Thurmont, Maryland
Catoctin Furnace
A pre-Industrial Age iron furnace and the site of a nearly-forgotten piece of Black history.
Places I've been
Places this traveler has marked as been there.
Thurmont, Maryland
A pre-Industrial Age iron furnace and the site of a nearly-forgotten piece of Black history.
Smithsburg, Maryland
A labor of love built by local hang-gliding enthusiasts, this ideal launch spot was outlawed by the authorities and has since been largely abandoned.
Washington, D.C.
This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This elaborate towering structure was once famed for its revolutionary height.
Beatty, Nevada
A brothel nestled amongst ghost towns, with an abandoned plane wreck to greet you.
Brooklyn, New York
Sniff the Titan Arum's rotting flesh.
Brooklyn, New York
This outdoor gallery of graffiti-covered walls pays homage to the past, present, and possible future of street art.
Brooklyn, New York
One of the most enjoyable bits of history at Coney Island and “the most romantic ride in the world.”
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
The last holdout of a pre-Civil War rebel who took the matter of slavery into his own hands.
Truro, Massachusetts
This abandoned radar station from the Cold War era now only broadcasts a seriously ominous air of isolation.
Foster, Rhode Island
As state highpoints go, this spot is one of the lowest, but for years it was also the hardest to climb.
Edgartown, Massachusetts
The filming location of a shark attack in Steven Spielberg’s famous shark movie.
Lawrence, Kansas
Lone survivor from Custer's Last Stand forever preserved.
Prairie Village, Kansas
A tiny racehorse graveyard in the middle of a quiet Kansas City suburb.
Kansas City, Missouri
The first car-centric shopping plaza in the U.S. brought a little bit of Spain to downtown Kansas City.
Kansas City, Missouri
A piece of John the Baptist in the American heartland.
Kensington, Maryland
The tallest The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in the world soars above the Beltway.
Arlington, Virginia
Soldiers were buried next to Lee's house in the center of Arlington Cemetery to dissuade the general from reclaiming his property after the war.
Washington, D.C.
Four bald cypress trees in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, mark the southern edge of a 100,000 year old cypress swamp.
Washington, D.C.
A diminutive memorial marks the site of a successful assassination by a right-wing death squad in America's capital.
Washington, D.C.
Enormous piles of historically significant stones, dumped by Congress in a forest, and abandoned for 60 years.
Salem, Massachusetts
The 340-year-old house that inspired the classic Nathaniel Hawthorne novel.
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
The remains of a community that was forced to move for a dam that never materialized still rot in this Pennsylvania park.
Wantage, New Jersey
The highest point in New Jersey is marked by a massive, if simply named, obelisk.