Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Roxburgh Court Tree Plaques

Discover Roxburgh Court Tree Plaques in Edinburgh, Scotland: These plaques located in a court preserve a small piece of Edinburgh's history.

Whorlton Old Church

Discover Whorlton Old Church in Northallerton, England: All that remains of a medieval village, mysteriously abandoned.

Wishart Arch

Discover Wishart Arch in Dundee, Scotland: Atop this arch, during the 16th-century, a sermon was given to those suffering from plague.

Todt Hill

Discover Todt Hill in Staten Island, New York: The highest natural point in New York City and all of the Atlantic coastal plain.

Box Canyon Falls

Discover Box Canyon Falls in Ouray, Colorado: A glimpse of a waterfall is reached by a steel catwalk along a slot canyon located in an Ouray city park.

The Tepee

Discover The Tepee in Cherry Valley, New York: Take a trip back to the 1950s and the heyday of the road trip along Historic Route 20.

Skagit-Squatch

Discover Skagit-Squatch in Burlington, Washington: A museum dedicated to an elusive cryptid.

Fruitlands Museum

Discover Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts: Utopia and nostalgia mingle at the site of Bronson Alcott's ill-fated agrarian commune.

Kaweah Post Office

Discover Kaweah Post Office in Three Rivers, California: This small shack near the entrance to Sequoia National Park has been in almost continuous operation for the last century.

The Maiden of Deception Pass

Discover The Maiden of Deception Pass in Rosario Beach, Washington: This statue and its surrounding plaques tells the story of Ko-kwal-alwoot and the kinship between the Samish people and the sea.

Cementerio Santa Ifigenia

Discover Cementerio Santa Ifigenia in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba: A tomb in this cemetery holds soil from every country in Latin America.

The Mountains of the Moon

Located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Rwenzori Mountains are legendary for their beauty and biodiversity. But they are threatened by the changing climate.

Airmail Arrow

Discover Airmail Arrow in Reno, Nevada: A concrete arrow from a 1920s network of airmail beacons is still preserved at the western edge of suburban Reno.

The Scythe Tree

Discover The Scythe Tree in Waterloo, New York: A rusted blade sticks out from the trunk of this tree, left as a memorial to a young man who left to fight in the Civil War but never returned home.

Lynde House Museum

Discover Lynde House Museum in Whitby, Ontario: One of Whitby's first homes is now a showcase of the lifestyle of early Canadian families.

Dhigurashu Thun’di (Long Beach)

Discover Dhigurashu Thun'di (Long Beach) in Dhigurah, Maldives: A narrow, serpentine spit of sand is constantly eroded and rebuilt by competing currents.

Henry Chadwick’s Grave

Discover Henry Chadwick's Grave in Brooklyn, New York: The real "father of baseball" rests in Brooklyn.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 261 ii
To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design. 480 iii
To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared. 514 iv
To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history. 642 ix
To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals. 137 v
To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change. 172 vi
To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria). 256 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 151 viii
To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features. 98 x
To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. 168

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