This sandwich shop has a century-old elevator behind a sheet of plexiglass.

The first presidential bomb shelter was located in an old vault under the Treasury, connected to the White House via tunnel.

The discovery site of the "Capitalsaurus," the official dinosaur of Washington, D.C.

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

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

This poor little statue is the most vandalized memorial in Washington.

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.

This robust fence in front of a historic Georgetown home is likely made from hundreds of recycled Revolutionary War firearms.

A fantastic array of trays and cables once whisked books over to the Capitol at 600 feet per minute.

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

Amid the sprawling Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters is one of Washington's least accessible museums.

Senators used to relax in the nearly forgotten marble tubs now hidden in the U.S. Capitol Building's basement.

One of the largest artillery pieces in the world sits in a Washington D.C. parking lot.

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.

The district's only illusionarium supports free writing programs for local students with every purchase.

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

Where the U.S. government kept its actual treasure, before Fort Knox.

Light bulbs, scrap wood, and tinfoil comprise this homemade throne of the gods.

The towering figures were created from the cemetery's fallen old-growth trees.

In the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building is a hidden storage room full of ornate floor tiles leftover from the 1850s.

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

Four bald cypress trees in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, mark the southern edge of a 100,000 year old cypress swamp.

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

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