Amazing Tales from Off the Beaten Path

The Incredible Trail of the Whispering Giants

It’s a fairy tale type of story. An artist spent 20 years carving gigantic wood sculptures of Native Americans – one for each of the 50 states. Peter Toth's Trail of the Whispering Giants was to pay homage to Native Americans for injustices they faced from European settlers.

The Erie Canal's Eastern Cousin

New York's Erie Canal inspired New Haven, Connecticut industrialists to build their own canal - from Long Island Sound into Massachusetts, completing bisecting the state. The Farming Canal project caused concerns with competing businessmen in Hartford, who developed their own canal.

PART 2: The Weekend the British Burned Danbury

It was supposed to be a relatively simple military operation. The British would march from Long Island Sound to Danbury, Connecticut and destroy the Revolutionary War Patriot supply depot. As we hear in part two of this part-two series, things didn't go exactly as planned.

PART 1: The Weekend the British Burned Danbury

Danbury, Connecticut was a Patriot supply depot during the Revolutionary War. The British wanted to destroy it. In part one of this two-part series, we hear about the mismatched military engagement when the dominant British marched inland, but how they made a crucial tactical error in planning.

The Magic of Flying Two-Seater Planes

It’s a totally different life style: flying a 2-seater airplane, with just 1 or 2 propellers. Beautiful views, but dangerous. Paved airstrips and grass ones. Sharing the sky with 747s. We hear from representatives of two of the oldest airplane clubs in the country.

Soap Box Derby Racing

You've heard of the Soap Box Derby, but what do you really know about it? How do champions make it the annual championship race in Akron, Ohio? How does it feel to race down a 16% grade? What's the story behind the 75-year-old Derby and its mission to instill leadership skills?

The Story Behind the Separation of Church and State

The separation of church and state. The words are in the U.S. Constitution, right? They are not. The phrase first appeared in a letter - written by the third President, Thomas Jefferson, to a religious group that felt it was being persecuted by another religious group that controlled many governmental functions.

How to Build a New England Town Center

What if they created a town in New England – without a town center, a town green or a big white church? That's what happened in Brookfield, Connecticut. There was no central downtown when the town was formed in the 1700s. How did this happen? Can they fix this after 250 years without one?

Kickbacks Paved the Merritt Parkway

The oldest limited access highway in the U.S. is the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. It was built to eliminate multi-mile, bumper-to-bumper congestion along the original U.S. Route 1 Post Road. Laying out its path through affluent Fairfield County, it turns out, required a scheme involving illegal kickbacks.

Who Killed Jack the Ripper?

Is it possible that a penniless, old, female recluse killed Jack the Ripper? Florence Maybrick, who famously served time in England for murdering her husband, died in rural Connecticut as Florence Chandler. Claims that her husband was The Ripper have been raised, as have claims of her having been framed. It's a complicated who-done it.