Pumpkin-like gargoyles and grotesques peer down from the rooftop of this unassuming apartment building in Illinois.

An isolated island home to one of the oldest English-speaking communities in the region and Maryland's state dessert.

In a quiet north Chicago neighborhood rests a stunning relic of the golden age of earthenware design.

There is beauty and history in the ruins of this former company town.

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

A hidden oasis just two minutes from downtown Atlanta.

Four abandoned towers hidden above the Douglas fir forest in Washington.

Arizona's first government hub is a rustic cabin now preserved as part of a historical museum.

The oldest house in Galena, Illinois, now is a reminder of when this city was the world's lead mining capital.

A rock maze opens up to a panoramic viewpoint at an abandoned mine full of ghost stories.

A small 19th-century graveyard tucked away in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.

In the middle of a remote desert town is a surprisingly opulent hotel.

A CT scan revealed the identity of this 3,000-year-old mummy that everyone erroneously thought was female.

This small monument to the great inventor contains a time capsule and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

A black cottonwood gets a second life as a home for books.

An abandoned 1930s gas station turned bustling neighborhood park.

The fading, forgotten remains of a once bright and booming factory.

This uninhabited island in Maine is home to various works of art left by visitors over the years.

The remains of what was once the world's steepest passenger funicular.

George Lucas donated this park to honor the birthplace of his two biggest movie franchises.

L.A.'s oldest operating bowling alley is a beautifully restored homage to its speakeasy days.

A partial tunnel blasted into a steep ridge is all that remains of a failed railway across Arizona.

The rusted remains of an ill-fated freighter lie just off the coast of South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan.

A beloved carnival gets a modern makeover in Los Angeles.