The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

A promotional sun clock on the site of San Francisco's great raceway.

A masterpiece in Golden Gate Park by virtue of the artist’s debt.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

Reverend Franzo Wayne King administers spiritual enlightenment through the music of the jazz legend.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

A mysterious painting of the self-declared Emperor of the United States watches over a local hof-brau.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

A brooding mansion of clinker brick stands out among the Victorian houses of Pacific Heights.

Art from the latest counter-culture; kids who dye their hair blue and believe the future will be a post-apocalyptic water world.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

A rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was.

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

A historic hotel that made a cameo in Hitchcock's classic film has no intention of letting guests forget its fame.

The stones that traveled from Spain to eventually become a holy place for San Francisco's nature worshippers.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

Longtime headquarters of controversial boys' club for the world's wealthiest and most powerful.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.