The bank that helped fund the Mexican-American War and the purchase of Alaska met its downfall after helping Augusto Pinochet launder money.

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.

This statue of one of baseball’s greatest pitchers looks like something out of a sci-fi horror movie.

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

This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.

An overlooked memorial honoring the local Washington residents who died in World War I.

Look closely and you’ll notice that the color changes a third of the way up the tower.

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

A building shaped like the Army Corps of Engineers logo, because why not?

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.

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

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

Those with a sharp eye can find the hidden image of a German Shepherd on the memorial's Mural Wall.

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

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

The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.

Largest Roman Catholic church in North America.

The national park was once a plantation estate.

A nostalgic bibliographic gem.

The country's oldest continually-operated mini golf course lies hidden in plain sight, eclipsed by one of D.C.'s most popular tourist attractions.

Home to items never before seen by the public.

A fitting attraction for the corn capital of the world.

The granddaddy of all tourist traps, built on ice water, jackalopes, and a giant dinosaur.

According to the legend, this strikingly beautiful hill has miraculous healing powers.