NaN/100 votesLoading...#1 - New Jersey
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 7/14/2003
Face Artifact The Place: Mantoloking, New Jersey Found on the beach, a pebble in the sand with sculpted human features. To unlock this riddle, the team must travel through time, across borders and between cultures. Fire Station The Place: Morristown, New Jersey The evidence suggests that President Ulysses S. Grant celebrated America's centennial at this old firehouse. The History Detectives try to prove it. "Pop" Lloyd's Baseball Field The Place: Atlantic City, New Jersey Black ball players, white politicians, prejudice and patrimony. All of these threads appear when the History Detectives begin to unravel the origins of a historic memorial to black ballplayer John Henry Lloyd.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#2 - The Mid West
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 7/15/2003
Bonnie & Clyde The Place: Brodhead, Wisconsin Did these five .45 caliber bullets end one of the most infamous crime sprees in American history? The History Detectives try to link these bullets to Bonnie and Clyde using ballistics tests and some old-fashioned research. Al Ringling Theater The Place: Baraboo, Wisconsin Was this one of the country's first great movie palaces? The History Detectives set out to discover why such an ornate theater was erected and survived in such an obscure location. Sears Home The Place: Akron, Ohio The History Detectives investigate whether or not Sears & Roebuck could have built this home during the industrial boom. Does this couple live in a relic from years gone by?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#3 - New England
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 7/16/2003
Morgan Whaling Ship The Place: Mystic, Connecticut Did this Charles W. Morgan whaling ship smuggle slaves out of the south as part of the Underground Railroad? The History Detectives are called in to find out. Witch's House? The Place: Essex County, Massachusetts Did Martha Carrier, who was hanged as a witch, once own Benjamin Abbot's house? The History Detectives must rely on historical research, Martha's descendents and even experts from around the world to solve the case. 1909 Jigsaw Puzzle The Place: Worcester, Massachusetts A quirky jigsaw puzzle of women playing football in the 1800s puzzles the History Detectives. A jigsaw expert, sport historian, magazine collector and antiquities society help solve the riddle.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#4 - The Capitol
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 7/17/2003
Portrait of George Washington The Place: Frederick, Maryland Is this an authentic portrait of the nation's first president, George Washington? The History Detectives call in a fake buster and art historian to discover if this is a national treasure. Patty Cannon The Place: Federalsburg, Maryland Was Jack and Rose's home once the headquarters of kidnapper and slave trader Patty Cannon? Trumpet The Place: Bucks County, Pennsylvania Was this trumpet, bought by a Philadelphia man at auction, actually played during the battles that won America's independence from England?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#5 - The South East
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 7/21/2003
Lee's Last Orders The Place: Beech Island, South Carolina Is the Beech Island Agricultural Club's copy of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's farewell address the original? Natchez House The Place: Natchez, Mississippi How could Robert Smith, a former slave, afford to build this magnificent home for himself in 1851? Napoleonic Sword The Place: St. Martinville, Louisiana A family legend has it that when a doctor treated Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram in Austria, the great General was so grateful he rewarded him with a fine sword, which has been kept in the family ever since.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#6 - California
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 7/28/2003
John Brown's Letters The Place: Sacramento, California Does a Californian woman own a treasure trove of John Brown's documents? Tukufu sets out to authenticate the letters and delve into her family tree to prove if she is related to the famous abolitionist. Japanese Tea House The Place: Gilroy, California How did an authentic Japanese house become part of the famed San Francisco World Fair just before World War II? The history detectives attempt to reveal the origins of the house and how it got there. Poems The Place: San Francisco, California Kathleen Wong, a second-generation Chinese-American calls in the history detectives to trace her ancestors' perilous journey to America. She wants to know whether any of the hundreds of poems left on the walls at the West Coast Angel Island detention center relate to her family.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#7 - Texas
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 8/4/2003
The Depot That Made Dallas The Place: Dallas, Texas A local historian calls in the History Detectives to find out if a disused depot was the first railroad station in Texas and if it was responsible for putting Dallas on the map. Mexico Peso The Place: San Antonio, Texas Searching through his great-grandfather's belongings, a San Antonio man finds Mexican currency and suspects a link to infamous bandits Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa. Did this money play a part in the Mexican revolution in the 1910s and how did it end up in the hands of a quiet family man? Pirate Spyglass The Place: Texas City, Texas Jean Lafitte was a fearsome pirate, an ingenious privateer, and a war hero. A Texas library is donated a spyglass said to be handed down from Lafitte to his ship captain. Was it?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#8 - New York
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 8/25/2003
Ventriloquist Dummy The Place: Brooklyn, New York Where did ""Sam"" the first black ventriloquist dummy, come from? Did he change the way Americans viewed race in the early 20th century? Home of Lincoln Assassination Plot? The Place: Greenwich Village, New York Did John Wilkes Booth, the infamous assassin of Abraham Lincoln, spend time in this woman's house planning the assassination? 34 Star Flag The Place: Staten Island, New York Did a 34-star Civil War-era flag in the possession of a New York historical society once save a boarding house from being burned down? Legend says it replaced a confederate flag hung at the height of Civil War hysteria.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#9 - Oregon
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 9/1/2003
Sheridan's House? The Place: Grand Ronde, Oregon Although the locals have little interest in this abandoned Dutch Colonial Style home, new research suggests the house may originally have been built as officer quarters for the Union Army by a young Philip Sheridan, before he became a famous general. Mark Twain Watch? The Place: Oregon The grandson of prominent Oregonian Captain Ainsworth wants to know if his watch was a gift from noted American author Samuel Clemens. Prisoner Poem The Place: Salem, Oregon Where did this Revolutionary War poem, recently discovered in an antique trunk, come from? Did the author, an American prisoner of war in England, write it there? If so, where was it for over two centuries, and how did it end up in Oregon?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#10 - Philadelphia
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 9/8/2003
The Love Dish The Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Was a set of 18th century china emblazoned with hearts and arrows given by the Marquis de Lafayette to Elizabeth Willing, the popular wife of the Patriot Mayor? Rebel Gun The Place: Mercer, Pennsylvania Local lore says this late 18th Century flint-lock rifle was recovered from the hideout of infamous Tory bandit Moses Doan after a raid in 1783. Prison Plaque The Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania A recently-found plaque suggests that inmates from Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary were recruited to fight in World War One. Was this an extraordinarily progressive prison or just wartime desperation?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#11 - Civil War Submarine / Red Cloud's Peace Pipe / Thomas Edison's House
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 6/21/2004
Civil War-Era Submarine The Place: New Orleans, Louisiana In Louisiana's bustling French Quarter sits a surprising remnant of American warfare - a Civil War-era submarine. Salvaged from the depths of a New Orleans lake, the origin of this vessel remains a murky mystery. Now a New Orleans man wants to know if his great-grandfather helped build the iron-clad wonder. Red Cloud's Peace Pipe? The Place: Livermore, California Was this peace pipe given to a Californian woman's ancestor by the famous warrior Chief Red Cloud? The ancestor was the Indian agent who moved the Oglala Lakota to a Reservation in South Dakota. Would Chief Red Cloud have given such a gift to a U.S. government official? The History Detectives go back to the turbulent days of the 1870s and a battle of wills and political scandal that reached the highest levels of government. Thomas Edison's House? The Place: Union, New Jersey This strange house is said to have been designed and built by Thomas Edison. Did the
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#12 - Early Monopoly / Internment Artwork / Lewis and Clark Cane
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 6/28/2004
Early Monopoly? The Place: Arden, Delaware A man in Delaware has an old board game that bears a remarkable similarity to Monopoly, but was made 20 years before Parker Brothers patented their creation. Could he own the earliest version of the world's best-selling board game? History Detectives investigates Monopoly's history and discovers a surprising story. Rather than originating in the Great Depression of the 1930s, Monopoly could be a much older game, reflecting an economic argument that - if followed - would have created a radically different economy than today's. Japanese Internment Camp Artwork The Place: San Francisco, California A San Francisco archive has discovered a set of watercolor paintings of what appears to be a prison camp. Piecing them together shows they were painted on the back of a Japanese-American internment notice from 1942. What is the story behind these paintings? Who was the artist? And what was his or her fate? History Detectives uncovers the dramati
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#13 - Anti-Slavery Flag / Mail Order Brides / WWII Landing Craft
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 7/5/2004
World War II Landing Craft The Place: Bayfield, Wisconsin A craft used for dredging and hauling rocks in Bayfield's harbor could hold a dramatic secret. A local man whose father fought in the Second World War claims that, 60 years ago, the vessel played a vital role in the D-Day landings, when it transported American tanks on to the beaches of Normandy. Could this ship really be one of the 1500 LCT103 ""Landing Craft Tanks"" designed and built to support the amphibious landings of World War II, and did it really see action off the beaches of France? The Abolitionist Flag The Place: Michigan What two Michigan brothers believed was an old sheet in a family trunk may have contributed to the end of slavery in America. Was the sheet a flag an ancestor may have used to campaign for the creation of Free States? Or was it used as propaganda in a pivotal pre-Civil War campaign? History Detectives explores the politically charged abolition movement to reveal the surprising past of this fam
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#14 - First Movie Studio / Hollywood: Warner's Lighter / King Kong Camera
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 7/12/2004
The First Movie Studio? The Place: Los Angeles, California Lincoln Heights is a quiet neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles located far from the glitz and glamour normally associated with Hollywood. But a resident there thinks the city's first motion picture studio may be located right in her very own neighborhood park. Could a broken gateway once have been the grand entrance to the beginning of Hollywood history? Warner Ufa Lighter The Place: Los Angeles, California A California man spends $50 at a flea market on an antique lighter that could be a piece of Hollywood history. It is engraved with ""Harry Warner"" on one side and ""Ufatone"" on the other. Harry Warner was one of the founders of Warner Brothers, whereas Ufa was Germany's largest studio and Hollywood's biggest competition. What is the connection between Harry Warner, known for his anti-fascist commitment, and a studio that became the propaganda tool of the Nazi party? King Kong Camera? The Place: Washington State and
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#15 - Dueling Pistols / Little Big Horn Bayonet / Nesbit Portrait
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 7/19/2004
Dueling Pistols The Place: San Francisco, California A San Francisco bank owns two antique pistols, allegedly used in the last great duel on U.S. soil. Fought in 1856, the duel was between abolitionist Senator David Broderick and California Supreme Court Justice David Terry. 150 years later, a bank employee wants to know if these guns are authentic - and more about the duel. What really happened? Was it about slavery or honor? Did it influence the outcome of the Civil War? Evelyn Nesbit Portrait The Place: New Jersey A woman owns a portrait she believes is a lost masterpiece by one of America's greatest illustrators and artists, Howard Chandler Christy. The painting's subject is claimed to be Evelyn Nesbit, the actress and model who rose to fame in 1906 when her husband killed a famous architect accused of ""taking advantage"" of her. The resulting scandal rocked New York in the early 1900's and became the ""trial of the century"". But is the painting authentic? Little Big Horn Bay
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#16 - Home of Lincoln Assassination Plot / Preston Brooks' Riding Crop / Revolutionary War Cannon
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 8/2/2004
Preston Brooks' Riding Crop The Place: Long Island, New York A man claims that a beautiful riding crop was given to a family ancestor by the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. He believes that it was no ordinary present, but was given to Preston Brooks to congratulate him for beating into senselessness an anti-slavery campaigner, Charles Sumner. Many regard this public attack in the Senate as a significant moment in America's move toward division and Civil War. History Detectives visits New York City, Columbus, Georgia and Sea Cliff, New York, to unravel a startling story of politics, filibusters and mistaken identity. Home of Lincoln Assassination Plot The Place: Greenwich Village, New York A woman has a question about the home she's been living in for the last few years. She's heard a rumor that John Wilkes Booth, the infamous assassin of Abraham Lincoln, spent some time in her house. Not only that, she's heard that her home is where the plot for the assassination
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#17 - Chinese Poem / Ventriloquist's Dummy / Witch's House
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 8/16/2004
Ventriloquist Dummy The Place: Brooklyn, New York An African American woman in Brooklyn, New York, has her father's black ventriloquist dummy, ""Sam."" Her father, John Cooper, was the first famous African American ventriloquist. In a time of minstrel stereotypes, did ""Sam"" help transform how Americans viewed race in the early 20th century? How was this dummy created and was it meant to be a protest against racial prejudice? Witch's House? The Place: Essex County, Massachusetts Did this house once belong to an accused witch? History Detectives heads to New England to research the likelihood with local historians and a descendant of the accused witch, Martha Carrier, who was executed by hanging in 1692 during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Migrant Poems The Place: San Francisco, California In the first half of the 20th century, nearly 250,000 Chinese immigrants attempted to enter the United States. Because of discrimination against Chinese and laws meant to impede their pass
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#18 - Bonnie & Clyde Bullets / George Washington Portrait / Revolutionary War Poem
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 8/23/2004
Bonnie & Clyde The Place: Brodhead, Wisconsin Could 5 spent bullets in the possession of a Wisconsin woman have been responsible for the demise of the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow? History Detectives travels to cities all over the country in an attempt to link the bullets to the crime spree of the murderous twosome. Revolutionary War Poem The Place: Salem, Oregon History Detectives goes to Salem, Oregon to look into the story of a Revolutionary War poem found 25 years ago, hidden in an antique trunk. The document appears to have been written by an American named Dan Goodhue while imprisoned in 1780 as a POW in England. Who was this man and how did his poem travel for over two centuries, across the sea and nation, to end up in Oregon? Portrait of George Washington The Place: Frederick, Maryland Could a drawing passed down through a Maryland family actually be an authentic portrait of the nation's first president, George Washington? The investigators attempt to pr
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#19 - Lost Gold Ship / John Hunt Morgan Saddle / Cesar Chavez Banner
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 9/6/2004
Lost Gold Ship The Place: Alaska Environmentalist Gabriel Scott was working in the Copper River Delta near Cordova, Alaska, when he came across the wreckage of an old ship. According to locals, these are the remains of the SS Portland, the famous steamship that carried 68 miners and nearly two tons of gold from the Klondike River to Seattle harbor and began the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. The History Detectives team mixes maritime history and forensic science to reveal the dramatic story of the SS Portland and confirm that the remains are of this legendary ship. John Hunt Morgan Saddle The Place: Paris, Kentucky A Kentucky man owns a beautifully preserved, Western-style saddle, believed to have been used by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan on his audacious raid into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio in July 1863. History Detective Wes Cowan has a surprising personal connection to the case - his great-grandfather was actually one of ""Morgan's Raiders"" and was captured alongsi
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#20 - Continental Army Muster Roll / Pop Lloyd Baseball Stadium / Pretty Boy Floyd's Gun
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 9/13/2004
""Pretty Boy"" Floyd's Handgun The Place: La Verne, California A man owns a vintage Colt automatic handgun, which family legend suggests once belonged to the Depression-era desperado, Charles ""Pretty Boy"" Floyd. According to the legend, Floyd gave the gun to the man's uncle, who had served as the criminal's lookout. History Detective Wes Cowan travels to California, Oklahoma and Missouri to discover why gangsters became heroes to the rural population of the Midwest and to reveal the true story behind the dramatic rise and fall of a man who ranks alongside Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger as one of the most colorful bank robbers in American history. Continental Army Muster Roll The Place: Las Vegas, Nevada A man owns an old Continental Army muster roll issued by the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts in July 1780. Among the 16 men listed is ""Paul Cuffee, and the contributor wants to know if this could be evidence of a previously unknown episode in the life of Cuffee, a remarkable
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#21 - Charlie Parker's Saxophone / Koranic School Book / Prison Plaque
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 9/20/2004
Charlie Parker's Saxophone? The Place: Oakland, California A woman owns a beautiful old alto saxophone that belonged to her father and according to family legend was once owned by the legendary jazz musician Charlie ""Bird"" Parker. Her late father, a white musician, told her that when they lived in Portland, Oregon, Charlie Parker came to a practice session without his horn. The story goes that when her father chided Parker for selling his instrument, Bird said, ""If you want the horn so much, here's the pawn ticket."" Is the story true? Did these two musicians ever meet? Would troubled musical genius Charlie Parker abandon his horn? Prison Plaque The Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In the heart of Philadelphia stands the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary building. Founded by Quakers in 1829, this castle-like structure set new standards for prisons across the country with its progressive ideas for rehabilitation. Recently, a group in charge of preserving this historic structu
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#22 - Body in the Basement / Newport U-Boat / Shippen Golf Club
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 9/27/2004
Body in the Basement Newport U-Boat Shippen Golf Club
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#23 - The Spirit of St. Louis
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 6/27/2005
The Spirit of St. Louis Two brothers from New Jersey suspect that their uncle may have built the engine in Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis plane. Suicide Pin A Kansas City man bought a used toolbox that contains two pins similar to the “poison pins†U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers had with him when he was shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union. Image of Apache Warrior Geronimo A woman in New Mexico has a photo that she thinks is the Apache warrior Geronimo.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#24 - Black Star Line Certificates
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 7/11/2005
Black Star Line Certificates Mickey Mouse's Origin Pro-Nazi Newspaper in Texas
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#25 - Arthur Szyk's Earliest Cartoons
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 7/18/2005
Arthur Szyk's Earliest Cartoons Professor Lowe's Hot Air Balloon Chemical Warfare Map
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of History Detectives
Every episode of History Detectives ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of History Detectives!
A group of researchers help people to find answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or...
Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS
Best Episodes Summary
"New Jersey" is the best rated episode of "History Detectives". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 7/14/2003. This episode scored NaN points higher than the second highest rated, "The Mid West".