The site of an ancient Mississippian settlement that appears to have flourished during the 10th to 13th centuries.

At one time this small mining village was the highest town in America but now it sits abandoned while the mine churns on.

This deserted Gold Rush town is home to a Masonic lodge that, strangely enough, still holds meetings.

The hallowed remains of a 900-year old Ancestral Pueblo great house.

This massive home was constructed by one of the greatest conservationists in Colorado history.

Louisa May Alcott based “Little Women” on her experiences growing up in this house with her sisters.

One of two lighted lanterns hung in the church belfry on the eve of the Revolutionary War to warn that the British were on their way.

"the sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well . . . The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges."

One of the largest private collections of fossils in the world.

One of the last remaining World War II Victory Gardens in the U.S. is quietly growing across from Fenway Park.

The site of one of the strangest disasters in history—a wave of deadly molasses traveling at 35 mph.

This massive tea kettle was once a promotional stunt for the Oriental Teashop.

This nearly 200-year-old restaurant's history includes an exiled French prince, JFK, and a very hungry Daniel Webster.

This site commemorates the former inn and restaurant where the chocolate chip cookie was first crafted.

Each August, one of the largest religious (and food) celebrations in the country is held in Boston.

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

Working compound meant to allow visitors to reclaim the values and traditions of the past.

A Saint Nicholas-themed ghost town in the Mojave desert.

The first declared National Monument in the United States.

A phenomenal assembly of pueblos in New Mexico is the most complete example of ancient ruins north of the border.

The world's largest mountain carving could fit all of Mount Rushmore inside it many times over.

A breathtaking array of ancient Pueblo structures and artifacts counterintuitively preserved by neglect.