Places orjustfriends Wants to Go

A sacred site for Native Americans surveyed by George Washington and owned by both King George III and Thomas Jefferson.

A former mental hospital founded in the 1930s by a eugenicist who advocated for the forced sterilization of patients.

Developed by focused shutterbugs, this museum exposes visitors to more than 6,000 different cameras.

One of the few surviving examples of the first lock and dam system built on the Ohio River.

A melancholy guardian doubles as a judicious godmother to this small town cemetery.

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

This claimant to the title of "smallest church in the 48 states" doubles as an equally tiny, quasi-post office.

In the mountains of West Virginia is this perfectly preserved Art Deco train station.

This abandoned school has had many lives since the early 1900s, and all of them doomed.

An abandoned 1920s school with a mysterious history.

America's post-nuclear-attack chambers of Congress.

Once connected to the outside world by a single train track, this ghost town is looked after by the National Park Service.

Bubbling up from deep underground is the warm crystal clear water that fills the Warm Springs Pools, America's oldest spa.

The remains of one of the last mining camps developed on the New River.

An abandoned coal mine reached by a steep hike.

Near-constant high winds deform the trees on Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.

One day a year it is legal to jump off of this astoundingly tall bridge that spans an Appalachian gorge.

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

Two insane asylum bodies embalmed by an amateur.

A lighthouse on this West Virginia lake started as a joke, then the forces of nature helped make it a reality.

This lookout tower built in the 1930s is now an in-demand cabin with what might be the best view of the Seneca State Forest.

Take a steam-powered ride straight out of the past on this Appalachian rail line.

A particularly creepy abandoned hospital that sparks interest for lovers of the supernatural.

In 1952, a strange encounter in the woods of West Virginia led to the legend of a 10-foot-tall monster with glowing eyes and a distinctive style.