Interesting facts, myths, legends about Ft Wayne (and surrounding cities)

[ViaSwiss]

Originally Posted by Bluefoxwarrior

Thanks for sharing! Also, according to Wikipedia, Fort Wayne is widely recognized as the final resting place of folklore legend Johnny Appleseed. I'm not sure if that's common knowledge but I never knew that until I looked it up.

The baseball team is the TinCaps. Johnny Appleseed is the mascot/logo..

[brainiac138]

One legend I always heard in high school was Devil's Hollow, about the abandoned building around the Devil's Hollow housing development was the home of a woman who was burned alive and her spirit haunts the place. It is a pretty spooky drive at nighttime.

Also, there are something like 5 cities that claim to have the grave of Johnny Appleseed. I know the historians from the genealogy center at the library did research and while they don't know if he is buried where in the park, they believe he probably died in the north side of town, most likely around where Canterbury Green apartments are, and since it was customary at the time to bury those, especially those with little money, close to where he died, he is more than likely buried near that area. But it is not out of the realm of possibility he is buried at Johnny Appleseed Park.

[HoosierRN]

Originally Posted by missik999

I attended elementary school in Ft. Wayne. Legend was that a tornado could never touch down in Ft.Wayne because of the three rivers. Apparently it was an old indian legend.

When we practiced tornado drills in school my third grade teacher would say, "We know there can't be a tornado here, but the state says we have to do this mandatory tornado drill anyway."

Yeah, right!

[ischyros]

Fact that I've found many younger people even in Fort Wayne don't know. The Detroit Pistons started life in Fort Wayne as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the 1940s and 50s before moving to Detroit. They even reached the NBA Finals in 1955. Of course, back then, the young NBA also had teams in the Quad Cities and Rochester, New York, both of which also moved on to bigger cities.

[belovenow]

Originally Posted by missik999

I attended elementary school in Ft. Wayne. Legend was that a tornado could never touch down in Ft.Wayne because of the three rivers. Apparently it was an old indian legend.

When we practiced tornado drills in school my third grade teacher would say, "We know there can't be a tornado here, but the state says we have to do this mandatory tornado drill anyway."

I heard and then read the same myth/legend. It's actually a concept not unique to this area, but a more general Native American concept that was shared with a lot of settlers all over the US.

Interesting links on the topic:
Tornado Tales » Front page stories » Farm Talk

Myths and Misconceptions about Tornadoes

Top Things You Probably Didn't Know About Tornadoes

All that said - in the 10+ years I've been in Fort Wayne, we've had a few tornado warnings and watches, but having lived all over the US, I still feel very safe here, safer than I did when I lived in Tornado Alley (Oklahoma), and safer than parts of the US routinely hit by blizzards and hurricanes.

[missik999]

Originally Posted by mbuszu

I heard and then read the same myth/legend. It's actually a concept not unique to this area, but a more general Native American concept that was shared with a lot of settlers all over the US.

Interesting links on the topic:
Tornado Tales » Front page stories » Farm Talk

Myths and Misconceptions about Tornadoes

Top Things You Probably Didn't Know About Tornadoes

All that said - in the 10+ years I've been in Fort Wayne, we've had a few tornado warnings and watches, but having lived all over the US, I still feel very safe here, safer than I did when I lived in Tornado Alley (Oklahoma), and safer than parts of the US routinely hit by blizzards and hurricanes.

All the links were interesting! I remember hearing that two windows on the opposite side of the house should be opened if a tornado was approaching.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by ischyros

Fact that I've found many younger people even in Fort Wayne don't know. The Detroit Pistons started life in Fort Wayne as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the 1940s and 50s before moving to Detroit. They even reached the NBA Finals in 1955. Of course, back then, the young NBA also had teams in the Quad Cities and Rochester, New York, both of which also moved on to bigger cities.

Even fewer know that the NBA was cooked up in Fred Zollner's kitchen in Ft. Wayne:

Zollner brought together leaders of the NBL and the BAA to meet at his house in 1949. Sitting around his kitchen table, they agreed to merge, forming the NBA.

Fred Zollner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[seriouslywtf]

Originally Posted by missik999

I attended elementary school in Ft. Wayne. Legend was that a tornado could never touch down in Ft.Wayne because of the three rivers. Apparently it was an old indian legend.

When we practiced tornado drills in school my third grade teacher would say, "We know there can't be a tornado here, but the state says we have to do this mandatory tornado drill anyway."

Pittsburgh also has three rivers and got hit by a large tornado within the past 10 years.

[ASH46808]

Originally Posted by ischyros

I can say I don't think I've lived somewhere that had strip clubs so prominently on all the main drags in town. Again, that's just something I've heard, no idea if it's true or not.

Hi, I grew up in the 80's and 90's back in the 80's our elementary school took us on tours of all of the church's. We we're told Fort Wayne was known at that time and before as the city of churches. Now I do believe our city has a strange combination of churches, liquor stores, strip clubs, and gas stations with a lot of fast food stores thrown in for good measure. From what I heard from my mother who was born in1942 Fort Wayne was a beautiful place, if you want my opinion now that they are going to put businessesby the rivers like the old days they should bring back the river boats and old trains let people see the scenic beauty that our beautiful city and state have to offer.