Places Edited by Annetta Black

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

A 1920s speakeasy that had rum runners racing up and down the shores of California.

A hospital where antique dolls are given new life.

A chain of 16 wondrous lakes formed as a result of the gradual dissolution of soluble layers of bedrock.

One man's vision and a labor of love of many.

Flashy signs from Las Vegas’s past find their final resting place at this unusual graveyard.

Rural churches in the middle of nowhere with religious frescoes by famous artist.

Longtime headquarters of controversial boys' club for the world's wealthiest and most powerful.

Pivotal home of Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda.

This Scandinavian island is the site of the first modern observatory.

While most books are made of wood, these wooden books are truly made of, and all about wood.

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

A diverse collection of wax, bone, papier-maché and mummified relics.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

Lone survivor from Custer's Last Stand forever preserved.

This zoological museum began as the first great curiosity cabinet.

Solar observatory doubles as a daring display of Expressionist architecture, much to Einstein's chagrin.

Small on the outside, big on the inside, this church is an astonishing act of visual deception.

A small man-controlled waterfall powers an Art Nouveau elevator and is accessed via narrow gauge, solar-powered tramway.

A steam powered train that runs on city streets.

A Turkish ghost town abandoned in a population exchange with Greece.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

This "mathematical tower" was an observatory, early skyscraper, and place to reflect on all of nature and the cosmos.

Abandoned substation turned village treasure.