This remarkably simple jail went over a century without an escape.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

Common all over Japan, kōbans are small community police boxes, and now one is guarding one of L.A.’s megamalls.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

This giant temperature attraction created some giant electric bills.

The capitol city's oldest existing cemetery.

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

A stellar example of Art & Crafts architecture, and a movie set to boot.

A working miniature city designed to teach kids about safety and presumably city planning.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

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

Collective dedicated to restoring steam engines.

A crumbling Beaux Arts monument to the Bay Area's age of rail.

One of the best absinthe distilleries in the United States.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

The longest burning light bulb in the world.

The awe-inspiring ship from the golden era of cruising has an incomparable history and a reputation as one of the world’s most haunted places.

Antiques by the Bay.

This quaint archive of the silent era preserves and pays homage to a seminal moment in film history.

Finally the worlds of UFO enthusiasts and beef jerky lovers have come together in this roadside shop.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.