The Hobo King

True Weird Stuff

The Hobo King

Clean

Published on Jul 18, 2025, 11:00:00 PM
Total time: 01:34:40

Episode Description

The Hobo King

 

In the decades before the Great Depression, it was common for folks known as hobos to wander from town to town searching for work, dangerously hopping on and off moving trains to reach their next destination. A man named Jeff Davis believed that hobos deserved a chance to care for themselves, and in 1913, he opened a hotel where hobos would provide for each other in exchange for lodging. This concept spread across the country, and Jeff Davis would become known as The Hobo King.

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True Weird Stuff is the award-winning podcast hosted by Sheri Lynch.  Surprising, odd, bizarre - and sometimes insane. Always true. Let us tell you a story…