What Happened to Chicago’s Water Cribs?
It’s History17 Huhti 2025

What Happened to Chicago’s Water Cribs?

Miles off the Chicago shoreline, strange round structures rise from Lake Michigan. Most people think they’re lighthouses—but they’re not. These are Chicago’s water cribs: massive, abandoned intake towers once connected to the city by miles of underwater tunnels. They brought clean drinking water to millions… at a deadly cost.In this episode, we uncover the forgotten story of Chicago’s offshore water cribs. You’ll discover how they were built, the brutal dangers faced by workers known as “sandhogs,” and the fires, storms, and disasters that struck these isolated bunkers. Today, they’re rarely talked about—yet they remain hidden in plain sight on the lake’s horizon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why Toronto’s Airport Was Built Around a Cemetery

Why Toronto’s Airport Was Built Around a Cemetery

For decades, Toronto’s Pearson International Airport housed a 19th-century Catholic cemetery, the resting place of early settlers from the now-vanished village of Elmbank. This cemetery, fenced off an...

10 Huhti 19min

Why This California City Built 500 Miles of Roads to Nowhere

Why This California City Built 500 Miles of Roads to Nowhere

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Why This Illinois City Built a Gate to Seal Itself Off

Why This Illinois City Built a Gate to Seal Itself Off

At the southern tip of Illinois, where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers converge, lies the city of Cairo, which once depended on the Big Subway Gate for flood defense. This massive iron barrier was des...

8 Huhti 14min

Why San Francisco’s Treasure Island is Radioactive

Why San Francisco’s Treasure Island is Radioactive

In the middle of San Francisco Bay sits an island that did not even exist a century ago. Built from dredged sand and rock in the 1930s, Treasure Island was created as the dazzling home of the 1939 Gol...

7 Huhti 11min

Why Niagara Falls Was Turned Off

Why Niagara Falls Was Turned Off

In 1969, engineers performed the unprecedented act of turning off Niagara Falls, leaving the American Falls as a dry cliff face for several months. This episode explores the surprising findings uncove...

5 Huhti 16min

New York's Most Disturbing Island | The History of Rikers Jail

New York's Most Disturbing Island | The History of Rikers Jail

Delve into the history of Rikers Island, the notorious jail complex in New York City. This video explores the origins of Rikers Island as a jail, its growth from a small facility to an overcrowded com...

4 Huhti 19min

Why There’s an Abandoned Mansion Beneath the Bay Bridge

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Every day, thousands of drivers cross the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge without realizing they are passing over the abandoned Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island. This residence was once home to Adm...

3 Huhti 18min

Why Pacifica California is Falling into the Sea

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Perched along the cliffs just south of San Francisco, Pacifica, California, was built on a dream of ocean views and quiet living. However, this dream conceals a dangerous reality. Developers initially...

2 Huhti 13min

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