This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

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

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

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

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

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

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

After serving in World War II and picking up Apollo astronauts, this aircraft carrier has been turned into a museum overlooking the San Francisco Bay.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

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

The neighborhood church casts a breast-shaped shadow that locals have come to call the “two o’clock titty.”

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

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

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

The graffiti-covered remnants of a former triangulation station are balanced precariously on this California peak.

Sitting atop San Francisco's tallest hill, a cross honors the victims of the Armenian genocide.

A 1920s speakeasy that had rum runners racing up and down the shores of California.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

The most beautiful Taco Bell in the world even has surfboard parking.

Abortion, prohibition, religion, war, and fear all play a part in the history of this idiosyncratic Pacifica castle.