The Smell of '04

Coming in at No. 2 on our list of oddities from The Chronicle's archive, The Smell of '04 remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

Oh, a possible explanation was floated by local officials toward the end. The ungodly stench arose, they said, from chicken manure.

Or not. It seems the officials were really just guessing.

Chronicle metro editor Bill Kirby held his nose at this explanation. "I know the fragrance of chicken manure, and whatever that was last week didn't smell like poultry poop," Kirby wrote. "It smelled like the floor of hell's dog pound."

Kirby had also dug into papers going back decades and unearthed a pair of similar occurrences that raised questions. Particularly interesting was a 19th century incident, in which workers unleashed a force better left dormant:

While building the Augusta Canal in 1849, workmen began to dig their way through an ancient swamp and soon you had townsfolk complaining about the reek of thousand-year-old rotted goop. I figure it must have been bad because these were people accustomed to outhouses.

The Smell of 2004 disappeared as it arrived, without warning, taking with it any chance of figuring out what the heck it was.

Of course, we have our theories. How about you?

Read the full story:

Residents report foul smell in neighborhood

Odor might be linked to chicken manure

Kirby: Excuses behind Augusta's odors smell suspicious

Kirby: Theories on strange odor come wafting on the wind