The oldest continuously operating Catholic school west of the Mississippi.

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

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

The modest home of the very immodest dancer who cost a king his crown.

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

"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.

Hidden in a hotel parking lot is a strange historical plaque erected by an obscure fraternal society.

A watering hole where the options for seating include a bar, patio, or subterranean cave.

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

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

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.

The oldest orange tree in California spawned a generation of citrus farmers.

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

This 19th century hydroelectric powerhouse was the first of its kind.

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

A statue commemorating the heroic life of a Viking postman who was the Godfather of California skiing.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

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

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

This 15-story mural celebrates the 50th anniversary of the musician's iconic "At Folsom Prison" album.

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

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

A replica of the first public theater built in California.

Home of what was the largest hydraulic mine in the world, producing gold and the first diamonds in the U.S.