laurachristinecarey's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Washington, D.C.

Ruins of the Columbian Cannon Foundry

These recently uncovered walls are all that's left of Washington, D.C's first defense contractor.
Washington, D.C.

International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star

Obscure Freemasons still live in D.C.’s largest private residence.
Washington, D.C.

Abandoned Drawbridge Control Room

The hidden offices underneath Memorial Bridge have been locked up since 1976.
Washington, D.C.

Grace Hopper's Bug

A computer bug so primitive it was an actual insect.
Washington, D.C.

The Big Chair

A super-sized promotional trick that is now a D.C. landmark.
Washington, D.C.

Peirce Mill Spy Station

Cold War intelligence agents monitored communist embassies from an attic in a former pigeon coop.
Washington, D.C.

The Mary Surratt Boarding House

The house where John Wilkes Booth conspired with his co-conspirators.
Washington, D.C.

The Mutilated Currency Division

An obscure public service from the U.S. government that redeems burnt, moldy, and soiled old greenbacks.
Washington, D.C.

Frederick Douglass's House, Cedar Hill

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

St. Elizabeths Hospital

Government testing at the asylum briefly explored using marijuana as a "truth serum" on Nazi prisoners of war.
Washington, D.C.

The Cuban Embassy's Hemingway Bar

When it opened during the final years of the embargo, all the drinks and cigars were free.
Washington, D.C.

Barbie Pond on Q Street

A rotating cast of guys and dolls in front of a Washington, D.C. building.
Washington, D.C.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

The national park was once a plantation estate.
Washington, D.C.

Ruins of the McMillan Sand Filtration Site

An Industrial Revolution-era public work that purified water using nothing but sand.
Washington, D.C.

Fort DeRussy

A Civil War fort in the middle of Washington, D.C. has been swallowed by a forest.
Washington, D.C.

Library of Congress Card Catalog

A nostalgic bibliographic gem.
Washington, D.C.

Inside the Capitol Dome

The walls of the iconic dome are hollow and have a secret stairway.
Washington, D.C.

Mount Zion Cemetery's Underground Railroad Shelter

People escaping slavery may have hidden inside a corpse vault.
Washington, D.C.

East Potomac Park Mini Golf

The country's oldest continually-operated mini golf course lies hidden in plain sight, eclipsed by one of D.C.'s most popular tourist attractions.
Washington, D.C.

Lincoln Book Tower

A three-story tower of books about Abraham Lincoln is one of the more unusual monuments to the president.
Washington, D.C.

Tudor Place

A historic estate packed with George Washington's heirlooms, and its own nuclear bunker.
Washington, D.C.

Secret Entrance to the White House

The winding route passes through an enclosed alleyway, two tunnels, and leads to the White House basement.
Washington, D.C.

National Building Museum

Fittingly, America's museum of architecture is itself a magnificently designed old building.
Washington, D.C.

Summerhouse

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