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

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

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

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

D.C.'s first central library was born out of a chance encounter with the philanthropist whose name it bears.

This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

A rotating cast of guys and dolls in front of a Washington, D.C. building.

The beloved statue at the National Academy of Sciences is oh so inviting to sit on.

People escaping slavery may have hidden inside a corpse vault.

The United States Capitol's former columns still stand.

This grand gothic brewery has been pumping out suds for over a hundred years.

A brass and marble scale model of the solar system embedded in the concrete.

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.

A small token of gratitude from freezing cold journalists who were given a warm haven while covering JFK's inauguration.

The site of the climactic scene from the classic horror film is now a historic landmark.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.

A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica.

Contains some of the world's more disturbing wax anatomical models.

First founded in 1472, this is the oldest bank in the world. Its history may explain why we call financial institutions "banks."