aaronjayledesma's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Mount Airy, North Carolina

Mount Airy

Andy Griffith's hometown has made itself up to look like the fictional town of Mayberry.
Southport, North Carolina

Frying Pan Tower

This abandoned lighthouse looks like a rusting oil rig, but has managed to survive a number of storms.
Sanford, North Carolina

Old Carbonton Dam

An eerily abandoned stone tower is all that remains of a demolished dam on Cape Fear River.
Asheville, North Carolina

The Grove Park Inn

The U.S. Supreme Court's secret Cold War relocation facility in the mountains of North Carolina.
Greensboro, North Carolina

Site of the Woolworth Lunch Counter Sit-in

This North Carolina store preserves a historic moment in America's movement for racial equality.
Corolla, North Carolina

Corolla Wild Horses

One of the best places to see feral Colonial Spanish Mustangs in the United States.
Claremont, North Carolina

The Bunker Hill Covered Bridge

A historic covered bridge, only one of two remaining in North Carolina.
Sylva, North Carolina

The Fugitive Train Wreck

The remains of the iconic train crash from the movie 'The Fugitive' can still be found rusting along the Great Smoky Railroad.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

The Last Shell Oil Clamshell Station

This bright yellow relic is the final survivor of a short burst of seashell-shaped petrol pumps.
Collettsville, North Carolina

The House of Mugs

A cabin completely covered in coffee mugs, where visitors are welcome to leave one of their own—if they can find an empty nail.
Black Mountain, North Carolina

Craggy Gardens Rhododendron Tunnels

Gnarled canopies of pink and purple wildflowers arch over the trail to the summit.
Bryson City, North Carolina

Kuwohi

The highest point in Tennessee is said to be home to the chief of all bears.
Asheville, North Carolina

Helen's Bridge

This bridge is haunted by the ghost of a distraught mother.
Rougemont, North Carolina

Castle Mont Rouge

A sculptor's dream castle turned fantastical ruin.
Hildebran, North Carolina

Abandoned Henry River Mill Village

An abandoned village that doubled as "The Hunger Games"' post-apocalyptic wasteland is up for grabs.
Bryson City, North Carolina

The Road to Nowhere

This road in the Great Smoky Mountains was supposed to assuage a displaced community, but ended up a $52 million dead end.
Raleigh, North Carolina

Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky

This woodland architectural installation acts as a camera obscura for the heavens.
Hendersonville, North Carolina

Blue Ghost Fireflies

These eerie outliers of the lightning bug family glow a mysterious blue color.
Grafton, West Virginia

B&O Railroad Station and Willard Hotel

Two gems of Beaux Arts architecture that have been sitting vacant for years.
Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Birthplace of the Steamboat

A monument marks the location of the first successful steamboat demonstration.
Salem, West Virginia

Brandy Gap Tunnel #2

This abandoned train tunnel has been the subject of countless ghost stories for years.
Green Bank, West Virginia

Green Bank Telescope

The world's largest fully steerable radio telescope.
Washington, West Virginia

Abandoned Lock No. 19

One of the few surviving examples of the first lock and dam system built on the Ohio River.
Riverton, West Virginia

Spruce Knob

Near-constant high winds deform the trees on Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.