Seven ceramic sculptures are scattered around this California college campus.

The oldest continuously operating Catholic school west of the Mississippi.

The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

The only standing town in the United States that early Chinese Americans built for themselves.

Rising out of miles of farmland, these buttes are sometimes called the world's smallest mountain range.

This fully intact Neoclassical-Greek Revival style firehouse operated until 1938.

"You don't need a rocket scientist to build a steam engine, but we've got one." -Museum docent on the credentials of a restoration volunteer.

An abandoned lot littered with concrete debris was once the home of the world's first female railroad president.

The first U.S. town to secede from the Union, only to vote themselves right back in.

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

A rich history stashed behind an unassuming door in the heart of Gold Country.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

An old-timey medicine shop that once served Chinese laborers during the Gold Rush is still open for business to this day.

Where the first "expert riders, willing to risk death daily" for the Pony Express were recruited.

A tiny survivor of the Donner Party disaster.

Dentist's hated concrete colossi are now beloved icons of the community.

This museum looks at the history of one of America's most famous prisons and most beloved albums.

At this 1940s-era neighborhood favorite, you can still drink a cherry phosphate.

Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.