Places grindingthecore Wants to Go

These disused steel furnaces are now haunting ruins that may one day be a national park.

Andy Griffith's hometown has made itself up to look like the fictional town of Mayberry.

Jacksonville's highways rendered this century-old grammar school unusable.

The last standing silent film studio in Jacksonville is the last remnant of the city's once-thriving movie industry.

The second oldest jail in Florida gives insight into the realities of the criminal justice system at the turn of the 20th century.

An 18th-century Spanish watchtower made entirely of seashell and concrete.

Two men built this castle on the Florida coast as an artistic “landscape sculpture.”

One of the oldest, tallest, and most haunted lighthouses in America.

A tribute to Ponce de Leon's supposed quest for eternal youth.

Arrr! The most authentic collection of pirate artifacts in the world... matey.

America's first wax museum opened in 1948.

It's a pretty creepy lock-up.

The walls of America's oldest masonry fort famously "swallowed" cannonballs.

Hidden in this little-known town stands a piece of agriculture history.

Despite being burnt down multiple times, the ruins of this South Carolina church are still standing.

Most historians agree that the so-called "Gentleman Pirate" wasn't much of either of those things.

This small memorial is almost as well concealed as Smalls himself was on the night he sailed to freedom.

The oldest building in Charleston was used to store gunpowder during the American Revolution.

Spectacular mineral formations fill these caves, which have been used for everything from smoking meat to stashing illicit liquor.

A historic coal mine that doubles as a museum and tourist attraction.

This statue in Talcott, West Virginia, is an enduring symbol of American grit.

Step into the courtroom to learn details of the only case in history where ghostly testimony led to a murderer's conviction.

Step back in time at this historic variety store, packed with items from a bygone era.

Home of a 28-foot tall stalagmite known as the War Club.