Guns that have been defending San Francisco since 1904.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.

Radioactivity still cause for concern at this urban explorer's paradise.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

Adolph Sutro's little-known, geographically inaccurate, deprecated monument.

A famous alternative culture epicenter and where Joplin serenaded young hippies.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

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

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

A promotional sun clock on the site of San Francisco's great raceway.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.