This abandoned horse racing track was an exercise in hubris from its inception.

The shop's owner has spent decades in the desert wearing nothing but a strategically placed sock.

This historic tower in the California desert promises visitors a "vortex of good vibes".

The only remaining African American schoolhouse in northern Virginia is now a museum dedicated to formerly enslaved people.

A massive, majestic mammal watches over pedestrians from his perch atop a former B.P.O.E. lodge.

Crafted in 1911, this steam locomotive spent its entire working life in Flagstaff.

This 1930s log cabin began as a taxidermy museum but is now a popular country music venue.

View the California coastline (and the home of Barbara Streisand) inch by inch with stunning, government-sanctioned aerial photography.

Hidden within an idyllic suburban garden is a memorial dedicated to the victims of a terrifying spree of killings committed on U.S. soil.

The 72-foot giant escaped confinement in a large patch of mulch only to be reburied in the sandy shores of the Potomac River.

The first steel dam in the world and the only one still functional in the United States.

Nevada's largest cactus collection stands outside a candy mogul's small factory.

A mining town once rife with murderous disputes over its copious treasures now creates income as a popular spot for photo shoots.

A series of labyrinths in the Nevada desert inspire meditation and calmness.

Although now a decaying ruin, this stone cabin's history includes several notable figures.

Only a few signs remain of the buried Colorado mining town that supplied the uranium for the first atomic bomb.

The wreckage of a deadly bomber plane crash can still be found near an Arizona peak.

The highest point in Arizona is an oddly snow-topped peak within the otherwise arid state.

One of the world's earliest skyscrapers.

A memorial to the firefighters who died in an industrial disaster is housed in a small public park.

An errant donkey ushered in a new era of mining in Nevada.

An enormous illuminated figure dances on the Las Vegas strip.

The remains of a boarding school designed to forcibly assimilate Native American children.

Graffiti, cars, and religion combine to create this jungle of scrap in the Nevada desert.