Designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1893, this Gothic-style castle is now a home for academics.

One of the most influential presidents in U.S. history wanted only this plain, elegant monument as his lasting memorial.

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

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

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

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

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.

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

There’s a special club house at the top for the bell ringers.

A historic arena where the Beatles played their first concert in the U.S.

A small triangle of DC grass is the final resting place of one of Sonny and Cher's songs.

For 60 years, the academy had no permanent location until members voted Washington D.C. as its forever home.

The only Civil War battle in Washington D.C. took place near this highest natural point in the city.

One of the largest artillery pieces in the world sits in a Washington D.C. parking lot.

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

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

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

Largest Roman Catholic church in North America.

A hoard of sky catalogs, astrophysical journals, even the works of Galileo and Copernicus.

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.

The actual model from the original "Star Trek" series is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

The famous abolitionist’s preserved estate is one of Washington's finest monuments to its great Black citizens.

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

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