Business & Finance

The coolest building in every US state


  • The US has diverse architecture across its 50 states.
  • Some buildings are grandiose and elegant, while others are quirky and unique.
  • These buildings make for some cool and striking tourist attractions.

The United States, with its extensive history, has given rise to some striking and unique architecture.

From preserving local history to showcasing some of each region’s unique cultural quirks, these 51 buildings across the US are worthy of being tourist attractions.

Defining what we consider to be the “coolest” is hard. We evaluated every state on its own terms, and we’ve found that the architecture across all 50 — and Washington, DC — is as diverse as its population.

In states like California and Massachusetts, it meant picking buildings that look futuristic and elegant, like something out of a science-fiction movie.

In other states, like Maine and the Carolinas, we’ve found that the coolest buildings are distinctive because of their place in history or the state’s culture.

James Grebey and Jacob Shamsian contributed to an earlier version of this story.

ALABAMA: Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Passenger Terminal


The Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Passenger Terminal in Mobile was built in 1907.


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The Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Passenger Terminal in Mobile, Alabama, which has Spanish influences with its cream walls and red clay tiles, was designed by P. Thornton Marye. It was constructed in 1907 and has undergone restoration since passenger train service ceased in the 1950s.

ALASKA: The University of Alaska’s Museum of the North


The University of Alaska Museum of the North

The Museum of the North is home to exhibitions that showcase Native cultures and natural history.


Kit Leong/Shutterstock

The University of Alaska Museum of the North is home to numerous exhibits showcasing the native cultures, natural wonders, and wildlife of our nation’s largest state. It’s also a stylish refuge from the cold.

ARIZONA: Chapel of the Holy Cross


Chapel of the Holy Cross

The Chapel of the Holy Cross sits on the side of a hill.


Angel DiBilio/Shutterstock

The Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona was finished in 1956, and it juts out majestically from a red stone butte some 200 feet above the ground.

ARKANSAS: Thorncrown Chapel


thorncrown chapel

The Thorncrown Chapel is located in the middle of a lush Arkansas forest.


barrywright/Shutterstock

The beautiful Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs looks like an open-air structure, but it’s actually a serene, glass-enclosed architectural marvel.

CALIFORNIA: The Chemosphere


The Chemosphere

The Chemosphere in Los Angeles is a house that sits atop a 30-foot concrete pole.


Jim Steinfeldt/Getty Images

It was designed in 1960, but the Chemosphere still looks futuristic. It’s a house with 2,200 square feet of space, perched atop a 30-foot concrete pole. And it’s survived every single Californian earthquake to pass through the San Fernando Valley since it was built.

COLORADO: Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park


Mesa Verde National Park

The Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park is estimated to date back over 800 years.


Laima Swanson/Shutterstock

Mesa Verde National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, features some of the best-preserved prehistoric landscapes of the Ancestral Puebloan people. These ancient dwellings, where the Ancestral Puebloans once lived, were constructed on the sides of natural cliffs.

While most dwellings had only one to five rooms, the Cliff Palace, the largest known cliff dwelling in North America, had 150 rooms, 23 sacred meeting spaces, and housed approximately 100 people, according to the National Park Service.

CONNECTICUT: Grace Farms


Grace Farms

Guests at Grace Farms can enjoy some tea or listen to intimate performances in the pavilion.


365 Focus Photography/Shutterstock

The main feature of Grace Farms in New Canaan is a serpentine wooden pavilion that links glass-walled rooms, including a library, stage, tea room, and a gym with a full basketball court. Completed in 2015, it’s open to the public for free.

DELAWARE: Wilmington’s Grand Opera House


Wilmington's Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House in Wilmington was built in 1871.


JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

The country’s oldest state has some classic buildings that stand the test of time. Wilmington’s Grand Opera House, built in 1871, is as classic as it gets.

FLORIDA: The Salvador Dalí Museum


The Salvador Dalí Museum

The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg has the largest collection of his work outside Europe.


Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg is a fittingly unique tribute to the beloved master of surrealism. The museum boasts the largest collection of Dali’s work outside Europe.

GEORGIA: The Earth Lodge on Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park


Ocmulgee National Monument

The Earth Lodge in Macon, Georgia, was originally constructed over a thousand years ago.


Jeffrey M. Frank/Shutterstock

This might not look much like other buildings in this list, but the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park’s Earth Lodge dates back to the year 1015, per the National Park Service.

The lodge is a reconstructed council chamber of the native Mississippian culture. While the walls and ceiling were reconstructed in the late 1930s, the clay floor remains the same as the original, dating back over a thousand years.

HAWAII: ʻIolani Palace


ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu is the only royal palace on United States soil. David Kalākaua, the last reining king of Hawaii and the first monarch to travel around the world, was inspired by European palaces he saw on his 1881 voyage.

ʻIolani Palace was the residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi until 1893.


Michael Warwick/Shutterstock

ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu is the only royal palace on United States soil. David Kalākaua, the last reigning king of Hawaii and the first monarch to travel around the world, was inspired by the European palaces he saw during his 1881 voyage.

IDAHO: The Dog Bark Park Inn


dog bark park inn cottonwood

The Dog Bark Park Inn, a small bed-and-breakfast, is a kitschy piece of architecture.


Martyn Skorkin/Shutterstock

The Dog Bark Park Inn in Cottonwood is a delightful piece of American kitsch. The bed and breakfast is shaped like two charming beagles.

ILLINOIS: Bahá’í House of Worship


Bahá'í  Wilmette, Illinois

The Bahá’í House of Worship.


Leotakespictures/Shutterstock

Although there are between 5 and 6 million adherents to the Bahá’í Faith, there are only eight continental houses of worship worldwide. The one in Wilmette, Illinois, is the oldest still standing, and the only one in the United States.

INDIANA: West Baden Springs Hotel


West Baden Springs Hotel

The West Baden Springs Hotel opened in 1902 and was billed as the Eighth Wonder of the World at the time.


IN Dancing Light/Shutterstock

When the West Baden Springs Hotel opened in 1902, it was billed as the Eighth Wonder of the World. While enjoying the view from inside the massive domed atrium — at one point the largest in the world — it’s easy to see why.

IOWA: Grotto of the Redemption


Father Paul Dobberstein promised to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary as she helped cure his grave case of pneumonia. His resulting Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend is made of rocks, shells, fossils, and gems pressed into concrete. It's the size of a football field.

The Grotto of the Redemption is the size of a football field.


Tom Robertson/Shutterstock

Father Paul Dobberstein promised to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary as she helped cure his grave case of pneumonia. His resulting Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend is made of rocks, shells, fossils, and gems pressed into concrete. It’s the size of a football field.

KANSAS: Big Well in Greensburg


Big Well in Greensburg

The Big Well museum sits atop the largest hand-dug well in the world.


Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images

The Big Well in Greensburg is a museum that rests atop its titular main attraction: the largest hand-dug well in the world, spanning 32 feet in diameter and reaching a depth of 109 feet.

KENTUCKY: Churchill Downs


Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs is the home of the Kentucky Derby.


Chad Robertson Media/Shutterstock

Churchill Downs, most famously the host of the Kentucky Derby, can hold 120,000 excited, sometimes rowdy, racing fans at max capacity.

LOUISIANA: The Pontalba Buildings


The Pontalba Buildings, which make up two sides of New Orleans' Jackson Square, are emblematic of the French Quarter. Some of the residences on the upper floors are thought to be the oldest continuously-rented apartments in the country.

The Pontalba Buildings are emblematic of the French Quarter in New Orleans.


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The Pontalba Buildings, which make up two sides of New Orleans’ Jackson Square, are emblematic of the French Quarter. Some of the residences on the upper floors are believed to be the oldest continuously rented apartments in the country.

MAINE: The Portland Head Light


Portland Head Light

The Portland Head Light was built at the directive of George Washington.


Juliany’s Torres/Shutterstock

The Portland Head Light — one of the state’s many lighthouses — has been around since 1791. It was built under the directive of George Washington himself.

MARYLAND: The American Visionary Art Museum


American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore

The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore showcases eccentric art.


Stoniko/Shutterstock

The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore showcases outsider art. All the works within its wonky exterior were made by inspired, self-taught creators.

MASSACHUSETTS: Simmons Hall at MIT


Simmons Hall at MIT

Simmons Hall at MIT is one of the coolest-looking dorm buildings in the US.


f11photo/Shutterstock

Simmons Hall at MIT is the coolest dorm building in the US. It looks like a monstrous Tetris piece combined with underground caverns.

MICHIGAN: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History


Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History opened in 1966.


Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images for Elley Orem

The museum, one of the oldest and largest dedicated to African American history, is a three-story building designed with influences of African and local Detroit architecture. The building features a stunning 55-foot-tall glass dome ceiling.

MINNESOTA: The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory


Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in St. Paul opened in 1915.


Ken Wolter/Shutterstock

The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Saint Paul’s Como Park was opened to the public in 1915 and features Japanese, Bonsai, and butterfly gardens, among others.

MISSISSIPPI: Gehry’s Pods at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art


Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art

Gehry’s Pods at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi were designed to “dance” with the surrounding trees.


EQRoy/Shutterstock

Designed by Frank Gehry — whose striking work also includes the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain — the curved metal pods, which house pottery at Biloxi’s Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, are meant to look as if they were “dancing with the trees,” per the museum’s website.

MONTANA: Montana State Capitol building


Montana State Capitol

The Montana State Capitol began construction in 1896.


Mihai_Andritoiu/Shutterstock

Construction started on the Montana State Capitol in 1896. The inside of the rotunda salutes four types of people central to the state’s early history: a native American, an explorer, a gold miner, and a cowboy.

NEBRASKA: Nebraska State Capitol Building


Nebraska State Capitol Building

The Nebraska State Capitol was built between 1922 and 1932.


Mihai_Andritoiu/Shutterstock

The Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln is one of the greatest state capitol buildings in the US. Built between 1922 and 1932, the building features artworks representing the development of law and the state of Nebraska.

NEVADA: Ward Charcoal Ovens


Ward Charcoal Ovens

The Ward Charcoal Ovens in Ely were built in the 1870s for silver mining.


Kit Leong/Shutterstock

The distinctive beehive-shaped Ward Charcoal Ovens in Ely were built for silver mining back in the 1870s, and they still look like nothing else on the landscape.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Mount Washington Hotel


Mount Washington Hotel

The Mount Washington Hotel was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.


Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock

Built in 1902, the Mount Washington Hotel — today operating as the Omni Mount Washington Resort — is one of the last remaining grand hotels in the state, and is rumored to be haunted.

NEW JERSEY: Nassau Hall at Princeton University


Nassau Hall is the oldest building at Princeton University. While today it contains the school's administrative offices, during the Revolutionary War it was held by both British and American forces, and was damaged during the battles.

Nassau Hall was held by both British and American forces during the Revolutionary War.


Hansonl/Shutterstock

Nassau Hall is the oldest building at Princeton University, dating back to the 1750s. While it now houses the school’s administrative offices, during the Revolutionary War it was occupied by both British and American forces and suffered damage during the battles.

NEW MEXICO: Taos Pueblo


Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992.


AP Photo/Beth Harpaz

Hundreds of years old, Taos Pueblo is a multi-story complex built by Native Americans from the region. It looks like one big, molded piece, and it’s still used as a residence.

NEW YORK: The Chrysler Building


Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building was the tallest in the world until the Empire State Building was built.


Stefano Politi Markovina/Shutterstock

The Empire State Building gets all the hype, but it’s the Chrysler Building that’s really the most magnificent skyscraper in New York City. The Art Deco-style building was the tallest in the world when it was built, but it was beaten out by — you guessed it — the Empire State Building just 11 months later.

NORTH CAROLINA: The Executive Mansion


north carolina Executive Mansion

North Carolina’s Executive Mansion in Raleigh is the home of the governor.


Dee Browning/Shutterstock

Give it to North Carolina for having its most beautiful building designated as a civil landmark. The state’s Executive Mansion in Raleigh is the home of the governor and a high-profile event venue that’s open to public tours.

NORTH DAKOTA: The North Dakota Heritage Center


North Dakota Heritage Center

The North Dakota Heritage Center houses lots of dinosaur fossils.


Nagel Photography/Shutterstock

At the center of the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck is a great glass cube flanked by two copper-colored wings. It’s the home of the state’s greatest treasures, including Native American historical artifacts and lots of dinosaur fossils.

OHIO: The Longaberger Company building


Longaberger Company

The Longaberger Company basket building currently sits idle with uncertain future plans.


CJM Grafx/Shutterstock

The Longaberger Company, which makes baskets, made a building in Newark that perfectly matches its brand. The building was closed in 2016, and it has sat idle since.

Plans for the property have included a hotel, a coworking space, and, most recently, a mixed-use development, but it still has an unclear path for the future.

OKLAHOMA: First Americans Museum


First Americans Museum

Oklahoma’s First Americans Museum features design inspired by the state’s Native populations.


Kit Leong/Shutterstock

The First Americans Museum’s 175,000-square-foot building in Oklahoma pays homage to the state’s indigenous populations and their history. The design is inspired by the importance placed on the rising and setting sun by Native populations, with the Remembrance Walls being aligned with the sunrise.

The central half-dome is supported by 10 pillars of various stones, which each represent a 10-mile stretch traveled by Native people during forced removal from their original homelands, per the museum’s website.

OREGON: The Portland Building


The Portland Building

The Portland Building has a divisive reputation.


EQRoy/Shutterstock

In 2009, Travel + Leisure famously called The Portland Building “one of the most hated buildings in America,” and its reputation is split among architecture critics. But its shapes, strange geometric clashes of glass and stone, make it the weird building that Portland most deserves.

PENNSYLVANIA: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater


Frank Lloyd Wright's  Fallingwater

Frank Lloyd Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935.


WillAshley/Shutterstock

Frank Lloyd Wright‘s 1935 masterpiece Fallingwater remains Pennsylvania’s greatest work of architecture. Water falls from each level of the building into the one below, perfectly integrating with the landscape.

RHODE ISLAND: The Breakers


The Breakers

The Vanderbilt summer cottage has a total of 70 rooms and spans 138,300 square feet.


LEE SNIDER PHOTO IMAGES/Shutterstock

Built as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, The Breakers mansion in Newport has 70-rooms across 138,300 square feet, making it one of the largest houses in the US and an icon of Gilded Age architecture.

SOUTH CAROLINA: The International African American Museum


the international african american museum south carolina

The International African American Museum hovers above a historic disembarkation point for enslaved Africans.


Sean Rayford/Getty Images

In South Carolina, the International African American Museum stands on top of 18 13-feet pillars that keep the museum from touching the sacred ground on which it was built.

The museum is situated on the historic site of Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston’s Cooper River, which was the last and most significant disembarkation point in North America for enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade, per the US Civil Rights Trail website.

SOUTH DAKOTA: The Corn Palace


The Corn Palace

The Corn Palace of South Dakota was originally built in 1892.


Dennis MacDonald/Shutterstock

The walls of the Corn Palace in Mitchell are adorned with complex murals and art that’s all been made out of, you guessed it, corn. The design changes every year.

TENNESSEE: Parthenon in Centennial Park


Parthenon in Centennial Park

Tennessee’s Parthenon is a full-sized replica of the Parthenon in Greece.


jdross75/Shutterstock

Built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition — and then reconstructed between 1921 and 1930 — the Parthenon in Centennial Park is a full-sized replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Today, it’s open to the public as an art museum.

TEXAS: James Turrell’s Twilight Epiphany skyspace


James Turrell Skyspace

James Turrell’s “Twilight Epiphany” Skyspace was built in 2012 as a performance space.


The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Designed by renowned artist James Turrell, the “Twilight Epiphany” Skyspace in Houston is a performance space that makes you feel as though you’ve entered another dimension.

UTAH: Natural History Museum of Utah


Utah's Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City looks like it could have been carved out of the landscape. It was designed by Todd Schliemann of Ennead Architects.

The Utah Natural History Museum was designed by Todd Schliemann in 2011.


JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

The Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City looks like it could have been carved out of the landscape. It was designed by Todd Schliemann of Ennead Architects.

VERMONT: The Old Round Church


The Old Round Church in Richmond is technically a 16-sided polygon, but it's still enough of a circle to lend credence to a rumor that it was built in that shape so that the Devil had no corners to hide in.

The Round Church was built in 1812.


Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

The Old Round Church in Richmond is technically a 16-sided polygon, but it’s still enough of a circle to lend credence to a rumor that it was built in that shape so that the Devil had no corners to hide in.

VIRGINIA: Dulles International Airport


Dulles International Airport building

The Dulles International Airport was designed in 1958.


Cheryl Lynn Photography/Shutterstock

If they’re done wrong, airports can be the most insufferable place to spend a few hours. But we have to admire Virginia’s Dulles International Airport, which almost looks like a futuristic aircraft itself.

WASHINGTON: Seattle Central Library


Seattle Central Library

The Seattle Central Library opened in 2004.


Photo by Ron Wurzer/Getty Images

Forget the idea of a dusty old home for books nobody reads. The Seattle Central Library is a miracle of modern architecture.

WASHINGTON, DC: The United States Capitol


Capitol

Construction on the Capitol started in 1793.


Getty Images/Mark Wilson

The United States Capitol is such a mainstay of nightly news and political pop culture that it’s easy to take for granted. It’s nice to step back once in a while and take in the grandeur and historical significance of this government building that reflects on America’s complicated past.

Construction on the Capitol began in September 1793, and much of the structure was built by enslaved workers working alongside free Black and white laborers, per the White House Historical Association. In 2012, a marker was added to the Capitol Visitor Center commemorating the unpaid labor of enslaved people who built the nation’s Capitol.

WEST VIRGINIA: The Palace of Gold


New Vrindaban west virginia

The Palace of Gold was built in the 1970s.


Daniel L. Locke/Shutterstock

The Palace of Gold is a majestic memorial shrine located in the Hare Krishna community of New Vrindaban.

WISCONSIN: The Burke Brise Soleil


The most striking feature of the Milwaukee Art Museum is the Burke Brise Soleil, a towering sunscreen with a 217-foot wingspan. It folds and unfolds twice a day.

The Burke Brise Soleil was built in 2001.


Photo Spirit/Shutterstock

The most striking feature of the Milwaukee Art Museum is the Burke Brise Soleil, a towering sunscreen with a 217-foot wingspan. It folds and unfolds twice a day.

WYOMING: Smith Mansion


smith mansion wyoming

The Smith Mansion was built by Francis Lee Smith beginning in 1971.


Grossinger/Shutterstock

This wacky-looking building is in the middle of the remote Wapiti Valley. In 1971, architect Francis Lee Smith started building the structure by hand as his and his family’s home. After completing the first floor in 1973, he could not stop building. He died after falling from one of the balconies in 1992.



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