Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Flexible Flyer Museum

Discover Flexible Flyer Museum in Moorestown, New Jersey: An unusual assortment of steerable wooden sleds is on display in a library in New Jersey where they were first invented.

Colorado’s Airplane Restaurant

Discover Colorado's Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado: This Boeing KC-97 tanker is now a restaurant for aviation lovers.

Misericords of Boston Stump

Discover Misericords of Boston Stump in Boston, England: These carved medieval "mercy seats" are among the finest in the world.

Abandoned Queensboro Trolley Kiosk

Discover Queensboro Trolley Kiosk in New York, New York: A forgotten relic from New York's bygone trolley system hides in plain sight under a bridge.

Blenko Man

Discover Blenko Man in Weston, West Virginia: This colorful West Virginia cowboy greets passersby with a glassy stare.

Otter Mound Preserve

Discover Otter Mound Preserve in Marco Island, Florida: Decorative shell walls built in the 1940s sit atop an ancient midden created by the Calusa Native Americans.

Muzey Sulayman Too

Discover Muzey Sulayman Too in Osh, Kyrgyzstan: An outstanding piece of retro Sci-Fi architecture built into a sacred mountain.

The Oshkosh Air Show

Discover EAA's AirVenture Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin: One of the largest aviation events in the world brings half a million aircraft enthusiasts to Wisconsin each year.

The World’s Largest Torrey Pine Tree

Discover Wardholme Torrey Pine in Carpinteria, California: At 130 years old and 126 feet tall, it is the largest known example of the rare Torrey pine tree.

Fourwentways Bronze Age Cemetery

Discover Fourwentways Bronze Age Cemetery in Cambridge, England: A 4,000-year-old burial site hides behind a roadside Burger King.

Lummelunda Cave

Discover Lummelunda Cave in Sweden: This fantastic cave remained unexplored until 1948 when three schoolboys discovered a hidden entrance.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 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. 474 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. 499 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. 633 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. 135 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. 167 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). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 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. 96 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. 166

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