Washington, D.C.
State Department Protocol Gift Office
They sort through millions of dollars worth of diplomatic gifts on behalf of the government.
Places sadbread99 Wants to Go
1942
Places I want to go
Places on this traveler's wishlist.
Washington, D.C.
Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum
Before founding the American Red Cross, Clara Barton had a tremendous humanitarian impact by locating thousands of missing soldiers.
Washington, D.C.
Capitol Air Conditioning Towers
"Congress may voluntarily remain in session throughout the summer, in order that our Congressmen may be protected from the intolerable discomforts and dangers of the ordinary outdoor weather!”
Washington, D.C.
Washington Aqueduct Castle Gatehouse
A building shaped like the Army Corps of Engineers logo, because why not?
Washington, D.C.
Volta Laboratory & Bureau
Helen Keller once broke ground on this historic center for the study of technologies to benefit the hearing impaired.
Washington, D.C.
Steam Tunnels Under Capitol Hill
100 years later, they're still down there.
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.
Senate Bathtubs
Senators used to relax in the nearly forgotten marble tubs now hidden in the U.S. Capitol Building's basement.
Washington, D.C.
Gun Barrel Fence
This robust fence in front of a historic Georgetown home is likely made from hundreds of recycled Revolutionary War firearms.
Washington, D.C.
The Cairo
This unacceptably tall building was the real reason for Washington, D.C.'s skyscraper ban.
Washington, D.C.
Capitalsaurus Court
The discovery site of the "Capitalsaurus," the official dinosaur of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Navy Yard Railroad Gun
One of the largest artillery pieces in the world sits in a Washington D.C. parking lot.
Washington, D.C.
Temperance Fountain
A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.
Washington, D.C.
Sonny Bono Memorial Park
A small triangle of DC grass is the final resting place of one of Sonny and Cher's songs.
Washington, D.C.
Glenwood Cemetery's Chainsaw Sculptures
The towering figures were created from the cemetery's fallen old-growth trees.
Washington, D.C.
Arizona Avenue Trestle
The span is crooked and made from two older recycled bridges.
Washington, D.C.
Daguerre Monument
Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.
Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Book Conveyor Tunnel
A fantastic array of trays and cables once whisked books over to the Capitol at 600 feet per minute.
Washington, D.C.
Capitol Tile Room
In the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building is a hidden storage room full of ornate floor tiles leftover from the 1850s.
Washington, D.C.
Old Stone House
The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.
Washington, D.C.
FDR's Bomb Shelter
The first presidential bomb shelter was located in an old vault under the Treasury, connected to the White House via tunnel.
Washington, D.C.
Reading Room at the Folger Shakespeare Library
Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.
Washington, D.C.
NIST Newton Apple Tree
A clone of a cloned tree that was so important it allegedly had its own guards.
Washington, D.C.
Holodomor Memorial
An easily overlooked memorial to a Ukrainian famine-genocide that killed over 4 million people.
