In Paris, Texas, even Jesus wears cowboy boots.

A sacred site for Native Americans surveyed by George Washington and owned by both King George III and Thomas Jefferson.

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

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

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

The second largest waterfall by volume in the U.S., Willamette Falls is outdone only by Niagara in the amount of water that is pushed northward.

Tens of thousands of tiny birds swarm into one school chimney every fall.

This former coal gasification plant found a curious second life as a popular public park.

A wall of chewing gum moonlights as collective art.

Life's work of sculptor Elisabet Ney remains preserved in her last studio.

Turning night into day in Victorian-era Austin to thwart a serial killer.

DIY collection of eclectic holdings.

A store full of vintage and indie toys designed to bring out the kid in even the crustiest of adults.

A modernist landscape of water and sci-fi concrete.

A museum dedicated to exhibiting remarkable outsider art.

Construction of Barcelona's iconic (but controversial) church is expected to be completed in 2026—a century after the death of its architect.

A reproduction of earth's many biomes.

This unique structure in suburban Austin is made up entirely of other people's castaways, and constantly changing.

The magic's in the hole!

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

A mysterious castle built as a monument to lost love.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

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

A modern day curiosity cabinet.