Held in a fort that once stood for colonization of the area, this museum now tells the history of its indigenous people.

Ancient artists in the middle of nowhere.

Bizarre living fossil only grows in a small chunk of the Namib Desert.

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

A small Richmond island dotted with the remnants of hundreds of years of history.

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

Nine of the very few concrete ships ever made in the U.S. are beautifully decaying off a Virginia pier.

America's first public mental health facility.

Affectionately known as "Lord Bot," this historic statue has a cult social media following and rightly claims to be “the most metal inhabitant of the Wren Yard.”

Look closely and you’ll notice that the color changes a third of the way up the tower.

Disks are rolled out onto the south lawn to absorb the impact of Marine One's wheels like giant coffee coasters.

A building shaped like the Army Corps of Engineers logo, because why not?

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

"Congress may voluntarily remain in session throughout the summer, in order that our Congressmen may be protected from the intolerable discomforts and dangers of the ordinary outdoor weather!”

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

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.

Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”

Washington's iconic carousel has a nice piece of Civil Rights history.

The hidden offices underneath Memorial Bridge have been locked up since 1976.

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.

This stunning blue and gold room changed cities twice before becoming part of the Smithsonian.

The national park was once a plantation estate.

The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.

A traveling postal dog covered 48 states and more than 140,000 miles, and he lives on as taxidermy, patched up with a rabbit's foot and a pig's ear.