The haunting "Hell House Altar" is one of the few remnants of an abandoned college that has been a magnet for local legends.

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

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

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

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

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

This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.

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

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

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.

This unacceptably tall building was the real reason for Washington, D.C.'s skyscraper ban.

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

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

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.

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

Art deco landmark on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.

An overlooked oasis of quiet on the grounds of Washington's monumental basilica.

The unique traffic pattern named for an influential urban planner is also known as the Pedestrian Scramble.

The most accurate timepiece in the world.

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

A celebrity from the late Cretaceous period.