10 Bizarre and Overlooked Photos of America’s Past Cities

A parade of vintage photos reveals quirky happenings and unexpected spectacles that once graced the streets of forgotten cities. These images burst with offbeat humor and a dash of mystery, capturing the eccentric spirit of urban life in a way that feels almost surreal.

1. The Austin Texas Pig War

In 1840, a French diplomat named Jean Pierre Isidore Alphonse Dubois arrived in Austin, Texas. A few blocks from his hotel were a group of pigs kept by a local hog farmer, and they soon discovered the Frenchman fed his horses corn. The pigs invaded his quarters and apparently ate his linens and important state papers. He declared war on the pigs, and the city joined in on the roast.

2. The Holland Tunnel’s Catwalk Cars

New York City’s Holland Tunnel has thing pathway running alongside it that workers can barely squeeze through. Originally, these pathways were made for trolley cars city officials would ride through the tunnel. The cars are now obsolete, but the pathways are still there.

3. San Francisco’s Horse Drawn Houses

When San Francisco was developing, the city kept changing its road and sidewalk regulations. The city demanded more space and for houses to be demolished, but the citizens had a more interesting idea. Since the houses were wooden and generally light, they attached horses to them and simply moved them elsewhere.

4. Millionaire Private Subway Stops

  • The NYC subway system is a terrible place these days. But way back when, it had private transportation of the city’s one-percenters. The Vanderbilts, Carnegies and other Gilded Age families had enough cash to fund private subway stations right underneath their mansions. All those people and their money are dead now, but there are still some abandoned private stations underneath the city.

5. North Brother Island’s Dark History

In the East River of New York City, there’s an abandoned island called North Brother. It was first used as a hospital, which became famous as the home of Typhoid Mary. She was spreading her illness all throughout New York, so the city forcibly quarantined her on the island until her death. Later, the hospital was converted to an insane asylum. It’s abandoned now, but its haunted ruins are still there.

6. San Francisco’s Deadly Senator Duel

In 1850, a San Francisco court clerk named George Pen Johnston got into a bar fight with State Senator William I. Ferguson. He challenged the Senator to a duel, and they took pistols to Angel Island off the San Francisco coast. Johnston killed the Senator, because Ferguson never even shot his pistol.

7. The Ancient Egyptian Obelisk in Central Park

In 1877, New York City acquired one of Cleopatra’s Needles from Egypt to display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The obelisk is 3500 years old, and was moved to the United States on a broken down ship and rolled on cannon balls. It was at the museum for a bit, but when it was too difficult to move regularly, they placed it in Central Park. It has a twin that sits on the banks of a river in Westminster, England.

8. Chicago’s Secret Graveyard Park

Lincoln Park is known as one of Chicago’s wealthiest, nicest neighborhoods. But after the Civil War, there were so many dead bodies sent back to Chicago, they didn’t know what to do with them. Many were buried in unmarked graves under land that eventually became Lincoln Park. Some of the bodies were removed, but the Windy City’s nicest park is still secretly a graveyard.

9. New York City’s Abandoned Hippy Island

In 1905, the rocks and dirt left over from a tunnel construction were dumped in the East River and an artificial island was born. First known as Belmont Island, a guru employed by the UN bought it in 1977 and declared it U Thant Island, named after his friend, Burmese diplomat U Thant. They built a “oneness arch” on the island, but soon after abandoned it.

10. Empire State Building as a Blimp Parking Garage

When the Empire State Building was erected, blimp, dirigible’s and zeppelins looked like they were going to be the future of air travel. So the architects built a spire into their new building, which blimps could attach to, and empty the passengers into their office buildings below. It took too many workers to maintain, and it was insanely dangerous, so now the building has a giant, useless blimp dock on top.

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