This huge clock made of flowers and simple machinery was once used a political weapon.

The Midwestern United States' tribute to Michelangelo is a foam statue sprayed with gaudy gold paint.

The massive, original Colgate Clock is mounted on a defunct factory building that was once a prison.

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

This colonial tavern played host to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other famous early Americans.

Members of Congress have traveled between the buildings on Capitol Hill for a century hidden from tourists, press, and storm clouds.

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.

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

Rumor has it the uncarved lump behind the three famous suffragists is reserved for the first woman president.

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

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

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

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution written entirely from vanity license plates hangs in the Smithsonian museum.

This stately building in Alexandria, Virginia was built by Freemasons to honor one of their most famous members.

Perhaps the most scandalous statue of America's first president.

The romance of early commercial flight still fills this Art Deco destination.

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

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

At 207 feet, one of the world's longest continuous escalators.

The controversial urban planner who designed Washington, D.C., was buried in Maryland, and can presently be found in Virginia.