A failed piece of Orientalism has become the proud symbol of a community.

The first American department store, and home to the largest operating musical instrument in the world.

This eerily well-preserved coal town was saved from destruction by a Sean Connery movie.

"Dark Sky Park" is heaven on Earth for astronomers, one of the rare U.S. locations with no artificial light pollution.

Sail through this subterranean show cave that is home to a legend that would go on to name nearly everything around it.

A rare view of a preserved Victorian science museum.

Philadelphia boasts one of the best — and most often overlooked — traditional Japanese gardens in North America.

The taxidermy remains of the most popular pony in children's literature.

The lesser-known lost colony of Roanoke was a safe haven for formerly enslaved people during the Civil War.

Bigfoot prints, Feejee mermaids, and haunted dolls on display in a tiny North Carolina town.

This scenic Maryland park was the site of one of the worst prison camps of the Civil War.

The final resting place of two (or three) presidents, one vampire, and 18,000 Confederate soldiers.

A small Richmond island dotted with the remnants of hundreds of years of history.

This museum devoted to the gothic author holds such interesting ephemera as his socks and walking stick.

A former Confederate hospital serves as a remembrance of wounded and dead soldiers.

The airport was once a Civil War battleground, and the earthwork defenses can still be seen today.

Rowdy rebels fortified this home during the first popular uprising in United States history.

The nearly 120-year-old piece of pork wears a brass collar and was once a man's "pet ham."

A throwback train ride transports passengers through one of the lesser-known national parks in the country.

This handcrafted, old western-style town is filled with deserted cars, retired movie props, and other forms of Americana.

An annual celebration of the region's successful elk reintroduction program.

Follow the path behind this treat-slinging camper van to a sculpture garden in the forest.

The scant remains of this flooded historic village can be explored in one of the most remote areas of the Great Smokies.

Step back in time on this preserved 1800s farm.