Places Edited by Allison Meier

This "second" cemetery represents New Orleans' attempt to keep cholera at bay.

This historic "City of the Dead" lies prominently in the center of New Orleans' famous Garden District.

Rusty red sands line the shores of this Canadian Province.

Storyville was New Orleans' historic red light district and hotbed of jazz music, sometimes referred to simply as "The District."

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

This impressive mansion in Vinegar Hill has some mysterious details in its architecture.

A mythical bird etched into the face of a rock doubles as the mascot for a nearby school.

Eccentric stone cairns built on a public New York City beach.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

A lush desert oasis in the shape of a narrow crescent.

This exemplar of modernist architecture is meant to captivate and inspire students of the Cooper Union.

A monument to the military service of America's greatest traitor refuses to even name him.

Five miles of underground river link lake to ocean.

A 19th-century shrine covered with prosthetic body parts as votive offerings.

An extra-wide chair built to accommodate the former president's big behind.

How did a French journalist’s grave become the sexiest statue in the cemetery?

This symbolic piece of New Orleans architecture is also home to a few ghastly stories.

A popular shrine where the Blessed Virgin allegedly appeared in 1830, displaying a holy armchair and two incorruptible remains of Lady Saints.

This innocent-looking townhome is actually a subway exit.

The end of the 4 Line is also the end of the line for 300,000 souls in one of NYC's most illustrious cemeteries.

This historic observatory contains the world's oldest refracting lens telescope.

An abandoned set from the 1980 film "Popeye," claimed and repurposed as a theme park by creative locals.

These fantastically named natural pools look like something out of a Scottish myth.

Saintly bones pressed into a wax effigy of a Catholic superstar.