phildzielski's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place
Leaderboard Highlights
phildzielski's activity rankings
2nd
Places visited in Pleasantville, Pennsylvania
2nd
Places edited in Altoona, Pennsylvania
3rd
Places edited in Geneva, Illinois
Loading map...
Washington, D.C.

Yenching Palace

The iconic D.C. restaurant where the Cuban Missile Crisis was negotiated, now a Walgreens.
Meg Added by Meg
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.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

Capital Transit Co. Streetcar Barn

Before Metro, Washington had a robust streetcar network—and you see the remains of this infrastructure if you know where to look.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
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.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument Lightning Rod

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

Steam Tunnels Under Capitol Hill

100 years later, they're still down there.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

Serenity Statue

This poor little statue is the most vandalized memorial in Washington.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
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.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Steps

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."
Molly McBride Jacobson Added by Molly McBride Jacobson
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.
WhiskeyBristles Added by WhiskeyBristles
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.
Added by bibliobecca
Washington, D.C.

Washington Coliseum

A historic arena where the Beatles played their first concert in the U.S.
Added by evyatarguttman
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.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

USNO Master Clock

The most accurate timepiece in the world.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

Site of the Knickerbocker Disaster

You could be standing at the site of one of D.C.'s most fatal tragedies and not even know it.
WhiskeyBristles Added by WhiskeyBristles
Washington, D.C.

National Building Museum

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

Volta Laboratory & Bureau

Helen Keller once broke ground on this historic center for the study of technologies to benefit the hearing impaired.
Washington, D.C.

The Highest Court In the Land

There just so happens to be a court even higher than the U.S Supreme Court: a basketball court in the building itself.
Oliver Hong Added by Oliver Hong
Washington, D.C.

Treasury Department Cash Vault

Where the U.S. government kept its actual treasure, before Fort Knox.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

FBI Spy House

A painfully obvious spy house sits right across the street from the Russian Embassy.
Josh Added by Josh
Washington, D.C.

Cher Ami

A heroic pigeon that, through a barrage of gunfire, delivered a message that saved over 100 lives in World War I.
Allison Added by Allison
Washington, D.C.

Historic Elevator at Potbelly

This sandwich shop has a century-old elevator behind a sheet of plexiglass.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

National Archives Vault

An atomic bomb-proof strongbox protects the U.S. Constitution from terrorists and thieves.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Washington, D.C.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

A lovely aquatic park built by a one-armed Civil War veteran who made a fortune from lotuses.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter