One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

The quiet canyon has a tumultuous history involving a doomsday cult.

The show's fictional Korean medical camp was created in the Santa Monica hills.

A bomb shelter and some fireplaces are all that remain of the house Fred Roberts tried so hard to keep standing.

The last holdout of a pre-Civil War rebel who took the matter of slavery into his own hands.

The design of this historic domed church was influenced by Thomas Jefferson and intended as a statement of religious freedom.

The most accurate timepiece in the world.

A 1,100-ton train fell through the floor in 1953. Workers got it patched up in just 72 hours.

Home to items never before seen by the public.

The bank that helped fund the Mexican-American War and the purchase of Alaska met its downfall after helping Augusto Pinochet launder money.

A hidden gem on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.

A little marble compass above George Washington's (empty) tomb in the Capitol marks where D.C.'s four quadrants intersect.

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

A muscular Art Deco monument represents the struggle between regulators and unbridled markets.

Architecture lovers won’t stop touching the National Gallery's 19.5 degree marble prow.

"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!”

One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.

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

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

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

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

The beloved statue at the National Academy of Sciences is oh so inviting to sit on.