The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

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

An enormous artwork that colorfully celebrates over 150 years of US military achievements.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

Salute the leader of the proletariat.

The site of the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane.

America's most famous museum of medical oddities is home to the remains of Albert Einstein's brain.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.

The plague quarantine island home to the alleged "Vampire of Venice."

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

Venice's island of the dead.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

This recently rediscovered Civil War-era submarine was the first to ever sink an enemy ship.

One of the oldest living oak trees in the Southeast.

Oldest unrestored plantation house in America that is open to the public.