Explore 3899 History Collections - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

3899 Items Tagged

History

Share
Shot Tower
Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque Shot Tower

This long unused shot tower on the Mississippi remains a point of pride for a small city in Iowa.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Frankford Avenue Bridge

Erected in 1697 this Philadelphia bridge is the oldest surviving roadway bridge and perhaps the oldest stone bridge in the United States.
Captain Sam Buchanan prepares to take a mail parcel on board for a delivery to a passing freighter as traffic backs up on the Ambassador Bridge that connects Detroit to Windsor, Canada.
ships

America's Only Floating Post Office Delivers More than Mail to Detroit's Ships

For 140 years, the J.W. Westcott Company has been dropping off everything from love letters to pizza to, once, a goat.
Liana Aghajanian July 19, 2016
An 18th Century Persian astrolabe, an instrument that predicts locations of the sun, moon, planet, and stars. On display at the Whipple Museum.
Cambridge, England

Whipple Museum of the History of Science

A treasure trove of astronomical, mathematical, and scientific instruments at Cambridge University.
A typically opulent 1880s soda fountain, in a drugstore in British Columbia.
machines

Victorians Drank Soda Out Of Monstrous Gilded Machines

The 19th century saw a soda fountain arms race.
Cara Giaimo July 15, 2016
The bathing pavilion at Indiana Dunes State Park was the location of City West
Chesterton, Indiana

City West Ghost Town

The site of a 19th century "dream city" that almost rivaled Chicago before being swallowed by the Indiana sand dunes.
Union, Maine

Moxie Bottle House

They call buildings like this "mimetic architecture," but nothing has ever mimicked the taste of Moxie.
Bowman's Hill Tower
New Hope, Pennsylvania

Bowman's Hill Tower

This stone tower marks a lookout point over the historic Washington Crossing, and maybe some buried treasure.
animals

Why Did American Cats Get Blamed for So Many Divorces?

A century of couples pinning their marital woes on felines.
Natalie Zarrelli July 12, 2016
The Arlington Hotel
Hot Springs, Arkansas

The Arlington Hotel

This historic hotel on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park has a storied history of gangsters and baseball greats.
Lucenier
La Chapelle-au-Mans, France

Château de Lucenier

A 13th century fortified house built to defend the Duchy of Burgundy.
Killiansburg Cave, June 2016
Sharpsburg, Maryland

Killiansburg Cave

A cave on the Maryland border where civilians took refuge during the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.
Littleton, Colorado

Alfred Packer's Grave

The final resting place of a 19th-century gold prospector and convicted cannibal.
Tintern Abbey
Tintern, Wales

Tintern Abbey

This well-preserved Cistercian Abbey in a romantic pastoral setting has inspired artists like the poet Wordsworth.
Park Bench in Park Circle, Angelica
Angelica, New York

Angelica, New York

A quaint village in Western New York named after Alexander Hamilton's beloved sister-in-law.
games

The Card Maker Who Brought the Joker Into the World

Samuel Hart introduced America to what would soon become the most annoying card ever.
David Doochin July 8, 2016
Pool
Clarington, Ontario

Camp 30 POW Camp

A Canadian POW for German soldiers during WWII where prisoners hatched an elaborate escape plan.
Outside the New Amsterdam Musical Association
music

Inside the Oldest Labor Union for Black Musicians

Founded in an era of segregation, the New Amsterdam Musical Association is one of New York's most fascinating—and unknown—cultural landmarks.
Atlas Obscura July 6, 2016