For nearly a year, General Ulysses S. Grant was based here during the American Civil War.

This estate on the banks of the James River was home to a Founding Father, two presidents, a famous bugle melody, and what some say was the actual first Thanksgiving.

This historic mansion was built as a symbol of love between a husband and wife.

The skeletal white beams stand as a monument to religious dissent.

A home built with marble tombstones from the graves of 2,200 Union soldiers buried in a Virginia cemetery.

An innovative attempt to break a siege in the American Civil War still scars the earth today.

The airport was once a Civil War battleground, and the earthwork defenses can still be seen today.

A former Confederate hospital serves as a remembrance of wounded and dead soldiers.

Under a playground is a little-known sealed train tunnel that likely contains the bodies of workers trapped by cave-ins.

This museum devoted to the gothic author holds such interesting ephemera as his socks and walking stick.

Heron, whitewater rapids, and urban industrialism all add to the beauty of this concrete nature walk.

The final resting place of two (or three) presidents, one vampire, and 18,000 Confederate soldiers.

Inspired by a foil-wrapped potato, (seriously) the Markel Building has been deemed one of the 10 ugliest buildings in the world.