Old Saint Mary's Church

This church dates from the 1850s, when it was constructed in the midst of brothels that flourished during the gold rush boom. The plaque under the clock counsels “Son, Observe the Time and Fly from Evil” (Ecclesiasticus 4:23). ...

Lotta's Fountain

Lotta Crabtree, a famous Vaudeville performer, who began her career in San Francisco during the gold rush, bought this 24-foot tall cast iron sculpture for the city in 1875. The beautiful Lotta reputedly danced on barrels in saloons for miners, ...

Hobart Building

A stunning example of classical revival architecture, the Hobart Building was completed in 1914. It was reputed to be the favorite commercial building of its designer, Willis Polk, and features a sculpted terra cotta exterior with a corbeled cornice and ...

Geary Theater

This classical revival building, originally called the Columbia Theater, features tripartitioned Roman columns and Renaissance Italian commedia dell’arte arches. It dates from 1910, and its construction marked a period of massive rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake. William Faville ...

Dragon's Gate, Chinatown

This structure marks the official entrance into Chinatown, which was the main point of entry for Chinese immigrants who arrived during the gold rush. The immigrants, many of them from China’s Guangdong Province, provided services for the miners ...

Bank of Italy Building, San Francisco

In 1908, this eight-story building became the headquarters of A. P. Giannini’s Bank of Italy (precursor of the Bank of America) after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed the original bank building in nearby North Beach. ...

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

Born in a single room log cabin on his father's Sinking Spring Farm on Sunday, February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln's early years on the Kentucky frontier helped to shape his character and prepare the boy who would grow up to ...

Saratoga National Historic Park

On September 19, 1777, Burgoyne had split up his 7500-man army into three columns to sweep around where he believed the Americans might be. One column of British troops would move west about 2 miles inland and begin to move ...

Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo

The Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, also known as the Royal Presidio Chapel, is a National Historic Landmark located in Monterey California and is the oldest stone building within California.

Father Junipero Serra founded San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey ...

George Washington Memorial Parkway

Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, the first section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, opened in 1932, the bicentennial of the birth of the man who shaped the nation as peerless leader in the War for Independence, chairman of the Constitutional ...