By John Metcalfe From Bay Area News Group Hankering for outdoor experiences that offer the wonder of the past? Try California, home to the largest state park system in the country, including about 50 that are designated as historic. Here are some historic state parks you might want to visit, all within striking distance of…

If keeping an uber-cozy lighthouse in a frequently fog-begotten bay sounds like your dream job, East Brother Light Station in the heart of San Francisco Bay is hiring. Oh yes, there will be snug-as-a-bug nights by the fireplace on the rocky atoll when the fog rolls in during winter months—past occupants have said they “wouldn’t trade…

Brimming with history and wistful ruminations, Jessica Miller’s old childhood home sits nestled on Union Street in the heart of downtown Concord, North Carolina. She and her family first moved in around the late 1980s, but its once-glorious Edwardian architecture—displaying a grand columned façade—was originally erected in 1906 by the Archibalds, according to the current…

History Hit, the famous streaming video platform founded by the award-winning British historian Dan Snow, has announced the winners of its 2022 Historic Photographer of the Year competition—and the images are outstanding. Emblems of the past from around the globe were captured using landscape, urban, and aerial photography in novel ways or from novel perspectives….

Few pie shops have the provenance of the “Top Gun” House. Built in 1887 as the 500-square-foot oceanfront summer cottage for Dr. Henry Graves in what is now Oceanside, California, it rose to fame as the home of Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood in the 1986 blockbuster “Top Gun.” It later fell into disrepair, but thanks to…

The historic 18th-century landmark Old Observatory House has been given a 400,000-pound (approx. US$540,000) facelift—and will be used as a holiday let. Sitting on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland, it was once home to prominent astronomers and is one of the best surviving examples of New Town architecture. Now, the three-story, eight-bedroom building—dating back to…

A Crowland, UK, farmer recently dug up an amphibious WWII military vehicle that was buried under 30 feet of earth. Now, he is working to restore the Buffalo LVT-4—once thought to be lost to history. An excavation involving 50 men to exhume the tank in Lincolnshire Fens has afforded farmer Daniel Abbott the opportunity to…

The best getaways provide not just new experiences but also the comforts of home. Nothing provides quite the same richness of experience bed-and-breakfasts—they’re usually family-owned, always managed with care, and often have some historical significance. B&Bs were the way to “live like a local” long before the dawn of Airbnb, and their intrinsically intimate atmosphere…

The Paris Fan Shop, known in France as Musée de l’Eventail, is registered as a historical monument. It’s now being forced to close its doors permanently due to rent arrears of 117,000 euros (about $139,200). Workshop owner and fan-maker Anne Hoguet explains that “in the past few years, the museum had been managed by an…