The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."

The first U.S. town to secede from the Union, only to vote themselves right back in.

Once the largest town in eastern Yuba County now sits abandoned.

Eclectic collection of dark and macabre antiques.

An old-timey medicine shop that once served Chinese laborers during the Gold Rush is still open for business to this day.

Where the writer penned his famous story about a jumping frog.

This little valley along Highway 1 is engulfed by thousands of lilies during the spring season.

This cabin from the 1850s is one of the first structures built by Chinese immigrants in California.

This museum looks at the history of one of America's most famous prisons and most beloved albums.

Eat a tasty meal in the house where John Steinbeck was born.

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

Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.

This diner's a kitschy dreamland for anyone whose heart is stuck in the 1980s.

An enchanting tunnel of cypress trees leads to an old morse code station still used today.

Inside this library turned museum, the history of Modesto and Stanislaus County is on full display.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

A tribute to one man's legacy of improving the accordion's reputation.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

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

Here, visitors can swing with the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

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

The unedited photograph called "Bliss" has graced the screens of over a billion computers.

A mysterious monument covered in a binary code marks the heart of tech.

It took years to decode its mysterious messages.