This lovely picnic spot featuring thunderous jet landings is an aircraft spotter’s dream.

Fake subway tiles were installed to cover a design that resembled the Confederate flag—it's unclear if the resemblance was intentional.

A spectacular tribute to statesman and philanthropist Andrew Mellon.

A tribute to the pop culture icon overlooks this Washington D.C. intersection.

An echo chamber with a waterfall wrapped around its base at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.

Yo, Adrian!

This elaborate towering structure was once famed for its revolutionary height.

A graceful natural rock formation stands astride the point where the Gulf of California meets the Pacific Ocean.

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

Housing the National Women's Party since 1929, this historic house is now a monument to the fight for gender equality.

This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

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

D.C.'s first central library was born out of a chance encounter with the philanthropist whose name it bears.

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

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

A tiny monument to the unsuccessful attempt by Thomas Jefferson to place the prime meridian in Washington.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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