1 00:00:01,467 --> 00:00:03,100 [narrator] A forgotten town in Oregon, 2 00:00:03,100 --> 00:00:08,700 where locals fought an outlaw religious group for control. 3 00:00:08,700 --> 00:00:12,467 They were accused of money laundering and prostitution. 4 00:00:12,467 --> 00:00:14,333 It's all over the world. 5 00:00:16,300 --> 00:00:19,367 [narrator] A wartime prison on the Great Plains, 6 00:00:19,367 --> 00:00:22,467 where the government locked up perceived traitors. 7 00:00:23,266 --> 00:00:26,567 It was a dark era in American history, 8 00:00:26,567 --> 00:00:30,166 and it didn't make it into textbooks. 9 00:00:30,166 --> 00:00:32,467 [narrator] And a battered building in Florida 10 00:00:32,467 --> 00:00:35,567 at the heart of a unique industry. 11 00:00:35,567 --> 00:00:38,900 [Drew] The time when different cultures were all very segregated, 12 00:00:38,900 --> 00:00:40,767 it was a melting pot of people. 13 00:00:44,066 --> 00:00:46,066 [narrator] Scattered across the United States 14 00:00:46,066 --> 00:00:50,634 are abandoned structures and those who know their stories. 15 00:00:54,300 --> 00:00:59,166 These forgotten ruins reveal the past of this land and its people. 16 00:01:01,300 --> 00:01:05,433 These are the secrets of hidden America. 17 00:01:15,166 --> 00:01:16,967 In the Pacific Northwest 18 00:01:16,967 --> 00:01:20,000 lies a forgotten town that found itself 19 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,567 at the center of one of the most bizarre chapters in American history. 20 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,900 [John] My family's been here for generations, 21 00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:36,266 and I love this beautiful country, 22 00:01:36,266 --> 00:01:41,166 and it's a very quiet, mellow place to be, most of the time. 23 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:45,400 [Bell] This really is the middle of nowhere. 24 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,133 It feels like you could drive for miles without seeing another soul. 25 00:01:49,867 --> 00:01:52,200 [Meigs] We're in Oregon's Central Plains. 26 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:57,266 It's a land of big ranches and small towns. 27 00:01:57,266 --> 00:01:59,000 [narrator] In this arid landscape, 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,867 a leafy oasis stands out. 29 00:02:01,867 --> 00:02:03,467 But beneath the green canopy, 30 00:02:03,467 --> 00:02:07,000 abandoned structures tell a different story. 31 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,000 [Martin] It's almost like something strange happened here, 32 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,266 because it looks like 33 00:02:10,266 --> 00:02:12,900 half the population picked up and left 34 00:02:12,900 --> 00:02:14,767 while the other half stayed behind. 35 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:17,667 [Bell] There's an abandoned playground, 36 00:02:17,667 --> 00:02:20,266 which, oh, sends chills down your spine. 37 00:02:20,266 --> 00:02:24,767 It's obvious nobody's been playing here for decades. 38 00:02:24,767 --> 00:02:27,467 [narrator] These quiet streets hide the secrets 39 00:02:27,467 --> 00:02:30,734 of when a group of lawless radicals seized control. 40 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:36,266 The place was occupied, like a military force. 41 00:02:36,266 --> 00:02:38,100 [Sherri] It's like something out of a movie. 42 00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:40,767 It would seem so surreal to live in America 43 00:02:40,767 --> 00:02:44,667 and have something like that going on on your own city streets. 44 00:02:49,367 --> 00:02:52,000 [narrator] The events that unfolded in this remote town 45 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,367 gripped not only the people of Oregon, 46 00:02:54,367 --> 00:02:56,567 but all of America. 47 00:02:56,567 --> 00:02:59,467 John Silvertooth is one of the last remaining people 48 00:02:59,467 --> 00:03:02,300 to have lived through this dark time. 49 00:03:02,300 --> 00:03:05,467 [John] The history of the town is like a roller coaster. 50 00:03:05,467 --> 00:03:07,967 Things change and they can change pretty fast. 51 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:10,367 [narrator] For years, 52 00:03:10,367 --> 00:03:13,467 the residents of this small town led a peaceful life. 53 00:03:13,467 --> 00:03:15,600 Until some new neighbors would land them 54 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,066 at the center of international news. 55 00:03:19,367 --> 00:03:22,166 This is Antelope. 56 00:03:22,166 --> 00:03:28,066 In 1981, a 64,000-acre ranch, called the Big Muddy, 57 00:03:28,066 --> 00:03:30,100 was purchased by a group of people 58 00:03:30,100 --> 00:03:34,433 who claimed to want to use it for agricultural purposes. 59 00:03:36,700 --> 00:03:38,000 [narrator] No one could have predicted 60 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,100 that this would lead to a conflict so dramatic 61 00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:43,333 it would scar the region forever. 62 00:03:44,867 --> 00:03:47,867 It turned out that the purchasers of the ranch 63 00:03:47,867 --> 00:03:50,400 were followers of an Indian mystic, 64 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,166 called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. 65 00:03:53,166 --> 00:03:55,100 [soft Indian music playing] 66 00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:58,433 He had a history in India of being a hypnotist. 67 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,767 He said he awoke and found himself to be God. 68 00:04:02,767 --> 00:04:06,400 I guess he talked these other people into it. 69 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:11,567 They were recognizable by their red, orange, maroon and pink clothes, 70 00:04:11,567 --> 00:04:15,867 and they were known as Rajneeshees named after their leader. 71 00:04:15,867 --> 00:04:19,266 [John] Initially, people were just amused 72 00:04:19,266 --> 00:04:21,467 more than anything else, or befuddled. 73 00:04:21,467 --> 00:04:25,100 You know, it wasn't like "Oh, we've got to get rid of them. 74 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:28,000 [narrator] On the surface, this seemed like a small commune 75 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,400 centered around peace and love. 76 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,934 But the leadership was hiding some dark secrets. 77 00:04:34,900 --> 00:04:36,266 [Meigs] Apparently, the Indian government 78 00:04:36,266 --> 00:04:40,900 had started looking into some alleged tax irregularities. 79 00:04:40,900 --> 00:04:42,667 [John] Got their money any way they could. 80 00:04:42,667 --> 00:04:44,300 You know, a lot of people used to maintain 81 00:04:44,300 --> 00:04:47,367 it was a, you know, international criminal organization. 82 00:04:48,500 --> 00:04:52,200 [narrator] As more and more followers poured into the ranch, 83 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:53,300 it became clear 84 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:58,066 they had ambitions way beyond just farming this land. 85 00:04:58,066 --> 00:04:59,767 What they wanted to do was, 86 00:04:59,767 --> 00:05:03,533 you know, pretty clear violation of the land use laws. 87 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:05,567 [Bell] They built a dam. 88 00:05:05,567 --> 00:05:07,266 They built an airport. 89 00:05:07,266 --> 00:05:10,467 They even had its own electricity grid. 90 00:05:10,467 --> 00:05:14,066 Imagine how that must have felt for the people of Antelope. 91 00:05:14,066 --> 00:05:17,533 An entire city built just a few miles away from them, 92 00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:20,200 almost overnight. 93 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,266 [narrator] By 1984, three years after settling in Oregon, 94 00:05:24,266 --> 00:05:27,467 the commune was over 7,000 members strong, 95 00:05:27,467 --> 00:05:30,066 and the leader himself had moved to the ranch. 96 00:05:31,567 --> 00:05:35,900 [Bell] The Bhagwan had a taste for expensive things, particularly cars. 97 00:05:35,900 --> 00:05:39,467 It said that at one point he owned a fleet of no less 98 00:05:39,467 --> 00:05:42,333 than 93 Rolls-Royces. 99 00:05:43,467 --> 00:05:46,367 [John] They would line up along the highway. 100 00:05:46,367 --> 00:05:50,767 He would drive by real slow and they would all bow to him. 101 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,967 [narrator] But as the commune grew, they ran into a problem. 102 00:05:56,967 --> 00:05:59,266 The state of Oregon had strict limitations 103 00:05:59,266 --> 00:06:01,834 on what could be built on ranchland. 104 00:06:02,967 --> 00:06:05,934 Their plans to build a city were shattered. 105 00:06:07,367 --> 00:06:10,567 [John] They came in here, they'd started buying property 106 00:06:10,567 --> 00:06:12,500 and moving people in. 107 00:06:12,500 --> 00:06:14,967 They thought, "Well, if we can't have our own city, 108 00:06:14,967 --> 00:06:17,300 we'll take this one." 109 00:06:17,300 --> 00:06:20,266 [Bell] The locals wanted to stop the commune taking over. 110 00:06:20,266 --> 00:06:24,200 There was a real risk that they could take over the city government 111 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:25,767 and end up having a say on things 112 00:06:25,767 --> 00:06:28,166 like education in the local schools. 113 00:06:28,166 --> 00:06:32,467 They came up with a drastic plan to disincorporate the town, 114 00:06:32,467 --> 00:06:34,634 so there was no government to take over. 115 00:06:35,867 --> 00:06:38,667 [narrator] But when the time came to vote on the matter, 116 00:06:38,667 --> 00:06:41,967 it was already too late for the locals. 117 00:06:41,967 --> 00:06:45,266 The people of Antelope were outnumbered, outvoted 118 00:06:45,266 --> 00:06:48,934 and lost control of their own town. 119 00:06:49,767 --> 00:06:51,100 [John] The first thing they did 120 00:06:51,100 --> 00:06:52,867 was they named the town Rajneesh, 121 00:06:52,867 --> 00:06:56,266 and they changed all the street names. 122 00:06:56,266 --> 00:07:00,867 This place initially was the post office and the cafe, 123 00:07:00,867 --> 00:07:02,700 and they turned the whole thing 124 00:07:02,700 --> 00:07:06,867 into Zorba the Buddha. Rajneesh Cafe. 125 00:07:08,767 --> 00:07:12,166 [narrator] Soon the people of Antelope's worst nightmare 126 00:07:12,166 --> 00:07:13,567 would come true, 127 00:07:13,567 --> 00:07:16,567 as Mayor Sherri Jamison knows well. 128 00:07:16,567 --> 00:07:21,100 The Rajneeshees took control of the school system and the syllabus. 129 00:07:21,100 --> 00:07:24,467 [Sherri] People were so opposed to what they considered to be 130 00:07:24,467 --> 00:07:26,567 the indoctrination of their children, 131 00:07:26,567 --> 00:07:29,600 that they pulled their kids out of this public school 132 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,200 and sent them elsewhere. 133 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,166 And it's that way to this day. 134 00:07:34,166 --> 00:07:38,000 [narrator] But the commune's aspirations didn't end there. 135 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,367 In order to build their utopia, they hatched a plan 136 00:07:41,367 --> 00:07:45,700 to embed their followers into the local government. 137 00:07:45,700 --> 00:07:47,800 [Bell] With a council election coming up, 138 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,100 the commune leadership decided to try and get 139 00:07:50,100 --> 00:07:52,767 some of their own people into office. 140 00:07:52,767 --> 00:07:54,900 [narrator] And they were willing to do anything 141 00:07:54,900 --> 00:07:58,533 to get their way, including acts of terrorism. 142 00:08:06,100 --> 00:08:08,467 [narrator] In the 1980s, the Rajneeshees sect 143 00:08:08,467 --> 00:08:12,333 was working on a plot to take full control of the town of Antelope. 144 00:08:13,266 --> 00:08:17,266 They decided to start importing new voters, 145 00:08:17,266 --> 00:08:20,467 and they went to cities around the US, 146 00:08:20,467 --> 00:08:22,266 found homeless people and said, 147 00:08:22,266 --> 00:08:26,500 "We'll move you to our community in Oregon. 148 00:08:26,500 --> 00:08:30,266 We'll feed you. There is free love there." 149 00:08:30,266 --> 00:08:31,800 [narrator] But the Rajneeshees knew 150 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,567 that just padding their numbers wouldn't be enough. 151 00:08:34,567 --> 00:08:35,834 To sway the election, 152 00:08:35,834 --> 00:08:39,533 they would also have to keep local voters away from the polls. 153 00:08:40,300 --> 00:08:42,166 In September 1984, 154 00:08:42,166 --> 00:08:45,000 they did something that would shock the world. 155 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,767 They got their hands on a solution of salmonella bacteria 156 00:08:48,767 --> 00:08:52,000 and they started going to restaurants around the county 157 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,767 and pouring the bacteria into the salad bar. 158 00:08:55,767 --> 00:08:57,467 The results were pretty staggering. 159 00:08:57,467 --> 00:09:01,300 Seven hundred fifty-one people became infected with salmonella 160 00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:03,767 and 45 of them wound up in the hospital. 161 00:09:03,767 --> 00:09:06,266 Amazingly, no one died. 162 00:09:06,266 --> 00:09:08,433 But they very easily could have. 163 00:09:09,867 --> 00:09:12,567 it was the first and still to this day, 164 00:09:12,567 --> 00:09:16,533 the largest bioterrorist attack in US history. 165 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,567 [narrator] Ultimately, all the efforts to sway the vote failed. 166 00:09:22,567 --> 00:09:26,567 At the same time, the commune was unraveling from within, 167 00:09:26,567 --> 00:09:29,266 with authorities hot on their trail. 168 00:09:29,266 --> 00:09:34,300 In October 1985, the FBI descended on the ranch. 169 00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:36,767 At the compound, they found glass vials 170 00:09:36,767 --> 00:09:39,100 that tested positive for the salmonella 171 00:09:39,100 --> 00:09:41,700 that had been found at the salad bar. 172 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:44,433 [narrator] But this was just the tip of the iceberg. 173 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:47,400 They had a whole series of plans 174 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:50,867 to assassinate various officials and other people. 175 00:09:50,867 --> 00:09:53,967 [John] The attorney general told me I was on a list of people 176 00:09:53,967 --> 00:09:56,367 that they wanted to take care of. 177 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,166 [narrator] In late 1985, the Bhagwan was deported from the US 178 00:10:01,166 --> 00:10:04,934 on immigration fraud charges and moved back to India. 179 00:10:06,066 --> 00:10:09,500 It was a great relief, of course, when the Rajneesh left. 180 00:10:09,500 --> 00:10:12,066 It was like the war is over. 181 00:10:12,066 --> 00:10:15,400 [narrator] Although the town got its name back in 1986, 182 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,367 for Antelope, the damage was already done. 183 00:10:19,367 --> 00:10:24,467 [Sherri] When the Rajneesh were here, probably half the people left. 184 00:10:24,467 --> 00:10:26,834 That takes a lot to make you leave your home. 185 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:32,000 [narrator] Today, four decades later, 186 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,967 the remaining residents of Antelope 187 00:10:33,967 --> 00:10:36,367 are trying to put this dark chapter behind them. 188 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,600 Brandie McNamee is leading these efforts 189 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:41,667 by reopening the cafe as a store 190 00:10:41,667 --> 00:10:44,133 and setting up an RV park next door. 191 00:10:45,467 --> 00:10:47,400 We're doing this hard work now 192 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,667 because we want to see our kids have jobs here. 193 00:10:50,667 --> 00:10:52,367 [narrator] Brandie is also working on getting 194 00:10:52,367 --> 00:10:55,266 Dark Sky designation for Antelope, 195 00:10:55,266 --> 00:10:56,500 which would put it on the map 196 00:10:56,500 --> 00:10:58,834 as a top stargazing destination. 197 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:02,300 [Brandie] There's very few places in the world 198 00:11:02,300 --> 00:11:06,667 where they can say they can see the Milky Way from Main Street. 199 00:11:06,667 --> 00:11:08,567 And the hope is to have something new 200 00:11:08,567 --> 00:11:10,967 that people know Antelope of 201 00:11:10,967 --> 00:11:13,834 other than being the Rajneesh town. 202 00:11:17,500 --> 00:11:19,100 [narrator] In northern Wyoming, 203 00:11:19,100 --> 00:11:22,300 where the Rocky Mountains give way to the Great Plains, 204 00:11:22,300 --> 00:11:25,367 lies a site where one government program 205 00:11:25,367 --> 00:11:27,734 held thousands of innocent people. 206 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,266 [Michele] There's a striking mountain peak on the horizon 207 00:11:36,266 --> 00:11:38,767 known as Heart Mountain. 208 00:11:38,767 --> 00:11:41,767 It's the natural feature that gives this place its name. 209 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,333 But this is not a heartwarming story. 210 00:11:46,667 --> 00:11:50,800 [Aura] I have a photo of myself at age two. 211 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,867 And so as long as I can remember, 212 00:11:52,867 --> 00:11:55,033 I knew that something important happened here. 213 00:11:56,266 --> 00:11:59,967 [narrator] The desolate landscape belies a surprising past. 214 00:12:01,867 --> 00:12:03,667 [Sascha] It's hard to believe, 215 00:12:03,667 --> 00:12:08,166 but at one time, 10,000 people lived here, 216 00:12:08,166 --> 00:12:10,000 making it the third largest settlement 217 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,467 in the entire state of Wyoming. 218 00:12:12,467 --> 00:12:15,867 [narrator] But after being inhabited for only three years, 219 00:12:15,867 --> 00:12:17,934 it was suddenly deserted. 220 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:21,667 It's almost like when a carnival comes to town 221 00:12:21,667 --> 00:12:23,300 and packs up and leaves 222 00:12:23,300 --> 00:12:26,634 and just disappears, leaving an empty field behind. 223 00:12:27,667 --> 00:12:30,867 [narrator] The remaining structures hold the secrets 224 00:12:30,867 --> 00:12:33,734 of a little told chapter in American history. 225 00:12:35,266 --> 00:12:36,600 [Michele] This is one of those moments in history 226 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,867 that, looking back, it's hard to believe that it ever even happened. 227 00:12:40,867 --> 00:12:43,900 [narrator] The people held here endured great hardship 228 00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:47,567 but also displayed great courage. 229 00:12:47,567 --> 00:12:50,266 [Aura] They ended up becoming to this date 230 00:12:50,266 --> 00:12:54,133 the most decorated military unit in US history. 231 00:12:58,367 --> 00:13:01,667 [narrator] Aura Sunada Newlin is an anthropologist 232 00:13:01,667 --> 00:13:05,500 who has a connection to this site that runs far deeper 233 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:08,133 than simple academic interest. 234 00:13:09,367 --> 00:13:12,066 There's something really powerful about coming here to this site 235 00:13:12,066 --> 00:13:15,066 where my grandmother's family kind of held it together 236 00:13:15,066 --> 00:13:17,533 and made a life without falling apart. 237 00:13:19,066 --> 00:13:21,700 [narrator] Before Aura's family arrived here 238 00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:25,767 they had been living happily in America for 36 years. 239 00:13:25,767 --> 00:13:29,700 But their lives were about to be turned upside down. 240 00:13:29,700 --> 00:13:31,967 [Aura] They had to leave everything behind. 241 00:13:31,967 --> 00:13:34,300 All they could bring with them was what they could carry. 242 00:13:34,300 --> 00:13:38,600 So, you know, a couple of suitcases and you have to decide. 243 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,333 Am I going to bring clothing or am I going to bring family photos? 244 00:13:43,567 --> 00:13:46,734 [narrator] One particular group of people was being targeted. 245 00:13:48,467 --> 00:13:50,967 [Sascha] In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor 246 00:13:50,967 --> 00:13:56,200 and the successful invasion of Pacific islands by Japanese military forces, 247 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,000 a lot of Americans in West Coast communities 248 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:03,266 started to express fears about Japanese American citizens in their midst. 249 00:14:04,367 --> 00:14:07,600 [narrator] On February 19th, 1942 250 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,066 President Roosevelt reacted to this public hysteria 251 00:14:11,066 --> 00:14:15,667 by ordering anyone of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast 252 00:14:15,667 --> 00:14:20,400 to be rounded up and sent to so-called relocation centers 253 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:22,567 in the name of national security. 254 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:27,867 [Linda] Executive Order 9066 created military zones 255 00:14:27,867 --> 00:14:30,767 in California, Washington and Oregon. 256 00:14:30,767 --> 00:14:35,166 The government then forcibly removed Americans from their homes. 257 00:14:35,166 --> 00:14:39,900 In total, around 120,000 people were affected by this order. 258 00:14:39,900 --> 00:14:41,700 The government cited national security 259 00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:43,567 as justification for this policy, 260 00:14:43,567 --> 00:14:46,600 but it clearly violated some of the most essential 261 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,166 constitutional rights of Japanese Americans. 262 00:14:50,567 --> 00:14:53,400 [narrator] This is one of ten large facilities 263 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:59,100 set up to house the entirety of the nation's Japanese American population 264 00:14:59,100 --> 00:15:01,600 during World War II. 265 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,333 This is the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. 266 00:15:06,867 --> 00:15:09,100 [Aura] It's astonishing to think 267 00:15:09,100 --> 00:15:11,700 that instead of looking out on empty farmland, 268 00:15:11,700 --> 00:15:14,533 [stammering] there was like a metropolis here. 269 00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:19,867 [narrator] Only one original barrack remains 270 00:15:19,867 --> 00:15:24,734 serving as an important window into the lives of the incarcerated families. 271 00:15:27,567 --> 00:15:30,100 [Aura] The feel of the air in here, 272 00:15:30,100 --> 00:15:32,767 the smell and the sounds is very palpable, 273 00:15:32,767 --> 00:15:35,266 as kind of a full body experience. 274 00:15:35,266 --> 00:15:39,266 These were designed as military barracks. 275 00:15:39,266 --> 00:15:42,266 This entire space that we're in here right now, 276 00:15:42,266 --> 00:15:45,700 would have actually been split into three separate units 277 00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:48,767 holding three separate families. 278 00:15:48,767 --> 00:15:52,166 [Sascha] They hung bedsheets to further subdivide the space and get privacy, 279 00:15:52,166 --> 00:15:54,767 and they shoved newspapers into the cracks in the walls 280 00:15:54,767 --> 00:15:58,400 to try to keep out the dust and the cold. 281 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,433 [narrator] Nine guard towers and barbed wire fences surround the camp. 282 00:16:03,967 --> 00:16:06,266 But the people incarcerated here, 283 00:16:06,266 --> 00:16:09,634 eked out an existence as close to normal as possible. 284 00:16:10,867 --> 00:16:14,467 There were block representatives and councilmen. 285 00:16:14,467 --> 00:16:16,533 It was run like its own city. 286 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:18,900 [Linda] There was a school for the children. 287 00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:22,066 There was also a garment factory, a cabinet shop and a sawmill. 288 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,100 [narrator] Little remains of these buildings, 289 00:16:27,100 --> 00:16:30,900 but below ground, one structure lives on as a testament 290 00:16:30,900 --> 00:16:33,533 to the resilience of those confined here. 291 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,500 The food rations were so meager that the community here 292 00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:43,133 turned to farming the land around them to alleviate their hunger. 293 00:16:44,467 --> 00:16:47,266 This is one of the only remaining structures 294 00:16:47,266 --> 00:16:49,667 of its kind, uh, in the country, 295 00:16:49,667 --> 00:16:52,900 and I guess therefore in the world. 296 00:16:52,900 --> 00:16:56,166 [narrator] This vast space was the camp's root cellar, 297 00:16:56,166 --> 00:17:00,100 a natural refrigerator for produce farmed on site. 298 00:17:00,767 --> 00:17:02,166 [Linda] The agriculture program 299 00:17:02,166 --> 00:17:03,567 was so successful here 300 00:17:03,567 --> 00:17:08,767 that not only was it able to sustain the population of Heart Mountain, 301 00:17:08,767 --> 00:17:13,100 but also feed the other camps around the country. 302 00:17:13,100 --> 00:17:20,233 They say that this root cellar stored 2.1 million pounds of food that first winter. 303 00:17:21,767 --> 00:17:24,467 [Michele] When you look at the tough, arid land here, 304 00:17:24,467 --> 00:17:27,667 it really speaks to their farming expertise. 305 00:17:27,667 --> 00:17:30,700 [Aura] What started off as one of the greatest hardships at camp 306 00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:33,500 turned out to be one of the greatest triumphs 307 00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:37,100 that we have at Heart Mountain. 308 00:17:37,100 --> 00:17:41,166 [narrator] But the war effort would soon directly affect Heart Mountain 309 00:17:41,166 --> 00:17:44,634 through a new, equally shocking presidential mandate 310 00:17:45,367 --> 00:17:47,667 leading to mass protests 311 00:17:47,667 --> 00:17:49,767 and acts of heroism. 312 00:17:57,367 --> 00:17:59,066 [bass drum playing] 313 00:17:59,066 --> 00:18:01,500 [narrator] The Heart Mountain incarceration camp 314 00:18:01,500 --> 00:18:03,667 was the temporary home for thousands 315 00:18:03,667 --> 00:18:06,734 of Japanese American citizens during World War II. 316 00:18:08,700 --> 00:18:12,300 But in January 1944, President Roosevelt 317 00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:16,367 made an announcement that rocked life at the camp. 318 00:18:16,367 --> 00:18:19,867 [Linda] Towards the end of the war, America needed more troops. 319 00:18:19,867 --> 00:18:22,700 And in a surprising twist, the government turned 320 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:25,166 to the Japanese American men who were at this camp. 321 00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:29,900 [Sascha] They had been judged to be enemies of the state, 322 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:33,567 their rights denied, their possessions seized. 323 00:18:33,567 --> 00:18:36,100 And now they were being told that they would have to go fight 324 00:18:36,100 --> 00:18:38,834 for the same country that had condemned them without trial. 325 00:18:40,100 --> 00:18:42,266 [narrator] For a contingent here at Heart Mountain, 326 00:18:42,266 --> 00:18:45,266 being drafted was too much to take. 327 00:18:45,266 --> 00:18:47,266 [Michele] It was such an important point for many, 328 00:18:47,266 --> 00:18:48,667 it was their breaking point, 329 00:18:48,667 --> 00:18:52,767 their opportunity to say, "No, this is too much." 330 00:18:52,767 --> 00:18:54,567 [Aura] I think most of them, it was on principle 331 00:18:54,567 --> 00:18:58,567 saying, like, "I'm happy to serve in the US military. 332 00:18:58,567 --> 00:19:01,634 I'm patriotic to my country, but not under these conditions." 333 00:19:03,367 --> 00:19:05,066 [narrator] Heart Mountain became the site 334 00:19:05,066 --> 00:19:09,634 of the largest single draft resistance movement in American history. 335 00:19:11,467 --> 00:19:15,266 [Sascha] The military's attitude was uncompromising. 336 00:19:15,266 --> 00:19:17,500 Sixty-three Heart Mountain residents 337 00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:20,166 were prosecuted for resisting the draft 338 00:19:20,166 --> 00:19:23,567 in what became the largest mass trial in the history of Wyoming. 339 00:19:24,700 --> 00:19:30,100 The judge used a racial slur to sentence them all at once 340 00:19:30,100 --> 00:19:31,433 to three years in federal prison. 341 00:19:32,667 --> 00:19:34,600 [narrator] However, the draft protesters 342 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,000 were still in the minority at Heart Mountain. 343 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,867 At least 385 men incarcerated here would serve in the military 344 00:19:43,867 --> 00:19:47,767 and prove to be a real asset to the nation's forces. 345 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:50,500 [Aura] My grandfather had volunteered. 346 00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:53,567 I had a great uncle who was incarcerated at Heart Mountain 347 00:19:53,567 --> 00:19:54,867 when he was drafted, 348 00:19:54,867 --> 00:19:57,634 ultimately became something of a war hero. 349 00:19:58,667 --> 00:20:01,300 Many of the men who'd been interned at Heart Mountain 350 00:20:01,300 --> 00:20:03,567 received awards and honors for their service. 351 00:20:03,567 --> 00:20:06,233 Two of them even received the Medal of Honor. 352 00:20:08,266 --> 00:20:10,767 [Michele] Some Heart Mountain detainees were members 353 00:20:10,767 --> 00:20:13,767 of one of the most decorated units in the US military, 354 00:20:13,767 --> 00:20:19,066 the all Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team. 355 00:20:20,767 --> 00:20:22,767 [narrator] After the war was won, 356 00:20:22,767 --> 00:20:28,867 Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp shut down on November 10th, 1945. 357 00:20:28,867 --> 00:20:31,600 [narrator] The people confined here were given a train ticket 358 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:35,834 and $25 to rebuild their shattered lives. 359 00:20:36,867 --> 00:20:39,266 As for the remaining infrastructure at Heart Mountain, 360 00:20:39,266 --> 00:20:42,367 the barracks were sold off for a dollar apiece 361 00:20:42,367 --> 00:20:44,767 to anybody who could cart them away. 362 00:20:44,767 --> 00:20:46,266 [Michele] There are still dozens of buildings 363 00:20:46,266 --> 00:20:49,266 in the Wyoming-Montana area that have parts of the barracks in them. 364 00:20:49,266 --> 00:20:51,467 So in a way, the camp still lives on. 365 00:20:57,266 --> 00:20:58,667 [narrator] Since the end of the war 366 00:20:58,667 --> 00:21:00,600 and the closure of the camp, 367 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,867 many influential Americans have sought to make amends 368 00:21:03,867 --> 00:21:05,634 for the wartime imprisonment. 369 00:21:06,700 --> 00:21:11,367 Two of them first met at Heart Mountain as children. 370 00:21:11,367 --> 00:21:14,800 [Aura] Norm Mineta was incarcerated here at Heart Mountain. 371 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,200 And young Alan Simpson was living 372 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,000 just down the road in Cody, Wyoming. 373 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,967 And there was a Boy Scout troop here at Heart Mountain. 374 00:21:22,967 --> 00:21:24,700 And this Boy Scout troop leader got together 375 00:21:24,700 --> 00:21:26,567 with the Boy Scout troop leader in Cody 376 00:21:26,567 --> 00:21:27,800 and they said, "You know what? 377 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,667 We should get our kids together." 378 00:21:30,667 --> 00:21:33,867 The two became close friends and remained allies throughout 379 00:21:33,867 --> 00:21:35,767 their successful political careers. 380 00:21:37,500 --> 00:21:41,000 [narrator] In 1988, Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson 381 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,367 collaborated across party lines 382 00:21:43,367 --> 00:21:46,233 to secure their most significant political victory, 383 00:21:46,767 --> 00:21:48,166 the Civil Liberties Act. 384 00:21:49,967 --> 00:21:55,367 The passage of the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 stated explicitly 385 00:21:55,367 --> 00:21:59,967 that a grave injustice had been done to Japanese-American citizens. 386 00:21:59,967 --> 00:22:03,700 That was a huge admission from the government. 387 00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:08,967 [narrator] A new educational institute is currently being built here at Heart Mountain, 388 00:22:08,967 --> 00:22:11,567 named after the senators. 389 00:22:11,567 --> 00:22:14,266 [Aura] Really, this is a history of race in America. 390 00:22:14,266 --> 00:22:17,867 And what fear and scapegoating can do 391 00:22:17,867 --> 00:22:20,500 to a society in really painful ways. 392 00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:22,700 We are reclaiming this history, 393 00:22:22,700 --> 00:22:25,367 and I myself am incredibly proud 394 00:22:25,367 --> 00:22:27,834 to educate the public about what happened here. 395 00:22:31,266 --> 00:22:33,266 [narrator] On Florida's Gulf Coast 396 00:22:33,266 --> 00:22:34,967 stands a building that catered 397 00:22:34,967 --> 00:22:39,300 to a revolutionary industry and served as a sanctuary 398 00:22:39,300 --> 00:22:41,433 for a budding criminal class. 399 00:22:49,567 --> 00:22:52,066 It does feel surreal to be in this space. 400 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,166 To know that my ancestors built this. 401 00:22:55,166 --> 00:22:57,767 Maybe I'm walking in their footsteps. I don't know. 402 00:22:57,767 --> 00:23:00,834 We're in Ybor City, just northeast of downtown Tampa. 403 00:23:02,266 --> 00:23:05,867 [Meigs] It's a really historic neighborhood built by immigrants. 404 00:23:05,867 --> 00:23:07,967 People who came from all over the world 405 00:23:07,967 --> 00:23:09,667 to work in an industry 406 00:23:09,667 --> 00:23:12,467 that barely exists in the US today. 407 00:23:12,467 --> 00:23:14,767 [narrator] A couple blocks away from the interstate, 408 00:23:14,767 --> 00:23:18,000 a dilapidated structure sits abandoned. 409 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,667 You can see this building is kind of a wreck. 410 00:23:21,166 --> 00:23:23,100 The concrete is breaking. 411 00:23:23,100 --> 00:23:25,467 The rebar is exposed and rusting. 412 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,467 [narrator] But some clues point to a lively past. 413 00:23:30,467 --> 00:23:33,300 Now this is one big open space. 414 00:23:33,300 --> 00:23:36,266 But you can see from all of the different paint colors on the walls 415 00:23:36,266 --> 00:23:39,667 that these used to be individual rooms. 416 00:23:39,667 --> 00:23:42,400 [Drew] There are stories about the local Tampa Mafia 417 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:43,967 using this as a hideout, 418 00:23:43,967 --> 00:23:47,266 as a place for the local mob bosses to gather. 419 00:23:47,266 --> 00:23:49,200 It's not where you would go inside 420 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,767 unless you were maybe okay with some trouble. 421 00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:03,500 [narrator] In Tampa, Florida, 422 00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:06,567 few vestiges of the city's colorful beginnings remain. 423 00:24:06,567 --> 00:24:09,166 But Kim Sheridan-Dugmore is determined 424 00:24:09,166 --> 00:24:11,634 to keep her ancestor's dream alive. 425 00:24:14,367 --> 00:24:15,667 There's lore in my family. 426 00:24:15,667 --> 00:24:19,467 We've talked about this place since I can remember. 427 00:24:19,467 --> 00:24:21,500 My grandmother would... would tell me stories, 428 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:23,567 and it was all about this place called Ybor. 429 00:24:24,567 --> 00:24:27,500 [Linda] Ybor City's history goes back to the 1880s, 430 00:24:27,500 --> 00:24:30,634 back when Tampa itself was just a tiny village. 431 00:24:31,667 --> 00:24:34,467 [narrator] Drew Newman's family first came here to work 432 00:24:34,467 --> 00:24:36,867 in the industry that built the city. 433 00:24:36,867 --> 00:24:38,400 and they are still the owners 434 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,834 of the J. C. Newman Cigar Company. 435 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,300 Cigars are the only reason 436 00:24:43,300 --> 00:24:45,467 that Tampa exists today the way it does. 437 00:24:45,467 --> 00:24:47,333 And that's what created Tampa's identity. 438 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,967 [narrator] Ybor City was the vision of a refugee 439 00:24:51,967 --> 00:24:54,100 escaping a brutal fate 440 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:57,367 as his adopted country fought for independence. 441 00:24:57,367 --> 00:24:59,867 [Michele] Vicente de Ybor was a Spanish cigar maker, 442 00:24:59,867 --> 00:25:02,533 who ran a manufacturing company in Havana, Cuba. 443 00:25:03,967 --> 00:25:05,266 [Linda] Although he was Spanish, 444 00:25:05,266 --> 00:25:07,667 Ybor supported Cuban independence 445 00:25:07,667 --> 00:25:11,100 and he was even funding Cuban revolutionaries. 446 00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:13,767 [Michele] This made him a target for Spanish authorities. 447 00:25:13,767 --> 00:25:16,667 He heard about his imminent arrest. 448 00:25:16,667 --> 00:25:18,367 So he decided to flee Cuba 449 00:25:18,367 --> 00:25:19,934 and he headed to the United States. 450 00:25:21,700 --> 00:25:25,200 [narrator] Looking for somewhere to rebuild his life and business, 451 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,467 one place stood out from the rest. 452 00:25:28,467 --> 00:25:31,467 [Drew] Tampa's deepwater port was perfect for the steamships 453 00:25:31,467 --> 00:25:33,600 coming from Havana laden with tobacco. 454 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:34,867 And it's the heat and humidity 455 00:25:34,867 --> 00:25:37,467 that make our weather in the summer kind of miserable, 456 00:25:37,467 --> 00:25:39,233 are perfect for cigars. 457 00:25:40,867 --> 00:25:43,066 [narrator] Having found his El Dorado, 458 00:25:43,066 --> 00:25:47,233 in 1885, Ybor embarked on a colossal mission. 459 00:25:48,567 --> 00:25:50,567 [Michele] Cigar making was a specialized trade, 460 00:25:50,567 --> 00:25:54,767 so Ybor wanted to bring skilled workers with him from Cuba. 461 00:25:54,767 --> 00:25:57,467 They needed someplace to live, however. So he sought out some place 462 00:25:57,467 --> 00:25:59,266 where he could essentially build a company town. 463 00:26:01,467 --> 00:26:04,166 [Linda] Ybor didn't fund this city entirely alone. 464 00:26:04,166 --> 00:26:06,100 He worked with fellow cigar makers 465 00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:08,100 Serafin Sanchez and Ignacio Haya 466 00:26:08,100 --> 00:26:11,667 to create everything that they needed. 467 00:26:11,667 --> 00:26:15,100 [Kim] I'm proud of Seraphine Sanchez, my second great-grandfather. 468 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:16,567 It was a big vision, 469 00:26:16,567 --> 00:26:20,166 and they really wanted to take care of their workers. 470 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:22,033 [Meigs] Along with Ybor, 471 00:26:22,033 --> 00:26:25,800 Sanchez and Haya began to develop the community. 472 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,867 They built factories, stores and services, 473 00:26:28,867 --> 00:26:31,367 and they built a lot of housing, 474 00:26:31,367 --> 00:26:33,266 which they made available to workers 475 00:26:33,266 --> 00:26:34,834 at 0% interest. 476 00:26:35,567 --> 00:26:37,400 [narrator] But one major difference 477 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,934 would set this revolutionary town apart. 478 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,266 [Kim] They encouraged other cigar manufacturers 479 00:26:44,266 --> 00:26:45,367 to join them, 480 00:26:45,367 --> 00:26:47,700 and a lot of companies came, 481 00:26:47,700 --> 00:26:49,867 and Tampa became the cigar center of the world. 482 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,166 [Drew] More cigars were rolled here in the city of Tampa 483 00:26:55,166 --> 00:26:56,834 than anywhere else on the planet. 484 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,400 [narrator] Ybor City became more successful with time 485 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,934 and would soon get its crowning jewel. 486 00:27:04,967 --> 00:27:06,100 In 1910, 487 00:27:06,100 --> 00:27:08,867 the Regensburg cigar company 488 00:27:08,867 --> 00:27:10,433 also moved in the neighborhood. 489 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,400 [Drew] They saw what was happening here in Tampa, 490 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,867 and they decided to build what at the time was 491 00:27:15,867 --> 00:27:18,667 the largest cigar factory in the world, 492 00:27:18,667 --> 00:27:21,967 known as El Reloj, or Spanish for clock. 493 00:27:21,967 --> 00:27:24,600 The factory made a lot of headlines as it's being built, 494 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,667 and Sanchez and Haya saw this 495 00:27:26,667 --> 00:27:27,467 and they bought the land 496 00:27:27,467 --> 00:27:29,066 across the street from the factory. 497 00:27:30,367 --> 00:27:34,100 [narrator] This is the Sanchez y Haya building. 498 00:27:34,100 --> 00:27:37,367 This structure would serve the El Reloj factory 499 00:27:37,367 --> 00:27:40,467 and Ybor City for years to come. 500 00:27:40,467 --> 00:27:44,100 [Drew] This building was the center of the neighborhood. 501 00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:48,367 The second floor was designed as a small hotel, 502 00:27:48,367 --> 00:27:52,367 and the first floor was a cafe and a restaurant and a bar. 503 00:27:54,100 --> 00:27:55,700 [Meigs] It was the first building in the area 504 00:27:55,700 --> 00:27:58,100 to be made of reinforced concrete, 505 00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:00,166 which is really smart in an area 506 00:28:00,166 --> 00:28:01,634 that's often hit with hurricanes. 507 00:28:03,166 --> 00:28:05,000 [narrator] Workers from all over the world 508 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,166 would flock to Ybor City, 509 00:28:07,166 --> 00:28:10,667 but the South was a hostile place for immigrants. 510 00:28:12,367 --> 00:28:14,567 To cater to the town's workforce, 511 00:28:14,567 --> 00:28:16,266 the Sanchez y Haya building 512 00:28:16,266 --> 00:28:19,467 would have to defy Florida's Jim Crow laws. 513 00:28:20,567 --> 00:28:22,300 [Drew] The time when different people, 514 00:28:22,300 --> 00:28:23,367 they were raised in different cultures 515 00:28:23,367 --> 00:28:26,567 were all very segregated here in then Ybor City. 516 00:28:26,567 --> 00:28:27,567 It was a melting pot 517 00:28:27,567 --> 00:28:30,767 of people all living together in harmony, 518 00:28:30,767 --> 00:28:33,867 all because they were making cigars together. 519 00:28:33,867 --> 00:28:37,066 Ybor City was a town founded and populated 520 00:28:37,066 --> 00:28:38,767 by almost only immigrants, 521 00:28:38,767 --> 00:28:41,500 mainly from Cuba, Spain and Italy, 522 00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:42,834 and it was thriving. 523 00:28:43,567 --> 00:28:45,000 [narrator] As different cultures 524 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,834 brought together different ways of life, 525 00:28:47,567 --> 00:28:49,266 the Sanchez y Haya building 526 00:28:49,266 --> 00:28:53,033 would unintentionally harbor a growing underworld. 527 00:28:55,100 --> 00:28:57,266 [Linda] The building was a social hub, 528 00:28:57,266 --> 00:28:58,667 so it kind of stood to reason 529 00:28:58,667 --> 00:29:00,567 that it would also become a center 530 00:29:00,567 --> 00:29:03,667 for the town's less legal activities. 531 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,166 We have stories about how the police raided the building 532 00:29:08,166 --> 00:29:09,567 because there was illegal bolita 533 00:29:09,567 --> 00:29:11,166 being played downstairs. 534 00:29:12,367 --> 00:29:14,834 [narrator] A numbers racket often run by the Mafia, 535 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:17,567 bolita was a game of chance 536 00:29:17,567 --> 00:29:20,667 where numbered balls were withdrawn from a bag, 537 00:29:20,667 --> 00:29:22,467 supposedly at random. 538 00:29:23,367 --> 00:29:26,967 The problem was, bolita was never a fair game. 539 00:29:26,967 --> 00:29:28,266 There were so many tricks 540 00:29:28,266 --> 00:29:32,066 that the mob bosses put in order to rig the game. 541 00:29:32,066 --> 00:29:34,900 For example, if you put your hand into the bag 542 00:29:34,900 --> 00:29:36,900 and you were friends with a mob boss, 543 00:29:36,900 --> 00:29:39,166 you'd pick out the ball that was cold, 544 00:29:39,166 --> 00:29:41,266 the ball that had been put in the freezer. 545 00:29:41,266 --> 00:29:44,667 Sometimes the ball that they wanted you to pick was heavy, 546 00:29:44,667 --> 00:29:45,634 made out of lead. 547 00:29:47,367 --> 00:29:48,600 [narrator] But it wasn't long 548 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,100 until sweeping national change 549 00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:53,967 would bring the good times to a grinding halt. 550 00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:06,767 [narrator] The Sanchez y Haya building in Ybor City 551 00:30:06,767 --> 00:30:10,567 was the center of the cigar rolling community. 552 00:30:10,567 --> 00:30:15,066 Yet new federal laws were about to drastically change life here. 553 00:30:16,667 --> 00:30:18,767 In the 1920s, Prohibition hit, 554 00:30:18,767 --> 00:30:22,166 forcing the Sanchez y Haya building to close its bar. 555 00:30:22,166 --> 00:30:24,900 [narrator] It would be the city's criminal underworld 556 00:30:24,900 --> 00:30:26,433 that would come to the rescue. 557 00:30:28,166 --> 00:30:31,600 It wasn't long before they found a workaround 558 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,266 with the help of the local Mafia, 559 00:30:34,100 --> 00:30:36,133 and opened their own speakeasy. 560 00:30:37,367 --> 00:30:38,767 [Drew] So this building became the place 561 00:30:38,767 --> 00:30:41,467 for the local mob bosses to gather. 562 00:30:41,467 --> 00:30:44,567 This was the old alcohol storeroom. 563 00:30:44,567 --> 00:30:47,567 This room was walled off on all four sides, 564 00:30:47,567 --> 00:30:49,667 and kept hidden from the, uh, police. 565 00:30:49,667 --> 00:30:51,467 We knew it was a place to store alcohol, 566 00:30:51,467 --> 00:30:54,634 but it also might be used to store people who didn't pay their bills. 567 00:30:56,300 --> 00:30:57,266 [narrator] For the next decade, 568 00:30:57,266 --> 00:30:58,967 the Sanchez y Haya building 569 00:30:58,967 --> 00:31:01,467 was teeming with thirsty patrons, 570 00:31:01,467 --> 00:31:06,133 until a national crisis cast a dark shadow over Ybor City. 571 00:31:06,867 --> 00:31:08,266 [Michele] In the 1930s, 572 00:31:08,266 --> 00:31:12,066 the Depression hit and people could no longer afford luxuries like cigars. 573 00:31:12,066 --> 00:31:13,667 So many people would turn 574 00:31:13,667 --> 00:31:15,600 to a cheaper product like cigarettes, 575 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,533 or they would just kick the habit altogether. 576 00:31:18,266 --> 00:31:19,600 [Linda] Many of the factories 577 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,900 had to lay off workers or even shut down completely. 578 00:31:23,900 --> 00:31:25,266 And in a bid to save money, 579 00:31:25,266 --> 00:31:29,266 a number of them went from hand rolled, specialized skilled labor 580 00:31:29,667 --> 00:31:30,934 to mechanization. 581 00:31:33,767 --> 00:31:37,200 [narrator] Just as life in Ybor City began to normalize, 582 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,100 a sudden shift in government diplomacy 583 00:31:40,100 --> 00:31:41,800 would be another body blow 584 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:43,533 for the town's prized industry. 585 00:31:44,867 --> 00:31:46,100 [Meigs] In 1962, 586 00:31:46,100 --> 00:31:49,400 as a result of the rise of Fidel Castro's government, 587 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,500 the Communist takeover of Cuba, 588 00:31:51,500 --> 00:31:54,100 the U.S. Government imposed an embargo 589 00:31:54,100 --> 00:31:55,867 on products from Cuba, 590 00:31:55,867 --> 00:31:59,934 that included the high quality Havana tobacco. 591 00:32:01,266 --> 00:32:04,567 Many of the city's remaining cigar factories shut down, 592 00:32:04,567 --> 00:32:08,367 and Ybor City's economy plummeted even further. 593 00:32:08,367 --> 00:32:11,100 [narrator] While the El Reloj cigar factory was saved 594 00:32:11,100 --> 00:32:14,867 when it was bought by Drew's great-grandfather J. C. Newman, 595 00:32:14,867 --> 00:32:18,333 the Sanchez y Haya building wouldn't be so lucky. 596 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,266 [Drew] The hardest time in Tampa's cigar story 597 00:32:22,266 --> 00:32:25,367 was really the 1970s and '80s. 598 00:32:25,367 --> 00:32:27,567 Ybor City was a ghost town 599 00:32:27,567 --> 00:32:30,266 and a lot of the history was lost. 600 00:32:30,266 --> 00:32:32,600 When I was a little kid in the 1980s, 601 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,266 the building was boarded up, but it wasn't vacant. 602 00:32:35,266 --> 00:32:38,066 It was the grungiest of dive bars. 603 00:32:38,967 --> 00:32:40,567 [narrator] In the early 2000s, 604 00:32:40,567 --> 00:32:44,233 the Sanchez y Haya building closed its doors for good. 605 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,266 Today, after many years of neglect, 606 00:32:50,266 --> 00:32:54,400 Ybor City is undergoing a huge revitalization. 607 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,000 Drew Newman wants to make sure 608 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,066 the neighborhood cigar making history 609 00:32:58,066 --> 00:32:59,133 is not forgotten. 610 00:33:00,100 --> 00:33:02,166 At the factory across the street, 611 00:33:02,166 --> 00:33:04,867 he's keeping its traditions alive. 612 00:33:04,867 --> 00:33:06,567 [Drew] This is the last cigar factory 613 00:33:06,567 --> 00:33:08,800 still rolling cigars not only in the city of Tampa, 614 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,467 but the last traditional cigar factory 615 00:33:10,467 --> 00:33:12,500 operating in he United States. 616 00:33:12,500 --> 00:33:14,767 [narrator] As for the Sanchez y Haya building, 617 00:33:14,767 --> 00:33:16,667 the J.C. Newman Cigar Co. 618 00:33:16,667 --> 00:33:20,166 has plans to bring it back to its roots. 619 00:33:20,166 --> 00:33:22,767 My vision is that when you walk in the Sanchez y Haya building 620 00:33:22,767 --> 00:33:24,166 in two years, 621 00:33:24,166 --> 00:33:27,100 it's gonna look like it did 100 years ago. 622 00:33:27,100 --> 00:33:29,166 The second floor is gonna be an inn. 623 00:33:29,166 --> 00:33:32,500 The first floor is gonna be a cafe, a bar, a cigar lounge. 624 00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:33,467 [Kim] It's very exciting to see 625 00:33:33,467 --> 00:33:35,467 my family's building come back to life. 626 00:33:35,467 --> 00:33:37,734 That brings such joy to me and my whole family. 627 00:33:44,867 --> 00:33:47,266 [narrator] Thirty miles south of Philadelphia, 628 00:33:47,266 --> 00:33:49,467 in the suburbs of the Garden State 629 00:33:49,467 --> 00:33:51,200 lies an empty property 630 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,233 dubbed the strangest house in the world. 631 00:33:59,300 --> 00:34:02,000 [Jeffrey] When I come here, I feel safe. 632 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,266 The ticket booth has always been a sanctuary. 633 00:34:05,667 --> 00:34:08,867 I know a lot of people that could have gone south of hell 634 00:34:08,867 --> 00:34:10,867 that they didn't have a place like this. 635 00:34:12,100 --> 00:34:13,367 [Corina] We're at the Garden State, 636 00:34:13,367 --> 00:34:14,867 home of the Jersey Devil 637 00:34:14,867 --> 00:34:17,533 and some pretty bizarre places. 638 00:34:18,700 --> 00:34:20,100 [Katherine] Just on the edge of the city, 639 00:34:20,100 --> 00:34:22,100 there's a very odd structure 640 00:34:22,100 --> 00:34:25,400 which looks almost like it's made of the earth itself. 641 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:29,000 [Kyle] At first glance, this eccentric collection of buildings 642 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,967 looks like a little fantasy land from a theme park. 643 00:34:33,867 --> 00:34:36,100 [narrator] These structures hide the secrets 644 00:34:36,100 --> 00:34:40,266 of a strange and mischievous creator. 645 00:34:40,266 --> 00:34:44,233 Inside this has to be one of the most bizarre places in America. 646 00:34:44,967 --> 00:34:45,934 Some people would say 647 00:34:45,934 --> 00:34:48,600 that this place is made of reclaimed materials. 648 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:50,667 Other, less charitable people, might say 649 00:34:50,667 --> 00:34:52,734 it looks like it's made of a pile of old junk. 650 00:34:53,967 --> 00:34:55,667 [Corina] And when you go downstairs, 651 00:34:55,667 --> 00:34:56,767 it looks like a dungeon. 652 00:34:57,166 --> 00:34:58,667 There's tunnels. 653 00:34:58,667 --> 00:35:00,467 What is going on down here? 654 00:35:00,467 --> 00:35:02,467 [Kyle] Why is there a throne in the basement? 655 00:35:02,467 --> 00:35:04,800 Is this some madman's castle 656 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,266 or the lair of a mystical beast 657 00:35:07,266 --> 00:35:08,634 who's turned into a hoarder? 658 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:11,900 [narrator] This collection was brought together 659 00:35:11,900 --> 00:35:14,600 by a master storyteller. 660 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,767 [Kyle] The man who built this place also built a web of lies 661 00:35:17,767 --> 00:35:19,934 that would become his undoing. 662 00:35:29,066 --> 00:35:31,100 [narrator] Artist Jeffrey Tirante 663 00:35:31,100 --> 00:35:33,567 has been coming here his whole life 664 00:35:33,567 --> 00:35:37,166 and has a close connection to the place. 665 00:35:37,166 --> 00:35:39,800 [Jeffrey] This is where we would all come out, hang out. 666 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,400 We play guitar on the benches... 667 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:43,767 and what I like to do 668 00:35:43,767 --> 00:35:46,967 with, uh, whenever I come out here is... 669 00:35:47,367 --> 00:35:48,266 [bell dings] 670 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,634 ...just to clean the vibrations up. 671 00:35:52,967 --> 00:35:54,266 [bell dings] 672 00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:59,300 [narrator] This project is almost a century in the making 673 00:35:59,300 --> 00:36:02,333 and can trace its roots back to the Great Depression. 674 00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:04,667 [Katherine] Thousands of people 675 00:36:04,667 --> 00:36:06,767 lost their livelihoods during the Great Depression, 676 00:36:06,767 --> 00:36:08,667 including one local character 677 00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:10,867 responsible for these buildings, 678 00:36:10,867 --> 00:36:11,834 George Daynor. 679 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:13,767 [Steven] I think George Daynor 680 00:36:13,767 --> 00:36:16,367 was a very interesting character. 681 00:36:16,367 --> 00:36:20,200 He told the stories to get the draw, to keep people coming. 682 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,400 [Kyle] According to Daynor, he made his fortune 683 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,400 during the Klondike gold rush, only to lose it all 684 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,800 in the stock market crash of 1929. 685 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,166 He took a gamble on buying some land 686 00:36:30,166 --> 00:36:31,467 for $1 an acre, 687 00:36:31,467 --> 00:36:34,634 but It turned out to be nothing more than a swamp. 688 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:39,266 [narrator] Daynor claimed to be inspired by a dream 689 00:36:39,266 --> 00:36:41,367 to build a fantastic palace 690 00:36:41,367 --> 00:36:43,734 from reclaimed junkyard materials. 691 00:36:44,967 --> 00:36:47,667 He drained the swamp and landscaped the gardens. 692 00:36:47,667 --> 00:36:49,166 It represented to him 693 00:36:49,166 --> 00:36:51,767 his victory over the financial crash 694 00:36:51,767 --> 00:36:54,200 that had crippled the American economy. 695 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,066 [narrator] This is the Palace of Depression. 696 00:36:58,967 --> 00:37:00,400 [Katherine] Daynor opened his house to the public 697 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,600 for the first time on Christmas Day in 1932, 698 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,233 and it soon became a nationally known attraction. 699 00:37:09,700 --> 00:37:11,266 [narrator] Daynor filled his palace 700 00:37:11,266 --> 00:37:14,166 with trinkets and bizarre contraptions. 701 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,266 But he also built a network 702 00:37:17,266 --> 00:37:20,567 of strange tunnels below ground, 703 00:37:20,567 --> 00:37:24,734 something local resident Steven Medio has been investigating. 704 00:37:28,100 --> 00:37:31,367 So we have interviewed a lot of different people 705 00:37:31,367 --> 00:37:33,767 over the years who visited the palace. 706 00:37:33,767 --> 00:37:36,266 While they were being given a tour by George, 707 00:37:36,266 --> 00:37:39,266 he would disappear, and the next thing you know, he would pop up 708 00:37:39,266 --> 00:37:41,567 beyond them or behind them. 709 00:37:41,567 --> 00:37:45,667 You could travel across the property without being seen. 710 00:37:47,367 --> 00:37:49,867 [narrator] Within this underground labyrinth, 711 00:37:49,867 --> 00:37:52,000 Daynor created what he said 712 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,734 was the home of New Jersey's most infamous resident. 713 00:37:58,166 --> 00:38:00,867 [Corina] The Palace of Depression is just down the road 714 00:38:00,867 --> 00:38:02,800 from the New Jersey Pine Barrens, 715 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:04,834 where the legend of the Jersey Devil comes from. 716 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,467 [Kyle] The story goes that a local resident named Mother Leeds 717 00:38:10,467 --> 00:38:14,734 cursed her 13th child, saying, "May the devil take this one." 718 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:20,567 Apparently, this cursed child grew bats' wings, hooves, 719 00:38:20,567 --> 00:38:22,667 a goat's head, a forked tail 720 00:38:22,667 --> 00:38:24,967 and flew off into the Pine Barrens. 721 00:38:26,166 --> 00:38:28,567 [Kyle] In 1909, there was a spate of sightings, 722 00:38:28,567 --> 00:38:32,567 with local newspapers reporting on encounters with the creature. 723 00:38:34,100 --> 00:38:37,100 [Jeffrey] George created what was the Jersey Devil's den. 724 00:38:37,100 --> 00:38:40,700 He would tell them that whenever the Jersey Devil 725 00:38:40,700 --> 00:38:43,266 passed through Vineland, he would stay down 726 00:38:43,266 --> 00:38:44,934 in the basement of the palace. 727 00:38:46,467 --> 00:38:49,066 [narrator] Because of its creator's showmanship, 728 00:38:49,066 --> 00:38:52,500 the palace was initially a huge success, 729 00:38:52,500 --> 00:38:56,166 attracting over half a million visitors. 730 00:38:56,166 --> 00:38:59,967 But one day, Daynor's love of public attention 731 00:38:59,967 --> 00:39:02,533 would get him in serious trouble. 732 00:39:04,467 --> 00:39:08,467 [Kyle] In 1956, one-month-old Peter Weinberger was kidnapped from his home 733 00:39:08,467 --> 00:39:11,100 in Westbury, New York, while he was sleeping 734 00:39:11,100 --> 00:39:13,700 in his stroller on his front porch. 735 00:39:13,700 --> 00:39:16,100 [Katherine] Sensing an opportunity for some publicity, 736 00:39:16,100 --> 00:39:17,567 Daynor broadcast the news 737 00:39:17,567 --> 00:39:20,400 that the kidnappers were hiding out at the Palace of Depression 738 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,266 and were ready to negotiate with the FBI. 739 00:39:23,266 --> 00:39:25,000 [Jeffrey] He had told these people 740 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,266 that a couple that acted suspicious with a kid 741 00:39:28,266 --> 00:39:32,000 and wanted to know if they could split the ransom with him 742 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:36,100 in return for hiding out for a little while in his tunnels. 743 00:39:36,100 --> 00:39:38,767 [narrator] Daynor's derailment of the investigation 744 00:39:38,767 --> 00:39:40,834 would have terrible consequences. 745 00:39:42,066 --> 00:39:43,667 Peter Weinberger would die 746 00:39:43,667 --> 00:39:46,000 after being abandoned in the woods, 747 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,166 and his killer got the electric chair. 748 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,000 Daynor was sent to jail for two years, 749 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,066 leaving his palace abandoned. 750 00:39:55,300 --> 00:39:59,533 People came out here and just started to rip and destroy the place. 751 00:40:00,467 --> 00:40:02,800 [Katherine] Daynor died a pauper in 1964, 752 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,266 apparently 104 years old, 753 00:40:05,266 --> 00:40:08,266 and his Palace of Depression fell into disrepair. 754 00:40:08,266 --> 00:40:11,600 After a devastating fire, it was nearly completely razed 755 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:12,867 by the city of Vineland, 756 00:40:12,867 --> 00:40:15,667 with only the old ticket booth left remaining. 757 00:40:16,767 --> 00:40:20,767 [narrator] But from the ashes, a new palace would emerge. 758 00:40:20,767 --> 00:40:23,200 Local building inspector Kevin Kirchner 759 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:26,166 would begin construction in 2002. 760 00:40:27,467 --> 00:40:30,467 Kevin was a construction official for the city of Vineland, 761 00:40:30,467 --> 00:40:32,700 and when it came across his desk, 762 00:40:32,700 --> 00:40:33,867 he decided to go out 763 00:40:33,867 --> 00:40:35,600 and take a look at the property 764 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:37,667 and see what was left. 765 00:40:37,667 --> 00:40:39,500 [Jeffrey] He had all these wonderful memories 766 00:40:39,500 --> 00:40:41,467 of growing up and coming out here 767 00:40:41,467 --> 00:40:46,000 and I had the experience going through the original place, 768 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:51,567 having actually a pretty good idea of the original layout. 769 00:40:51,567 --> 00:40:57,300 [narrator] But Kevin Kirchner unexpectedly passed away on Christmas Eve, 2021, 770 00:40:57,300 --> 00:41:00,967 leaving the Palace of Depression's future in jeopardy. 771 00:41:04,967 --> 00:41:07,800 Today, the palace is being repaired 772 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,900 and renovated by a number of enterprising locals. 773 00:41:11,900 --> 00:41:13,867 [Katherine] Jeffrey Tirante and Steven Medio 774 00:41:13,867 --> 00:41:16,000 have taken over the Palace of Depression 775 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,767 and are crowdfunding its restoration. 776 00:41:18,767 --> 00:41:21,767 [Jeffrey] I mean, got all sorts of wonderful stories. 777 00:41:21,767 --> 00:41:25,867 but to see a place that inspired you when you were a kid, 778 00:41:25,867 --> 00:41:28,467 it's been an adventure from the start.