1

Miniature Graceland

Image: Florian Herzog

If you are on the East Coast and you are not planning a trip to the South to visit the real Graceland in Memphis anytime soon, you can always settle for Roanoke, Virginia's miniature version.

The handcrafted structures at Miniature Graceland include the mansion itself, a replica of the Elvis Presley Car Museum, as well as the King's birthplace in the city of Tupelo. This magical tribute was built in 1980 by Don Epperly, an Elvis fan, on the property next to his home. Over time, the attraction deteriorated, but a local group is now in charge of maintaining the site, which can still be visited.

2

World’s largest Christmas store

Image: Brandi Alexandra

Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan, is the self-proclaimed world's largest Christmas store. And no wonder—the amount of electricity required to run the 100,000 lights that illuminate the sales floor costs approximately $1,250 per day.

The salesroom showcases more than 350 decorated trees, and you can find decorations and gifts from 70 countries, as well as over 150 styles of nutcrackers. Also, Bronner's has in-house artists who customize over 100,000 ornaments annually. This place is so fantastic that hundreds of celebrities have visited it. So, now you know—if you're ever in Frankenmuth, chances are you'll be rubbing elbows with a Hollywood star while shopping for your next Christmas tree.

3

Missouri’s Mount Rushmore

Image: Takefreebies

Although often overshadowed by the original Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, Missouri’s Mount Rushmore with Fake Celebrity Heads still manages to attract a crowd. The "monument," located in Branson since 1996, includes sculpted faces of John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Charlie Chaplin.

This attraction is part of the Hollywood Wax Museum and is featured on the exterior of the building. Inside, you can find wax replicas of dozens of iconic stars —a true photo opportunity! But, if you get bored, Branson offers plenty of other attractions for the curious tourist. Just next door to the museum, you’ll find the Castle of Chaos, the world's first 5D ride and game, as well as Hannah's Maze of Mirrors.

4

World’s Largest Egg

Image: Daniele Levis Pelusi

There have been four versions of the "World's Largest Egg" throughout the history of Winlock, Washington, where it is displayed. The current version is made of fiberglass, weighs 1,200 pounds , and sits atop a ten-foot steel pole in the center of town. But why an egg?

Until the 1950s, Winlock was America's second-largest egg-producing town, and its residents were very proud of this distinction. In fact, the first "big egg" they built to celebrate it, a canvas version, dates back to 1923. In 1944, it was replaced by a plastic version, and in the 1960s, a fiberglass model took its place. The current version, crafted in 1993, was made possible thanks to a local chicken hatcheryman.

5

Virginia’s Dinosaur Kingdom

Image: Fausto García-Menéndez

If you ever wondered what would happen if giant dinosaurs had fought during the Civil War, look no further than the Dinosaur Kingdom in Natural Bridge, Virginia. Visitors to this quirky destination are treated to scenes of giant plastic lizards devouring Union soldiers in re-enactments of famous battles.

But it’s not all fantasy—there's some truth to it all. The park's 30 fiberglass statues are built around the premise that paleontologists discovered dinosaurs in 1863. This unique attraction was created in 2005 by local artist Mark Cline, who was inspired by the movie The Valley of Gwangi, in which cowboys discover living dinosaurs in a Mexican valley.

6

Thomas Edison’s Last Breath

Image: Zach Lucero

Who wouldn’t want to capture the soul of a loved one before they passed away? Believe it or not, that's what American industrialist Henry Ford did in 1931. Ford considered Thomas Edison a hero and a role model. In fact, as a young man, he took a job at the Edison Illuminating Company while working on his first experimental automobile. Edison, impressed by young Ford’s inventiveness, eventually became his friend.

As the legend goes, Ford asked Edison's son to sit by the inventor's deathbed. Believing that the soul left the body with one’s dying breath, Ford captured the final gasp of his dear friend in a test tube. The artifact, labeled "Edison’s Last Breath?", is now on display at Henry Ford’s Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. If you ever visit, you'll find other interesting memorabilia, like George Washington's camp bed and the rocker in which Lincoln was shot.

7

The Golden Driller

Image: Zbynek Burival

To celebrate the discovery of vast oil reserves in the area, the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, created a statue depicting an oil worker and presented it at the International Petroleum Exposition in 1953. The monument became so popular that in 1966, a new twenty-two-ton concrete and iron statue of a golden man standing next to an oil derrick was permanently installed in front of the Tulsa Expo Center.

The Golden Driller stands seventy-six feet tall and can withstand a 200 mph tornado. In 1979, it was declared Oklahoma’s official state monument. A plaque at its base reads: "To the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God’s abundance a better life for mankind."

8

Glass Beach

Image: Kevin Lanceplaine

From 1950 to 1967, the citizens of Fort Bragg, California, dumped tons of garbage onto a nearby beach. Over the decades, the ocean transformed the refuse into thousands of small, smooth, colored glass pebbles that still litter the shoreline today.

Now known as Glass Beach, this area adjacent to MacKerricher State Park attracts thousands of treasure seekers each year. The beach is accessible by foot via a short climb down the cliffs, although collecting the remaining glass is discouraged by State Park Rangers.

9

Hometown of Superman

Image: Zachariah Aussi

Although the rural town of Metropolis, Illinois, is a far cry from the bustling, imaginary city featured in the Superman comics, it has fully embraced its superhero ties. In 1972, Metropolis proudly declared itself the "Hometown of Superman."

A fifteen-foot bronze statue of the Man of Steel stands on Main Street in front of the county courthouse, while Lois Lane has her own statue just a few blocks away. If this inspires you to visit Metropolis, mark your calendar for the second weekend of June. Every year, Superman fans from around the world gather here for the Superman Celebration , which features discussion panels, costume contests, and appearances by celebrity guests.

10

Wonder Tower

Image: Martin Podsiad

One hundred miles east of Denver, in Genoa, Colorado, sits the World’s Wonder View Tower, a tribute to all things weird and obscure. In reality, it was a roadside attraction built in the mid-1920s by American showman P.T. Barnum as a sort of tourist trap. The promoters claimed that if guests climbed to the top, they could allegedly view six different states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico, and South Dakota.

For years, the sixty-five-foot tower housed a museum and gift shop featuring stuffed two-headed animals, a collection of 50,000 glass bottles, rooster eyeglasses, and scores of other curiosities. Unfortunately, today the tower is closed to the public due to the owner’s death. Nevertheless, visitors can still admire the weird-looking structure from the outside and, we assure you, it’s totally worth it!

1

Dundas Castle, Roscoe, New York

Image: Annie Spratt

Also known as Craig-e-Clair, this castle was built by Ralph Dundas in the early 20th century. It is an architectural marvel of stone and copper.

Dundas died before the castle was completed, and his wife was reportedly committed to a sanitarium shortly after. Consequently, no member of the Dundas family ever actually lived in the mansion. This has led to the "Ghost of Dundas Castle" legends, with locals claiming to see a woman in white wandering the unfinished halls, waiting for a housewarming party that never happened.

2

Rockwell House, Milledgeville, Georgia

Image: Clem Geiss

Built in 1838, the Rockwell House is a stunning example of Federal-style architecture, but its beauty is shadowed by a dark past. It was originally built for Colonel Samuel Rockwell, a prominent lawyer.

Local lore whispers about the "Rockwell Ghost," believed to be a young girl who died during a yellow fever outbreak. However, the house’s most tangible secret lies in its survival; it has endured multiple fires and periods of extreme neglect. In recent years, it has become a focal point for preservationists who uncovered hidden structural reinforcements that suggest the house was built to be an impenetrable fortress of its era.

3

Elda Castle, Ossining, New York

Image: Nitrogel

If the name David Abercrombie sounds familiar, it’s because he co-founded the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch . But in the 1920s, he also built this granite castle, named Elda (an acronym of his children’s names), as a secluded retreat.

The castle features a network of spiral staircases and open-air porches designed to blend the indoors with the rugged wild. Its abandonment, however, is a sheer tragedy. After the family moved out, the castle was used as a research facility and later fell victim to vandals. Legend has it that a fire in the 1940s was started by squatters, leaving behind a charred stone husk that resembles a medieval ruin more than a 20th-century home.

4

Mongo's Castle, Memphis, Tennessee

Image: Denny Müller

A stark contrast to the classical mansions of the South, Mongo’s Castle was the passion project of Mongo Bebe, a man who built his home out of scrap stone, Ashlar blocks, and found materials.

The house is a maze of folk-art eccentricity. The builder intended it to be a community center and a symbol of African-American heritage and self-reliance. It stands today as a decaying puzzle, with many neighbors still unsure of the structural logic behind its towering, uneven walls.

5

Bannerman's Castle, Pollepel Island, New York

Image: Leonard G., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rising from the Hudson River, this castle was never intended to be a home; it was a giant advertisement and warehouse for Francis Bannerman VI’s military surplus empire.

In 1920, 200 tons of gunpowder and shells exploded in the castle’s powder house, blowing out a significant portion of the walls. The ground is still considered unstable due to the remnants of military munitions, and the inscriptions on the walls are actually warnings and advertisements for the Bannerman business. Do you dare visit this mansion?

6

Castle Mont Rouge, Rougemont, North Carolina

Image: Florian Delée

This whimsical, onion-domed castle looks like it belongs in the Russian countryside rather than the North Carolina woods. It was designed by sculptor Robert Mihaly, but he ended up abandoning the project in the early 2000s following a personal tragedy and financial hurdles.

The castle remains an "empty sculpture," filled with intricate marble work and unfinished turrets. The bizarre architectural fusion lacks a standard floor plan, making it nearly impossible to convert into a functional residence without destroying its artistic integrity.

7

Ha Ha Tonka Castle, Camdenton, Missouri

Image: Hannah McBride

Robert Snyder, a wealthy Kansas City businessman, began building this European-style castle in 1905. He wanted a retreat that overlooked the breathtaking Ha Ha Tonka Spring.

Yet, Snyder never got to see his dream finished; he was killed in one of Missouri’s first recorded automobile accidents just a year after construction began. His sons finished the castle, but it was gutted by a fire in 1942. There’s a hidden network of caves beneath the castle, which were rumored to be used by outlaws and later as a natural "refrigerator" for the estate’s kitchen.

8

Carleton Island Villa, Cape Vincent, New York

Image: Tama66

This once-magnificent villa was built for William Wyckoff, who made a fortune with the Remington Typewriter Company.

The Secret: Wyckoff’s dream turned into a nightmare on the very first night he stayed in the house. He suffered a massive heart attack and died in his sleep. His wife had passed away a month prior, leaving the villa to a son who had no interest in it. The house has stood empty for over 70 years, its secret being the tragic "cursed" timing that prevented it from ever functioning as a family home.

9

Dicksonia Plantation, Lowndesboro, Alabama

Image: Theo Bickel

Dicksonia was a quintessential antebellum mansion, featuring the massive columns and wrap-around porches synonymous with the Old South.

Unlike many plantations that were destroyed during the Civil War, Dicksonia survived the conflict only to be destroyed by a mysterious fire in 1939. Its "ghost pillars," however, remained standing long after the wooden house burned away. These towering brick columns became a haunting landmark , representing the structural skeletons of a forgotten social order.

10

Wyndcliffe, Rhinebeck, New York

Image: Peter Herrmann

This house is the literal origin of the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses." Though often referred to as a "Mystery Mansion" by urban explorers, this is the ruin of Wyndcliffe, the estate of Elizabeth Schermerhorn Jones.

Elizabeth’s mansion was so grand and intimidating that it prompted her neighbors—including the Astors—to build even larger homes to compete. The secret of Wyndcliffe is the psychological impact of its architecture; it was built to inspire envy, and its current state of absolute decay is a poetic commentary on the fleeting nature of social status.

1

Virginia (1607)

Before being an established colony, the entirety of England’s territories in North America was referred to as Virginia. While it is commonly accepted that Sir Walter Raleigh named it after Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen , some historians have suggested that it is the European rendering of Wingina , the name of that region’s native ruler.

The first two English settlements (in modern-day Newfoundland and North Carolina) were not successful. The third one, Jamestown, was settled by the Virginia Company as a charter (a sovereign’s permission to establish a colony). Eventually returned to the crown’s authority, it was officially known as the Virginia Colony. After the English Civil War, Charles II conferred on it the title of "Old Dominion" as a token of gratitude, a name that survives as the state’s current nickname.

2

Massachusetts (1620)

Also established by charter, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was not only created for trading purposes, like other settlements. It was also intended as a safe haven for English Puritans who desired to escape persecution . Its charter and name changed several times due to the Civil War and political unrest. Eventually, several colonies were merged into the Dominion of New England and later into the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

The name Massachusetts was taken from the indigenous population of the region, an Algonquian tribe called the Massachusett or Muhsachuweesut . It is believed that the name means ‘by the great hills’ or ' at the range of hills’, in reference to the Blue Hills.

3

New Hampshire (1623)

The first settlements in New Hampshire were the result of land being granted to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges , neither of whom ever traveled to the region. Additional settlements in the area were established by colonists from Massachusetts Bay, who were unhappy with the strict Puritan rule of the colony.

Although John Mason had been born in Norfolk, he had ties to Hampshire County in South East England, after whom he decided to name his newly granted land . After Mason’s death, the region lacked a proper authority, and the settlers voted to be part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. After the Civil War, the Province of New Hampshire was established by Charles II.

4

Maryland (1634)

A similar situation to the Massachusetts colony, Maryland was also established as a refuge from religious persecution, this time for Roman Catholics . With this purpose in mind, George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, secured a land grant from Charles I. Despite several religious conflicts, Maryland remained one of the most tolerant colonies.

Maryland was named after Charles I’s wife, Henrietta Maria , who was a devout Catholic. Lord Baltimore had initially intended to use the name Crescentia (or ‘the land of growth’), but he decided to let the King choose the name. Charles named it Terra Mariae (Maria’s land), although the English version quickly became more widely used.

5

Connecticut (1636)

The first settlements in the area were established by Dutch explorers, but English settlers soon arrived from the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. The colony took its name from the Connecticut River , a corrupted form of the native words quinetucket and kwinitekw , meaning ‘beside the long, tidal river’.

Connecticut's current nickname, ‘the Constitution State’, is a reference to the Colony’s constitution, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut , one of the earliest constitutions in modern history.

6

Rhode Island (1636)

Founded by a Puritan minister who had been expelled from the Massachusetts Colony, Rhode Island was initially named Providence Plantations . Committed to ensuring religious freedom, it became a refuge for religious dissenters who found it difficult to live in the strict Puritan colonies. Later on, it merged with several other settlements —among them, Aquidneck Island, also known as Rhode Island— and took the name of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

It’s uncertain where the name Rhode Island came from, but the two most likely theories cite either a connection with the Greek island of Rhodes or the Dutch phrase "een rodlich eylande" (‘a reddish island’) . All three names (Rhode Island, Island of Rhodes, and Red Island) are used in 17th-century documents.

7

North and South Carolina (1663)

Before there was a North and a South Carolina, there was just Carolina . The land of both colonies had been granted to various nobles as a reward for their role in the restoration of the monarchy. The charter granting the lands —which included areas from present-day North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida— named them Carolina (from the Latin Carolus ) after King Charles I .

The area covered by the province of Carolina was divided into two distinct parts, and communication and transportation between the two proved difficult. A deputy governor for the northern region was initially appointed, but the noble proprietors eventually decided to divide the province into two , North Carolina and South Carolina.

8

New York (1664)

It is a widely known fact that modern-day New York was initially colonized by Dutch settlers under the name ‘New Netherland’, with ‘New Amsterdam’ as its capital city . In 1664, King Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, gathered a fleet to seize the New Netherland territories, a conquest disputed by the Dutch West India Company, the colony administrator.

The Duke of York was made proprietor of the territory, now renamed ‘New York’. In the following decade, the ownership of the territory was disputed, and the Dutch made several attempts to recover it. Eventually, the Treaty of Westminster was signed in 1674, where the Dutch forfeited the New York territories in exchange for the Suriname colony in South America.

9

Delaware (1664)

The territory of Delaware was originally part of New Netherland, which made it part of the New York Province after British conquest, but it was never effectively controlled by the New York government. These counties had taken their name from the neighboring Delaware River , which in turn had been named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, governor of Virginia at the time the English gained control of that territory.

While they were never a colony of their own, the Delaware counties had an independent legislature and functioned as a de facto colony. Later included in the land granted to William Penn, they refused to merge with the Pennsylvania government and were eventually granted their own assembly. At the start of the Revolutionary War, the Delaware assembly voted for separation from Britain, thus creating the state of Delaware.

10

New Jersey (1665)

Originally part of the New Netherland territory, half of the New Jersey territory was conferred by the Duke of York to Sir George Carteret as a reward, while the other half was sold to Lord Berkeley of Stratton. The territory was named after Carteret’s homeland, the island of Jersey .

A few years later, New Jersey was divided into two provinces, East and West Jersey , with their respective governors and constitutions, which were eventually incorporated into the New England Dominion, alongside the province of New York. However, the Dominion was dissolved after a few years, and the East and West Jersey territories were unified as the Province of New Jersey.

11

Pennsylvania (1681)

Pennsylvania, alongside Carolina, is one of the two major Restoration colonies, chartered by Charles II to reward loyal subjects after the war. In this case, it was conferred on William Penn, an influential Quaker thinker, to settle a debt owed to his father. Penn and his associates had already purchased most of the New Jersey territory to establish a Quaker haven, but religious tensions in England made him propose a mass emigration of Quakers to the King.

The king conferred Penn a large territory —which made him the largest private non-royal landowner— with almost absolute rights. While Penn intended to name the colony either ‘New Wales’ or ‘Sylvania’ (Latin for ‘forests’), the king named it Pennsylvania after Penn’s father . Penn personally travelled to the territory to establish the first settlements, signed treaties with the Lenape tribes of the area, and established a proto-constitution which guaranteed freedom of religion, elections, and trials by jury.

12

Georgia (1732)

The last colony to be established, Georgia was chartered to James Oglethorpe by King George II, after whom it was named . A social reformer, Oglethorpe, wanted to establish the territory as a haven for debtors and poor people, and implemented measures such as the banning of alcohol and slavery. He also disliked the large plantation system, favoring smallholdings.

The colony was also intended to be a ‘buffer’ between the British colonies and the Spanish territories in Florida. Despite Oglethorpe’s well-intentioned designs, the colony was difficult to manage, and it was returned to the crown two decades later. Upon becoming a royal colony, Oglethorpe’s measures against slavery and the plantation system were overturned.