Basriel's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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New Orleans, Louisiana

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop

The second oldest continuously operating bar in Louisiana.
New Orleans, Louisiana

St. Louis Cathedral

This cathedral dedicated to Louis IX, sainted King of France, holds many secrets.
New Orleans, Louisiana

Street Name Tiles of New Orleans

This distinctive Crescent City tradition dates back to the days of horse-drawn carriages.
New Orleans, Louisiana

Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo

A museum and shop on Bourbon Street located in the French Quarter.
Washington, D.C.

Reading Room at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.
Washington, D.C.

Organization of American States Building

The grand marble structure next to the White House is Andrew Carnegie's temple to Pan-American diplomacy.
Washington, D.C.

Potomac Park Flood Levee

This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.
Washington, D.C.

The Lockkeeper's House

A derelict bit of infrastructure from the canal that once ran through D.C. is landlocked in the heart of the city.
Washington, D.C.

Kilroy Was Here

There’s a hidden military meme engraved on the World War II Memorial.
Washington, D.C.

D.C. War Memorial

An overlooked memorial honoring the local Washington residents who died in World War I.
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Steps

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Gas Station

This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.
Washington, D.C.

Washington City Canal Outfall

A portal into the bricked up canal that runs through the heart of Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Water Gate at the Watergate Complex

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.
Washington, D.C.

Old Stone House

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.
Washington, D.C.

Georgetown Waterfront

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.
Washington, D.C.

Capital Transit Co. Streetcar Barn

Before Metro, Washington had a robust streetcar network—and you see the remains of this infrastructure if you know where to look.
Washington, D.C.

The Exorcist Stairs

The site of the climactic scene from the classic horror film is now a historic landmark.
Washington, D.C.

Georgetown's Haunted Halcyon House

This stately mansion, built in 1787 by America's first Secretary of the Navy, is rumored to be one of the most haunted buildings in Washington, DC.
Arlington, Virginia

Rosslyn Metro Escalator

At 207 feet, one of the world's longest continuous escalators.
Washington, D.C.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

The national park was once a plantation estate.
Arlington, Virginia

Mary Randolph Gravesite

Recorded as the first person buried in Arlington Cemetery.
Arlington, Virginia

The Graves of Robert E. Lee's Garden

Soldiers were buried next to Lee's house in the center of Arlington Cemetery to dissuade the general from reclaiming his property after the war.
Arlington, Virginia

Pierre L’Enfant’s (Second) Gravesite

The controversial urban planner who designed Washington, D.C., was buried in Maryland, and can presently be found in Virginia.