Explore the stories behind the places

Every place has a story.

The Charles W. Morgan whaling ship at the dock. Photographed at Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut.

Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut.

Browse the complete collection of Story Behind The Place stories — from the people and decisions that shaped a place to the history, science, and engineering that explain how it became what it is.

Each story starts with a place. What happened there is the story.

John Menzies 6/18/26 John Menzies 6/18/26

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.