All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.Hidden.America.S04E04.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Strange structures
that harnessed Nazi technology,

concealed in the heart
of America.

[man] If it wasn't for the work
that was carried out in

these buildings, we could all be
speaking Russian right now.

[narrator]
An amusement park where joy
unexpectedly turned to despair.

[man #2]
Everything was devastated.

At that point in time,
we had nothing.

[narrator] And the island ruins
of an unbelievable industry.

It's hard to imagine
that people could

build something like this.

[narrator] In upstate New York,
one forgotten facility helped

launch the United States
into a whole new world.

[birds singing]

[man] There was a certain danger
involved in this work.

It was an exciting phenomena,

to smell them and to hear them
and to get a sense

of the power.

The most intelligent people in
America, they were attracted to

this new science.

[Dr. Kwami]
We're just outside Malta.

It's a small town located
right at the foothills of

the Adirondack Mountains.

[narrator] Deep in the forest,
a forgotten site is hidden

in the foliage.

[Dr. Auerbach] This is the last
thing you would expect to see,

huge concrete
and steel structures that are

totally derelict.

[Bell] Looming over it all is
this huge, rusting tower.

Is it a guard tower?
Is it a control tower?

Who knows?
But it's certainly sinister.

Many of the buildings have
thick blast-proof windows.

What is this place?

[Dr. Auerbach]
Some are still fully equipped.

This was clearly
state-of-the-art stuff for

the time, and yet it was
just all left behind.

[narrator] This place represents
a time when the nation's dreams

stretched out of this world.

[Bell] These structures
transformed a Nazi wonder weapon

into one of America's greatest
success stories.

[narrator]
Retired history teacher
Paul Perreault has a passion for

the Empire State's past.

But for over 50 years,
the role these buildings played

eluded him.

[Perreault]
When I first discovered
the place, I felt shocked that

such an important facility
existed but was

so little known.

[narrator] Despite being built
for a clandestine purpose,

Paul has made it his life's
mission to shine a light on

these structures.

And I felt, well, it's my job
to make the community aware of

just how important this place
is to American history.

[narrator]
The story of this site began

in 1945,
as America and its allies

pushed into Nazi Germany
to defeat Hitler.

Germany lost the war,
but its technological

advancements
were extraordinary.

The American government was
really keen to get their hands

on some of that technology.

[Bell] The Soviets
wanted this tech, too.

So to capture it first,
Washington hatched a plan to

recruit Nazi engineers
and scientists as their army

progressed through Germany.

[narrator]
The secret mission that
shaped this facility was dubbed

Operation Paperclip.

Operation Paperclip
was hugely successful,

and approximately 1,600
German scientists and engineers

were recruited.

[narrator] Among all the names,
one stood out.

[Perreault] Wernher von Braun
was the head of

the German rocket program,

and he was the chief target.

He is called the father
of rocketry.

[narrator]
The US government believed one
of von Braun's inventions could

steer any future conflict in
America's favor,

the V2 rocket.

Designed and tested at the Nazi
Peenemunde Research Center on

Germany's Baltic coast, it was
a weapon the kind of which

the world had never
seen before.

With a 220-mile range
and gyroscopic guidance for

accuracy, the V2 rocket
had rained terror

on America's allies in Europe.

The V2 rocket was
the first ballistic missile.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator]
Yet its destructive power
wasn't the only capability of

the V2 that excited
the American government.

On June 20th, 1944,
during a V2 test,

a rocket reached
a height of 109 miles.

This officially crossed
the boundary of space,

which lies at 62 miles
above sea level.

This was the first time in
history that man had sent

an object into space.

[Bell] Some people in Washington
had sensed that the Cold War was

coming, and with it,
the space race.

They saw the V2 rocket as
the basis of a design that

could propel America
into this new frontier.

[narrator] Established in 1945,
this 165-acre top-secret site

in New York was built to
reverse engineer

and improve the V2.

This is the Malta Test Station.

[Perreault]
The first rocket test
of a captured V2 rocket took

place here on
Christmas Day in 1945.

[narrator] At this site, around
500 scientists and engineers

sparked the American
Space Program.

It was very high tech
for its age.

Some of the first computers
that the federal government

purchased were used here.

[narrator]
But the rockets initially
tested here weren't the only

things taken
from Nazi Germany.

[Perreault]
The buildings actually that
we see surrounding us here are

pretty much duplicates of what
the Germans built in the 1930s

in Peenemunde,
which was the German facility.

[narrator] However,
unlike at Peenemunde,

no rocket ever left
the ground here.

The Malta site
is a ground testing site.

This part of New York has too
many people

and too many buildings
for the government to risk

launching rockets
into the air.

The rocket engines were
harnessed to this gantry

and fired up to a quarter of
a million pounds of propulsion.

[announcer]
...two...one...fire!

[explosion blasts]

[Perreault] The test lasted
as long as 20 minutes.

You can imagine the noise that
that would create.

Local people still talk about
the fact that the sugar bowl

would fall off the kitchen
table with the vibrations from

the rocket tests here.

[narrator] After passing
these engine trials in New York,

the rockets went on
to be air tested in

New Mexico and Florida.

But at the same time,
on the other side of the world,

America's enemies were
about to strike a telling blow.

It just never occurred to me
that the Russians

would beat us into space.

[announcer] One of the great
scientific feats of the age.

[narrator]
At the Malta test station
in upstate New York,

October 4, 1957,
began like any other day...

-[indistinct radio chatter]
...with rocket engines being

tested for the American
space program.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[engine blasting]

There was some danger involved,
but the observation building

was extremely safe.

It's built out of
concrete and steel.

[narrator] But no amount of
concrete and steel could save

the scientists here from
the blow that the Soviet Union

dealt at 3:28 PM
Eastern time.

They launched the world's
first artificial satellite,

Sputnik 1.

The launching of Sputnik 1 was
a real hammer blow to

the American psyche
and their sense of superiority.

[Bell] It may have been bad for
the American public, but it was

catastrophic
for the Malta test station.

It proved that the Soviets
were ahead of them in

the space race.

[narrator] To rally
the scientists and the nation,

President Kennedy
made a pledge,

one that pushed the rocket
technology developed here

to its limit.

We choose to go to the moon in
this decade and do

the other things.

Not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.

[narrator] To reach the moon,
the American space program

went into overdrive,

although not using
the buildings here,

their glory days were over,
because their mission had

been accomplished.

[Dr. Auerbach] In the end,
the Malta site fulfilled
its purpose.

They managed to reverse
engineer the V2 rocket.

[narrator]
The Saturn V rocket that
powered the Apollo program was

a direct descendant of the V2s
tested here, so these buildings

were pivotal in fueling one of
America's proudest days.

[Neil Armstrong, archive]
That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

[narrator] On July 20, 1969,
America won the space race.

Without the research that
occurred here, the Soviet Union

would have been steps ahead
of us in the Cold War.

I think it would be
a very different world

if that had occurred.

[narrator]
Today, over 50 years since
the end of the Apollo program,

many companies are working on
projects to return humanity to

space, a journey which might
have been unthinkable

without these structures.

[Perreault]
This place represents
the start of a new adventure.

I say that America's
first steps to the moon

were taken from Malta.

[narrator] In New Orleans lies
the ruins of an attraction that

entertained millions before
suddenly transforming into

a nightmarish scene.

[Dr. Auerbach]
This place must have been
absolutely magnificent

at some point.

The roller coaster,
the rusting Ferris wheel --

this was amusement
on a grand scale.

[Bell] You can still see
bumper cars, ice cream stands,

but everything's in
a decrepit state.

[narrator] Broken parts of rides
lie strewn across the site,

a haunting reminder
of its heyday.

Well, I'd like to know how
the car got to the front of

the park, because that certainly
was not here 19 years ago.

[Dr. Auerbach]
Just the stuff that's been left
behind here leads me to believe

that the closure was not
a planned, orderly affair.

[narrator] The park's future was
extinguished by one of the most

dramatic
circumstances imaginable.

No one could have predicted how
this park was going to end up.

[Henry]
I saw it on the news.

We knew that our homes,
this park, it was gone.

[narrator] While many of the
rides and attractions remain,

the park today is not
a welcoming place.

[Galpin] Basically, the swamp
has reclaimed itself.

With that comes all the native
wildlife in Louisiana.

[narrator]
Jeff Galpin has been managing
the wildlife here for the last

12 years and knows more than
anyone the dangers

that exist here.

Over the years, we've taken over
21 alligators out the park.

There still are a bunch in
the park, but until they become

a nuisance,
we don't remove them.

[narrator] But Jeff remembers
a very different time, as well.

So the craziest part about this
area is I remember being here

when it was open, and I had my
kids here, and I actually found

some photos of my kids right in
this area, put two pictures

side to side, and it's kind of
crazy on seeing the difference.

[narrator]
Built in the late 1990s,

this was a theme park
the size of which the city

had never seen.

Troy Henry is
a property developer

and the current owner
of the site.

But back in the day,
he was just one of many excited

locals eagerly
anticipating its opening.

Everyone was super excited
because one, it was in

our backyard, and two,
we didn't have

anything of that sort.

[narrator]
The park officially opened
in the year 2000 under

the name Jazzland.

[funky surf music playing]

[narrator]
In addition to the roller
coaster, the 140-acre site had

a log flume, a massive
water ride,

and a Mardi Gras-themed area.

Ryan Bordenave fondly remembers
his time working here.

This is where you first became
acquainted into Jazzland,

New Orleans.

You were always welcomed
with some really nice music.

You can actually see
the speakers, actually,

they're still standing
after all this time.

[Henry] So when you came in,
it was sort of, you can leave

your worries behind --
it was just a fun place.

[Bell]
You'd have heard the excited
screams coming from people on

the rides, the sound of
laughter from those perhaps

watching one of the shows.

I mean, this place was just
full of joyful sounds.

[Bordenave] This large
structure here is actually
part of our theater.

We did small theatrical
style shows.

I remember the first one went
like it was yesterday.

It was called
"Jazz Jazz Jazz."

[narrator] But unknown to most
of the visitors,

behind the scenes,
Jazzland was in trouble.

[Morgan]
I first visited Jazzland
within the first few days of

operation, and it struck me as
a little bit questionable.

It was a little shabby.

It seemed like they were trying
to work bugs out of it.

Just two years after opening,

Jazzland was on
the verge of bankruptcy.

[narrator] This vast amusement
park in East New Orleans

opened in 2000

under the name Jazzland.

But it wasn't long before
this new park was in trouble.

[Dr. Mitchell]
Shortly after they opened,

visitor numbers dropped
off the cliff.

[Morgan]
On the first visit, I got stuck
on one of the roller coasters

and was stuck there
for almost two hours.

It certainly wasn't a great way
to introduce the park to me.

[narrator] In March 2002,
the struggling park was offered

a lifeline by one of
America's most famous

entertainment corporations.

[Dr. Mitchell]
They added bigger,
more high-adrenaline rides,

like an inverted roller coaster
that was over 100 feet tall

and that went up
to 50 miles per hour.

[narrator] The new owners spent
tens of millions on upgrades

to the park.

But just three years after
taking it over,

a disaster turned everything
on its head.

August 26th, we saw this storm
approaching the region.

This park closed like
everything else.

[Morgan] New Orleans was no
newcomer to hurricanes.

There was always this
assumption that everything's

gonna get back to normal
very quickly.

[narrator] But this was
no ordinary hurricane.

It was one of the most powerful
Atlantic storms on record,

with winds in excess of
170 miles per hour.

This was Hurricane Katrina.

Within 24 hours of Katrina
making landfall, things got

immeasurably worse,
when 28 of the levees

holding back
the floodwaters broke.

[Henry] My home,
my neighborhood,

my business,
everything was

devastated by
Hurricane Katrina.

[Dr. Mitchell]
By the end of Katrina,
parts of New Orleans were under

15 feet of water.

The devastation
for the city was

catastrophic, and the park
was not spared.

[Henry] This park had six to
eight feet of water,

of the ugliest, nastiest,
murkiest water

you could ever imagine.

[Dr. Mitchell] You can still
see the high water marks

on the gate to the park.

It's crazy to think
that the park was

this much underwater.

[narrator] Employees like Ryan
didn't have a chance to take any

possessions or say goodbye
to the place

they had worked for years.

Wow,
this was my office.

I actually see items in here
that I brought, pictures of

family members, and I remember
it like it was yesterday.

A lot of great memories,
a lot of good times.

[narrator] With the city's
resources stretched,

the floodwater stayed in
the park for over a month.

Eventually, the water drained,
and the extent of the damage

became clear --
it was not a pretty sight.

[Bell] They now had
a decision to make --

rebuild, or take the insurance
money and walk away.

[narrator] In December 2006,
they dismantled

and took away
one of the rides.

It was clear the park was being
salvaged for parts and was

beyond repair.

[narrator] In recent years,
the abandoned park has been

used for big budget movie sets.

This new activity is keeping
animal wrangler

Jeff Galpin busy.

[Galpin] You know,
in Jurassic World,

one of the crew members
saw a wild boar.

So I went off into the woods,
and I found mama boar with

a bunch of babies --
she charged me.

We finally got mama under
control, but it was --

it was a pretty dangerous
situation for a moment.

[narrator] Although its days
as a post-apocalyptic filming

location might soon be over,
Troy Henry is planning to

redevelop the park to ensure
the cameras keep rolling.

The first thing that's going to
come out the ground will be

a movie and production studio.

[narrator] And there are further
plans for the site to return to

its amusement park
beginnings, too.

The other thing we'll have is
we'll have two hotels,

an indoor water park.

We'll also have a family
entertainment center.

[narrator] For this community
that has been through so much,

the good times are coming back

and this time are hopefully
here to stay.

In Idaho's Treasure Valley,
an imposing fortified structure

marks a watershed moment in
the taming of the Wild West.

[Parry]
This place is full of stories,

hope, desperation,

tragedy, and redemption.

Back in the day, this would
have been one of the worst

places to be in Idaho.

[Meigs] We're in Boise,
the state capital.

Today it's a big, modern city,
but wasn't that long ago that

this was a rough frontier town.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz] Idaho, in many
ways, embodies the folklore of

the old American West.

Lots of vast, wide open spaces,
not very populated.

[narrator] On the edge of town,
an impenetrable stone compound

sits in the shadow of
the surrounding foothills.

[Dr. Davis-Hayes]
This looks like some sort
of medieval fortress.

You've got turrets guarding
the entire site.

[Meigs] Inside, there are
multiple buildings.

Some things are in
pretty good shape.

Other buildings are falling
down or missing roofs.

[Dr. Davis-Hayes] It looks like
a very destructive force

just ripped
through them.

[narrator] In Idaho's capital,
an austere complex stands as

a reminder of the city's rough
and raucous beginnings.

Lifelong Boise resident
Anthony Parry

knows the secrets held
within these stone walls.

There were plenty of outlaw
gangs and desperados that came

through and left their names
and their stories,

a lot of
them here.

[narrator]
But this area's history
goes back to a time before

law and order prevailed.

As well as being indigenous
land, fur trappers and settlers

following the Oregon Trail
passed through Boise.

The flood of settlers
intensified even more in 1862

when gold was discovered.

[Parry] As some people
were striking it rich,

others were not quite as

lucky, and some of them
turned to crime.

In the late 1860s,
they chose this area here in

Boise to construct
the new territorial prison.

[narrator] This is
the Old Idaho Penitentiary.

Everything here
was designed for doling out

discipline and discomfort.

[Parry]
This building could actually
house 160 men at full capacity.

There's no plumbing.

In each of these cells,
there's a little trap door

where they could
actually store

their honey bucket,
their toilets.

[narrator] And for those
who stepped out of line,

punishment was cruel.

[Meigs] The prison had solitary
confinement cells.

They called it Siberia,
which probably gives you

an idea of how appealing
these accommodations were.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz]
Most of the men sentenced
to solitary confinement spent

four to six months here,
but one actually spent a year

and a half in one of
those tiny cells.

[narrator]
Those who wound up behind bars
here would share prison time

with some of the worst
criminals in the West.

One of the most famous inmates
in this prison was a guy named

Harry Orchard.

[Dr. Davis-Hayes] He was
a bigamist, he was a gambler,

and he had
lots of debts.

[narrator]
He realized there was money in
being a hitman, and his weapon

of choice wasn't
a gun or a knife.

It was dynamite.

[explosion booms]

On December 30th,
1905, he assassinated

Idaho Governor
Frank Steunenberg.

[Meigs] Harry Orchard
was arrested for the crime.

His trial was one of the first
trials of the century that was

closely covered by newspapers
across the country.

[narrator] In his confession,
Orchard claimed to have been

contracted by members of
the Western Federation of

Miners to assassinate Governor
Steunenberg because of his harsh

anti-union stance.

[Prof. Zarsadiaz] Orchard was
originally sentenced to death,

but his sentence
was commuted to life in prison.

[narrator] And life at the Idaho
Penitentiary would have

a profound effect on
this cold-blooded murderer.

[Dr. Davis-Hayes]
He was visited by Governor
Frank Steunenberg's widow.

She forgave him for
killing her husband.

[Meigs] She convinced him to
adopt a particularly devout form

of Christianity -- he became
a Seventh-Day Adventist.

For a guy who claimed to have
been involved in more than

a dozen murders, Orchard was
a real pussycat in prison.

He even learned how to be
a skilled shoemaker.

[narrator]
While his requests for
parole were repeatedly denied,

Orchard was still granted
a freedom very few

prisoners enjoyed.

He eventually got to live
outside the walls, away from

the other prisoners, in his own
cabin, just because he was

a kindly old man in
his older age.

[narrator]
While Orchard was undergoing
his transformation from

hardened criminal to trusted
inmate, others sentenced here

were willing to put
their lives on the line.

[Parry] Over the 101 years
that the prison was active,

there were
500 attempted escapes,

90 of which
were successful.

[narrator]
One of those attempts occurred
at the newly constructed

women's ward, which in 1921,
welcomed one of

the penitentiary's most
notorious inmates,

Lyda Southard.

[Parry] Famously,
she married 'em and buried 'em.

She would marry prominent men.

She would take out life
insurance policies on them

and slowly poison them using
arsenic extracted

from flypaper.

She murdered four
husbands, brother-in-law,

and her daughter.

[narrator] Lyda Southard was
sentenced to 10 years to life

and sent to
Idaho Penitentiary.

But unlike Harry Orchard,
who chose a path of redemption,

Lyda wanted to be free,
whatever the cost.

She ultimately escaped out of
her cell by sawing through

the outer bars
and climbing out of her cell.

And she had staged a set of
planter boxes that were

actually a ladder.

[Meigs] It took a year for
the authorities to catch up

with her.

Now she was living in Denver,
just gotten remarried,

and she had just convinced him

to take out
a life insurance policy.

[Meigs] In the end, she was
actually released on parole.

She moved to Utah.

She remarried a man
who disappeared,

and there's no trace of him.

And she died of a heart attack
in the 1950s.

[narrator] While some escaped
and others reformed, the lives

of the criminals that passed
through the old

Idaho Penitentiary were
forever changed.

But the prison's most notorious
days were just

around the corner.

[narrator]
From the state's territorial
days to the mid-20th century,

over 10,000 men and women
were imprisoned

at the old Idaho Penitentiary.

But as it approached
its centenary, the inmates were

about to reach
their breaking point.

[Parry]
In the middle of the century,
there are several riots,

and it's around that time that
conditions here

were being questioned.

So they started construction in
late 1960s on the new prison.

[Dr. Davis-Hayes]
Many men knew that they
were to be transferred there,

and this created a good amount
of uncertainty.

[narrator] This tension would
ultimately bring down

the Old Idaho Penitentiary in
catastrophic fashion.

[Parry] We had our final major
riot in March of 1973.

The dining hall
was caught on fire.

The chapel
eventually caught on fire.

The commissary was looted,
and it took officers along

the wall and officers in
the yard with riot sticks to

finally quell that riot
after several hours.

[narrator] The dining hall
and chapel were never rebuilt.

And by December of 1973,
all the inmates were relocated

to the new facility.

With that,
the Old Idaho Penitentiary

closed its doors
for good.

Today, the Idaho State
Historical Society is

preserving the penitentiary,

and its doors are open
once again.

[Parry]
This is an active museum.

We invite the public to come
here all year round to

celebrate the history of Idaho
and see the evolution of

the criminal justice system.

[narrator] In the Great Lakes
is the home of an unlikely
industry that

refused to be squashed by
a radical change in the law.

[Korenko]
Looking at the building,
you can't help but wonder.

Wonder about the lore.

You wonder about
the mystery of the place.

[Szulgit]
This is Kelleys Island, Ohio.

It's a small landmass in
Lake Erie, about four miles

north of the mainland.

[narrator] Hidden in the woods
are the remains of

an abandoned structure.

[Dr. Thomas] It's just
the shell of a building.

Looks like something
catastrophic happened here.

[Korenko] If you didn't know
what it was, you might think

it was a castle.

[Szulgit]
When you look on the ground,

there are pieces of metal
strewn everywhere.

Are these a clue to
the building's past?

[Meares] Beneath the ruins
is this subterranean lair.

It almost feels
like the catacombs.

It's really creepy.

[dripping]

[narrator]
This building was at the heart
of a movement that made it all

the way to the White House.

But the potency of its product
would play a part

in its downfall.

[Dr. Thomas]
The flames raced across
the structure, smoke billowing

out, ash coming out everywhere.

It's said that as the building
smoldered, the entire ground

was strewn with nothing
but men, blind drunk.

[narrator] On Kelleys island
in the Great Lakes,

Leslie Korenko is exploring

a set of ruins that
have been close to her heart

for nearly 50 years.

When I first saw the building,
my first thought was, wow!

[narrator]
This structure was home to
a forgotten industry that Ohio

was at the forefront of
nearly two centuries ago.

They produced various
kinds of wines up here,

red, white, sparkling.

[narrator] This is the
Kelleys Island Wine Company.

And the grapevines,
which were key to its success,

only came here thanks
to one man.

Around 1810,
a keen horticulturalist named

Charles Carpenter
moved to the island.

[narrator] No one suspected
that Charles's passion for
plants would change

the course of history for
Kelleys Island.

[Szulgit]
In the mid-19th century,
the Catawba grapevine was

the new it plant for gardeners
across America, and in 1841,

Charles planted it here
in his garden.

It was the first grapevine
planted on the island.

[Korenko] Carpenter recognized
that they grew really well.

Kelleys Island is in
a unique situation.

Because of the lake effect,
we have later falls,

and we have earlier springs.

And that allows the grapes to
mature in a much better way.

It was a cash crop.

[narrator]
Charles had excess grapes,

which he sold to be eaten by
other islanders.

And when the crop
outgrew this demand,

he turned to
a new product -- wine.

The wine that Charles made
must have been excellent.

It won an award
at the 1853 Ohio State Fair.

[Dr. Thomas]
Seeing the success that Charles
had with his wine, other people

on the island started to
do the same,

and it wasn't long before
little wineries could be seen

all over the island.

This place was really bit
by the wine bug.

[narrator] By 1870, a quarter of
the island was covered

in vineyards,

but turning their grapes into
wine wasn't easy

for these small,
independent producers.

A large part of wine production
comes down to storing

the liquid in barrels and under
the right conditions so that

the wine can gather its flavor.

This can be for months,
even years.

This was really hard for
a lot of small wineries.

So they actually banded
together and built

this building here where
they could store the wine.

[narrator] In 1872, when
this building was constructed,

its cellars could store over
150,000 gallons of wine.

It takes your breath away.
It really does.

[narrator]
Just four years later,
the wine made here was being

sold throughout America,
Canada, and even Europe.

The wine from the island
won national awards.

It was considered to be
so good that it was enjoyed

and discussed at a New Year's
Eve dinner at the White House.

[narrator] With this success,
no one could have predicted

the tragedy that happened next.

[narrator] On Lake Erie,
the Kelleys Island Wine Company

had utilized the area's natural
grape-growing ability,

making Ohio one of
the wine capitals of America.

But island life would play
a leading role in exacerbating

a disaster that was just
around the corner.

It's hard to imagine that
a stone building like this

could burn, but it did.

In 1876, it caught fire.

The fire would have
been seen for miles.

They would have been able to
see it onto the mainland.

[Szulgit]
The cause of the fire is lost
to history, but what we do know

is that islanders came from all
over the island to fight it.

They weren't firefighters,
so they weren't very good at

stopping the fire.

[Korenko]
We really had no firefighting
apparatus at this point.

It was a bucket brigade
from the lake.

[narrator] The fire spread into
the cellars below, and as

the wooden wine barrels
became engulfed in flames,

they burst open,
creating a sea of wine.

Apparently, some of
the volunteers took advantage

of the situation, and by
the time the fire was well

underway, there were
drunken bodies laying all

over the ground.

[narrator]
The fire decimated the building,

but its story didn't end here.

The fire did not destroy
the company, it was too

profitable, and within a year,
they had rebuilt into

the castle that we see today.

[narrator]
It was built bigger than before,

more than doubling its capacity

to 350,000 gallons.

Yet this extra storage couldn't
prevent the harsh Ohio winters

threatening to bring business
to a halt each year.

Lake Erie is not the smallest
of the Great Lakes, but it is

the shallowest, and that means
that it freezes, making getting

on and off the island
very difficult.

[Dr. Thomas]
So the Kelleys Island Wine
Company came up with a creative

and ingenious method to get
the wine from the island

to the mainland.

[Szulgit]
The wine was put into these
barrels that were sometimes as

large as 1,200 gallons, and they
would put them on sleds pulled

by horses to be drawn
4.5 miles to the mainland.

[narrator]
Despite overcoming the bitter
Midwest winters, this winery

was about to be thrown into
chaos as a radical wave of

change swept across America.

On the 27th of May,
1919, the state of Ohio enacted

Prohibition, making it illegal
to buy or consume alcohol in

the state of Ohio.

[narrator] Nearly seven months
later, on January 17th,

1920, the entire country
followed suit, and the era of

national Prohibition began.

Yet, in a cunning twist,
it didn't mark the end

of this building.

They sold grapes,
which they continued to grow

on the island.

They sold sacramental wine to
the churches, and they sold kits

to make wine vinegar.

[Dr. Thomas] Now the production
of wine vinegar isn't all that

different from regular wine.

So to ensure that
their customers stayed on

the right side of the law,
the Kelleys Island Wine Company

made sure to create a label
that said, do not add any sugar,

and definitely don't put this
in a cool, dry place for

up to two weeks.

[narrator] Despite finding a way
to survive Prohibition,

this building didn't last to
see alcohol legalized again.

[Korenko] The saga of
this building pretty much
ends in 1933,

when a massive fire destroyed
the entire interior.

According to the newspaper
reports, it was a brush fire.

Who knows?
Could have been arson.

Nobody was ever really sure.

[Szulgit] This fire came at
exactly the wrong time.

With Prohibition, profits were
dramatically reduced,

and the company simply didn't
have the money to rebuild

this place,
and it was abandoned.

[narrator]
Today, nearly a century later,
the wine industry is making

a comeback on the island.

[Korenko] We now have three
active wineries, one of which

it is an incarnation of the
Kelleys Island Wine Company.

[narrator] And there's hope that
this place, where the industry

began, might
come back to life.

[Korenko]
The current owners are not sure
what they want to do with it,

but we are hoping that
they preserve the integrity of

the ruins that are here,
since they're such a big part

of the island's history.