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

A working miniature city designed to teach kids about safety and presumably city planning.

"You don't need a rocket scientist to build a steam engine, but we've got one." -Museum docent on the credentials of a restoration volunteer.

The modest home of the very immodest dancer who cost a king his crown.

The oldest continuously operating Catholic school west of the Mississippi.

A rich history stashed behind an unassuming door in the heart of Gold Country.

An abandoned lot littered with concrete debris was once the home of the world's first female railroad president.

Established in 1853, this crumbling cemetery sits forgotten on the corner of Church and Chapel in Gold Country.

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

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

A speck of nature and art in one of San Francisco’s most notorious neighborhoods.

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

Russian history in San Francisco.

Longtime headquarters of controversial boys' club for the world's wealthiest and most powerful.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

This 19th-century church is now a popular roller rink.

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

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

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.

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

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

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

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.