Abortion, prohibition, religion, war, and fear all play a part in the history of this idiosyncratic Pacifica castle.

Location of the most powerful laser in the world, and the potential birthplace of tiny stars.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

The world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory continues to report on the stars.

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

Built by the inventor of the radio, this abandoned hotel has housed early radio employees, military men, and a dangerous cult.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

This infamous prison has a store where you can buy goods crafted by incarcerated people.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

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.

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

California's most comprehensive horticultural library.

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

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

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

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

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

The restored and active Victorian-era final resting place of San Francisco.

A hidden subterranean installation offers a view of the sky.