All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.Hidden.America.S04E01.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
A forsaken facility, once a hub
for worldwide communications,

taken over by a divisive group.

This place played host to one
of the great geniuses of

the 20th century, but it's also
a place where a deranged cult

leader abused his members.

[narrator] A secret arsenal
containing enough power to

destroy the world.

[James] This is a use of deadly
force authorized area,

meaning all games are off,
the Constitution doesn't
apply here.

[narrator]
And a forgotten inn at
the crossroads of history.

This building was part of
the making of America.

[narrator]
Near the Pacific Ocean lies
a site where pioneers forged

global connections,
while others used it

to sow division.

For the local community,
this area has been kind of like

a castle on the hill, and not
much is known about it.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz]
We are in a beautiful,
picturesque part of Northern

California, one of the most
scenic parts of the state.

Up the hillside stretches
a strange complex.

[Meares]
So it's this opposing two-story
building with this wide

veranda, and there's a lot of
other buildings dotted around

the property as well.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz]
The site is glorious,
but also a little eerie.

Some of the buildings are
a little spooky.

There must be a story there.

[Dr. Mitchell]
Inside the main building,
there's old radio equipment

plus decor from many
different eras.

[narrator]
This was a pioneering facility
of scientific achievement,

but that would all be undone
when new residents moved in.

New worldwide connections were
made here, but others were

determined to sow
division and hatred.

California State Parks
employee, Kaylie Williams,

has been investigating
the story of this place,

and is still unraveling
its secrets.

[Kaylie] This whole area would
have been kind of off limits.

It would have been high
electromagnetic frequency

and literally a buzz.

[narrator]
The company that initially
developed this site was owned

by one of the most celebrated
scientists of all time,

Guglielmo Marconi.

[Dr. Mitchell] When it came to
science and technology,

Guglielmo Marconi
was a visionary.

In 1901, he succeeded in
transmitting radio waves across

the Atlantic and within a few
years, Europe and North America

were in regular
commercial contact.

[narrator]
Marconi's radio technology
was revolutionary, but still

in its infancy.

It would take one of
the world's greatest maritime

disasters to make
it indispensable.

By 1912, most transatlantic
voyages had a Marconi

transmission system on board.

[Kaylie] Marconi had a contract
with the White Star Line,

so the Titanic and its sister
ship, the Olympic, both had

Marconi equipment on board.

On April 14th, the Titanic hit
an iceberg and the two radio

operators began transmitting
distress signals.

[narrator]
These SOS transmissions were
received by another liner

70 miles away, the Carpathia.

She raced to the disaster site
and rescued over 700 survivors.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz] Without
Marconi's equipment,

everyone on the ship would
have died.

[narrator]
The success of Marconi's
wireless system further

enhanced his reputation
and that of his technology.

[Meares]
Marconi's next dream was to
have a radio system that

spanned the globe.

And to do that, he needed to
cross the Pacific.

[Dr. Mitchell] To achieve his
goal, he built this place on

Tomales Bay.

These facilities enabled
wireless communication across

the Pacific between United
States, Hawaii, and Asia for

the first time.

[narrator] Built in 1914,
this is the Tomales Bay Marconi

Wireless Receiving Station.

A 35-room hotel was also
constructed to

house the workers.

[Kaylie]
So essentially this was a space
for Marconi's staff and their

families to stay.

The hotel offered a library,
a dining hall, a billiard room.

I would equate it kind of like
how lighthouse operators lived.

[narrator]
Both commercial and government
communications were received

and forwarded by Marconi's
staff here for three years.

But a global conflict would
derail their work.

During World War I,
the United States government

appropriated control of
Marconi's technology

and this site.

[narrator] Yet after the war,
the long-wave communication

equipment here would be
superseded by new shortwave

technology, and the Marconi
Company would not return to

Tomales Bay.

But that was not the end of
the road for this hotel.

In 1964, a new group of owners
buys the hotel for $175,000.

And this group is known as
the Synanon Foundation.

[Kaylie] This is the third floor
of the hotel.

So these modifications to
the architecture were put in

when Synanon was here
on the property.

[Dr. Mitchell]
Synanon was initially a drug
rehabilitation program headed

by a charismatic man named
Charles E. Dederich.

He developed a following among
self-proclaimed "dope fiends"

who were rejected by
alcohol recovery programs.

[Dederich, archive]
Very close to putting
a shovel in the ground for

the establishment of
a small city

called Synanon,
California, about 45 miles

north of San Francisco.

[narrator]
Addicts were encouraged to
bring their families to the old

Marconi site, and began building
a self-sufficient community.

But Dederich viewed the people
in his care as childlike,

and thought they needed harsh
discipline to stop them from

falling back into addiction.

One way he controlled his flock
here was by making them

play The Game.

[Meares]
The Game was what psychologists
call "attack therapy."

And so this was a really brutal
way of breaking folks down.

[Dr. Mitchell]
In the game, about a dozen
or so members would humiliate

and pick on one another,
and sometimes for days on end,

with the goal
being self-revelation.

Why don't you be honest
with him?

You boil, and you can't even
talk calmly.

You explode every
time you talk.

Are you afraid of him?

[Dr. Mitchell]
Some members found this
cathartic, but it really was

just pretty much a form of
psychological abuse,

especially when you consider
the vulnerable children

and adults who were at Synanon.

[narrator]
Dederich also began to decide
who his followers would marry,

holding mass weddings on
the Marconi property.

Under his command,
Synanon would change this place

beyond all recognition.

[Kaylie]
They added lots of different
structures to the property,

including more residences.

They also added
a fire station, a dump.

[Dr. Mitchell]
Much of the new construction
did not have the necessary

permits, but Dederich had
a way around this.

Although Synanon wasn't even
religious, he had it declared

a tax-exempt religious
organization,

the Church of Synanon.

[Meares]
Synanon changed from a positive
drug rehabilitation program to

something entirely else.

[narrator]
Chuck Dederich would turn this
place of scientific advancement

into a hive of strange
games and paranoia.

His organization became known
as the most dangerous cult

in America.

[narrator]
On the California coast lies
a collection of buildings that

was taken over by the Synanon
Foundation in the 1960s,

which is set out to build
a utopia for recovering

drug addicts.

But its founder,
reformed alcoholic

Chuck Dederich, would use some
unorthodox methods to keep

his followers in line.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz]
According to some testimonials,
some of the people who lived on

the compound were forced to
shave their heads, to swap

partners, and to have
forced vasectomies.

[narrator]
Soon dissent would spring up
and Dederich would lash out.

In the beginning,
the local community actually

tried to help Synanon
get established.

But then over time,
those interactions started to

become more and more violent.

[Meares]
People were beat if they tried
to leave and children tried to

escape repeatedly
from the facility.

[narrator]
To combat increasing criticism,
Dederich chose a path from

which there would be no return.

[Meares]
Dederich became increasingly
belligerent and started suing

everyone who dared say anything
about him, as well as sending

out thugs to beat up folks that
he felt were trying to

destroy his empire.

On October 10th, 1978,
two members de-rattled a four

and a half foot long
rattlesnake and placed it in

the mailbox of
an opposing attorney.

He was bitten but survived.

Soon after, authorities began
investigating the cult.

[narrator]
Following raids on Synanon
properties, including the old

Marconi site in 1980,
authorities charged Dederich

and two accomplices with
conspiracy to commit murder.

Dederich avoided jail,
but was forced to give up

control of the group,
which began to fragment.

[Kaylie] So this building
remains standing, but most of

the buildings that they had
added were dismantled when

the Synanon Foundation
left the property.

[narrator]
By 1991, the group had
dissolved entirely and left

these buildings to nature.

Today, the Marconi site has
a second chance, as it's now

a California State Park
and conference center.

It's unlikely the old hotel
building will remain in this

dilapidated state for long.

The hope for the building
behind me is to turn it into

a visitor center or a museum.

You can find a lot of natural
beauty here.

I think that this site here is
an oasis for history.

[narrator] In the Buckeye State,
a building that offered shelter

to those in need, also hosted
one of America's first

global celebrities.

[Doug]
Well this building opened up a
storybook that I haven't been

able to shut to this day.

[Bell] We're in Palmyra, Ohio.

It's about an hour's drive from
the city of Cleveland.

[narrator]
At the crossroads in the center
of town, hundreds pass by each

day, not realizing history
hides in this

derelict structure.

[Dr. Thomas] This is
a three-story building.

The red bricks and sash windows
indicate that it's from

the 19th century.

Maybe it's some kind of
factory building.

This is the Rust Belt,
after all.

[Bell] Inside this place is
a portrait of dereliction.

The plaster's chipping
and cracking, but you can tell

it was once beautiful.

[Rodriguez-McRobbie] On the top
floor, there's this big
open room.

What's its purpose?

It looks like it could be some
kind of auditorium.

[narrator]
This place has been a crucial
stop on multiple journeys,

many of which have
shaped the nation.

This building has seen a lot of
people, some people famous,

some people actually hiding
or running away,

and there's been people that
changed American history.

The first time I came to this
building, I never really cared

for history.
I don't know what happened.

This building talks to me.

It's almost like a love affair,
you know what I mean,

where I am literally in love
with the building.

[narrator]
Doug Rice has dedicated
the last three decades of

his life to uncovering
the secrets

hidden within these walls.

This building was first built
in 1832 because it was on two

major stagecoach lines.

[Dr. Thomas]
Stagecoaches were early
forms of interstate transit.

Travelers would pay to ride on
a horse-drawn carriage that

would make several stops
along the journey.

[Rodriguez-McRobbie]
They're called stagecoaches

because they were
accomplished in stages.

People could pick them up
and go as far as
they needed to go.

These journeys could take
weeks at a time.

So passengers and crews relied
on networks of inns for

repairs, rest, recuperation.

[narrator] This place was one of
these crucial stops.

This is the Old Stagecoach Inn.

But Doug has discovered a clue
that suggests it also had

a surreptitious purpose.

This door right here was
a secret door inside of

a closet that took you into
a secret hidden room.

And it wasn't for
hiding objects,

it was for hiding people.

[narrator] Today, this secret
room has collapsed.

Yet in the mid-19th century,
it was part of a clandestine

movement known as
the Underground Railroad.

[Dr. Thomas]
The Underground Railroad was
a network of safe houses that

allowed for escaped enslaved
individuals to leave the South,

and head to the free
territories in the North in

the years before the Civil War.

The Underground Railroad got
its name because railway

terminology was used to
describe everything.

The escaped enslaved people
were called "freight,"

and the various stops,
like the Old Stagecoach Inn,

were known as "stations."

Stops like this would have been
a lifeline and would have saved

the lives of hundreds,
if not thousands.

[narrator]
Despite slavery being abolished
in Ohio in 1802, just under

50 years later, the Fugitive
Slave Act was passed.

This meant that stations on
the Underground Railroad,

like the Old Stagecoach Inn,
were breaking the law by

helping people escape.

[Doug] You could get in a lot of
trouble harboring people in

this state of Ohio here.

There were bounty hunters
They were constantly searching

the roads and buildings.
You could get jail time.

You could lose your property.

[narrator] Up to 50,000 people
escaped to freedom through Ohio.

How many of them traveled
through the Old Stagecoach Inn

is unknown.

But the Underground Railroad
wasn't the only railroad to

bring people to this building's
door, because 29 years after

the inn opened, a man arrived
in his private train on

a journey to the heart
of the country.

[narrator] In Palmyra, Ohio,
the Old Stagecoach Inn was

a life-saving stop for enslaved
people escaping the South.

But in the mid-19th century,
it had another visitor on

his way to change America.

In 1861,
President-elect Abraham Lincoln

was traveling via train from
Springfield, Illinois to

Washington, D.C.
for his inauguration.

[Dr. Thomas]
The train was fitted with all
the comforts one could imagine.

In many ways, it was like
a 1800s Air Force One.

[narrator]
Lincoln's 13-day-long train
journey took him through

the town of Palmyra and passed
the Old Stagecoach Inn.

[Dr. Thomas]
In the era before recording
technology, few people had

the chance to see and hear
their political leaders

in person.

So throngs of people would have
showed up just to catch

a glimpse of him.

[Doug] People would block
the train.

People were
cheering and shouting.

[Bell] Never missing an
opportunity,

when Lincoln saw this,
he'd stop and do a speech.

[narrator] Despite keeping
his speeches short,

the president-elect whipped up
support for the union.

But the journey ended on March
4th, 1861, and the real work

began when he became
the nation's 16th president.

Just over two decades later,
in the early 1880s,

while America was reaping
the benefits of Lincoln's time

in office, another icon visited
the Old Stagecoach Inn.

[Doug] So this was the tavern.

I can almost put my hand
on that bar.

This is where Buffalo Bill sat,
ate, and drank.

William "Buffalo Bill" Cody was
one of the world's first global

celebrities and entertainers.

Buffalo Bill's story began in
the Wild West where he worked

for the railroads,
initially hunting buffalo,

and then later as
a scout for the U.S. Army.

It's debatable how good Cody
was at either of those

activities, but one thing
he was good at was spinning

a tale, and making a buck.

[narrator] At the age of 26,
Bill decided to focus on what

he was good at.

He created
"Buffalo Bill's Wild West Tour,"

an extravaganza that
really captured the spirit of

the American frontier.

[Rodriguez-McRobbie]
The Wild West Tour was made up
of scenes purportedly from

Bill's time in the West.

And of course, in each one,
he portrayed himself

as the hero.

[Bell] Buffalo Bill became
the mythical embodiment of

the bygone frontier times
of the West.

And people all over America
and the world loved him for it.

[narrator]
Due to its position between
four major cities where Bill

performed, Palmyra's Old
Stagecoach Inn was the perfect

place for him to stay while
he was in Ohio.

[Dr. Thomas] When Buffalo Bill
stayed here, he was given
free food,

free drink, and a free room to
stay in because the proprietors

of the Old Stagecoach Inn knew
that word would spread that

he was there.

[narrator]
In the evenings, people came
from all over to raise a glass

with this major celebrity.

[Doug]
The guy was the most popular
person in America at that time.

It would have been packed.

Buffalo Bill probably drank
until he couldn't walk.

[narrator]
But the days where
the Old Stagecoach Inn was

open for all were numbered.

In 1888, a secret organization
turned this building into one

of its lodges.

The Knights of Pythias are
a secretive fraternal

organization with chapters all
over the world.

They're a little bit like
the Freemasons,

but they don't drink.

[narrator]
The Knights of Pythias added
a third floor to this building

to house an auditorium for
their secret meetings.

[Doug]
We really don't know everything
that had gone on or everything

they had done here in
this building.

We do know some things.

They took care of kids,
they took care of widows.

[narrator] For over 70 years,
the Knights of Pythias used

this building for their own
secretive purposes.

But in the 1960s, that changed
when the clandestine

organization had to abandon
this space.

Membership numbers were
dropping and they couldn't

afford it anymore.

After the Knights left,
the building changed hands

a couple of times,
becoming a private residence

and a store.

But eventually in the 1980s,
it became vacant and abandoned.

[narrator] For 14 years,
the Old Stagecoach Inn sat

slowly deteriorating, until it
fell under Doug's loving gaze.

[Doug]
I bought this building in 1994,
and it was an unbelievable task

that I was taking on.

The first floor was laying
in the basement.

The second floor was dangling,
literally flapping in the air.

I was waiting for it to blow
out and it to go down.

[narrator] Today, after
30 years, Doug has stabilized
the building,

and he's hoping to
return it to the job

it was constructed to do.

[Doug] My future plans are
really simple.

I wanna make it something
useful for the community to

enjoy its heritage.

[narrator] On the outskirts of
Jacksonville lie the remains of

a military base that once
concealed one of America's most

closely guarded
Cold War secrets.

[Dr. Szulgit] This part of West
Jacksonville is one big forest,

but dotted among the trees are
these lonely

abandoned buildings.

[narrator]
Some remaining structures hint
at the high level of protection

this site once had.

[Alcock]
One of the things that makes
this forest quite unusual is

the miles and miles of barbed
wire running through it.

At seemingly random locations,
you have the remnants of these

large imposing floodlights.

[narrator]
Hidden here was a collection
of extraordinary items.

[Morgan] These represented some
of the technically most

sophisticated things that
the United States military

had ever built.

[narrator]
They were stored deep within
the base, in a special area

that, for most,
was strictly off limits.

You weren't allowed to look at
it, play with it, fly over it.

They controlled it to keep
you out completely.

[Alcock] This place was as top
secret as top secret gets.

You had to have the highest
level of clearance to get

anywhere near it.

[narrator]
James Jelsma has been
the caretaker of this site for

over 20 years, and is one of
the few people who doesn't get

lost in this maze of
derelict roads cutting

through the forest.

Base is a total of
18,000 acres in total.

It represents roughly three
percent of Duval County,

so it's a large footprint.

Currently we're traveling on
Perimeter Road.

This is where the military
would patrol right along

the fence line.

[narrator]
The base opened in 1941 as
a naval auxiliary air station

called Cecil Field.

[James] Cecil Field was a very
important Navy training

facility during the second
World War.

It fit within a broader network
of naval air training

facilities that were sprinkled
across the state of Florida.

[narrator]
A naval air gunner's school was
added to the base in 1942.

It was the largest of just
three such schools

in the country.

[Dr. Szulgit]
According to one source,
nearly 30,000 men spent time

here learning all phases of
aerial gunnery.

[James] They would bring a kind
of a dummy across, and you would

have to shoot the dummy down to
get your qualification in order

to be a gunner.

[narrator]
Much of the activity at Cecil
Field wound down after the end

of World War II.

But in 1952, the site
was rejuvenated.

As the aviation jet age dawned,
Cecil expanded massively

and became a master jet base.

[narrator] A master jet base was
specifically used for

carrier-based jet aircraft,
equipped to strike deep into

enemy territory.

The base's upgrade ushered in
the creation of a special

division, a top secret base
within a base.

[James] This was
a Marine Corps facility.

it had a separate designation
name of "Yellow Water" because

that's where
the Marines played.

That's where
the Marines controlled.

[narrator] This is the Yellow
Water Weapons Department,

a clandestine weapons storage
facility built to supply

US Navy aircraft carriers.

[James] During the Cold War,
these would definitely have

military ordnance,
air-to-air missiles,

ground attack munitions.

Over here is one of
the Navy seals.

It says, "Net explosive weight

up to 375,000 pounds,
500,000 pounds."

So different types on
how many it could have.

[Morgan]
The positions are maintained at
a specified interval from one

another so that if
the munitions that are stored

in one facility, for whatever
reason, detonated,

they will then not trigger
the facility next to it.

You don't want to necessarily
make it an underground facility

because, after all, this is
Florida and you really can't go

underground, because
everything's

a little bit swampy.

[narrator]
But this wasn't the only place
weapons were stored at

Yellow Water.

There was another, more secure
area where the stakes were

even higher.

[Dr. Szulgit] The weapons stored
here were the most

dangerous of all...

nuclear weapons.

[James] Nuclear weapons,
biological weapons, any type of

upper layer weapons would be
brought down this road,

stored in this area.

[narrator] Only two of these
super-secure bunkers remain.

But decades ago,
there were many more.

[Alcock]
There were 89 ammunition
bunkers, ranging from small

buildings for high explosives
through to earth-covered

bunkers with reinforced
concrete doors for

the nuclear weapons.

[Morgan]
They were running tactical
low-yield nuclear weapons,

and strategic
thermonuclear weapons.

When all of the storage
facilities were at capacity at

this location, there was enough
explosive capacity there to

destroy the entire world.

[narrator]
With the stakes so high,
security at the entrance to

this area was extreme.

If you look up, this was a zone
that was lit 24-7.

You'd have dogs
patrolling the perimeter,

vehicles
patrolling the perimeter,

Marines
patrolling the perimeter.

[Dr. Szulgit]
There were these almost
James Bond-esque measures.

There was toxic gas that could
be released.

It was high frequency noise
that could be so intensely

projected at someone as to
blow their eardrums.

[narrator]
Working with such dangerous
weapons meant the base also had

its own dedicated hospital.

They had special units to
handle any type of biohazard.

[narrator]
Anti-radiation showers
show how real the risk of

contamination was.

[James] There were accidents
that happened out here

or personnel that were hurt.

They were rushed here to give
them immediate attention.

[narrator]
But the nuclear warheads
stationed here were not

launched from this site.

At times of high alert,
the roads at Yellow Water would

have been busy moving weapons
on and off the base.

This is building 617, which is
the old Marine Corps storage

building, vehicle
maintenance shop.

These are your paint booths
where they would paint

their Humvee and maintain
any other type of

trailers or equipment.

[narrator]
When nuclear-laden semi-trucks
left the base, most headed

straight to aircraft carriers
docked at nearby naval

station Mayport.

It was all part of a carefully
considered defense strategy.

[Morgan] You didn't want the
storage facility

to be close to the coast.

You wanted it to be somewhere
remote where it could be
easily guarded.

And Yellow Water sort of ticked
all the boxes on

that checklist.

[narrator]
But how they transported these
weapons would send shockwaves

across Jacksonville.

[narrator]
On the outskirts of
Jacksonville, a once extremely

secure base had a stockpile of
nuclear weapons, which was

possibly big enough to
destroy the world.

But how these weapons were
moved to nearby aircraft

carriers became one of the most
shocking facts to emerge from

this secretive era.

They had to be transported
through the middle

of Jacksonville.

Can you imagine living in
Jacksonville never knowing that

a payload was passing through
your city that could completely

obliterate it off the map?

[Morgan] That's the way that
the Cold War worked.

And that is, every now and then,
nukes got moved through

your city in the middle
of the night.

You didn't even know about it.

[narrator]
At the start of the 1990s,
the Cold War cooled down to

the point where the US

and the Soviet Union
began significant

de-escalation talks.

We had these leaders
who bravely and boldly embraced

the idea of denuclearization.

And during that process,
Yellow Water was closed down.

[Alcock]
And these secret weapons
storage facilities were emptied

as quietly and secretly as
they had first been filled.

[narrator]
Since Yellow Water's official
decommission in 1999,

limited details have emerged
about the nuclear weapons

stored at this secretive base.

[James] You'll talk to some of
the people that were stationed

here, and as rumor mills start,
you know, you're at the pub

or the restaurant,
and they say,

"Well, what do you do?"

"Oh, well, I do this,"
and then, you know,

loose lips sink ships.

[narrator] Official lips,
however, have remained sealed.

[Alcock] The US Navy have
never confirmed or denied this

nuclear storage area in
Jacksonville, but the ruins

speak for themselves.

[narrator]
And for some, the existence of
nuclear weapons in this area is

not a closed chapter.

[James] I'm not privy to that
information, but I would say if

you're operating a carrier
group or military wings in this

area, there are nuclear weapons
stored in this vicinity.

[narrator] In New England,
a bizarre passion project that

won national accolades came
crashing down after

a medieval catastrophe.

[Steven] This is my baby.

People say that I'm probably
a little crazy to build

something of this scale,
but it was a lot of fun.

[Meigs]
We're in beautiful southern
New Hampshire, rolling hills,

pine forests, mountains
in the background.

[narrator]
Three miles outside of
the small town of Greenfield,

the remains of a once grand
entrance stands out

against the foliage.

[Dr. Thomas] These are giant
gates, and it's all

rusty and dilapidated.

As if these gates aren't
bizarre enough, what's behind

them is even weirder.

[Dr. Thomas] You see a castle
in the distance.

You see other
little structures.

[Alcock] When you get up close,
these structures have

a homemade feel.

They're made of bits of
scrap metal.

[narrator]
Once, this was the backdrop to
a show, the kind America had

never seen before.

These machines would captivate
an audience of thousands.

[Steven] At its peak, this place
was a wonderful,

adrenaline-filled experience.

And at its low point, it was
a near-death experience.

[narrator]
In Greenfield, New Hampshire,
an abandoned castle sticks out

among the fields.

[Steven] Am I the king of
this castle?

I suppose so, but I'll tell
you, the queen of the castle is

right here.

And that's my wife right there.

Hi, Kathy.

[narrator]
Today, these ruins might
resemble the forgotten set of

a B-rate fantasy movie,
but once it was part of pumpkin

farmer Stephen Seigars'
world-record winning
passion project.

In our heyday, we would get at
least 2,000 to 3,000 people

coming through here in
a single day.

[narrator] This place's origins
go back nearly three decades,

when Steven was inspired by
something he saw on TV.

[Steven] So back in 1998,

our public television
station did a story on

ancient siege weapons.

I just acted spontaneously
after seeing this program.

And I said, "Well,
maybe I'll build a trebuchet."

People did think
I was a little bit crazy.

[Dr. Thomas] A trebuchet is
a medieval weapon.

It has a long arm, and on one
end, it's connected to a basket

of heavy counterweights so that
when you release the potential

energy, it slings that arm
forward and throws rocks at

something like a castle wall to
take it down.

[narrator]
Yet Stephen didn't build
his trebuchet to throw rocks.

[Steven] I have a farm stand.

I wanted to find a way to
increase my pumpkin sales.

So I said, well, if I built one
of those machines, maybe

I could throw pumpkins and maybe
that would attract people.

[narrator] Once his trebuchet
was completed, this field

became its home.

This is Yankee Siege.

This is the biggest trebuchet
probably in the world.

This machine weighs
72,000 pounds.

It has a 22,000
pound counterweight.

[Alcock] This was a serious
pumpkin-throwing machine.

It could fling a pumpkin
thousands of feet.

[narrator]
But throwing pumpkins was only
half of the DIY display

Steven put on here.

To attract visitors
to his farmstead,

he needed a suitable target.

[Steven] This is Yankee Castle.

This is built out of old tanks.

We cut holes in them,
cut some turrets.

[Meigs] Because the
trebuchet was a medieval weapon,

he built this castle.

His idea was he would bombard
the castle with pumpkins.

[narrator] Around the turn of
the millennium, Yankee Siege

opened its doors,
launching pumpkins for

the public's pleasure.

[Steven]
We would do displays every
Saturday and Sunday from

September all the way
through to Halloween.

We do a four hour afternoon
session where we're doing

an average of 10 shots
per session.

[Alcock] Not only did people
love the displays,

but Yankee Siege's business
plan worked well.

People came in to see the show,
but ended up spending money in

the farm stand.

[narrator] Despite the success,
three years after opening,

everything changed for
Yankee Siege.

After Steven decided to share
his trebuchet with the nation,

he was forced to rethink
his pumpkin-throwing pastime.

[narrator] In New Hampshire,
Steven Seigars had built

a pumpkin-throwing trebuchet to
promote his farm stand.

But a chance interaction at one
of his displays would bring

this medieval siege weapon to
a new stage, which stretched

across America.

[Steven] In 2003,

a man from the audience
walks up to me and he says,

"You know, there's a competition
in Delaware where they throw

"eight to ten pound pumpkins
and you ought to go down

and see if you can enter it."

[narrator]
Steven acted on his audience
members' advice and entered

this trebuchet into the 2004
competition where

83 contestants tried to throw
a pumpkin the furthest.

People would travel
with their contraptions.

It might be a catapult,
maybe an air cannon.

[narrator]
This trebuchet did far more
than just put on a show.

[Steven]
We took our first shot and set
a new world record.

The new world record was
1,394 feet.

[Alcock]
The competition was a platform
that brought Yankee Siege

to the nation.

[narrator] While continuing to
do his shows here, Steven

and his trebuchet became
a regular at

annual pumpkin-throwing
competitions,

entering each
year and winning.

[Steven] People ask me
sometimes if

I was obsessed,

I would say emphatically yes,
you don't get

to the top without being
obsessed with it.

[narrator]
Despite the good times,
not every display here went

as planned.

There was one incident that
I would like to forget because

it was a nightmare.

I had one of
the workers lean over.

He leaned over the arm
like this.

And for some reason,
the trigger failed.

Came up under his chin,
flipped him to the side four

or five feet, and he was
out cold.

And I said, "My God,
did he just die?"

[narrator]
By the time the ambulance
arrived at Steven's farm,

his employee was conscious
and had no lasting injuries.

That kind of...

emphasized retirement for me.

I said, "Well, maybe
it's time to retire.

I'm getting older
and I have grandchildren."

[narrator]
In 2018, Steven closed
his farm stand,

and the Yankee Siege shows
ended.

Today, nearly a decade later,
like the castles in Europe,

Yankee Siege has fallen on
hard times.

Yet unlike its stone
forefathers, this fortress is

still achieving what it was
built to do.

[Steven] People still come by to
see the place.

They just love to just
mosey around

and check out some of
this hardware.

We only ask that people don't
climb things.

[narrator]
And if a crowd gathers,
Steven occasionally puts on

a show, even if it's not
pumpkin season.

Our alternative is to fire
a plastic barrel, 55 gallons

of water.
It's about 450 pounds.

Haven't fired this for
a couple of years.

Hopefully, everything
goes well.

Five...

[crowd]...four, three,
two, one.

[clanking]

[crowd cheering]

I love it.

That never gets old.