deepblue's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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San Francisco, California

Vedanta Society's Old Temple

Built in 1906, this unique building was the first Hindu temple in the United States.
San Francisco, California

McElroy Octagon House

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.
San Francisco, California

Long Now Orrery

A modern mechanical planetary system, part of a 10,000 year clock.
San Francisco, California

The Stern of the Brigantine Galilee

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

Stern of the Niantic

The only visible piece of San Francisco's most famous shipwreck.
San Francisco, California

Chamber of Secrets Door

This residential door allows San Francisco muggles a glimpse at the wizarding world.
San Francisco, California

Museum of the Eye

A free, public museum dedicated to the fascinating science of sight.
San Francisco, California

Musée Mécanique

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.
San Francisco, California

Magowan's Infinite Mirror Maze

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.
San Francisco, California

Pier 22½ & the SFFD Fire Boats

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

Vaillancourt Fountain

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

Hotaling Whiskey Warehouse

The largest whiskey stash on the West Coast survived the 1906 fires--but not without heroic effort.
San Francisco, California

Hotaling Place

The oldest alley in San Francisco is paved with a reminder of the city's original shoreline.
San Francisco, California

San Francisco's Cable Car Museum

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.
San Francisco, California

Admission Day Monument Octopuses

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

Showgirl Magic Museum

In the basement of a San Francisco performing arts center, a small museum dedicated to the history of showgirls.
San Francisco, California

Plaque to Bummer & Lazarus

Noble beasts perhaps, but not the Emperor's dogs.
San Francisco, California

Site of the Niantic

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.
San Francisco, California

Site of the San Francisco Hippodrome

An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.
San Francisco, California

Banker's Heart

A shining, cold, black organ lies in San Francisco's financial district.
San Francisco, California

Corporate Goddess Sculptures

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.
San Francisco, California

Japanese Tea Garden

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.
San Francisco, California

Secret Tiled Staircase

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.