Americas

Geary County Courthouse

Junction City, Kansas

A beautiful stop between St. Louis, Mo. and Denver, Co.

Boise, says the author, is a study in paradoxes, a place "both rural and metropolitan, civilized and feral."

Boise, Idaho: Big Skies and Colorful Characters

Idaho's natural beauty is what makes novelist Anthony Doerr feel so much at home in Boise

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Plentywood, Montana

Everyone is friendly, warm and willing to help each other in need

Harbour Town Marina in Sea Pines Resort with the Harbour Town Lighthouse

Hilton Head Island, S.C.

A remarkable population who have brought their love of art, music and learning to create a remarkably rich culture for a small town

In 1908, the whaling industry collapsed and Herschel Island was deserted.

Endangered Site: Herschel Island, Canada

An abandoned island off the coast of the Yukon Territory holds a unique place in the history of the Pacific whaling industry

Coro is a "unique example of a well-conserved urban area with Spanish, Antillean, Dutch and indigenous architectural influences," says Venezuelan architect Maria Eugenia Bacci.

Endangered Site: Port City of Coro, Venezuela

One of South America's best preserved towns, this Spanish colonial port city now faces deteriorating conditions

The 103-year-old Centennial Baptist Church was built by a black architect and was pastored by Rev. Elias Camp Morris, the first president of the National Baptist Convention.

Endangered Site: Centennial Baptist Church

Built by a self-taught black architect, the Arkansas church has hosted leaders in the black community for over a century

Moviemakers love the old houses with side porches (Aiken-Rhett House, c. 1820) and palmetto-lined streets, says Josephine Humphreys.

My Kind of Town: Charleston, South Carolina

Novelist Josephine Humphreys says the city is more than just her hometown, it's her life

The 2,400-mile-highway "took us to places that we needed to be, not in a literal sense, but a more philosophical sense," says curator Roger White.

Endangered Site: Historic Route 66, U.S.A.

The 2,400-mile highway was eclipsed by interstate highways that bypassed neon signs of roadside diners

Once the capital of an empire, Chan Chan was the largest adobe city on earth.

Endangered Site: Chan Chan, Peru

About 600 years ago, this city on the Pacific coast was the largest city in the Americas

Sherman has said she "didn't want to compete with the landscape," but she cleared space for a new Western woman.

Cindy Sherman: Monument Valley Girl

The artist's self portrait plays with our notions of an archetypal West

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Murrells Inlet, S.C.

The seafood capital of South Carolina

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Cornelius, N.C.

Established in 1905

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Vermilion, Ohio

A 'one movie theatre' town on the shore of Lake Erie

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Sutter Creek, California

A small northern California foothills town

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New Rochelle, N.Y.

Voted best city to raise a family in

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Athens, Tenn.

Education, the arts, patriotism, family and respect for all

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Ashland, Mass.

Halfway between Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts

Despite the summer influx of tourists, says the author, the town "remains at heart a working harbor."

The Vineyard in Winter

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks delights in the allure of Martha's Vineyard's off-season

"Horses define Lexington in many ways," says Edwards (with Thoroughbred Park's statues).

Lexington Is Kim Edwards' Old Kentucky Home

Far from her Northern roots, the best-selling novelist discovers a new sense of home amid rolling hills and Thoroughbred farms

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