Garden State

lies an empty property

dubbed the strangest house
in the world.

[Jeffrey] When I come here,
I feel safe.

The ticket booth
has always been a sanctuary.

I know a lot of people
that could have gone
south of hell

that they didn't have
a place like this.

[Corina] We're at
the Garden State,

home of the Jersey Devil

and some
pretty bizarre places.

[Katherine] Just on the edge
of the city,

there's a very odd structure

which looks almost like
it's made of the earth itself.

[Kyle] At first glance,
this eccentric collection
of buildings

looks like a little fantasy
land from a theme park.

[narrator] These structures
hide the secrets

of a strange
and mischievous creator.

Inside this has to be
one of the most
bizarre places in America.

Some people would say

that this place is made
of reclaimed materials.

Other, less charitable people,
might say

it looks like it's made
of a pile of old junk.

[Corina] And when
you go downstairs,

it looks like a dungeon.

There's tunnels.

What is going on down here?

[Kyle] Why is there
a throne in the basement?

Is this some madman's castle

or the lair
of a mystical beast

who's turned into a hoarder?

[narrator] This collection
was brought together

by a master storyteller.

[Kyle] The man
who built this place
also built a web of lies

that would become
his undoing.

[narrator] Artist
Jeffrey Tirante

has been coming here
his whole life

and has a close connection
to the place.

[Jeffrey] This is where
we would all
come out, hang out.

We play guitar
on the benches...

and what I like to do

with, uh, whenever
I come out here is...

[bell dings]

...just to clean
the vibrations up.

[bell dings]

[narrator] This project
is almost a century
in the making

and can trace its roots
back to the Great Depression.

[Katherine] Thousands
of people

lost their livelihoods
during the Great Depression,

including one local character

responsible
for these buildings,

George Daynor.

[Steven] I think George Daynor

was a very
interesting character.

He told the stories
to get the draw,
to keep people coming.

[Kyle] According to Daynor,
he made his fortune

during the Klondike gold rush,
only to lose it all

in the stock market crash
of 1929.

He took a gamble
on buying some land

for $1 an acre,

but It turned out
to be nothing more
than a swamp.

[narrator] Daynor claimed
to be inspired by a dream

to build a fantastic palace

from reclaimed
junkyard materials.

He drained the swamp
and landscaped the gardens.

It represented to him

his victory over
the financial crash

that had crippled
the American economy.

[narrator] This is
the Palace of Depression.

[Katherine] Daynor opened
his house to the public

for the first time
on Christmas Day in 1932,

and it soon became
a nationally known attraction.

[narrator] Daynor filled
his palace

with trinkets
and bizarre contraptions.

But he also built a network

of strange tunnels
below ground,

something
local resident Steven Medio
has been investigating.

So we have interviewed
a lot of different people

over the years
who visited the palace.

While they were being
given a tour by George,

he would disappear,
and the next thing you know,
he would pop up

beyond them or behind them.

You could travel
across the property
without being seen.

[narrator] Within
this underground labyrinth,

Daynor created what he said

was the home of New Jersey's
most infamous resident.

[Corina] The Palace
of Depression
is just down the road

from the New Jersey
Pine Barrens,

where the legend of
the Jersey Devil comes from.

[Kyle] The story goes that
a local resident
named Mother Leeds

cursed her 13th child, saying,
"May the devil take this one."

Apparently, this cursed child
grew bats' wings, hooves,

a goat's head, a forked tail

and flew off
into the Pine Barrens.

[Kyle] In 1909, there was
a spate of sightings,

with local newspapers
reporting on encounters
with the creature.

[Jeffrey] George created
what was
the Jersey Devil's den.

He would tell them that
whenever the Jersey Devil

passed through Vineland,
he would stay down

in the basement
of the palace.

[narrator] Because of
its creator's showmanship,

the palace was initially
a huge success,

attracting over
half a million visitors.

But one day, Daynor's love
of public attention

would get him
in serious trouble.

[Kyle] In 1956,
one-month-old Peter Weinberger
was kidnapped from his home

in Westbury, New York,
while he was sleeping

in his stroller
on his front porch.

[Katherine] Sensing
an opportunity
for some publicity,

Daynor broadcast the news

that the kidnappers
were hiding out
at the Palace of Depression

and were ready to negotiate
with the FBI.

[Jeffrey] He had
told these people

that a couple
that acted suspicious
with a kid

and wanted to know
if they could split
the ransom with him

in return for hiding out
for a little while
in his tunnels.

[narrator] Daynor's derailment
of the investigation

would have
terrible consequences.

Peter Weinberger would die

after being abandoned
in the woods,

and his killer
got the electric chair.

Daynor was sent to jail
for two years,

leaving his palace abandoned.

People came out here
and just started to rip
and destroy the place.

[Katherine] Daynor died
a pauper in 1964,

apparently 104 years old,

and his Palace of Depression
fell into disrepair.

After a devastating fire,
it was nearly completely razed

by the city of Vineland,

with only the old ticket booth
left remaining.

[narrator] But from
the ashes,
a new palace would emerge.

Local building inspector
Kevin Kirchner

would begin construction
in 2002.

Kevin was
a construction official
for the city of Vineland,

and when it came
across his desk,

he decided to go out

and take
a look at the property

and see what was left.

[Jeffrey] He had
all these wonderful memories

of growing up
and coming out here

and I had the experience going
through the original place,

having actually
a pretty good idea
of the original layout.

[narrator] But Kevin Kirchner
unexpectedly passed away
on Christmas Eve, 2021,

leaving the Palace
of Depression's future
in jeopardy.

Today, the palace
is being repaired

and renovated by a number
of enterprising locals.

[Katherine] Jeffrey Tirante
and Steven Medio

have taken over
the Palace of Depression

and are crowdfunding
its restoration.

[Jeffrey] I mean,
got all sorts
of wonderful stories.

but to see a place
that inspired you
when you were a kid,

it's been an adventure
from the start.