Drive-Thru Towns

Andrew Wilcox
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  • Places & Travel

“Drive-Thru Towns” is about the places you only slow for a red light or a gas stop—tiny dots where something huge once happened. A forgotten invention, a vanished boomtown, a cult, a crime ring, a spiritualist camp, a song lyric, a ghost story. Each episode unpacks who, what, where, when, why, and how to reveal why that “nothing” town once mattered—and why it’s still worth pulling over for today.

  1. 1h ago

    Durham, Maine

    Durham: The Holy City on a Barren Sand Hill They built a holy city on a sand hill, then watched it collapse under the weight of one man’s certainty. That is the story of Shiloh—a sprawling, four-story religious empire that once dominated the skyline of Durham, Maine. At its absolute peak, this was not a mere camp meeting; it was a closed, self-contained city of up to 1,000 people governed by doctrine instead of zoning laws, complete with its own bakery, blacksmith, hospital, and textiles. Today, almost all of the massive compound has been reduced to brush and buried foundations, save for one striking anomaly: a grand chapel topped by the gleaming, gilded Jerusalem Tower, rising above the tree line like an architectural dare. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns, host Andrew Wilcox pulls off Route 136 to examine a town that keeps its secrets buried deep in the ditch line. To the casual driver, the hilltop structure looks like any historic New England church. But this building has witnessed more radical belief, institutional coercion, and catastrophic collapse than many nations see in a century. We untangle the legacy of Frank W. Sandford, a magnetic Baptist minister who convinced hundreds of followers that he was the biblical prophet Elijah returned to Earth. Followers surrendered every earthly possession to build his kingdom on a barren stretch of sandy soil near the Androscoggin River. We chronicle the dark "scandal years" of forced fasts and child neglect that culminated in the infamous 1911 voyage of the racing yacht Coronet—a horrific maritime tragedy where Sandford's absolute certainty that God would provide groceries resulted in six of his followers dying of scurvy, earning the prophet a manslaughter conviction and a cell in federal prison. The Root System of a Cult: How a 19th-century religious compound left a permanent physical and cultural footprint on a rural Maine town that wanted to be left out of the argument. The Elijah of Bowdoinham: Inside the mind and terrifying charisma of Frank Sandford, the Bates College graduate who turned real estate into a staging ground for salvation. Fortress on the Sand: The geographic irony of building a massive spiritual kingdom on terrain so agriculturally ungenerous it would rather be a beach than a farm. The Tragically Deficient Voyage: The harrowing true story of the yacht Coronet, where a global missionary cruise turned into a floating theology experiment ending in death by a lack of vitamin C. The Fifty-Year Pruning: How the grand, hundreds-of-rooms Shiloh campus fractured after Sandford's prison sentence, leading to the dramatic demolition of the empire’s wings in the 1950s. The Practical Mercy Pivot: How modern Durham has engaged in "aftermath management," turning a notorious landmark into an independent church that handles food pantries and community car shows. If you want to unearth the hidden, complicated histories behind America's most unusual architectural landmarks, follow the show on Spotify. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com Inside the EpisodeConnect & Follow

    13 min

  2. 4d ago

    York, Maine

    York: The Town That Rented Itself by the Week York, Maine, is a town that has been destroyed, invented, abandoned, and sold back to the summer in three different centuries. Today, it looks like coastal New England pulled straight from a glossy brochure—complete with lobster shacks, sandy beaches, historic inns, and a traffic pattern that turns summer into a full-body civic condition. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns, host Andrew Wilcox pulls off the highway to show you a village that is actually built over ruins twice over. Long before it became a seasonal city where the population swells from 12,000 to over 50,000 every June, York was Gorgeana—one of the earliest, most powerful English cities in America and a serious colonial port. We unearth the heavy layers of York’s history, from the devastating Candlemas Massacre of 1692 to the imposing timber walls of the Old Gaol (the oldest public building in the United States). Discover how the Embargo Act of 1807 broke York's maritime empire, and how the town pulled off the ultimate American survival trick: when the global shipping economy stops paying rent, you can always learn how to dress up your past and rent the view by the week. The First City: How Sir Ferdinando Gorges attempted to build an empire in the Maine woods, creating a political and commercial hub that once rivaled the biggest ports on the Atlantic. The Candlemas Massacre: A look at the brutal 1692 raid that burned the town to the ground, and how York's historic elegance is indelibly layered over early colonial violence and erasure. The Old Gaol: The architecture of timber, iron, and fear. Why the oldest public building in the country stands as a dryly ironic tourist attraction that forgot to retire. The Geographic Trap: How the very river that connected inland timber to seaborne wealth left York utterly exposed to global blockade, weather, and shifting markets. The Resort Pivot: The post-Civil War social invention that saved a stagnant village by transforming its historic homes into "heritage" and its scenic coast into a high-stakes vacation economy. If you want to look past the postcard and discover the gritty, adaptive history under America’s favorite summer destinations, follow the show on Spotify. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com Inside the EpisodeConnect & Follow

    14 min

  3. 5d ago

    Presque Isle and Caribou, Maine

    Presque Isle & Caribou: The Potato Empire with a Heartbeat In Presque Isle and Caribou, the soil isn’t just dirt—it is destiny with frost on it. For a generation, Aroostook County, Maine, was the potato capital of the world. These two northern strongholds sat at the dead center of that agrarian empire—railroad hubs, harvest havens, and military outposts where the rhythm of the school calendar bent to the soil, and the soil bent to the calendar. This is a deeply personal episode of Drive-Thru Towns. Host Andrew Wilcox reveals that without "The County," this podcast wouldn't exist. This is the dirt his mother was raised on, where his parents met on a blind date at the historic Northeastland Hotel while his father was stationed at the Presque Isle Air Force Base. From the bloodless Aroostook War of the 1830s that drew the international border to the sprawling runway of a Cold War missile base, we hit the brakes on the wide boulevards of Maine's deep north. We explore what happens to a proud region when the empire moves west, the machinery takes over, and a community has to learn the humiliating art of surviving after you’ve already been the absolute best at something. The Mother Road: Why Presque Isle and Caribou represent the literal origin story of Drive-Thru Towns, complete with childhood climbs up Haystack Mountain. The Bloodless War: How a 19th-century timber dispute with Great Britain drew a border around some of the richest agricultural soil in the United States before anyone knew what a spud was worth. The "Garden County" Empire: A look at the sprawling infrastructure of an industrial potato boom that saw Presque Isle threaded by three separate railroads. The Harvest Break: The unique, enduring tradition where schools close for weeks to let local teenagers work the mechanized fields—proving that the community still makes room for the crop. The Strategic Threshold: How the Presque Isle Air Base served as a critical Lend-Lease launchpad to Europe in WWII and later became the nation's very first operational intercontinental missile base. An Afterlife of Angels: A poignant reflection on the enduring spirit of northern Maine labor, tracing the legacy of local names like the Condons, Spragues, and Sheas, and a grandfather who could map incoming train tracks by memory well into his nineties. If you're drawn to the wide-open, oversized spaces of America's forgotten industrial and agricultural peaks, follow the show on Spotify so you never miss a milestone. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com

    15 min

  4. May 28

    Millinocket and East Millinocket, Maine

    Millinocket: The Paper Town That Burned Without Fire It was called "The Magic City"—a massive industrial marvel carved entirely out of the deep Maine woods in just 18 months. Millinocket and its sister town, East Millinocket, rose to become one of the most powerful paper-making centers on the planet, turning out the physical sheets that carried the nation's news, catalogs, and daily words. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns, host Andrew Wilcox explores the anatomy of a company town that built its entire identity around a 24/7 payroll. We trace the region's evolution from a single log cabin visited by Henry David Thoreau in 1846 to a high-tech industrial empire built by global immigrant labor. When global competition and a shrinking print economy forced the mills to go dark in 2008 and 2014, the town didn't disappear—it rearranged its gravity. We look at the complex legacy of industrial paternalism, the rhythm of the historic Ambajejus Boomhouse, and Millinocket's modern reinvention as the rugged gateway to Mount Katahdin and the terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The Wilderness Myth Meets the Machine: How a town that began with a wilderness guide for Henry David Thoreau transformed into a mega-mill that swallowed the forest whole. The Magic City: A look at Great Northern Paper Company’s audacious 1899 timeline, building a world-class industrial hub from scratch practically overnight. Assembled by Migration: The lesser-known history of the international workforce—including hundreds of Italian, Polish, Finnish, and French-Canadian laborers—who built the town's civic spine. The Ambajejus Boomhouse: The mechanical nerve center out on the West Branch of the Penobscot River that managed millions of downstream logs. From Pulp to Pedometers: The irony and resilience of a town shifting its economy from heavy industrial manufacturing to hosting footsore hikers emerging from the 100-Mile Wilderness. If you love exploring the places where America's industrial grit meets its frontier legends, follow the show on Spotify so you never miss a detour. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com

    14 min

  5. Season 3 Trailer

    Season 3 Trailer: Maine

    Drive Thru Towns — Season 3 TrailerHosted by Andrew Wilcox This season, we’re heading back into the places that made me, the roads that raised me, and the Maine that started as a few weeks old in the back seat and never really let go. From roadside rest stops and ham-and-cheese lunches with orange soda to Katahdin on the horizon, these towns are part of the map and part of the memory. We’ll explore the towns, people, industries, and legends that shaped this season’s journey through Maine’s drive-through towns. Featured in this season’s stories: Flagstaff and Dead River. Madrid. Durham’s Shiloh. Swan Island. Freeman Township. Millinocket and East Millinocket. Presque Isle and Caribou. York. Kittery. Monson. Bucksport. Eastport. Wiscasset. Special thanks to Chloe Jones for the music. Hosted by Andrew Wilcox.Contact: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com

    3 min

  6. May 14

    The ALCAN: Drive-Thru towns through the Alaska-Canada Highway

    The ALCAN: The Road That Connected a Country and Erased the People Who Built It One thousand, three hundred, and eighty-seven miles. Built in just eight months during the height of World War II, the Alaska Highway (ALCAN) is more than an engineering marvel—it is a landscape of compressed history, wartime urgency, and human endurance. In this special extended episode of Drive-Thru Towns, host Andrew Wilcox drives the entire length of the highway, from the wheat fields of Dawson Creek, BC, to the bison crossings of Delta Junction, AK. We uncover the stories the monuments often omit: the 3,000 Black soldiers in segregated regiments who built the most grueling sections of the road, the 5,000-year-old Indigenous trading villages displaced by the route, and the homesick 21-year-old soldier who nailed one sign to a post and accidentally created a global landmark. Mile Zero (Dawson Creek, BC): Why a humble grain elevator is the true heart of the highway's origin. The Sign Post Forest (Watson Lake, YT): How one soldier’s sign for Danville, Illinois, turned into a collection of over 100,000 hometown memories. The Meeting Place (Champagne, YT): The tragic story of Shadhäla-ra, a village that survived 5,000 years of history only to be "killed" twice by the highway’s arrival and its eventual bypass. Tok, Alaska: The town of three names (none of them certain) and the "miracle wind" that saved it from a wildfire. The Terminus (Delta Junction, AK): Ending the journey among a herd of Montana bison that treat the highway like a temporary neighbor. We take a deep look at the racial dynamics of the construction effort. In 1942, the U.S. Army was still segregated. Black regiments, like the 93rd, 95th, and 388th Engineers, were often given the most difficult, swampy, and remote terrain to conquer. Despite facing systemic doubt from their own leadership, these men completed the most challenging bridges and mountain passes, physically connecting the continent at the legendary "handshake" near Beaver Creek. Whether you’re planning your own Northward pilgrimage or listening from your armchair, follow us on Spotify for more stories of the roads that shape us. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com Host: Andrew Wilcox Theme Music: A profound thanks to Chloe Jones for the music. Hear her work at chloejonesmusic.co.uk.

    27 min

  7. May 11

    Utqiagvik, Alaska

    Utqiagvik: The Top of the World, Where America Ends and the Dark Begins There is no road to Utqiagvik. There never has been, and likely never will be. To reach the northernmost city in the United States, you must fly over hundreds of miles of roadless tundra or arrive by barge during the brief summer window when the Arctic Ocean isn't frozen solid. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns, host Andrew Wilcox journey’s to the edge of the world. While Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) might look like a temporary pioneer outpost to the uninitiated, it is actually one of the oldest permanent settlements in North America, with a history of Iñupiat habitation stretching back to 500 AD. We explore the duality of a place that endures 65 days of total polar night and 80 days of never-setting sun. From the tragic 1935 plane crash that claimed the lives of American icons Will Rogers and Wiley Post to the "Cold War miracle" of 1988 where Soviet and American crews joined forces to save trapped whales, Utqiagvik is a place where history is as deep as the permafrost. 65 Days of Night: Why the polar dark isn't something the Iñupiat "endure," but rather a culturally significant season for storytelling and community. The Rogers-Post Crash: The story of the Iñupiat hunter who witnessed the death of a national icon in a frozen lagoon 15 miles from town. The 1961 "Duck-In": One of the earliest Native civil rights protests in American history, where the community defied federal hunting bans to protect their food security. Operation Breakthrough: How two trapped gray whales briefly thawed the Cold War in 1988, capturing the world's attention. Reclaiming the Name: The 2016 vote to restore the name Utqiagvik—"the place to gather wild roots"—and reject the name of a British bureaucrat who never visited. If you’re drawn to the stories of the Far North and the resilience of the people who call the Arctic home, follow the show on Spotify. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com Host: Andrew Wilcox Theme Music: Special thanks to Chloe Jones for the music Explore more at chloejonesmusic.co.uk.

    19 min

  8. May 6

    Portlock, Alaska

    Portlock: The Village Everyone Fled From Deep on the Gulf of Alaska coast, on the rugged southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, lies a ghost town that didn't die because the fish ran out or the economy collapsed. It died because of fear. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns, host Andrew Wilcox takes us to Portlock (also known as Port Chatham), a place so unsettling that an entire community abandoned it simultaneously in 1950. Settled in the 1920s as a thriving salmon cannery town, Portlock’s story took a dark turn in the 1940s when mutilated animal carcasses, missing hunters, and bodies with inexplicable wounds began to appear. We explore the legend of the Nantiinaq—a large, hairy, human-like creature rooted in Alutiiq tradition—and the chilling reality of a town that simply walked away, leaving buildings standing and artifacts scattered, never to return. The Cannery Boom: How Portlock briefly thrived as a commercial hub for the Gulf of Alaska’s fishing fleet. The "Nantiinaq" Reports: The chilling accounts from the late 1940s that led local elders to believe a traditional Indigenous cryptid had claimed the area. The Great Exodus: Why the entire population fled by 1950, leaving a working fishing village to rot in the salt air without an official explanation. Modern Echoes: The unsettling experience of modern visitors who find the "Unga-type" isolation of Portlock still carries the weight of its abandoned history. If you have a taste for the strange and the unexplained corners of the American map, follow the show on Spotify to catch every stop on our journey. Instagram: @50statefamily LinkedIn: Andrew Wilcox Email: wilcoxlegal@gmail.com Host: Andrew Wilcox Theme Music: Special thanks to Chloe Jones for the music. Discover more of her work at chloejonesmusic.co.uk.

    16 min
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About

“Drive-Thru Towns” is about the places you only slow for a red light or a gas stop—tiny dots where something huge once happened. A forgotten invention, a vanished boomtown, a cult, a crime ring, a spiritualist camp, a song lyric, a ghost story. Each episode unpacks who, what, where, when, why, and how to reveal why that “nothing” town once mattered—and why it’s still worth pulling over for today.

Information

  • Creator
    Andrew Wilcox
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    29
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Andrew Wilcox
  • Show Website
    Drive-Thru Towns

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