lauraelsner's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Rapid City, South Dakota

Depression Era Dinosaur Park

One of America's first dinosaur parks gives a window into Depression-era paleontology.
Montreal, Québec

The Murals on Saint Laurent Boulevard

Every year, the colorful murals of Montreal get a complete makeover.
Montreal, Québec

Biosphere of Montreal

Designed by Buckminster Fuller, this relic of the 67 Expo survived fire and ice.
Montreal, Québec

‘Trois Disques’ ('Three Disks')

A swaggering, monumental souvenir of the most extravagant party Montreal’s ever thrown.
Montreal, Québec

Le Stade Olympique

A massive Montreal stadium that has seen nothing but trouble since its inception.
Montreal, Québec

Schwartz's

A Montreal deli that was so beloved that it was allowed to circumvent their laws of language.
Montreal, Québec

Notre Dame Basilica

A grand Gothic Revival basilica with stained glass depictions of Montreal's religious history has only one soul resting in its crypt.
Mexico City, Mexico

Disk of Death

This strange sculpture of a menacing skull surrounded by sun rays was discovered at the foot of the Pyramid of the Sun.
Mexico City, Mexico

Pyramid of Ehécatl

The ruins of an ancient temple to the Aztec wind god discovered in the middle of a metro station.
Mexico City, Mexico

The Cake Room at Pastelería Ideal

Where layer cakes tower above one’s head and there is never a shortage of icing.
Mexico City, Mexico

Museo Casa de León Trotsky

A museum in the former home of Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky.
Mexico City, Mexico

Chapultepec Castle

The only castle in North America to ever house European sovereigns.
Mexico City, Mexico

Biblioteca Vasconcelos

A jaw-dropping "megalibrary" that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.
Mexico City, Mexico

Soumaya Museum

66,000 pieces of art, donated by one of the world's richest men.
Washington, D.C.

The Lockkeeper's House

A derelict bit of infrastructure from the canal that once ran through D.C. is landlocked in the heart of the city.
Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument Marble Stripe

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

Site of the Union Station Train Crash

A 1,100-ton train fell through the floor in 1953. Workers got it patched up in just 72 hours.
Washington, D.C.

Hinckley Hilton President's Walk

A hidden passageway now marks the site of an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan that some say broke a 140-year-old curse.
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Gas Station

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

Georgetown Waterfront

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

NASA Full Scale Wind Tunnel Propeller

While most wind tunnels test scale models, the "Cave of Winds" was large enough for actual airplanes.
Washington, D.C.

Peirce Mill Spy Station

Cold War intelligence agents monitored communist embassies from an attic in a former pigeon coop.
Washington, D.C.

Jefferson Pier Marker

A tiny monument to the unsuccessful attempt by Thomas Jefferson to place the prime meridian in Washington.
Washington, D.C.

The K-9 of the Korean War Veterans Memorial

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