These colossal desert barcodes have been fine-tuning spy satellites for decades.

The White House Situation Room was taken apart in 2006 and shipped to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

This park is home to California's first oil boomtown, with structures that have stood for more than a century.

You don't have to be a diplomat to visit the so-called Camp David of the West.

Political debates in a fabulous Pasadena castle.

The mall's looks were inspired by the cowboy extras who used to meet up—and cause real trouble—at this Hollywood hub.

Rusty pieces of metal jutting out of a breakwater are all that's visible of the 12,500-ton ocean liner that capsized just off the beach.

One of the largest fleets of armored vehicles in the world, sitting out in the California desert.

Pasadena’s Stonehenge.

The stone walls of a home built to withstand a California wildfire still stand after more than a century.

This large pile of traveler-curated rocks by the dry lakebed is a longstanding tradition on the Old Mojave Road.

Etched into a dry lake bed, this massive directional indicator is accurate without magnets.

"The Star Factory" cranked out Hollywood stars like nobody's business.

Founded by a high school teacher, this poetry magazine became a center for all things literary.

A giant knight, sex education, date shakes, and Jesus coexist happily in this Coachella Valley desert oasis.

The American Home, Re-imagined.

The remnants of an early automobile route across shifting sand dunes can still be found in the deserts of Southern California.

A bomb shelter and some fireplaces are all that remain of the house Fred Roberts tried so hard to keep standing.

A pair of disused Los Angeles electrical poles now glow with delicate windows into the past.

Malibu's first beach home features an astonishing trove of ceramic tiles.

An unexpected and peaceful oasis on a hillside.

These cinderblock farmhouses were actually World War II radar stations in disguise.

An abandoned 1930s gas station turned bustling neighborhood park.

Famous and forgotten figures lie beneath the faded headstones and decaying planks of wood.