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The Story Behind The Place

Every place has a visible story. This series looks for the one underneath.

Current Episode: Groton Connecticut

In 1781, America’s most infamous traitor returned to the state where he was born—and Groton would never forget what followed.

Today, a submarine rests along the town’s waterfront.

How those two stories came to belong to the same place is the story behind Groton, Connecticut.

The Series

Most travel content tells you where to go.This isn't that.

The Story Behind The Place is a photography and storytelling series built around one idea — discovering the decisions, events and forces that made places what they are today.

Not the restaurants. Not the hotels. Not the highlights reel.The pedestrian bridge that was nearly demolished — and the city that chose to save it instead. The cannon that failed spectacularly — and the town that kept it on the front lawn anyway. The theme park built on ground that shouldn't be able to hold it. The quiet Ohio city where two brothers figured out not how to get airborne — but how to stay in the air. And one of the most photographed places on earth — and why it's still there.The part of the story most people never get to.Each episode pairs original photography with the history, science, and surprising details that give a place its character — the things that make you stop mid-sentence and say wait, I didn't know that.

Season Two

Exploring places where the most interesting thing isn't the place — it's the decisions someone made there.

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Hilton Head Island

Most people know it for the beaches and the golf. What happened here in 1861 changed American history. Almost no one knows the story. S2E1.

See What Happened Here >

Spokane Falls — Washington Water Power Building, South Bank

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind The Place: Spokane Falls

Everyone photographs the falls. Almost no one knows they're standing on top of a working power plant that has been running since 1890.

Find Out What's Below >

Grand Cayman Light Rays — Seven Mile Beach

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind the Place: Grand Cayman

Ten ships wrecked on a reef in 1794. The legend that followed is why this island never pays taxes.

See How That Works >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Richmond (IN)

A piano factory in Indiana. A converted lumber kiln beside a railroad track. And a decision that changed American music forever. S2E2.

See How >

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind the Place: Boston North End

Every American knows the name. One if by land, two if by sea. But Longfellow's poem left someone out.

See Who It Was >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Groton (CT)

In 1781, America’s most infamous traitor returned to the state where he was born—and Groton would never forget what followed. Today, a submarine rests along the town’s waterfront. How those two stories came to belong to the same place is the story behind Groton, Connecticut. S2E3.

Step Into The Story >

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind the Place: Boston Mapparium Globe

Inside a building in Boston’s Back Bay is a thirty-foot stained-glass globe you can walk through. But the most remarkable thing about the Mapparium Globe isn’t how it was built.

See What’s Inside →

Season One

Exploring places shaped by ambition, culture, engineering — and time.

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Chattanooga

Chattanooga has been rebuilt more than once. Each time, the city faced a choice: tear it down or save it. What it chose to save — and why — tells you everything about this place. S1E1.

See What They Saved >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Dallas

Most people see AT&T Stadium in Dallas from the highway and think they understand it. Up close, the scale stops making sense. Then you start noticing the details. S1E2.

See What's Behind It >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Pasadena

Pasadena doesn't announce itself. It just quietly sends rovers to Mars, shapes how we think about science, and maintains some of the most beautiful civic architecture in California. It's been doing this for over a century. S1E3.

See What's Underneath >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Orlando

Everyone knows what's above the ground in Orlando. Almost no one thinks about what's underneath it. They should. S1E4.

See What's Below >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind the Place: Athens (GA)

Athens gave the world R.E.M., the B-52s, and a cannon that failed so spectacularly the town kept it as a monument. It also has a tree that legally owns itself. This is that kind of town. S1E5.

Meet The Town >

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind the Place: Chattahoochee National Forest

The Appalachians were once as tall as the Himalayas. Three hundred million years of erosion left what you see today. And what's left makes some of the best waterfalls on earth.

See What Time Built >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind The Place: Dayton

A bicycle shop. A Dayton river that flooded once too often. A cash register that changed how the world does business. Three stories from one city. One surprising thread connecting all of them. S1E6.

Find The Thread >

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind The Place: Findlay Market

Cincinnati built nine public markets. Only one is still open.

See What's Left >

La Famille Express — Port Side, Caicos Banks

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind The Place: La Famille Express

Off Long Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos, a rusted hull sits in water so shallow and clear you can see straight to the bottom. It has two names. One in Latin letters. One in Cyrillic. The story of how it got there is longer — and stranger — than it looks.

Find Out How It Got There >

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind The Place: The Caicos Banks

The water off Turks and Caicos shouldn't look like this. It's too vivid. Too still. Too impossibly blue-green to be real. There's a reason it looks the way it does — and it has nothing to do with the weather.

See Why It Looks Like This >

· FEATURE ·

The Story Behind The Place: Yosemite

Everyone has seen the photos. But there's a reason this valley looks the way it does — and once you understand it, everything you're seeing changes. S1E7.

Explore The Valley >

Big Chicken — The Big Chicken Sign, Marietta

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind The Place: The Big Chicken

It's a 56-foot chicken on a busy intersection in Marietta, Georgia. It was built to sell food. That's not what it became. Pilots use it. Locals navigate by it. And when KFC tried to tear it down, the entire region said no.

Here's How That Happened >

Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer

· SHORT ·

The Story Behind The Place: Normandy American Cemetery

On a green bluff above the beaches of Normandy, more than 9,000 Americans are buried in neat rows facing the water. The cemetery wasn't built to celebrate what happened here. It was built to remember what it cost.

Read The Story >

Every place has a story most people walk right past.

New episodes go out monthly — original photography paired with the history, engineering, and unexpected details that make a place worth understanding.

No noise. No filler. Just the next place — and what's hiding in it.

Join the story.

Every place has a visible story. This series looks for the one underneath.