This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

This lonely waterfront memorial to the men of the Titanic was erected by the "Women of America."

A lovely aquatic park built by a one-armed Civil War veteran who made a fortune from lotuses.

During the Industrial Revolution this “Temple of Invention” was full of intricate miniature machines and gadgets.

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.

A wondrous old library overlooking the nation's capital.

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

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.

There's a 12-foot-tall replica of the Washington Monument hidden under a manhole nearby.

Edgar Allan Poe's old dorm is now a shrine to the author's legacy.

This study room in the New York Public Library saw the creation of one of contemporary America's greatest traitors.

The world’s oldest and biggest bookstore stocking only mystery, crime fiction, espionage, and thrillers.

New York's oldest and possibly grandest keeper of books.

Wall Street has a new heroine, a bronze statue of a small but fierce girl.

A terrific purveyor of natural history objects and curios.

Before founding the American Red Cross, Clara Barton had a tremendous humanitarian impact by locating thousands of missing soldiers.

A monument in Washington D.C. marks the spot from which all other roads were supposed to stem.

Enormous piles of historically significant stones, dumped by Congress in a forest, and abandoned for 60 years.

The United States Capitol's former columns still stand.