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

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

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

Radioactivity still cause for concern at this urban explorer's paradise.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

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

Nestled in the heart of San Francisco’s bustling Financial District stands a unique homage to the Mayan and Beaux Arts.

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.

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

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

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A favorite haunt of dinosaur loving children and hallucinogen loving hippies alike.

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

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

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

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

The Scottish Reformation leader's grave was paved over and is now a parking lot.

Anonymously sculpted and donated, these sculptures made from poetry books and pages are sprinkled around the city.

This charming old building's loose connection with the Scottish Reformer is what saved it from demolition after it split apart.

Touching this 18th-century Scottish philosopher’s toe allegedly conjures good fortune.