Mathew Nelson's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Loading map...
San Francisco, California

Jack Early Park

This teeny-tiny park built by a San Francisco man in 1962 is mostly stairs.
San Francisco, California

Musée Mécanique

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

Stern of the Niantic

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

Aquatic Park Tombstones

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.
San Francisco, California

The Wave Organ

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.
San Francisco, California

Palace of Fine Arts

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.
San Francisco, California

'Wood Line'

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.
San Francisco, California

Yoda Fountain

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.
San Francisco, California

The Walt Disney Family Museum

Inside this museum, the history of the Walt Disney Family empire is on full display.
San Francisco, California

Fort Point

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.
San Francisco, California

Presidio Pet Cemetery

A monument to the love people have for their pets.
San Francisco, California

Battery Chamberlin

Guns that have been defending San Francisco since 1904.
San Francisco, California

Western Terminus of the Lincoln Highway

The United States' first transcontinental automobile road came to its end at this spot in San Francisco's Lincoln Park.
San Francisco, California

Lincoln Park

Shoot for par over the bodies of the dead on this cemetery-cum-golf course.
San Francisco, California

Labyrinth at Land’s End

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.
San Francisco, California

Ruins of the Sutro Baths

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.
San Francisco, California

Sutro Heights Park

A hidden gem, named after a San Franciscan icon, offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.
San Francisco, California

Camera Obscura & Holograph Collection

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.
San Francisco, California

Dutch Windmill

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.
San Francisco, California

Golden Gate Park Diorama

A miniature view of the park, caught in time.
San Francisco, California

Beach Chalet WPA Murals

Depicting scenes of everyday life - and specific individuals - in Great Depression era San Francisco.
San Francisco, California

Murphy Windmill

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.
San Francisco, California

Doggie Diner Head

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.
Pacifica, California

McCloskey Castle

Abortion, prohibition, religion, war, and fear all play a part in the history of this idiosyncratic Pacifica castle.