In 1932, authorities in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, uncovered an ingenious clandestine pipeline used to transport illegal alcohol during Prohibition. This operation involved a three-inch rubber hose stretching 3,000 feet through the city's sewer system, connecting the Rieker Star Brewery to a remote warehouse. The scheme was orchestrated by Max Hassel, a notorious beer baron who employed specialized workers to navigate the narrow, dangerous underground passages. The discovery occurred after a city inspector spotted the line, leading to a major investigation into organized crime and the eventual closure of the brewery. Today, the story remains a legendary example of bootlegging creativity, with fragments of the original hose surviving as historical curiosities.

To learn more, visit UnchartedLancaster.com.

Learn about other unique people and places like this when you step off the beaten path with Uncharted Lancaster: Field Guide to the Strange, Storied, and Hidden Places of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Adam Zurn. This one-of-a-kind 239-page guidebook uncovers 56 fascinating sites, from the county’s very own fountain of youth to the oldest continuously operating short-line railroad in the western hemisphere. Order your copy here.

This episode explores three strange and memorable railway incidents that unfolded along the rugged banks of the Susquehanna River during the late 20th century—moments when heavy industry collided with unpredictable terrain and left lasting marks on both the landscape and local lore.

The first story centers on a dramatic 1981 derailment near Safe Harbor, where a massive boulder tumbled onto the tracks and sent a Conrail freight train off the rails. Much of the wreckage still lies scattered along the river, visible today to hikers who stumble upon the twisted remains. Another tale shifts downstream to Pequea, where a 1985 derailment spilled cases of sparkling wine into the water—an accident that quickly transformed into one of the Susquehanna’s most lighthearted pieces of folklore.

The episode concludes with a lingering mystery from the mid-1970s: the unexplained loss of a grain hopper car that was ejected from a moving train and vanished into the river, where it remains submerged to this day. Together, these stories reveal how the Susquehanna’s wild geography has shaped not only rail operations, but also the strange, sometimes celebratory legends that linger long after the trains have passed.

To learn more, visit UnchartedLancaster.com.

Learn about other unique people and places like this when you step off the beaten path with Uncharted Lancaster: Field Guide to the Strange, Storied, and Hidden Places of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Adam Zurn. This one-of-a-kind 239-page guidebook uncovers 56 fascinating sites, from the county’s very own fountain of youth to the oldest continuously operating short-line railroad in the western hemisphere. Order your copy here.

Did ancient sailors cross the Atlantic long before Columbus? This episode explores one of the most controversial questions in American archaeology—the claim that Phoenicians reached North America in antiquity. At the center of the debate are the Susquehanna Stones, hundreds of carved ironstones discovered in Pennsylvania that some researchers argue bear archaic Semitic inscriptions pointing to a pre-Columbian presence in the Mid-Atlantic.

The episode examines why these claims persist—and why most archaeologists remain unconvinced. We look at competing interpretations that attribute the markings to natural geological processes or modern fabrication, as well as related evidence often cited by proponents, including megalithic stone structures in New Hampshire and ancient Mediterranean coins reportedly found on Corvo Island. Rather than offering easy answers, this episode traces the decades-long tension between fringe theories and established scholarship—revealing how extraordinary claims, ambiguous evidence, and the desire to rewrite the past continue to collide in the study of American prehistory.

Learn about other unique people and places like this when you step off the beaten path with Uncharted Lancaster: Field Guide to the Strange, Storied, and Hidden Places of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Adam Zurn. This one-of-a-kind 239-page guidebook uncovers 56 fascinating sites, from the county’s very own fountain of youth to the oldest continuously operating short-line railroad in the western hemisphere. Order your copy here.