Vietnam Veterans Memorial

5 Henry Bacon Dr NW

900 Ohio Dr SW

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Boy Scout Memorial

Ellipse Rd NW and E St NW

A quiet fountain on the Ellipse where De Lue's 1964 bronze celebrates the ideals of scouting—a place to sit and think about what institutions are supposed to mean, maintained by the park service among the monumental weight of the city around you.

monument

Chinatown Friendship Archway

7th & H St NW

At the intersection of 7th and H, this ornate paifang marks the boundary between downtown and another world—one of the largest ceremonial arches of its kind outside China, where you can actually stand beneath it and feel the weight of its symbolic gates.

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Confederate Memorial

Confederate Memorial, Jackson Cir

A monument to Confederate soldiers once stood here in Arlington, removed in 2023 after more than a century. The empty circle marks where history was actively debated and ultimately reconsidered.

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Cuban Friendship Urn

971 Ohio Dr SW

If you want to sit with the weight of 1898—when a ship exploded and changed the course of empires—this marble urn on the Tidal Basin holds that moment still. People pass it without knowing what they're looking at.