Author: Ms. R.

Cloud’s Mill Race offers a rare glimpse into the once-booming mill industry that thrived in Alexandria, Virginia during the 19th century. Between 1813 and 1816, Cloud’s Mill, also known as Triadelphia, was erected just across Paxton Street from the marker. It was owned by a succession of millers including James Cloud, who operated it from 1835 to 1863. The mill was operational for more than a century. Despite owning the mill for less than a third of that time,……

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Of the 22 funiculars that once conveyed passengers and freight up and down hills throughout the city of Pittsburgh, only the Duquesne and Monongahela are still in operation. However, there is another whose bones have been transformed into a lush green space, featuring numerous walking trails, an overlook park, a stairway, and a natural clearing that provides scenic views of downtown. Knoxville Incline was in operation between 1890 and 1960. At 2,644 feet, it was the longest incline ever……

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This story was originally published on The Conversation as part of its Curious Kids series, in response to a young reader’s question about what happens at the military site. It appears here under a Creative Commons license. One of the reasons people can never be entirely sure about what is going on at Area 51 is that it is a highly classified secret military facility. It was not until 2013 that the United States government even acknowledged the existence……

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, a basketball fan goes to the sport’s Hall of Fame—but not the big one in Springfield, Massachusetts. Hear the story behind a Midwestern state’s special link to roundball. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet……

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Atlas Obscura‘s weekly crossword comes to us from creator Stella Zawistowski and editor Laura Braunstein, members of Inkubator, which publishes crossword puzzles by women and nonbinary constructors. You can see more puzzles in their book, Inkubator Crosswords: 100 Audacious Puzzles from Women and Nonbinary Creators. You can solve the puzzle below, or download it in .pdf or .puz. Note that the links in the clues will take you to Atlas Obscura pages that may contain the answer. Happy solving!…

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Presidents are not kings. Not only does this affect their powers in office, it also seems to influence their funerary habits—in particular, the distribution of presidential burial sites, as shown on this map. Why? Because dead royalty tends to agglomerate into dynastic clusters. Egypt’s Valley of the Kings has 63 royal tombs from the New Kingdom period alone, which lasted for five centuries until about 1000 BC. Presidential Gravesites: Accidental Egalitarianism The Basilica of Saint-Denis, north of Paris, held……

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Art Deco in Belgrade has had many contributions in the form of panels on apartment buildings and as elements in Yugoslav experimental architecture. Much has been contributed by Russian and Ukrainian emigre architects in the formation of what can be considered a Serbian Art Deco scene, for example. Out of all that can be seen in the Serbian capital, the best example of Art Deco is arguably the Embassy of France, which is one of the only examples of……

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Driving along Causeway Street in Hudson, Massachusetts, you might go straight past a small white building along the side of the road. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was a shed in somebody’s yard, but this small structure is actually a chapel which is known locally as the “original smallest church.” The United Memorial Chapel for All Faiths was built in 1953 by Reverend Louis Winthrop West right next to his home. It measures just five feet (1.5 m) by……

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