Jeremy Danger Dean

Principal Investigator

Some stories are written.
Others are waiting to be found.

Dean Labs is a personal research archive dedicated to documenting forgotten places, local history, and the remarkable stories hidden in ordinary communities.

Through photography, historical research, interviews, software, and respectful exploration, I investigate places that might otherwise be lost to time.

Every investigation begins the same way:

With a question.

Current Investigation

Historical Investigation

Researching local legends, forgotten infrastructure, historic buildings, and the stories connected to them.

Documentation

Creating photographs, maps, interviews, and written records that help preserve pieces of local history.

Technical Research

Developing software and digital tools that support investigation, documentation, media production, and storytelling.

Storytelling

Transforming research into experiences that encourage curiosity and remind us that remarkable stories are close to home.

A dark brick tunnel disappearing into the distance

Current Investigation

The Newark Tunnel Project

For generations, stories have circulated about underground passages beneath portions of downtown Newark, Ohio.

Some believe they connected businesses. Some believe they carried utilities. Others insist they've walked through them.

My current research focuses on separating local folklore from documented history through archival research, interviews, historical maps, and, when generously permitted by property owners, on-site documentation.

Some stories disappear because nobody asks questions.
This investigation begins by asking the right ones.

Principles

Property owners are always asked for permission.
Nothing is removed.
Nothing is disturbed.
Safety comes before discovery.
Historical preservation is always the objective.

Every location deserves to be treated with respect, whether it confirms a legend or quietly disproves one.

About Dean Labs

Curiosity, with a flashlight and a filing system.

I've spent more than twenty years solving technical problems as a software engineer, but some of the most rewarding discoveries happen far away from a keyboard.

A conversation with a lifelong resident. An old newspaper clipping. A forgotten trail. A basement that hasn't been opened in decades.

Technology is simply another tool for preserving those discoveries and sharing them with others, because every community has stories worth remembering.

Dean Labs goes looking for the stories hiding beneath ordinary places.