The Whistlestop guide
Places
Springs, murals, marker posts and roadside oddities: the small things worth knowing about that the encyclopedias skip, gathered where you would actually drive past them.
1046 places·4 categories·27 states
This is a selection of unique places and stories. The Whistlestop audio tour guide draws on vast public sources as well as these, so if you don't see a place here, it may still be narrated on the app.
Categories
- Historical Markers144 places·1 stateThe cast-metal posts on the shoulder, and what they are trying to tell you.
- Local Stories594 places·16 statesThe history behind a town, a road or a field you would otherwise drive straight past.
- Natural Features188 places·5 statesRivers, springs, fault lines, and the animals that live along them.
- Roadside Attractions120 places·17 statesGiant fiberglass things, odd museums, and the landmarks people pull over for.
Featured
A few worth the detour, chosen for the story rather than the view.
Local Stories
The Border Blaster
A goat-gland doctor loses his licence, crosses the Rio Grande, and builds the loudest radio station on the continent.
Val Verde County·Texas
Roadside Attractions
The Giant Popcorn Ball
Sac City's fourth record-breaking popcorn ball. The first one was blown up with dynamite at the county fair.
Sac County·Iowa
Local Stories
Dockery Farms
Less a farm than a small country, with its own money, and an unusual number of the first Delta bluesmen.
Sunflower County·Mississippi
Natural Features
Sierra Madera Astrobleme
The hills south of Fort Stockton are the rebound peak of an ancient asteroid strike.
Pecos County·Texas
Local Stories
The Seizure Of Sue
The most complete T. rex ever found, a five thousand dollar cheque, and an FBI raid.
South Dakota
Local Stories
No Name Pub
A bar on a road that once led to a car ferry and now leads nowhere in particular.
Monroe County·Florida
Local Stories
Nashville Number System
Why Nashville session players write their charts in numbers instead of letters.
Davidson County·Tennessee
Historical Markers
In Vicinity of Coronado's Camp
A roadside post in Taylor County claiming one of the strangest walks in American history came through here.
Taylor County·Texas
Local Stories
The Houseboat Wars
Twenty years of artists, derelict ferries, and a county that wanted them gone.
Marin County·California
Roadside Attractions
Big Ole the Viking
Twenty-eight feet of fiberglass, built for a World's Fair, standing guard over a runestone most scholars doubt.
Douglas County·Minnesota
Local Stories
The Riverbank Ciphers
A dry goods heir's estate on the Fox River that worked on genetics, acoustics and codebreaking all at once.
Kane County·Illinois
Natural Features
Crawfish Chimneys
Little mud towers on the prairie shoulder, built from below by something you will never see.
Waller County·Texas
By state
Alabama
Arizona
California
District Of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Local Stories199Historical Markers144Natural Features105Roadside Attractions87
Utah
Wisconsin
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop is an audio tour guide app that tells you these stories automatically as you pass them. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
