The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

This fully intact Neoclassical-Greek Revival style firehouse operated until 1938.

A watering hole where the options for seating include a bar, patio, or subterranean cave.

California's oldest existing theater building hosted an impressive cast of celebrities, including hosting Mark Twain's first lecture.

"You don't need a rocket scientist to build a steam engine, but we've got one." -Museum docent on the credentials of a restoration volunteer.

The first U.S. town to secede from the Union, only to vote themselves right back in.

The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."

A fine mixture of the old and the new topped with an art deco neon spire.

A middle school sports field that many believe was the true location of the first successful powered flight - and not by the Wright Brothers.

The modest home of the very immodest dancer who cost a king his crown.

Built in 1895, this bed and breakfast was once a hospital that served an early 1900s Gold Rush boomtown.

A rich history stashed behind an unassuming door in the heart of Gold Country.

Established in 1853, this crumbling cemetery sits forgotten on the corner of Church and Chapel in Gold Country.

The oldest continuously operating Catholic school west of the Mississippi.