Its got to be around here somewhere.

Huh?

(Yeehaw!)

It's funny how people think that history is boring.

But do we even know what's going on inside these pages?

It's still being written, and it's packed with wild stories and unexpected twists.

Im here to tell you the stories behind the history.

Its complicated, messy... ...and often times bizarre and strange.

You are about to learn that this is not your average history lesson.

I'm Christine Darrow, but you can call me.

Historic Thompson Park in Watertown, New York.

A 450 acre space with tennis courts, hiking trails, playgrounds, a a zoo, and an 18 hole golf course, and a vortex?

Whoa!

Hold up.

Let's take a trip into the known before we delve into the unknown.

Before a construction of, as it was originally called, City Park, Pinnacl Hill was a nearly inaccessible plot of land adjacent to what was referred to as Reservoir Hill.

Both considered an ideal location for a city park as early as 1891.

It was then that Doctor Ernest Adolph Edward Meyer purchased land near Reservoir Hill with plans to build a sanatorium, suggesting the city or someone wealthy purchase Pinnacle Hil and develop it as a public park.

And that is just what John C. Thompson did.

John C Thompson was one of the officers for the New York Air Brake Company around the turn of the century, he wanted to give something to the community.

And he picked a park because he felt it was somethin that could be used by everyone.

Whether you're rich, poor, young or old, you could go up into the park and use it.

He also he particularly had an interest in the impact it had on children.

And he figured that, playing out in a beautiful, natural setting would be good for their character and would help the become good adults, basically.

And that was the general feeling about this type of urban park at the time.

But buying the land was only th first step.

To make it a park, It needed to be designed.

in 1899 and June of that year, he sent a letter to Frederick Law Olmsted asking if he would recommen somebody to design a park of 75 to 100 acres.

Frederick Law Olmsted had retired about six years prior to that.

But his sons, Frederick Law Olmste Junior and John C. Olmsted, had continued the fir under the name Olmsted Brothers.

he found their feet satisfactory, and they immediately started working.

With a budget at $75,000.

The Olmsteds went to work turning this large plot of land into the park we all recognize today.

By 1917, when the park was donated to the city, 500 acres were designed and maintained.

And it was a project that few knew John C. Thompson was actually a part of, as he was an anonymous benefactor, from buying the lan to investing in its maintenance.

His anonymity on the project was later revealed after the philanthropist death in 1924.

The city then made the decisio to have it renamed in his honor from City Park to Thompson Park.

So 1920s.

That's right around the time that the zoo was constructed.

Uh, it's hard to say tt was constructed because it was it was sort of just piecemeal together.

Zoo New York is one of Thompson Park's most iconic spots.

It began with a donation of two white tailed deer in 1920, with a goal to create a natural exhibit offering visitors a chance to enjoy the beauty of various creatures.

The zoo has since evolved into the second most visited attractio in the Thousand Islands region, keeping their mission to inspire, conserve and educate the public.

And it's safe to say Dr.

Mark Irwin embodies that mission.

was the original intent o the zoo to have native species.

And what we've found is that you can have animals that are adapted to our climate, cared for so much more easily within our small zoo.

So not only can we tel the story in a very tight theme and explai how we have native species here, but we can touch on the history of New York State and share that with people by featuring animals that do live here, that people don't see, or sometimes ones that are extirpated and no longer living in New York State.

We got the chance to take a walk through the zoo and lear about the variety of creatures the zoo boasts.

Her we are at our Wolverine habitat.

So we have the only wolverine in New York state and the northeast of the US.

So how did you go about acquiring him?

So he's actually our staff have been working with the Species Survival Plan stu bookkeeper that coordinates zoos and the animals that we have in zoos around the country and specifically with a Abisko, he was born in Europe, so part of the European breeding program, he was to come to Minnesota Zoo, and he's had a very successfu career in the breeding program.

He's ready to retire.

And as a solitary animal, solitary species, they needed a place that could give him a really good home.

And that's where we came in.

And wolverines are native to New York, correct?

They are extirpated, meaning that they don't live here currently, but in the past, they did.

They were actually taken out during the fur trade period.

They had big, thick, you know hairy coats that were in demand.

So exactly how is our Wolverine a superhero now?

Like, he's any relation to Hugh Jackman whatsoever?

Not related at all, actually.

But, we I don't know, Hugh.

I imagine there's a lot of similarities there.

But it's just it's grea to have such a unique species.

People sometimes say, hey, why would we want to see animals in our backyard?

But you know what?

When you look at the natural history of New York State, we've had incredible animals here that some are not here anymore.

And Wolverine is a great example of that.

And he looks pretty fuzzy and cuddly, but then looks at those claws.

Something tells me I probably shouldn't go over there and pet them.

You really should consider the potential danger of species when working with them.

he has been tastic to work with.

He gets along very well.

He's got a lot of personality, so it's great to see him.

He enjoys being here at our our zoo.

He comes up he watches the people just like we watch him.

Is it safe to pet him?

No, I would not recommend that.

As adorable looking as they are, they are wild animals and so we have to treat them as such.

But I can boop them on the nose.

I wouldn't even recommend that.

But hey, you can boop Hugh Jackman on the nose.

Just interacting with Mark helped me to understand the importance of learning about our furry neighbors.

And when it's not being taught outside, it's being taught in a classroom setting.

Through Zuni York's home school program.

Our homeschool program is a way for parents to help fill the science curriculum that's required by New York State.

We do STEM program or STEM projects.

We do crafts.

We go and explore the zoo and learn about our animals here at the zoo.

The one thing that I love about this program is seeing the kid learn.

When they have questions, and you can answer them, and there's an a-ha moment, it is on their faces.

And you can tell and you can tel when they're having a good time.

And for kids to learn and have a good time, that is so important.

It makes me want to keep doing it.

Like, I just want to keep going and keep trying to find way to get that same joy every week.

Because if you're doing the same thing every week, they're going to get bored.

So it's a challenge to come up with new ways to present information wher they're not going to get bored.

But studying zoology and practicing nature conservancy certainly didn't prepare Dr.

Irwin for the walk we were about to take.

And I can't think of a better place to talk about the zoo than in Watertowns very own paranormal math How long doe the track go for here?

Forever.

I've never been to the end.

I think people g walking through here and like, oh my God, it's been forever.

And then they just they see what time it is and like, oh my God, we were in there for an hour?

I talk about animals, but here we can branch out a little bit more you know, just lots of opportuni Love It.

Yeah, this is kind of spooky.

I bet you could do something with over Halloween with this kind of, a setting.

And I hope with the vortex just outside your main gates that you guys d do something fun for Halloween.

We do at the zoo.

We have boo at the zoo, which is a Halloween celebration every October the last two weekends leading up to Halloween.

We invite the communit to come in with kids in costume.

They dress up and it's our biggest even now.

My favorite part is watchin the costumes and the kids.

how you keep your finger on the pulse of what's current in society.

See what your costumes are.

when you get time to come up with a costume.

I know where they suggest an alien from area 51?

Wooo.

Or a Wolverine!

After our discussion, I decided to investigate the mystery of the Thompson Park vortex a bit further.

As it happens, the vortex is one of Thompson Park's biggest phenomenons.

For decades, Watertown neighbors have passed along legends of a mysterious spot near the golf course in Thompson Park that caused people to briefly disappear or be teleported.

A woman who's known in Watertown as Dea has been studying the mystery spot since the 1970s.

She believes it is a portal between different realities.

Time and space within the two realities and in a way, between the two realities is very different.

I knew I had to dig deeper.

Luckily, I knew a guy who knew a thing or two about the paranormal.

I don't really think that this is a vortex here.

From what I've heard, it's more of a portal really.

Portal would be something where, if somebody steps into it, it may transport them someplace different in time or different in location.

I would like to believe that there is a portal here in Thompson Park, just for the kind of fun of it.

I don't know that there is, though.

I don't know that I can I can believe it.

We kind of come from a skeptical standpoint, and I really think that a lot of the accounts are kind of shoddy.

From what you see.

It's anonymous people on the internet talking about an experience they had or something that happene so many years ago that you can't you can't verify it.

In your opinion, do you thin it's safe to explore the vortex?

I think it's absolutely safe to investigate the vortex.

If you really want to walk around and try to get sucked into a vortex, go ahead.

We decided to test that theor and took a walk down the trail.

I think that I walked down the trail around when?

When the sign went up and there was the dedication.

Mayor Graham, was the mayor at the time.

He kind of put the dedication together and, there was a another council membe that was dressed up as an alien.

And I want to say it was right over here.

The alien came out and greeted the children.

There were t shirts that were given out.

There were, cupcakes that resembled the alien that's on the sign.

And, actually, Gail Steele was here telling, her stories of moving the vortex.

Looking around, as we are right now, do you get the sense that there is a vortex here?

I don't get any sense of that.

No, I just I think it's, I think it's a fun urban myth that we have here in the city.

And I just think it's, a wooded area, protected area here in our city.

I have a feeling.

I mean, I'm 34, and I know that pretty much my entire life I've been hearing this story.

So, you know, I would say at least half a century.

One of the stories I saw on Reddit, it kind of stuck out to me was that these two college students were in the one was not from here and didn't mention if the other one was, but she had heard about the vortex, was very interested in it, wanted to to experience it.

So they snuck into the par around like 8:30, 9:00 at night.

Found the area where, the vortex supposedly was.

They went in and then the trees, and they made i deeper and deeper in the trees.

Began having knots, and the knots began resembling faces.

And then they sai it felt squishy on their feet, which turned out to be nightcrawlers, that they were stepping over, when they finally made it out, they thought they'd been in there for maybe an hour and 45 minutes or so.

They had actually been ther for five.

Well, about six hours.

It was 5:00 in the morning.

Yeah, this definitely has, like, creepy vibes through here.

Like, it's all the root sticking out the trees and the vines blocking out the sunlight.

Sure.

I guess I could see how people could get spooky vibes.

Absolutely, absolutely.

With another walk through completed.

I now had more questions than I did answers.

Who better to ask than former Mayor Jeffrey Graham, who helped put the vortex on the map?

You were the mayor who had erected the Watertown Area 51 sign out in Thompson Park, also known as the vortex.

Sure.

The vortex was, sor of the consummate urban legend.

I mean, involving the park and many people, including a former resident, Gayle Steele they perpetuated the story of people disappearing and reappearin in different parts of the park.

And around 2013-14, a news story developed about former Watertown resident Alan Jealous And he was, of course, CIA director back in the 50s when area 51 out in Nevada was was set up.

He called area 51 Watertown as a code name.

So I read that article.

I said, well, we got this sort of vortex thing up there and people are disappearing and sort of associate with aliens, was just sort of, a commemoration of the Dulles family area 51, the Thompson Park, the myth of the vortex all wrapped into one sign.

How far back does this legend go of a vortex?

Well, that I don't know.

Obviously, Thompson Par was the early part of the 1900s, but I think it's something that, you know, developed just over time.

I don' I have no idea how it started.

I suspect, some of the people who talked about i a lot, like, like Gayle Steele, they probably took the secret to their grave or something because, I don't know how it started, but, it did, and it's always been something talked about.

And somehow, you know, in the internet age, it gets mentioned on, you know, Facebook or something like that, or, you Google it and that comes up and of course, that perpetuates it because there are people interested in the paranormal.

So when you were a kid, did they tell stories of the vortex back then?

Like, what got all this going?

No, it was something I hear about more when I was an adult.

and that was the the era when Mrs.

Steele was in the news, sort of as the local witch.

And, so there were new stories about her and I, I moved here when I was 13.

So that would have been as a young adult you'd hear things like that and it just sort of continued on and, and you'd hear this and this here and that there.

And you know where exactly the vortex is in the park is subject to some debate.

I, for one, was absolutely impressed with the fact that you put that sign up, because I think that telling local legends and folklore is so important to the history and the culture of Watertown.

But did you face any criticism for doing that?

No, I don't think so.

At the time, I think, people just either thought nothing of i or thought it was an okay thing to do.

I agree, I think it's great to commemorate history.

Thompso Park has a boatload of history.

When you look at the park itself, it's Genesis, the golf course the zoo, the pools, everything that's up there has a story behind it.

Would you encourage other municipalities to commemorate their local legends?

Well, I would I mean, you know you've got areas like Gouverneur with the lifesaver deal.

And they put that giant lifesaver in the middle of their town.

And I was called mayor McDougall, the lifesaver mayor up there because, you know I remember that kind of stuff.

I think all cities have some kind of, folklore and so on.

It should be commemorated.

And this is certainly part of ours.

And I think as, Thompson Park ages and, more things come out, I think we should continue to celebrate the park.

I know there's been a lot of improvements lately.

Things that have been, you know, down there, even clearing out our ligh brush up there and everything.

And there's a story behind all of it.

And, now that you can see more of the park with a lot of the brush drawn, I think it's, you know, it's important I, I enjoy, you know, I'm not a picnic or anything at my age, but, you know sometimes you just like to drive through it and look around and see what's going on and that kind of stuff.

No people disappearing now, unfortunately.

Our discussion illuminated some of the vortexs history but I still had some questions.

Thankfully, I could turn to Phil and Kate Creighton, founders of the Shadow Chasers, hoping to shed some light on this matter.

So the Shadow Chasers back in 2006 had investigated the alleged vortex located in Thompson Park.

Can you give us a little bit of background information, what you found and what instruments you used to go about collecting evidence?

Sure.

So the reason why we wanted to investigate there is, is, first of all, I mean, it just sounds really cool, like a vortex where people are like, transported through time.

And, like, that just sounds really interesting.

And it's also a very interesting place to investigate because, a lot of what we do is it's kind of complicated by the fact that there' so much electricity around us.

So when you get the opportunity to investigate somewhere that's outside, it kind of is freeing.

In a way, because you know that there's not going to be a lot of interference.

So that kind of gave us a chance to really spread out and really kind of get a good feel for what's going on.

Really we're very interested in the concept of folklore.

And, you know, throughout time there, you see a lot of experiences where people encounter, like traveling through time, experiences of not even just like finding themselves in a different place and time, but like, losing time, blacking out, waking up hours later.

So that just seemed like a very interesting combination of our interests.

We use a variety of different things including a DC, a magnetometer, which is an EMF reader, electrostatic monitors.

We used, bunch of analysi equipment, including RF meters and RF monitors.

When we're looking at stuff, one of the big things that come across is it's like everybody ha been telling stories about, oh, you're seeing different window timed seeing different things.

And my perspective was like, okay, if we're going here, we've got a bunch of gear we're monitoring for all of these different energy fields and how things are sweeping through.

And when we get out there, what we found was a bunch of RF banding.

During the daylight hours, it was kind of strong but not terribly strong because, as you know, the geomagnetic sphere of the Earth is actually expands and everything becomes stronger at night because, you know, it's less solar radiation compressing everything, Which is why we investigate at night.

Bingo.

So what we're doing this, we came across the RF bandin and it was really, really high.

And so then we're trying out EM changes.

The magnetometer didn't really show too much on changes for EM, but there were some changes in static.

And it was also in the banding pattern.

So you had this like grid like pattern that was going across th entirety of like Thompson Park.

And that's pretty much led to a good analysis of what we can figure out from that.

There's these huge RF bands.

And when you looked at them, they line up with a lot of the transmission towers, both with Fort Drum and with the Watertown, with the radio towers and Thompson Park, it's right through the middle of it.

I cannot seem to figure out how these stories started.

They seemed to go back as far back as the park.

Like eve when I talk to elderly people, they're like oh yeah, we heard those stories for years, even when I was a kid.

So obviously there was a tim before all of those power lines got put up and the radio stations like, how do you explai why all this high EMF readings like radiation, how does that explain how these stories persisted even way back when?

Well, I think too, there are also, I mean, there are also just places on the earth where, like the geo magnetosphere is just weird, like you kind of hear about, like these places, like mystery spots where, you know, it's like gravity's upside down or whatever.

I mean, a lot of those are just kind of like cheap roadside attractions, but a lot of them do have some kind of, like, just weird.

I don't want to say energy because that sounds a little bit too like new agey, new agey than I what I'm saying, but just like the the Earth's geomagnetic sphere, for whatever reason, just isn't quite the same as it is anywhere else.

And it just kind o makes you off kilter, you know?

And like, those are things that that can occur naturally without the use of modern electronics, Couldn't one argue that the evidenc that you collected proving that there isn't a vortex at Thompson Park, also be used to prove that there is, and the fac that you had such high readings would indicate that there is, in fact, some sort of another dimension there.

So now that's the fun part with us, is we are not coming out definitively saying that it is or isn't because we're being objective about this.

We are simply stating this is the evidence that is there.

This is clearly an anomaly of sorts.

You could argue one way or another I want to know your personal opinions.

Do you vortex exists and is ther Electromagnetic vortexes can exist.

They are traditionally kind of like electromagnetic dead spots, which is where you'll like, lose cell phone reception.

You'll get all kinds of stuff.

And they do exactly what I was saying before.

They can scramble your brain pretty well, too.

Most people will walk away with a significant headache.

But some people will b more susceptible, and they may end up being stuck on a hypophonic state for a while.

As much as it pains me to say I would have to agree with Phil.

I really wish that there was a vortex.

That sounds like a lot of fun.

I'd like to go into a vortex and travel through time.

I think that would be really cool.

I think that it is something scientific.

I think that it's something like geomagnetic.

And I think that I thin that when people have reported and like traveling through time, it seems like based on the stories that I've heard, it seems like a lot of it is, it's something that they were in a suggestive, suggestible state, like it wasn't like they ended up in a time period where they're like, I don't know where I am.

I don't know what this is about.

They were always like, kind of familiar, you know, it was it was sort of something that their brain could have supplied to them.

From its history to its vortex, Thompson Park's legacy spans just over 100 years, and with the help from the Watertown community, its legacy will continue for 100 more.

Make sure the sign stays up there.

I hopefully, hopefully reinstitute some kind of, Halloween time a year or celebration or something for kids.

The history is interesting, but I don't think that's the most important part.

It's get ou and use the park and enjoy it.

And you know, we're right now we're trying to mak improvements by, unfortunately, a lot of areas have been neglected and they've been overrun with invasive species, buckthorn and the worst one, followed by honeysuckle and Oriental bittersweet.

And we've got, garlic mustard and swallow where we've got, we got just you name invasiv plant species and we've got it.

I thin the history is interesting, but I think it's much more important to get out today and spend some time outdoors and walk around and enjoy it.

So take a hike.

Enjoy the sights.

Admire the stonework.

You never know what you migh find, or where you might end up.

Excuse me.

Can you tell me what year it is?

Until next time, I'm your host, Christine Darrow.