Melsy's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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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.

Maine Avenue Fish Market

The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.
Washington, D.C.

American University Experiment Station

The school tested mustard gas for the U.S. Army during World War I.
Washington, D.C.

Carousel on the National Mall

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

Dumbarton Oaks

The Byzantine, pre-Columbian, and medieval art at this stately mansion are some of the most under-appreciated collections in D.C.
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.

Yenching Palace

The iconic D.C. restaurant where the Cuban Missile Crisis was negotiated, now a Walgreens.
Washington, D.C.

Willard Hotel

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

Carnegie Library of Washington, D.C.

D.C.'s first central library was born out of a chance encounter with the philanthropist whose name it bears.
Washington, D.C.

Rayburn House Office Building

One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Building Tunnel System

Members of Congress have traveled between the buildings on Capitol Hill for a century hidden from tourists, press, and storm clouds.
Washington, D.C.

The Mutilated Currency Division

An obscure public service from the U.S. government that redeems burnt, moldy, and soiled old greenbacks.
Washington, D.C.

USNO Master Clock

The most accurate timepiece in the world.
Washington, D.C.

Temperance Fountain

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.
Washington, D.C.

Frederick Douglass's House, Cedar Hill

The famous abolitionist’s preserved estate is one of Washington's finest monuments to its great Black citizens.
Washington, D.C.

Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.
Washington, D.C.

Fort Reno Park

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

Owney the Postal Dog

A traveling postal dog covered 48 states and more than 140,000 miles, and he lives on as taxidermy, patched up with a rabbit's foot and a pig's ear.
Washington, D.C.

Albert Einstein Bronze Statue

The beloved statue at the National Academy of Sciences is oh so inviting to sit on.
Washington, D.C.

National Building Museum

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

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

A lovely aquatic park built by a one-armed Civil War veteran who made a fortune from lotuses.
Washington, D.C.

The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly

Light bulbs, scrap wood, and tinfoil comprise this homemade throne of the gods.
Washington, D.C.

The Mary Surratt Boarding House

The house where John Wilkes Booth conspired with his co-conspirators.
Washington, D.C.

Sergeant Stubby

The most decorated dog of World War I is preserved in the Smithsonian.