The bank that helped fund the Mexican-American War and the purchase of Alaska met its downfall after helping Augusto Pinochet launder money.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

A shining, cold, black organ lies in San Francisco's financial district.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

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

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

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

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

Over 315,000 preserved amphibians and reptiles in jars.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.