This beautiful vintage movie palace has seen little change in form or function since the 1920s.

This 29-ton granite ball spins around at the slightest touch thanks to a scientific phenomenon.

The skeletal white beams stand as a monument to religious dissent.

A throwback to 1980's gaming nostalgia.

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

The institution is sitting on a goldmine of 21,000 paints, varnishes, pigments, and primers preserved for posterity.

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.

The actual model from the original "Star Trek" series is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

The first purpose-built art gallery in the United States is once again open as a center of craft arts.

A nostalgic bibliographic gem.

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

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

This lonely waterfront memorial to the men of the Titanic was erected by the "Women of America."

The Byzantine, pre-Columbian, and medieval art at this stately mansion are some of the most under-appreciated collections in D.C.

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

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

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

During the Industrial Revolution this “Temple of Invention” was full of intricate miniature machines and gadgets.

A monument in Washington D.C. marks the spot from which all other roads were supposed to stem.

There's a 12-foot-tall replica of the Washington Monument hidden under a manhole nearby.

A wondrous old library overlooking the nation's capital.

A tiny piece of the Moon is embedded in this stained glass masterpiece.

Enormous piles of historically significant stones, dumped by Congress in a forest, and abandoned for 60 years.

This grand gothic brewery has been pumping out suds for over a hundred years.