An unexpected Easter egg lurks in the background of a cherub wall relief at the Breakers mansion.

A 60-room castle constructed by a horse-racing heir.

A railroad magnate's replica village has become home to a genetic seed bank for rare breeds of livestock.

Mysterious stone tower featured in many alternative histories of the New World.

Three and a half miles of cliffs, rocky beaches, Gilded Age mansions and 40 Steps to nowhere in particular.

The LSU mascot lived on the college campus in one of the most impressive tiger habitats in the country.

After the parade, students throw their beads on the tree hoping for good luck on exams.

A treasure trove of rare and exquisitely detailed antiques

The iconic D.C. restaurant where the Cuban Missile Crisis was negotiated, now a Walgreens.

On the Fourth of July this area will transform into a Pompeii-like storm of falling embers and ash.

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.

The tunnel under the Capitol Building where Congress takes out its trash.

D.C. once had its own tiny rival to the New York Stock Exchange.

An ear-piercing buzzer calls lawmakers to a vote with a series of long and short rings to form coded messages.

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

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

Corn-inthian columns with a uniquely American take on neoclassical architecture.

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

‘Bush the old fire dog died of poison July 5th, 1869. RIP.’

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

A line of blue paint marks the route of the inaugural parade.

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

An obscure federal monument honors the French diplomat who served as Ambassador to the U.S. during WWI.

Behind an abandoned storefront is an example of pioneering 1930s gas station architecture.