This collection of hand fans doubles as a history of femininity.

This museum boasts the ninth-largest collection of insects in North America.

California's own majestic geyser is powered by a subterranean volcano.

California's own medieval Italian castle, authentic down to the 300-year-old iron maiden in the dungeon.

This historic California cemetery holds the bodies of veterans of both the Civil War and the Donner Party.

A poignant memorial to a young boy whose death spurred a dramatic increase in organ donations in Italy—dubbed the "Nicholas Effect."

The largest drain hole in the world.

Monumental sculptures of Patrick Amiot, constructed from debris, detritus, and determination.

At this California chicken ranch, four bucks will get you 18 eggs and a chorus of dancing animatronic poultry.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

A strange house built only at night, with rumored mystic inspiration.

Nuclear waste dump site now an environmental sanctuary.

Over 300 taxidermied animals in a Californian restaurant make for a taxidermist's dream and an animal lover's nightmare.

A ruined hotel with an unlucky history and an eerie present.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

This odd California folly seems like it was almost designed to accumulate urban legends.

A sudden forest of traditional Papua New Guinean art works is hidden in a corner of Stanford University.

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.

A hidden world of exotic succulents and cacti.

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

The timepiece that exonerated a labor radical accused of a parade bombing that killed ten people.