A pair of mutilated bronze octopuses slump at the base of the monument honoring California's admission to the U.S.

A shining, cold, black organ lies in San Francisco's financial district.

A quiet marker in memory of local men and women lost in WWI.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

Shoot for par over the bodies of the dead on this cemetery-cum-golf course.

A playing field for a popular French past time can be found tucked away in a quiet corner of Golden Gate Park.

San Franciscans leave gifts and messages for the magical beings that live behind the tiny, mysterious door installed on a tree in Golden Gate Park.

The taxidermied remains of the "last wild grizzly bear in California" and of the symbol of the state of California.

Art in the form of a winding, man made crack in stone.

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

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.

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

Over 315,000 preserved amphibians and reptiles in jars.

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

A free, public museum dedicated to the fascinating science of sight.

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

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

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.

Nuclear waste dump site now an environmental sanctuary.

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

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

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.