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

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.

A somber statue commemorating a Danish merfolk-tale.

Museum on earth sciences featuring a recreation of a famous curiosity cabinet.

Opulence and fantasy collide in this royal chair which is supposedly made with unicorn horns.

Prank chair from an 18th-century Danish royal court shows the eternal popularity of fart jokes.

A 19th-century subterranean reservoir repurposed as a contemporary art cave.

Pre-Nazi swastikas adorn the sculpted pachyderms flanking this brewhouse portal.

The hidden ruins of a mill that is linked to an attempt to assassinate the vice president of the United States.

Captain John Smith thought these cliffs were amazing in 1608 but sharks thought so 20 million years before him.

This scenic Maryland park was the site of one of the worst prison camps of the Civil War.

Herbert Hoover's "Brown House" rural presidential retreat was a PR disaster amid the start of the Great Depression.

Despite violent work crews and massive delays this abandoned canal tunnel was built to last into the modern day.

A star fort along the C&O Canal in western Maryland that protected America in three wars.

This shale formation along the Appalachian Trail once inspired the third president of the United States.

Built in the 1850s, this church was of the first five churches constructed in Harper's Ferry.

Time travel with sweets across history at this research-based candy store.

This advertisement for talcum powder was painted on the rock face and has since defied removal.

One of the only memorials dedicated to journalists who died in combat.

Surrounded by traditional homes, this Tolkien-esque dwelling stands out on a quiet street in suburban Maryland.

This lifelike sculpture of a policeman serves as a helpful reminder to watch out for crossing pedestrians.

She stares out across six lanes of traffic, clutching a musket and infant with determination.

The tallest The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in the world soars above the Beltway.

This mighty white oak in Bethesda survived both the American Revolution and the construction of Washington D.C.'s metro red line.