Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

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

This tree has witnessed nearly 1,000 years of history.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

This residential door allows San Francisco muggles a glimpse at the wizarding world.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

The neighborhood church casts a breast-shaped shadow that locals have come to call the “two o’clock titty.”

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

Under the shadow of its towering parent tree, a rare specimen of sequoia produces ghostly white leaves.

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

A masterpiece in Golden Gate Park by virtue of the artist’s debt.

San Francisco’s condensed garden of incredible plant growth.

The oldest lawn bowling club in the United States.

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.

Gold Rush-era tombstones line the park's paths.

The tallest bridge in California was constructed for a project that was eventually cancelled.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

60 feet of towering steel balances gracefully.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

Sit where JFK proposed to Jackie or where Nixon dined on meatloaf at this storied pub.

The U.S. Fish Commission’s effort to mass produce carp.