Zzyzx, California is a Mojave Desert mineral spring where a radio evangelist filed mining claims on 12,800 acres in 1944; marshals evicted him in 1974.

Wamego, Kansas built its Oz Museum after a 1995 trial display of one collector’s Wizard of Oz memorabilia drew over 20,000 visitors in three months.

Bandon, Oregon’s first links golf course came in 1999, and rounds played climbed from 89,429 in 2009 to 146,887 in 2014.

Elista, Russia, built Chess City for the 1998 Olympiad under president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, whose Chess Palace has stood unused since 2019.

Coober Pedy, South Australia dug underground to escape the heat, opened an underground hotel in 1988 and now draws around 150,000 visitors a year.

Shamrock, Texas kept its Irish name and restored the 1936 U-Drop Inn on Route 66 with $1.7 million in federal funds after a bank donated it.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts built a year-round visitor economy on Norman Rockwell. The Norman Rockwell Museum drew 117,599 visitors in fiscal 2025.

Ölgii, Mongolia, capital of a Kazakh-majority province, built a festival around eagle falconry in 1999 that now draws hunters and tourists each October.

Kolmanskop, Namibia was abandoned in 1956 after the diamonds ran out, and since 1980 it has sold tickets to watch the desert reclaim it.

Vegreville, Alberta marked the RCMP’s centennial and its Ukrainian heritage with a pysanka 31 feet high and 3,512 visible facets.