Before he was America’s most famous preservationist, John Muir was an ingenious mechanical inventor.

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.

A historic hotel in an old California railroad town with a rowdy reputation.

The only visible piece of San Francisco's most famous shipwreck.

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

The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

An iconic 1960s theater with a Buckminster Fuller-style geodesic dome.

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.

The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

An antique store houses the last operational diner from the defunct department store chain.

The highest point in Nevada had to be decided by court order after California tried to claim it as their own.

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

Back in the day everyone who was anyone played this historic western theater.

Beneath a Virginia City bar is the entrance to an abandoned gold mine.

Its founder calls it a "proletariat art renaissance".

Bill Murray bowled three straight strikes here at Reno's "Taj Mahal of Tenpins."

The arch that celebrated the completion of the Lincoln and Victory highways.

This beloved roadside attraction welcomes visitors with his signature neon smile.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

Historic home to one of the most famous women pioneers of the 19th century.

Despite being a perfectly pleasant place to be, Loyalton can't seem to attract any visitors.

This historic estate on the east shore of Lake Tahoe was home to an eccentric millionaire (and his pet elephant, Mingo).

A statue commemorating the heroic life of a Viking postman who was the Godfather of California skiing.

This small interfaith chapel lies not far from the rim of the Grand Canyon.