Places Ancientproof Wants to Go

In 1857, the Mardi Gras parade tradition began at this intersection.

Taxidermied cartoon heads, unseen illustrations, and famous characters all reside in this small gallery space.

Anne Rice, one of the most influential writers in gothic literature, is buried alongside her husband in a New Orleans cemetery.

Despite the ever pressing encroachment of urban sprawl this grand New Orleans manse still stands.

This sculpture perfectly models the molecular structure of a drug that was never produced.

One of the greatest heroes of the Titanic tragedy came from humble beginnings to this beautiful home.

The two-cell building in Nebraska was briefly owned by a teenage boy and then a Hollywood dummy.

Setting this massive marionette aflame rids Santa Fe of doom and gloom for another year.

This southwest-styled home in Santa Fe claims to be the oldest house in America thanks to an ancient bit of foundation.

A natural formation that resembles a camel resting in the New Mexico desert.

Twice a year, visitors can tour the desolate site that birthed the Atomic Age.

A small side chapel in Santa Fe's basilica is home to the oldest statute of the Virgin Mary in North America.

The shattered remnants of a meteor that struck Santa Fe more than a billion years ago.

These Pre-Columbian petroglyphs contain representations of birds, deer, hunters, and even some early Native flute players.

An overgrown garden stands as a grim marker of an unrealized dream.

Bigfoot prints, Feejee mermaids, and haunted dolls on display in a tiny North Carolina town.

One man's real life disfigurement inspired a lasting local legend surrounding an eerie tunnel.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

A tribute to the artist and activist who created the rainbow pride flag.

This museum explores the history of the book, from scrolls to mass-produced objects through tools, stories, and massive cast-iron binding machinery (some of it operational).

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

A library and museum dedicated to typography.

A historic hotel that made a cameo in Hitchcock's classic film has no intention of letting guests forget its fame.

One of the last remaining Carpenter Gothic churches is situated on a wildflower conservatory overlooking the bay.