The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

An illegally built ramshackle mansion tucked in the middle of Brooklyn is now being turned into condominiums.

Where Greenpoint's first European settler—and troublemaker—made his home.

The engineering feat of the Panama Canal was possible in small part thanks to materials developed in this humble Red Hook foundry.

Once home to the country's most gargantuan ships, this graving dock now waits for people to buy furniture.

The unassuming structure was part of a Major League Baseball stadium.

Once a ferry dock, radio transmitter, and now a new Greenpoint park.

This striking arch, one of the first architectural elements constructed in Prospect Park, was recently restored to its original glory.

This family-owned bakery is one of the last places in Brooklyn to sell the Nation of Islam–inspired bean pie.

“Wagon Jobber" turned smokehouse magnate's family-owned business is still going strong 100 years later.

Volunteer-run library dedicated to exploring five decades of activism history.

Just your average Marie Antoinette–themed speakeasy in an abandoned 19th-century subway tunnel.

Hidden in Central Park's Ramble is a troublesome cave buried just beneath the surface.

One of the few beardless depictions of Lincoln, George Grey Barnard's 1917 was denounced by many—including Lincoln's own son.

A quirky Poe-themed joint on an island keen to celebrate its overlooked connection to the famous writer.

Every week, a festive public jam session breaks out in downtown Asheville.

In Northeastern Iceland lies something of an oxymoron: a steaming desert.

This dramatic landscape hidden on the Isle of Skye looks as though you've stepped into the magical realm.

This shop and gallery is a modern-day cabinet of curiosities, unassumingly positioned along an urban thoroughfare.

One of the few remaining casualties of the London Blitz, this destroyed church has become an enchanting public garden.

A historic arboretum and non-conformist, non-denominational park cemetery.

A relic of Victorian grandeur hides beneath a busy South London road.

The remains of Crystal Palace Great Exhibition of 1851.