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

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

Barely visible foundations remain where Stow Lake’s “observatory” once welcomed visitors.

This surreptitious shop is only open five hours per week.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

San Francisco's most expensive hotel suite includes a secret passageway rumored to have been used by JFK.

The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

Half of a house.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

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

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

Gold Rush-era tombstones line the park's paths.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

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

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

Nestled in the heart of San Francisco’s bustling Financial District stands a unique homage to the Mayan and Beaux Arts.

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

The restored and active Victorian-era final resting place of San Francisco.

This shop and studio is dedicated to the art of the book, from letterpress to bookbinding.

This 19th-century church is now a popular roller rink.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

The remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.