Field index

Historic Oddities

Browse documented historic oddities from across America.

Search the archive

Explore Oddities

Find unusual destinations by keyword, location, or category.

Clear all filters

109 documented oddities Highest curiosity first

View Map

Historic Oddities

Experimental Breeder Reactor I

Arco, Idaho

The reactor that first turned nuclear energy into usable electricity survives as a hands-on desert museum.

Historic Oddities

Bishop Castle

Rye, Colorado

Built stone by stone by a single man in the mountains of southern Colorado, Bishop Castle is one of the largest self-built structures in the United…

Historic Oddities

Indianapolis City Market Catacombs

Indianapolis, Indiana

A maze of brick arches beneath downtown Indianapolis, left behind by a vast public hall destroyed in 1958.

Historic Oddities

Zwaanendael Merman

Lewes, Delaware

A shriveled monkey-fish sideshow creature waits inside a Dutch-style Delaware museum.

Historic Oddities

Coney Island Hot Dog Stand

Bailey, Colorado

Shaped like a giant hot dog complete with bun and toppings, the Coney Island Hot Dog Stand is one of Colorado's most beloved roadside attractions. This…

Historic Oddities

Saugatuck Chain Ferry

Saugatuck, Michigan

A hand-cranked ferry crosses the Kalamazoo River by pulling itself along a chain stretched beneath the water.

Historic Oddities

Kokomo Opalescent Glass

Kokomo, Indiana

An 1888 art-glass factory famous for hand-mixed sheets in hundreds of colors, now continuing through its historic shop and legacy.

Historic Oddities

Old Idaho Penitentiary

Boise, Idaho

Cell blocks, solitary confinement, gallows, and handmade prison weapons fill a sandstone territorial prison.

Historic Oddities

Missouri State Penitentiary

Jefferson City, Missouri

Guided tours explore the cellblocks, yards, and turbulent history of a prison that operated for 168 years.

Historic Oddities

Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine

East Granby, Connecticut

Connecticut turned a failed copper mine into a brutal underground prison where inmates were lowered into darkness.

Giant Objects

Marion Steam Shovel

Le Roy, New York

A hulking, fenced-off steam shovel survives beside a country road.

Curious Landmarks

Fenelon Place Elevator

Dubuque, Iowa

Two tiny counterbalanced cars climb a 296-foot Iowa bluff on a railway built to make one banker's lunch break easier.