Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Materials for the Arts

Discover Materials for the Arts in Queens, New York: A New York warehouse filled with an enormous amount of goods saved from the landfills and donated for creative use.

Roosevelt Inlet Shipwreck

Discover Roosevelt Inlet Shipwreck in Lewes, Delaware: A wrecked ship dating back to the American Revolution was only recently discovered off the Delaware coast.

Chaine Memorial Tower

Discover Chaine Memorial Tower in Larne, Northern Ireland: This picturesque lighthouse at the edge of the Irish Sea looks like a giant stone pencil.

The Lane of Knots

Discover Het Knopenlaantje in Vorden, Netherlands: Where lovers tie birch branches into long-lived knots.

Little Nadine Earles Doll House Grave

Discover Little Nadine Earles Doll House Grave in Lanett, Alabama: Inside this small brick bungalow is a collection of toys intended for the afterlife.

Church of the Woods

Discover Church of the Woods in Canterbury, New Hampshire: Nature and religion are reunited at this unconventional church in the forest.

Old Trail Museum

Discover Old Trail Museum in Choteau, Montana: Touch an actual dinosaur bone at this eclectic trove of Rocky Mountain treasures.

Union Station Lamp Post Clock

Discover Union Station Lamp Post Clock in Kansas City, Missouri: This recently restored timepiece has stood all around Kansas City.

Spongeorama Sponge Factory

Discover Spongeorama Sponge Factory in Tarpon Springs, Florida: This small museum gives visitors a chance to soak up the history of the "sponge capital of the world.".

Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant

Discover Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant in Fortville, Indiana: The bespectacled, cocktail-sipping pachyderm is a strange but fitting liquor store mascot.

World Records of Casey, Illinois

Discover World Records of Casey, Illinois in Casey, Illinois: The world's largest collection of the world's largest objects is in one small Illinois town.

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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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