World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane.

A toxic ghost town sitting atop a massive coal fire.

This dramatic rail curve was once the target of a failed Nazi attack.

There aren't too many operational funiculars around, but Pittsburgh has two!

Instruments, apparatus, and rare books all relating to chemistry and its related sciences.

This candy-colored storybook village originated as a 19th-century Methodist campground.

This World's Fair showpiece was built in Chicago, but shipped to Maine.

The first bridge observation tower in the U.S. offers one of the best views of Maine.

Explore the dark underground corridors of this graffiti-covered former military fortification.

The highest point in Maine is a grand gift to the state citizens that also happens to be one end of the Appalachian Trail.

The world's largest rotating world.

An old trolley bridge was converted into a breathtaking garden bursting with colorful flowers.

Dedicated to the art and science of glass in equal measure, this space is as much laboratory as museum.

The little-known final resting place of one of America's greatest writers.

The mighty room where the poet spent most of her life is available to rent for an hour or two.

The monumental steeple on Amherst College's campus has no church attached to it.

The fanciest public restroom in New York City boasts fresh flowers, art, and a classical music soundtrack.

Now abandoned, the first public health hospital in the U.S. saw more than one million immigrants from around the world.

This strange, big-tailed beast became a Pennsylvania town's unofficial mascot.

Edison's cast-in-place concrete houses were a failure, but way ahead of their time.

Lines from a walking song are etched into a rock in Natural Bridge State Park.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

The shortest river in America flows for just 201 feet.

An unusually designed bridge from the 1920s was built to withstand the tides and winds of Maine.