A pair of mutilated bronze octopuses slump at the base of the monument honoring California's admission to the U.S.

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

These WWII-era murals were initially booed as a libelous portrayal of the American dream but have survived multiple attempts to have them destroyed.

A rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

The original place where water met land in the City by the Bay is outlined in brass.

A modern frieze of ancient Grecian mythological figures playing a national pastime.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

The peaceful gravesite of a rugged wild west gunman echoes the touching story of his last days.

One of the oldest adobe structures in Northern California.

The oldest house in the capital of Silicon Valley.

The rest of him lived another 61 years and was buried elsewhere.

The most beautiful Taco Bell in the world even has surfboard parking.

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.

This subtle Berkeley paving stone actually marks off a lawless tube of air that extends into space.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.

The rusting remains of the largest assembled WWII fleet on the West Coast.

A sparse, solitary sequoia still stands as a living tribute to the famous conservationist who planted it—but it's dying.

The perfect spot for a picnic, right next to a giant ballistic missile.