Author: Ms. R.

In the center of the campus of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado lies a peaceful garden. Beautiful concrete paths are lined with trees and plants, leading to a central courtyard. Throughout the day, mule deer come by to nibble at the variety of plants throughout the garden. The plants themselves are mostly endemic to the region and grow sustainably, providing a uniquely local experience. Hesperus Park was named in honor of the nearby town of Hesperus, the original……

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The Brooklyn Navy Yard has a long and storied history as a place where great ships such as the USS Monitor and the USS Maine were designed. Traces of its industrial past are evident, from the dry docks to the various factories and storehouses. But the area also housed a naval hospital that contained its own cemetery from 1831 to 1910. As many as 2,000 men were laid to rest there during this time period.  The cemetery was shut down once it……

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Skull Rock, formally known as Cleft Island, is a small, but remarkable granite island that sits among the Anser group of islands off the southwest coast of Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia. The island lies within the Wilsons Promontory National Park. Due to the position of the island, high winds and ancient waves have carved out a fascinating 130-meters wide, 60-meter tall cave that sits in this hollowed-out cavern. The rugged formation can be seen from the coast, but it……

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The Kokomo Railway Watch Tower is a two-story-tall remnant from an often overlooked time in American history. Before automated traffic lights were widespread, small towns like Kokomo implemented around a dozen of these physically manned towers. Inside, a railway worker could manually change the traffic lights, lower and raise guard rails, and report incidents to local police. The tower was built around the 1930s, but its official end of use is unknown. Kokomo itself did not have automated traffic……

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When the owners of a new mall decided to decorate the access roundabout, they commissioned the famous sculptor Eladio de Mora (better known as “dEmo”). The artist planned a big fountain and a play on words: Leganés, like Lago Ness, and its monster. The fountain is kidney-shaped, with palm trees rising around it and two monstrous creatures at the center. The artist chose a local comic character, “Nensi” and took a sea serpent as a model, rather than the……

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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, host Dylan Thuras speaks with Dave Seminara, author of the book Mad Travelers, about extreme travel and the people who love it. 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 some fascinating people and hear their……

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It has all the trappings of a commercial kitchen: stainless steel work tables, rolling racks of stacked trays, clear containers full of grains and flour. But the apron-clad people busily weighing ingredients and shaping loaves aren’t restaurant chefs; they’re scientists. This kitchen is part of the Bread Lab. An outpost of Washington State University in western Washington’s Skagit Valley, the Bread Lab is quietly and methodically staging an agricultural revolution. Its focus is breeding, testing, milling, and baking with……

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Fields of ironwork, piles of brick, and rows of stone slabs and ornaments, along with a research library stacked with books, patents, blueprints, and sketches make up the collection of the National Building Arts Center (NBAC), the largest collection of building arts in the United States. On a recent tour of the Center, director Michael Allen described it as “one part memory palace and one part curio cabinet.” Supplemented by thousands of artifacts donated by the Brooklyn Museum in New……

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On the campus of the University of New Mexico stands a large concrete structure. Tunnels extend outward in each cardinal direction, and one opens up to the sky. Underneath this skylight, an aged plaque reads “The Center of the Universe.” This strange concrete tower was designed by an artist named Bruce Nauman, who received $100,000 in funding to design and build a sculpture between Mitchell and Ortega Halls. When it was completed in 1988, it was widely derided as……

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September 9, 1960: Kathmandu hums with the discordant music of drums and flutes. People disguised as dancing deities have traveled from all over Nepal to clap and sing their way through the streets as part of a festival honoring the Hindu god Indra, revered as the king of heaven. Amid the colorful melee winds 40-year-old Brit Desmond Doig, mountaineer, journalist, and photographer for National Geographic and Life magazine. In the midst of the chaos, Doig spots a shaggy-haired wool……

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The Castelvecchio (Old Castle) is an imposing military structure from the 14th-century, commissioned by the powerful Della Scala (commonly known as Scaligeri). With little decoration and composed of bricks of a soft red, it stands along the Adige River on the west side of the historic center. The structure is very well kept and contains an intricate design, as each section is different from one another. The central courtyard is elegant and pleasant. The views from the castle highlight……

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Sometimes this bridge is known as the Richland-Plummer Creek Covered Bridge, as it spans a tributary to the White River. In Greene County, Indiana, it’s called “THE” covered bridge, as it’s the only one still in existence in the county. Constructed in 1883, the bridge has been damaged. usually by vandals, and repaired often. The weight limit on the single-lane bridge is now only 3,000 pounds. The inscription on the last historical marker read: “Built 1883 by A.M. Kennedy……

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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, we visit the Panorama of the City of New York, a star of the 1964 World’s Fair where it competed for attention with new technology like touch-tone phones and the Ford Mustang. The artwork now lives in the Queens Museum. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll……

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