189 Best Sights in USA

You may spot famous film and television locations around the city, but no firehouse is quite as eye-catching as the one whose exterior was made famous by the 1984 blockbuster Ghostbusters. (Its interiors were filmed in a studio.) The 1903 building is still the active home of FDNY Hook & Ladder Company 8, which ran with the ghost-busting theme for its logo—you’ll find the movie’s iconic ghost and red-circle strikethrough combined with the FDNY badge painted on the pavement out front. Movie buffs can buy a T-shirt with the logo, too, at  www.fdnyshop.com.

Built during the 1898 gold rush, the Golden North Hotel was—until closing in 2002—Alaska's oldest hotel. Despite the closure, the building has been lovingly maintained and still retains its gold rush–era appearance; a golden dome tops the corner cupola. Today the downstairs houses shops.

This restored Creole cottage was a modest prototype for much of the far more elaborate architecture of the surrounding Garden District. The scale, derived from the climate-conscious design prevalent in the West Indies, made this style easily adaptable to the higher pretensions of the Greek Revival look, as well as the slightly more reserved Colonial Revival. Built in 1837, the house has had one famous occupant: Henry Morton Stanley, renowned explorer of Africa and founder of the Congo Free States who most famously uttered the phrase "Dr. Livingstone, I presume" upon encountering the long-lost Scottish missionary.

The centerpiece of the 8½-acre Graycliff estate is the two-story main house, built circa 1926. Its cantilevered balconies take advantage of its position atop a 70-foot-cliff overlooking Lake Erie. The estate is undergoing an extensive multiphase, multiyear restoration. The property is about 18 mi south of Buffalo.

Sagamore Lodge and the 26 adjoining buildings that make up Great Camp Sagamore were built in the late 1800s by William West Durant, a prominent Adirondack figure. Designed in a Swiss-chalet style, the lodge was built with native spruce, cedar, and granite, and its rustic style set a precedent among the well-heeled set with retreats in the area. Bought and expanded by the Vanderbilt family in the early 1900s, Sagamore is now owned and run by a nonprofit organization that sponsors meetings, seminars, and classes, and rents rooms by the night or week. Classes and activities include canoeing, rustic furniture making, mosaic twig decoration, and mountain music. Tours (reservations required) take you to a blacksmith shop, furniture shop, icehouse, and livestock buildings, as well as to the main lodge. The camp is about 30 mi southwest of Blue Mountain Lake.

The oldest surviving house of worship in Rhode Island reflects the quiet reserve and steadfast faith of Colonial Quakers, who gathered here to discuss theology, peaceful alternatives to war, and the abolition of slavery. Built in 1699, the two-story structure has wide-plank floors, simple benches, a balcony, and a wood-beam ceiling. The Newport Historical Society can arrange group tours; the group's tour exploring religious tolerance also stops here.

Arlo Guthrie fans will want to make a pilgrimage to this Interfaith church used as a community gathering space and sometimes concert venue. The church, where Guthrie's famous song “The Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” began and where the movie “Alice’s Restaurant” was filmed, hosts weekly "Hootenannies," community lunches and small concerts. 

Also called the Bluebird Building, this Queen Anne–style commercial structure, a granite, copper-domed building with red polychromed brick, occupies a block in the heart of downtown. On the National Register of Historic Places, it's now home to a bank and several shops, including Butterfly Herbs, a local favorite for coffee, tea, spices, and candy.

Three historic buildings—an 18th-century log cabin and a turn-of-the-19th-century tavern and house—have been restored and opened for guided tours by Historic Fallsington. In the off-season (mid-Oct.--mid-May), it's open by appointment only.

An island originally connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, Historic Jamestowne was the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America (1607) and the capital of Virginia until 1699. The first settlers' bitter struggle for survival here, on the now uninhabited land, makes for a visit that stirs the imagination. Redbrick foundation walls roughly outline the settlement, and artists' conceptions of the original buildings can be seen at several locations. The only standing structure is the ruin of a church tower from the 1690s, now part of the Memorial Church built in 1907; the markers within indicate the original church's foundations. Other monuments around the site also date from the tercentenary celebration in 1907. Statues portray the founder of Jamestown, Captain John Smith, and his advocate, the Native American princess Pocahontas, whom Smith credited with saving him from being beheaded.

Near the entrance to the park, you can stop at the reconstructed Glasshouse to observe a demonstration of glassblowing, an unsuccessful business venture of the early colonists. The products of today are for sale in a gift shop. Archaeological discoveries from the site are showcased at the Archaearium. You can also observe digs on-site where archaeologists from Preservation Virginia continue to dig up evidence of colonists' and Native Americans' ways of life, including the remains of the original 1607 fort.

A visitor center near the main parking lot tells the history of Jamestown and the Virginia Indians, Europeans, and African peoples who lived here. Ranger-guided tours, held daily, explore many different events in Jamestown's history. Living-history programs are presented daily in summer and on weekends in spring and autumn.

A 5- to 8-mile nature drive (some cut out a loop within the loop and skip certain sections) that rings the island is posted with informative signs and paintings.

This famous Michigan Avenue structure, designed by William W. Boyington (who also designed the Pumping Station to the East) and completed in 1869, was originally built to house a 135-foot iron standpipe that equalized the pressure of the water pumped by the similar pumping station across the street. Oscar Wilde uncharitably called it "a castellated monstrosity" studded with pepper shakers. One of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire, it remains a civic landmark and a symbol of the city's spirit. The small gallery inside hosts rotating art exhibitions of local interest.

It’s hard to miss Stanford’s iconic building named for the 31st president of the United States and class of 1895 alum, Herbert Hoover. At 285 feet tall, it’s the closest thing the Peninsula has to a skyscraper. The domed red-tiled roof with a Belgian carillon underneath it can be seen for miles. For most weeks of the year, visitors can take the elevator up to the top for a panoramic view from San Francisco to the bay and East Bay Hills and to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Its legacy is as remarkable as its architecture: from the time it was built in 1819 until it was sold to New York State in 1964, Hyde Hall remained in the same family. Money from estates here, in Europe, and in the Caribbean enabled George Clarke (1768–1835), a prominent figure in colonial New York, to finance what is, according to many historians, the largest residence built in this country before the Civil War. Ongoing restoration projects—and the chance to question artisans about their work—add texture to a tour of the 50-room mansion. The property adjoins Glimmerglass State Park on the north end of Otsego Lake.

A runt compared to today's tall buildings, this sparkling 19-story high-rise from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was a trailblazer when it was built in the late 1950s. It was the first skyscraper erected with external supports (allowing for wide-open, unobstructed floors within), the first to employ steel pilings (driven 85 feet down to bedrock), the first in the Loop to be fully air-conditioned, and the first to feature underground parking.

Believe it or not, the public is welcomed in for a visit to this architectural wonder and federal house of justice. Galleries across the courthouse feature rotating exhibitions on a variety of themes, from maritime history to the judicial system. Don't miss Ellsworth Kelly's permanent installation The Boston Panels in the courthouse's rotunda. It's not uncommon to see a tall ship or a charter vessel docked outside, in season. Book a free tour through the website.

Get a quick overview of Houston by taking in the entire urban panorama from the 60th-floor observation deck of Texas's tallest building (weekdays 8–5). Architect I. M. Pei designed this 75-story structure, built in 1981.

Stop here not so much for the cabin itself, but as an excuse to ogle the scenery. George Knapp, a Santa Barbara businessman, stored gear in this small wooden structure when he commissioned fishing trips into the canyon in the 1920s.

Along the Old National Road out of Cumberland stands the only remaining tollhouse in Maryland. Built in 1836, the historic is a unique, seven-sided, four-room building that housed the gatekeepers who collected tolls until the early 1900s.

One Liberty Place is the 945-foot office building designed by Helmut Jahn that propelled Philadelphia into the "ultrahigh" skyscraper era. Built in 1987, it became the city's tallest structure; however, that distinction now belongs to the 975-foot Comcast Center. Vaguely reminiscent of a modern version of New York's Chrysler Building, One Liberty Place is visible from almost everywhere in the city. The building is now mostly home to apartments and offices, while downstairs are dozens of stores and a food court. In 1990 the adjacent tower, Two Liberty Place, opened. Zeidler Roberts designed this second building with Murphy & Jahn, which now holds the Westin Philadelphia, luxury condominiums, and a restaurant on the 37th floor.

The giant basket 35 mi east of Columbus is not just a huge sculpture–it's a building. The seven-story structure is actually the headquarters of the Longaberger Basket Company and the brainchild of late company founder and CEO Dave Longaberger. Built in 1997, the building looks like the company's famous market basket, complete with two 75-ton, three-story-tall handles on top. Building tours are available daily, but the office is closed for major holidays and occasional events; call ahead to double-check. A few miles away in nearby Dresden, at 5th and Main streets, Longaberger also made the world's largest basket. Ten maple trees were used for this behemoth. About the size of a house, the basket measures 48 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 23 feet high.

The love of geometric ornamentation that Sullivan eventually brought to such projects as the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. building (now the Sullivan Center) is already visible in these row houses, built in 1885. The terra-cotta cornices and decorative window tops are especially beautiful.

About 7 miles from its original site in the river bottom sits the cabin Theodore Roosevelt commissioned to be built on his Dakota Territory property. Inside is Roosevelt's travel trunk. Self-guided tours are offered year-round from the South Unit Visitor Center.

A wonder of arches, circles, skylights, and an eye-catching blue roof just 10 miles north of Mill Valley, the Civic Center was Frank Lloyd Wright's largest public project (and his final commission) and has been designated a national and state historic landmark. It's a performance venue and is adjacent to where the always-fun Marin County Fair is held each summer. Ninety-minute docent-led tours begin Friday mornings at 10:30 am.

Likened to everything from corncobs to the spires of Antonio Gaudí's Sagrada Família in Barcelona, these twin towers were a bold departure from the severity of the International Style, which began to dominate high-rise architecture beginning in the 1950s. Designed by Bertrand Goldberg and completed in 1968, they contain condominiums (all pie-shaped, with curving balconies); the bottom 19 stories of each tower are given over to exposed spiral parking garages. The complex is also home to six restaurants, including the House of Blues, plus Hotel Chicago, a huge bowling alley, and the marina.

Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in this study built for him by his sister-in-law and her husband. The octagonal shape was inspired by a Mississippi riverboat pilothouse. The study was moved to the Elmira College campus in the 1950s and is part of the school's Center for Mark Twain Studies. Cross the street to visit the (free) Mark Twain Exhibit to learn more about Twain's connection to Elmira or to buy books in the gift shop.

The street, which bisects the city at an angle, has consistently challenged San Francisco's architects. One of the most intriguing responses sits diagonally across Market Street from the Palace Hotel: the tower of the Hobart Building (No. 582) combines a flat facade and oval sides and is considered one of Willis Polk's best works. East on Market Street is Charles Havens's triangular Flatiron Building (Nos. 540–548), another classic solution. At Bush Street, the Mechanics Monument, in recognition of the Donahue brothers who industrialized the city, holds its own against the skyscrapers that tower over the intersection. This homage to waterfront mechanics, which survived the 1906 earthquake (a famous photograph shows Market Street in ruins around the sculpture), was designed by Douglas Tilden, a noted California sculptor. The plaque in the sidewalk next to the monument marks the spot as the location of the San Francisco Bay shoreline in 1848. Telltale nautical details, such as anchors, ropes, and shells, adorn the gracefully detailed Matson Building (No. 215), built in the 1920s for the shipping line Matson Navigation.

Like a slipcover over a sofa, the clean, geometric facade of this 1895 building expresses what lies beneath: in this case, a structural steel frame. Sure, the base is marked with roughly cut stone and a fancy cornice crowns the top, but the bulk of the Marquette Building mirrors the cage around which it is built. Inside is another story. The intimate lobby is a jewel box of a space, where a single Doric column stands surrounded by a Tiffany glass mosaic depicting the exploits of French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette, an early explorer of Illinois and the Upper Midwest. From its steel skeleton to the terra-cotta ornamentation, this Holabird & Roche structure is a clear example of the Chicago style.

One of the city's architectural jewels, this temple remains a hidden treasure even to many Philadelphians. Historically, Freemasons were skilled stoneworkers who relied on secret signs and passwords. Their worldwide fraternal order—the Free and Accepted Masons—included men in the building trades, plus many honorary members; the secret society prospered in Philadelphia during Colonial times. Brother James Windrim designed this elaborate temple as a home for the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. The ceremonial gavel used here at the laying of the cornerstone in 1868, while 10,000 brothers looked on, was the same one that Brother George Washington used to set the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. The temple's ornate interior consists of seven lavishly decorated lodge halls built to exemplify specific styles of architecture: Corinthian, Ionic, Italian Renaissance, Norman, Gothic, Oriental, and Egyptian. The Egyptian hall, with its accurate hieroglyphics, is the most famous. The temple also houses an interesting museum of Masonic items, including Benjamin Franklin's printing of the first book on Freemasonry published in America and George Washington's Masonic apron.

In 1909, with the addition of a 700-foot tower resembling the campanile of St. Mark's in Venice, this 1893 building became the world's tallest—but it was surpassed in height in 1912, when the Woolworth Building was completed. The Met Life Tower was stripped of much of its classical detail during renovations in the early 1960s but remains a prominent feature of the Midtown skyline. The clock's four faces are each three stories high, and their minute hands weigh half a ton each. If the street view doesn't quite cut it, you can reserve a room in the skyline itself: the New York EDITION, a luxury hotel conceived by Ian Schrager and Marriott International, occupies the clock-tower portion of the building.

It's pretty atypical for an apartment building to be featured as an actual tourist sight—but, then again, very few buildings are as notable, in terms of modern architecture, as the emerging East Cut neighborhood's MIRA, opened in 2020 and designed by the innovative Studio Gang. The 40 stories of its exterior seem to wrap around each other with a mix of waves and curves, like a giant twist tie. It's fascinating to see and almost seems like a visual allusion. Meanwhile at ground level on Folsom Street, there is a notable wine bar (Mili) and coffee shop (Saint Frank) at the base of the building.