A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."

A water tower shaped like a giant coffee pot looms over a small Swedish village in Central California.

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

More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

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

One of Hollywood’s favorite government buildings.

It is locally loved and ridiculed for literally looking like poop.

The decor of this Hollywood movie palace just barely predated the opening of King Tut's tomb.

Once the fastest ship from San Francisco to Tahiti, the Galilee now lays in pieces in three different cities.

This former boomtown "island" is now submerged below Folsom Lake.

One time home to turn of the century explosives, now hidden under the Bay Bridge.

Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.

This remarkably simple jail went over a century without an escape.

This crumbling Death Valley mining complex was known for its use of giant, 20-mule team wagons.

Every weekend, the parking lot of this Buddhist temple turns into a Thai street-food paradise.

A ghost town originally established and governed solely by Black Americans seeking a place of their own, free from discrimination.

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

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

This graffiti-covered bridge is the quintessential vision of a place for disillusioned youth to escape the complexities of burgeoning adulthood.

Guarded by the Angel of Grief, the Stanford family tomb attracts an odd mix of halloween revelry and somber contemplation.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

A lighthouse built to save lives that took quite a few with its treacherous location.

Masterful ceramic fountain and map of the Pacific Basin.

A remote crossroads honoring a fallen talent.