Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

Nancy Thompson's Home from "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

The L.A. Zoo has a secret garden of rare bootleg cycads, a palm specimen dating back 280 million years.

From pre-war whiskey cocktails to prohibition-era speakeasy secrecy, this bar has seen it all.

An "anarchical" no man's land, complete with garbage sculptures and a hobo-run "Landfillian Library."

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

The "3rd largest" city in California is an empty mirage of suburbia in the middle of nowhere.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

Contemporary art inspired by natural history and science drawing on ancient techniques in a modern world.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

The hidden jewel of Disneyland: a members only playground for the Disney elite.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

This shop and studio is dedicated to the art of the book, from letterpress to bookbinding.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

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

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

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