Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Toad House

Discover Toad House in Ladysmith, Wisconsin: A fairytale art house in the middle of Wisconsin.

The Sinatra House

Discover The Sinatra House in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey: Along a busy beachfront strip you may hear Frank Sinatra singing from one boardwalk home.

Building 98

Discover Building 98 in Marfa, Texas: A World War II officers' club features Old West murals painted by German POWs.

Museumsgården

Discover Museumsgården in Læsø, Denmark: This antique farmhouse is one of Læsø's rare seaweed houses.

Iron Goat Trail

Discover Iron Goat Trail in Leavenworth, Washington: The site of the Wellington avalanche, one of the America's worst railroad disasters.

Ark Two Shelter

Discover Ark Two Shelter in Horning's Mills, Ontario: This extensive nuclear fallout shelter built from 42 school buses could house 500 people in its tunnels.

‘Cartwheel’ Tower

Discover 'Cartwheel' Tower in Washington, D.C.: Washington's top-secret Cold War-era doomsday communications tower is located in a small neighborhood park.

Menu

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

PP ToS