kford127636's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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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.

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.
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.

Alferd Packer Cannibal Plaque

A brass plaque dedicated to a convicted cannibal hangs in the National Press Club, and that's not even the craziest part of the story.
Washington, D.C.

Churchill and Mandela Call and Response

When it comes to handsignals (and colonialism) rock always beats scissors.
Washington, D.C.

Potomac Park Flood Levee

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

Old Stone House

The oldest building in the District of Columbia was preserved because of a mistaken connection to George Washington.
Washington, D.C.

International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star

Obscure Freemasons still live in D.C.’s largest private residence.
Washington, D.C.

Letelier-Moffitt Monument

A diminutive memorial marks the site of a successful assassination by a right-wing death squad in America's capital.
Washington, D.C.

Holodomor Memorial

An easily overlooked memorial to a Ukrainian famine-genocide that killed over 4 million people.
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.

Civil War Nurses Memorial

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

'Cartwheel' Tower

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

Arizona Avenue Trestle

The span is crooked and made from two older recycled bridges.
Washington, D.C.

Bare-Chested George Washington

Perhaps the most scandalous statue of America's first president.
Washington, D.C.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

The national park was once a plantation estate.
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.

Carousel on the National Mall

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

Abandoned Drawbridge Control Room

The hidden offices underneath Memorial Bridge have been locked up since 1976.
Washington, D.C.

Glenwood Cemetery's Chainsaw Sculptures

The towering figures were created from the cemetery's fallen old-growth trees.
Washington, D.C.

Washington Coliseum

A historic arena where the Beatles played their first concert in the U.S.
Washington, D.C.

Peirce Mill Spy Station

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