San Franciscans leave gifts and messages for the magical beings that live behind the tiny, mysterious door installed on a tree in Golden Gate Park.

The remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

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 only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

360-degree virtual reality chamber physically immerses scientists into their data.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

Where there's quartz, there must be gold. Thus is the story of the mines of Julian, and the titillating times of the Gold Rush.

Adolph Sutro's little-known, geographically inaccurate, deprecated monument.

Discover for yourself what Herb Caen referred to as "the best kept secret in the Bay Area."

A cobblestone alley with an interesting past.

Fonts are born and bred here at the oldest letterpress type foundry in the United States.

San Francisco's most expensive hotel suite includes a secret passageway rumored to have been used by JFK.

Longtime headquarters of controversial boys' club for the world's wealthiest and most powerful.

Legendary prop shop filled with one man's collection of scientific curiosities.

Arcadia is home to a haven for nature geeks and 80s TV lovers alike.

This Pringle-shaped ledge makes for the perfect photo op.

This stunning sea creature-shaped home blends into the landscape like a fantasy villa.

A crumbling wizard is one of the final reminders of a roadside Middle Earth.