Places Edited by Eric Grundhauser

A towering cemetery monument honors a man who threatened to expose the Freemasons and paid with his life.

This restored opera house is named after a soprano known for tragic romance, exile, and a truly uncomfortable wedding.

This WWII aircraft museum presents its wrecks like taxidermy, complete with recreations of the crash sites.

The "mysteries" of this quintessential roadside oddity were almost destroyed by neglect but were saved by fans of kitschy wonder.

Built by the inventor of the radio, this abandoned hotel has housed early radio employees, military men, and a dangerous cult.

All that remains of one of the Civil War's more deadly POW camps is a simple flagstone.

This military mausoleum captures the solemn grandeur that most memorials only aspire to.

Visitors to this Belgium graveyard are greeted by the grieving stone parents of the young men lost to war.

This museum showcases the history and contributions of the U.S. Army to the medical industry, both on the battlefield and off.

This scenic Maryland park was the site of one of the worst prison camps of the Civil War.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

A sculpture of a giant hand reaches for the stars in the middle of the Atacama desert.

The world's first aircraft factory has been hiding inside an automobile plant for almost 80 years.

This giant boulder is pinched over a 1000-meter abyss by two mountains.

Germany's last remaining Lenin statue has become a lightning rod of debate about the country's divided past.

This study room in the New York Public Library saw the creation of one of contemporary America's greatest traitors.

Right up until the 20th century this network of man-made caves was the biggest village in Eastern Armenia.

Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch were all born in this art deco Manhattan masterpiece.

This iron and wood Civil War city-ship was the first vessel to be sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo.

The angel of death appears to weep black tears at this grave marker.

This foolish Victorian sea fort was converted to a deluxe hotel.

This reclusive Hopi village in Arizona has been continuously populated longer than anywhere else in America.

Visitors can swim with vicious predators in Crocosaurus Cove's plastic daredevil enclosure.

The middle finger of modernity.