A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

Chewing gum tycoon's memorial lies perched over wife's botanical gardens on Santa Catalina Island.

A herd of 150 bison live on California's Santa Catalina Island and are at the heart of an ongoing debate between environmental protection and economic expansion.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

This opulent hotel has been visited by Spider-Man, Charlie's Angels, and the Ghostbusters.

This hilltop park offers magnificent views and a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

The famous animator's private station house and man-cave was the birthplace of imagineering.

Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

A faux European lane smack dab in downtown L.A.

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.

Medical and zoological curiosities for sale.

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

The ruins of the movie ranch owned by actor and stuntman Ray "Crash" Corrigan.

A wild west scene starring life-sized wooden statues hides in the trees behind Pierce College.

One man's vast collection of artifacts and ephemera from matchbooks and postcards to vintage neon signs and cars.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

Historic marionette theater features thousands of handmade puppets and free cups of ice cream.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.