The Octagon

A place that many people haven't heard about in Washington, DC is the Octagon.

Nobody is sure how this building got its name, since it doesn't actually have eight sides. But the structure was built between 1799 and 1801 about a block away from the White House. It was the first residential building in the neighborhood and was designed to instill confidence in the future development of what was then called "Federal City" as the new nation's capitol.

When the British burned the White House in 1814 (during the War of 1812) - James and Dolley Madison used the Octagon as a temporary residence. In February of the following year, the Treaty of Ghent was signed in the second floor of the Octagon, ending the War of 1812 with Great Britain.

Since then the building has various uses and tenants, it is now maintained as a museum by the American Architectural Foundation. It's a little known place that has taken part in a whole bunch of history.