People of the Plum Bayou culture built these enormous mounds over 1,000 years ago.

A collection of huge Pre-Colombian structures in Alabama.

Colloquially known as "the lynching memorial," this is the United States' first memorial to the victims of racial terror at home.

Designed by Maya Lin, the memorial honors 41 individuals who died fighting for equal rights between 1954 and 1968.

This simple, broken column marks the final resting place of one of America's most famous explorers.

A house built specifically to shelter the dead.

A restored, one-room African-American schoolhouse in the diva's hometown now preserves the legacy of its most famous student.

A fictional Coupe DeVille built by hand and gifted to the Man in Black himself.

Orr Park's dead trees have been carved into a menagerie of whimsical visages.

The permanent home of a 1960s traveling museum of tiny historical dioramas.

Come for the fried chicken, stay for the history at Oklahoma's oldest bar.

Once in disrepair, this popular Texas stop along iconic Route 66 has been restored to its past glory.

This water tower slanted at an uncomfortable angle off the old Route 66 was an ingenious marketing ploy.

A small car graveyard sits in the shadow of the famous Cadillac Ranch.

The old Route 66 town straddling Texas and New Mexico died along with the Main Street of America.

This fast-food outlet is the only space and UFO-themed McDonalds in the world.

Inside this small museum resides a strange mix of miniature collections passed down over time.

A clear blue swimming hole with hidden caves, still unexplored.

From a T-rex to a teapot, a cast of artificial fossils illustrates New Mexico's history.

Owned by Native American women, this brewery is a celebration of indigenous culture in the American Southwest.

Thousands of pieces of art have been carved into the rock at the site of an ancient volcanic eruption.

When life gave this firefighter a forest fire, he made a rough-hewn sculpture park using a chainsaw.

If drivers cross the rumble strip on this stretch of Route 66 at just the right speed it plays "America the Beautiful."

Twenty-seven massive radio antennas on the high plains of New Mexico search for life on other planets.