Field Notes
Source notes, archive leads, and practical ways to follow the evidence behind Final Vestige investigations.
Recent investigations
Every investigation ends with Sources & Further Reading. When a particular claim needs more explanation, we add a note pointing to the evidence behind it.
Six Miles an Hour
At Malbone Street in 1918, an inexperienced operator took a six-mph curve at more than 30 mph. Wooden cars struck the tunnel wall near Prospect Park…
The Hatch Opened Inward
Apollo 1’s ignition source was never conclusively identified. NASA’s review instead found a pressurized pure-oxygen cabin, combustible materials near possible ignition sources, and an inner hatch…
All Well Was Written First
Franklin’s final Arctic note first said “all well.” A year later, 24 men were dead and 105 had abandoned the ships. In 2026, DNA is still…
They Buried the Dead Apart
In 1928, hurricane winds drove Lake Okeechobee through a low dike, killing at least 2,500 people. The graves and the 143-mile dike still remain.
The Way Out Was Underground
During the Big Burn of 1910, Ed Pulaski led roughly 45 firefighters into an abandoned mine tunnel. Their survival became legend—and the fire helped shape a…
Major archives
Library of Congress
Manuscripts, maps, photographs, newspapers, books, and digitized collections.
U.S. National Archives
Federal, military, engineering, photographic, and government records.
The National Archives — United Kingdom
British government, military, maritime, and public records.
A catalogue record does not necessarily mean the material is digitized or available online.
Research guides
The Archive Trail
A practical method for tracing a historical claim toward primary evidence and comparing conflicting accounts.
The Lost Landscape
Reconstruct changed or vanished places with historical maps, aerial photographs, and land records.
What Survives
Protect photographs, letters, records, and digital files used to preserve family and local history.
Four questions to ask of a source
1. Who created it, and when?
A document made during an event and one written decades later answer different kinds of questions.
2. What could the creator actually know?
Separate direct observation from rumor, institutional reporting, hindsight, and inference.
3. Is the number measured, estimated, or repeated?
A figure copied from an earlier account is not independent confirmation.
4. What independent evidence could test it?
Look for a separately created record, physical evidence, technical data, or a source with a different vantage point.
When reliable sources disagree, keep the disagreement visible and identify what can—and cannot—be established from the surviving evidence.