Skyscraper is such an elegant word. Two decades after it was first used in print to describe Chicago's tall-building craze, Ann Arbor had its first skyscraper—the seven-story Glazier Building. Twenty years later, the 10-story First National Building went up. This is the story of some of Ann Arbor's first skyscrapers, it's tallest building and the 30-story behemoth that never was.

Music by Chris Bathgate.

Ann Arbor has a rich history of railroads and trains. So so much rich history. This is not that story. This is a story of the most spectacular train crashes in Ann Arbor's history.

Listener Warning: Contain references to train crashes, more train crashes and a canary named Bobby.

Music by Diego and the Dissidents

Bears. Bobcats. Badgers. Red foxes. Raccoons. And a wolverine. Once upon a time they watched from campus with their predatory eyes as students at the University of Michigan, townies, and delicious delicious children walked past.

Their territory on the corner near Geddes and Washtenaw - that's where these wild beasts stalked for more than 30 years. Stalked is a little hyperbolic. Watched. They watched. But with slavering mouths and sharp curved teeth.

We didn’t mention the cages. There were cages. And some fences. And zookeepers. Wait, we didn’t mention. Um, everyone … we had a zoo!

Parental Listener Warning: This episode contains references to a few animals that die, wild animals at sporting events and otter water slides.

Music by: Shout Out Out Out Out

There are enough amazing Ann Arbor astronauts to create a top 10 list, so that's what we did. Men with righter than right stuff, pilots and scientists and world record holders who broke the outer limits of the atmosphere, touched the stars and zoomed around the surface of the moon on a frickin' lunar rover. Who's your favorite?

Parental advisory: This episode contains references to death, more death (we're not psyched about this) and the film Apollo 13.

Music by FAWNN.

Each episode of Ann Arbor Stories ends with our email address: AnnArborStories@gmaill.com and an ask to you, our great listeners, for feedback, story ideas or shockingly personal questions. We personally answer each email, but some of these questions are too good to keep to ourselves. Behold, our first mailbag episode, sharing the best questions and answers to create a few mini Ann Arbor Stories.

Our email address is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So ask us anything. What was that old building back in the day? I heard about this murder—know anything about it?. What did Terry Whitman Shoultes really smell like? Ask anything, offer tips and share your feedback at AnnArborStories@gmail.com. We love you all.

Listener warning: This episode alludes to felching, giggles sophomorically at the word "Hiscock" and talks about freemasons.

Music by FAWNN, The University of Michigan Marching Band, Hollow & Akimbo, Lightning Love, and People Get Ready.

The woman the papers called "the pretty Michigan housewife" had never left the United States before planning her 1967 flight around the world. Not in a modern jet, but in a 30-year-old plane that had 14 previous owners, one crash landing, and most recently was set ablaze for firefighting practice.

This was the plane 30-year-old Ann Pellegreno used to fly around the world, following the path charted by Amelia Earhart 30 years before. This is the story of the amazing Ann Pellegreno and her flight around the world.

Music by Stepdad.

This episode is part of the 2017 AADL Summer Game. There are sound effects in this episode that offer clues to questions on the AADL Summer Game site. Get the questions right and earn points and a special badge in the Summer Game.

Learn more about Ann Pellegreno's flight around the world in the AADL archives.

This first Ann Arbor Stories walking tour is intended to be listened to while actually exploring a few city blocks in downtown Ann Arbor. It takes listeners from the corner of Huron and Fourth, outside the Embassy Hotel all the way to the corner of Liberty and Ashley and the C. Walker Building. There’s no right or wrong way to experience this story. Ideally, you’ll stroll along the same streets we’re talking about, looking at the same buildings we’re describing and letting your mind wander back in time. But you could still listen to this in your car or at home and check these sites out in person later. Use Google street view. We're not telling you how to consume your media.

Music by Frontier Ruckus.
Listener warning: This episode contains references to sex, pornography, murder, riots, death, ghosts, gay bars and bankers.

For those of you who want to experience this podcast at ground level, a few tips:

First, if you’re not standing at the corner of Huron and Fourth Street, then get there before you start the episode. This walking tour will take you from this point to the corner of Liberty and Ashley. It’s not a long walk, but you will have to cross some streets and some of the sidewalks might be busy so please please please keep your head up and be aware of your surroundings, as tempting as it may be to submit fully to my words and the siren of history.

It’s often easier to see some of the taller buildings from the opposite side of the street, but it’s up to you on how you want to do this. Get up close to the building and touch the old brick, or step back and peer up into the sky. Maybe both. But watch out for cars and people - we're serious, we don’t want anyone getting hurt.

One last thing. If it’s the summer of 2017 and you’re playing the AADL Summer Game, three of the locations on this walking tour have signs in the window that get into the history of those spots and have special game codes that can be inputted at play.aadl.org for points. Visit the AADL website and search for Ann Arbor Stories for more details.

Go at your own pace. Pause, rewind, stop halfway through for a drink at a famous establishment. This is your walking tour, not ours. Enjoy.

You can’t talk about the amazing life of Geraldine Seeback without talking about the Music Mobile, but you better not talk about the Music Mobile and gloss over the amazing life of Geraldine Seeback. Two stories in one! The story of Ann Arbor's First Lady of the Symphony along with her rolling musical masterpiece, a converted motorhome that served as a rolling music lesson on wheels in the 1960s.

This episode is part of the 2017 AADL Summer Game. Pay close attention to the sound effects in this episode to help you answer the questions in the Ann Arbor Stories badge. Get the questions right to earn points, glorious points.

More on Geraldine Seeback and her Music Mobile can be found in AADL's Old News.

Music by Tunde Olaniran.

Rugged pioneers John Allen and Elisha Rumsey founded Ann Arbor in 1824 and named their new town Ann Arbor because, 1.) Both of their wives had "Ann" in their names and, 2.) The wives frequently relaxed and chatted under a grape arbor the men had planted for their beloved spouses. That's the story most people get fed when they arrive in Ann Arbor. But it isn't the truth. The truth is a lot messier. The town founders more scofflaws than saints. This is the real story of the founding of Ann Arbor and a look at the true nature of our dirty rotten founders.

Music by Chris Bathgate, from his new album Dizzy Seas.

Join kit house researchers Andrew and Wendy Mutch and learn about the fascinating history of catalog and kit homes, including Michigan's role in the kit house industry. The presentation explores the steps of buying and building a catalog house through the story of one Ann Arbor family's home. Attendees are taken on a photographic tour of some of the 200+ catalog and kit houses located in and around Ann Arbor. Andrew and Wendy Mutch are kit house enthusiasts, researchers and owners of a 1926 Sears Roebuck “Hamilton” kit house in Novi.