The South's nickname was supposedly born at a former bank in New Orleans' French Quarter.

An abandoned underground bunker not far from downtown New Orleans.

The beautiful, fruit-covered facade hints at this building's former life.

This Art Deco airport was once deemed “the air hub of the Americas.”

This New Orleans statue of a portly figure in a goofy hat pays homage to a classic of satirical literature.

This strange example of the Egyptian Revival architecture trend now holds Mardi Gras floats.

A 19th-century Gothic, castle-like statehouse by the Mississippi River.

Once the site of a Native American harvest festival, this humble clearing later played an invaluable role in the birth of jazz.

The first patented shaved-ice machine heralded a snowy wonderland of iced treats at a favorite New Orleans summer shack.

The oldest operational cathedral in the U.S. has one shell of a way of projecting speakers' voices.

Before becoming a public park, this spot was a shell midden, a fort, and an amusement park.

For 150 years one family has been producing the iconic hot sauce on a bayou island made of salt.

This strange, small castle on the bayou has withstood the test of time and weather.

This Birdsill Holly fire hydrant is the remnant of a very different type of hydration innovation.

A haunting, yet lovingly hand-hewn potters' field full of graves that flood with each heavy rain.

A hurricane-stricken oak tree has been reborn as a beautiful chainsaw artwork.

The only home of the famous French impressionist painter open to the public is now a museum and bed and breakfast.

The state's oldest continuously operating museum houses more than 5,000 Civil War artifacts.

A small park on Bourbon Street features life-size bronze statues of New Orleans musicians.

It's clear this abandoned Art Deco gem was no ordinary cleaners.

A prime example of New Orleans' unique architecture these early 20th century homes were built to look like steamboats.

A little piece of Paris in the sultry south of the U.S.

The stone labyrinth in this New Orleans city park was laid to symbolize healing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Parts of the civil rights movement unfolded in this historic eatery, helmed by the "Queen of Creole Cuisine."