28 Urbane Facts About US Cities Many Don’t Know

The city of Detroit has its own local currency, fully backed by U.S. currency. It's printed in $3 bills and features the Spirit of Detroit over the Detroit Skyline.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has mythical creatures, that are nearly imperceptible, hidden throughout the exhibits.

Jacksonville, Florida was the winter filming capital of the early US movie industry but conservative residents objected, a mayor was elected on anti-movie platform, and so the industry moved on to Southern California.

Las Vegas used to host atomic bomb parties. Chamber of commerce advertised atomic bomb detonation times and the best spots for watching them. Casinos offered special “atomic cocktails” and “Dawn Bomb Parties” and women dressed as mushroom clouds for the “Miss Atomic Energy” crown at the Sands.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to being situated between 3 rivers, has the most bridges within city limits in the world, at 446.

Austin, Texas is the only city in the world still actively using moonlight towers. Moonlight Towers were used in the 1880s-1890s when standard lighting of towns was too expensive. A giant tower would be built with an extremely bright light put on top to illuminate several blocks at once.

In 1892, New Orleans transit workers went on strike to reduce their workday from 16 to 12 hours a day.

There is an underground garden in Fresno, California that is meant to mimic Greece. Baldassare Forestiere spent 40 years hand digging this 10-acre underground garden paradise beneath the hot dry Fresno hardpan, with different microclimates and grafted multiple-fruit trees growing through holes in the ceiling, which are still thriving 90 years later. It's open for visitors.