The stately birthplace of California's statehood.

Built in 1895, this bed and breakfast was once a hospital that served an early 1900s Gold Rush boomtown.

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.

The first attack on the continental U.S. during WWII occurred off the coast of a quiet California golf course.

A veteran Disney animator turned his gift for storytelling to a museum devoted to his love of a California city.

A life-sized mammoth sculpture marks the spot where the remains of a Columbian mammoth were discovered in 2005.

A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.

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

This municipal playground was co-created by the father of one of the most playful characters ever.

This remarkably simple jail went over a century without an escape.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

The only parking meter in the entire town, it is surrounded by 100 free spaces.

The rest of him lived another 61 years and was buried elsewhere.

The mysterious, untimely death of a Canned Heat band member still haunts this unfinished home.

A statue commemorate Tommie Smith and John Carlos's brave protest at the 1968 Olympics, a watershed moment for civil rights.

The world's most famous donkey lives in this pen.

Guarded by the Angel of Grief, the Stanford family tomb attracts an odd mix of halloween revelry and somber contemplation.

Once the fastest ship from San Francisco to Tahiti, the Galilee now lays in pieces in three different cities.

A tribute to long time Venice Beach resident, artist and actor Dennis Hopper.

A humble garage, world-famous for being the epicenter of a technology revolution.

The diverse and sometimes odd cultural heritage of the Golden State is collected, examined, and displayed in this proud museum.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

Thirteen trees representing the original thirteen colonies were planted with soil from historic Revolutionary battlefields.