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

This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.

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

A bas relief commemorates the "Nuns of the Battlefield" who cared for soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

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

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.

An easily overlooked memorial to a Ukrainian famine-genocide that killed over 4 million people.

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

This grand old 80-foot sequoia towers above the buildings in the city’s retail center.

Legend has it the mill owner's daughter, Mary Musgrove, helped a Patriot soldier hide behind these falls.

Part of an abandoned19th-century fortress hides in plain sight inside a modern office building.

One of the largest busts in the world celebrates the German city's erstwhile namesake.

An unassuming, powerful monument north of the U.S. Capitol bears witness to the resilience of Japanese Americans during a time of grave injustice.

Formerly the most gerrymandered district in the U.S., it twisted and turned along racial borders.

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

Human skulls and a stuffed goat made into a rocking chair can be found at this strange little store.

The most accurate timepiece in the world.

This working class sculpture pounds his hammer all the livelong day.

Everything you always wanted to know about borates is here.

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.

There’s a hidden military meme engraved on the World War II Memorial.

The sculptor was instructed to add “stallion attributes” to the general's bronze mare.

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