MMorlino's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Washington, D.C.

Sonny Bono Memorial Park

A small triangle of DC grass is the final resting place of one of Sonny and Cher's songs.
Washington, D.C.

The National Gallery's Art Materials Collection

The institution is sitting on a goldmine of 21,000 paints, varnishes, pigments, and primers preserved for posterity.
Washington, D.C.

Arizona Avenue Trestle

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

NIST Newton Apple Tree

A clone of a cloned tree that was so important it allegedly had its own guards.
Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument Lightning Rod

The monument's pointy aluminum tip has been melted down by repeated lightning strikes.
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Tile Room

In the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building is a hidden storage room full of ornate floor tiles leftover from the 1850s.
Washington, D.C.

Daguerre Monument

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.
Washington, D.C.

Chinatown Barnes Dance

The unique traffic pattern named for an influential urban planner is also known as the Pedestrian Scramble.
Washington, D.C.

Holodomor Memorial

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

FDR's Bomb Shelter

The first presidential bomb shelter was located in an old vault under the Treasury, connected to the White House via tunnel.
Washington, D.C.

District of Columbia Center Point

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

Memorial to Japanese-American Patriotism in World War II

An unassuming, powerful monument north of the U.S. Capitol bears witness to the resilience of Japanese Americans during a time of grave injustice.
Washington, D.C.

Abandoned Drawbridge Control Room

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

Godey Lime Kilns

A historic ruin just 20 feet away from a busy highway onramp.
Washington, D.C.

Southwest Duck Pond

This lovely pocket park is one of the most under appreciated in D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Mary's Garden

An overlooked oasis of quiet on the grounds of Washington's monumental basilica.
Washington, D.C.

Serenity Statue

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

United Brick Corporation Ruins

Once the supplier for noteworthy projects like the National Cathedral, this old brickworks now lies abandoned.
Washington, D.C.

Historic Elevator at Potbelly

This sandwich shop has a century-old elevator behind a sheet of plexiglass.
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.

Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon

The remains of Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, serve as a tool to educate about conservation.
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.

U.S. Naval Observatory Library

A hoard of sky catalogs, astrophysical journals, even the works of Galileo and Copernicus.
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.