Shaw

A Masonic Temple, the headquarters of the Scottish Rite, and a prominently featured location in Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol. It's almost absurdly grand, pretty easily outshining the similar Supreme Court Building downtown, and there's nary a Washingtonian around who hasn't at some point walked by it, surprised by this enormous but unidentified building. Courtesy of the author of the Da Vinci Code, though, everyone will from this point on know what the building is. The interior is a wild Orientalist fantasy in way that only the Masons could bring to life, and is open to the public for tours and exhibits. Following The Lost Symbol's publication, the previously empty tours are now filled with crowds—early morning is the best time to avoid them.

Native Washingtonians Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey performed in the Lincoln Theatre. So did Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Billy Eckstine, Billie Holliday and Sarah Vaughn. Today, it host musical events, films, and community events.

This building is a Shaw landmark, built as the local YMCA in 1912, and designed by one of the nation's first black architects, W. Sidney Pittman. The name comes from the fact that Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall was a frequent visitor to the Y, and that he formulated his opinion for the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision here. On the first floor, the Shaw Heritage Trust maintains an exhibit portraying the living history of African Americans in the Shaw Community.