rdunn's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Washington, D.C.

Rayburn House Office Building

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

Washington Monument Access Hatch

Daredevil repair workers can worm their way out the access hatch, loop ropes over the apex and rappel down the monument.
Washington, D.C.

Knife Edge

Architecture lovers won’t stop touching the National Gallery's 19.5 degree marble prow.
Washington, D.C.

Potomac Park Flood Levee

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

NASA Full Scale Wind Tunnel Propeller

While most wind tunnels test scale models, the "Cave of Winds" was large enough for actual airplanes.
Washington, D.C.

Carousel on the National Mall

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

Willard Hotel

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

Jefferson Pier Marker

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

Cuban-American Friendship Urn

The only National Monument ever to go missing for nearly 50 years then resurface in a dump.
Washington, D.C.

Kilroy Was Here

There’s a hidden military meme engraved on the World War II Memorial.
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Steps

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

Carnegie Library of Washington, D.C.

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

Temperance Fountain

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.
Washington, D.C.

Congressional Cemetery

The privately owned cemetery that holds room for Washington's finest when they step down from life.
Washington, D.C.

Catacombs of Washington, D.C.

Franciscan monks created a facsimile of the Holy Land for North Americans who couldn’t afford the trip overseas.
Washington, D.C.

The Big Chair

A super-sized promotional trick that is now a D.C. landmark.
Washington, D.C.

Owney the Postal Dog

A traveling postal dog covered 48 states and more than 140,000 miles, and he lives on as taxidermy, patched up with a rabbit's foot and a pig's ear.
Washington, D.C.

Frederick Douglass's House, Cedar Hill

The famous abolitionist’s preserved estate is one of Washington's finest monuments to its great Black citizens.
Washington, D.C.

Fort Reno Park

The only Civil War battle in Washington D.C. took place near this highest natural point in the city.
Washington, D.C.

Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument

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

Albert Einstein Bronze Statue

The beloved statue at the National Academy of Sciences is oh so inviting to sit on.
Washington, D.C.

National Building Museum

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

Renwick Gallery

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

Summerhouse

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