This imposing Masonic temple a mile from the White House was the first public library in Washington, D.C.

A bas relief commemorates the "Nuns of the Battlefield" who cared for soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

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

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.

A secret greenspace hides atop a Capitol parking garage.

A museum cafe showcases Native American dishes and indigenous ingredients from across the Western Hemisphere.

An echo chamber with a waterfall wrapped around its base at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps the most scandalous statue of America's first president.

A line of blue paint marks the route of the inaugural parade.

The innocent intentions of this monument are somewhat lost in the sculpture's muscled imagery.

For 60 years, the academy had no permanent location until members voted Washington D.C. as its forever home.

These recently uncovered walls are all that's left of Washington, D.C's first defense contractor.

‘Bush the old fire dog died of poison July 5th, 1869. RIP.’

A public art jibe at one of the United States’ oldest and longest-serving senators.

The oldest house in Washington, D.C. wasn't originally constructed in the nation's capital.

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

An amazing example of early-20th-century architecture, this church features marble transported from Utah.

You could be standing at the site of one of D.C.'s most fatal tragedies and not even know it.

A surprising, but overlooked example of geology in the middle of the nation’s capital.

There's a crumbling old mansion inside the Smithsonian National Zoo.

A tribute to the pop culture icon overlooks this Washington D.C. intersection.

Washington's top-secret Cold War-era doomsday communications tower is located in a small neighborhood park.

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

The only Bahá'í house of worship in North America and one of only a handful worldwide.