Author: Ms. R.

The Wallowa Mountains have been called the Oregon Alps. They are a rugged, glaciated range in northeastern Oregon, with peaks near 10,000 feet that consist of granite and metamorphic rock that is very different from the better-known Cascade volcanoes. Much of the Wallowa (wuhl-OW-uh) Mountains lie within the Eagle Cap Wilderness, one of the first wilderness areas in the country (originally established as the Eagle Cap Primitive Area in the 1930s). A large lake of glacial origin, Wallowa Lake……

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The waterfront district of Harumi has quite a fascinating history. It started out as one of Tokyo‘s many reclamation projects, and in 1940, an international exposition was slated to be held here but the ongoing war forced it to be postponed indefinitely. In the end, it was Osaka that hosted the world’s-fair project, which had become Expo ’70 by then. Located in the area adjacent to the Port of Tokyo, the district was in dire need of a good infrastructure……

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The north side of Groningen is best known for its city beach, but around Christmastime it becomes the home of what is (probably) the world’s biggest Christmas bauble, in the form of an old planetarium dome covered with thousands of lights. The DOT was once known as the Infoversum when it was built by the city in collaboration with the local astronomy department. Finished in 2014, it was meant to draw around half a million visitors to its planetarium……

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Many families in Portugal celebrate Christmas around a table filled with cakes, biscuits, dried fruit, and good wine. Among the treats, they will likely have bolo rei (“king’s cake”), a crown-shaped cake decorated with crystallized fruit; sonhos, orbs of crispy-yet-airy fried dough; and rabanadas, a Portuguese version of french toast covered with sugar and cinnamon. In some regions, another treat will appear: a curved, eel-shaped mound of egg yolks, sugar syrup, and almonds that will stare out at diners……

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There’s no doubt that there were many, many powerful and newsworthy images created during the eventful past 12 months. We applaud all these skilled photographers, not only for persevering and bringing life to vital stories, but also for not losing sight of the little curious and enchanting moments—like the ones below. At Atlas Obscura, we always celebrate images that make you see the world in a new, hopefully wondrous way. Check out this selection of our favorite eye-catching moments……

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Travelers on US Route 2 might be startled by the sight greeting them on an otherwise empty stretch of road: the huge, gaping maw of a muskellunge pike, replete with teeth the size of a small child. At 65 feet long and 15 feet wide, the Big Fish does indeed live up to its name.  Local media is quick to mention the oversized muskie’s cameo in the 1983 film National Lampoon’s Vacation. But the Big Fish was not always……

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Santa Claus plays the saxophone. That jolly fellow rides a magic carpet. He sleeps barefoot in his bed. Santa bakes rolls. He carries wrapped gifts on the front of a hefty stein. And he also wears a cowboy hat. Nobody needs to trek to the North Pole to get a peek at these fun Santas. Just say hello-ho-ho to them at the Santa Claus Museum in Columbus, roughly an hour and a half drive from Austin. This tiny, Santa-filled……

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In a cemetery in Boston Common, a simple grave marked with the name Chow Manderien is more significant than it might seem. The Central Burying Ground gravestone serves as documentation of the first Chinese person in the United States.  In 1794, a Chinese teenager was brought on board the Union, a ship commanded by John Boit, Jr., a merchant sailor. The then-17-year-old was acting as Boit’s servant. Onomastically, his name should be Zhou Libei, but “Chow Manderien” was a colloquial attempt to……

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Standing the edge of the Thomas Basin and along Massachusetts Route 140, stands a peculiar site. An old stone church, completely stripped of its interior and perched right next to the water. The church is not located near the town center and seems like an odd place to build a house of worship. But what many people may not realize is that this old church is all that remains of a once-thriving community that was demolished and drowned to……

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When the Mombacho volcano in Nicaragua blew its cone some 20,000 years ago, it spewed debris into a lake and created, by coincidence, 365 islands. Today, the islands offer a beautiful excursion into the lake. The islets range in size between 100 square meters and over 100 hectares. The wild nature, resident birds and visitors, and the day-a-day routine of the locals make it an ideal place for a boat ride or kayaking. Most are covered in vegetation and……

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This two-story building has served many functions since it was erected as Frederick Barracks between 1777 and 1781. The building served as a POW camp during the Revolutionary War, again in 1799 during the Quasi-War with France, and a third time during the War of 1812. It also housed equipment for the Lewis & Clark expedition and was used at various times during that century as an armory and military academy. One of the most unusual uses for the……

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