Places Rural Exploration VA Wants to Go

This lovely university observatory continues to sit abandoned since its potential savior was sent to jail for fraud.

The only remnant of a small mining town is an abandoned railroad tunnel that is steeped in ghostly lore.

An unoccupied lighthouse encased in layers of ice from the waters of Lake Erie.

Prison made famous by The Shawshank Redemption has been out of commission since 1990.

This abandoned bridge to nowhere stands secluded in the woods of a Cleveland suburb.

The largest earthwork effigy in the world.

A collection of witchcraft artifacts and occult paraphernalia started by the leader of the Long Island Coven.

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

This former asylum for Black Americans is haunted by its history of violence and racism.

This abandoned Victorian-style house was built in 1884.

This abandoned asylum was once a state of the art facility before devolving into one of the most deadly mental institutions in American history.

Built in 1815, the stabilized ruins of the grist mill and sawmill are now gated, but interpretive displays on the features and functions of the mill preserve its history.

This grove was planted more than a century ago by the War Mothers of World War I.

A historic cemetery with unique artwork, a Civil War fort, and also happens to be the site of the Battle of Bladensburg.

This lovely tree was a thank you gift from the man known as "Public Enemy No.1."

Maryland's first (and last standing) toll house on America's first federal road established the state as the "Gateway to the West."

Remains of a historic fountain that was mysteriously lost in the demolition of a D.C. traffic circle.

The stone marker that Mason and Dixon placed at the eastern end of the famous north-south border they surveyed.

A labor of love built by local hang-gliding enthusiasts, this ideal launch spot was outlawed by the authorities and has since been largely abandoned.

A remarkable time capsule of American manufacturing deep in Maryland coal country.

Ship skeletons haunt Baltimore's waterways.

Fiji mermaids, mummified remains, and recreated cryptids are among the morbid oddities at this Maryland museum.

Crammed into a Baltimore row house is an oddities shop that sells everything from skulls to dead insects.

An idyllic mineral hot springs facility with a more-than checkered past.