'Cause the fence start shaking, the earth was quaking.

This lighthouse has been guiding shipping into the Golden Gate since before the American Civil War.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

A hidden gem, named after a San Franciscan icon, offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

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

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

One of the largest free-standing structures ever built, this dirigible hangar is now simply a giant skeleton.

This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

Spiral labyrinth hidden in the hills above Oakland, CA.

The world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory continues to report on the stars.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

This giant shopping mall still holds signs of its automotive past.

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

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

The remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

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

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

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.