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95 free Washington DC trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
20 free Washington DC trivia questions with answers. Think you know everything about America's capital? Test your Washington DC knowledge with our comprehensive 95-question trivia quiz covering landmarks, history, government, and fascinating facts about the nation's capital. Whether you're a DC resident, history buff, or just curious about American government, this quiz will challenge what you know about Washington DC.
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Q 01Which major river flows along the southwestern border of Washington D.C.?
Potomac
The Potomac River forms Washington D.C.'s southwestern and southern border with the U.S. state of Virginia.
Q 02Which iconic obelisk monument stands prominently on the National Mall in Washington D.C.?
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is a prominent obelisk on the National Mall, built to commemorate George Washington, the first U.S. President.
Q 03Whom did George Washington commission in 1791 to lay out the new federal city?
Pierre Charles L'Enfant
Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French-born military engineer, drew the 1791 plan of grand avenues and ceremonial spaces; Andrew Ellicott finished the survey after L'Enfant was dismissed in 1792.
Q 04The Residence Act, which fixed the capital on the Potomac and counts as Washington's founding date, was adopted in which year?
1790
July 16, 1790: the Residence Act approved a capital district along the Potomac, and that date is counted as the city's founding.
Q 05What is the name of the building that houses the U.S. Congress?
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol Building is where the U.S. Congress convenes, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Q 06Which President's memorial seats him in marble beside the texts of two of his speeches?
Abraham Lincoln
The Lincoln Memorial seats Abraham Lincoln in Georgia marble; the chamber walls carry the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address, and the memorial was dedicated in 1922.
Q 07What type of animal is Screech, the official mascot of the Washington Nationals baseball team?
Eagle
Screech is a bald eagle, 'hatched' at RFK Stadium on Kids Opening Day in April 2005, the Nationals' first season in Washington.
Q 08What is the highest natural point in Washington D.C.?
Fort Reno Park
Fort Reno Park in Tenleytown holds Point Reno, the District's highest natural elevation at 409 feet (125 m) above sea level.
Q 09Which of these is not one of the three branches of the US federal government headquartered in Washington?
Diplomatic
Diplomatic is the odd one out; the federal government is composed of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
Q 10The Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. is ringed by what flowering trees, gifted from Japan?
Cherry Blossom
The cherry blossom trees were a 1912 gift from Japan; the first two were planted on March 27, 1912, and the blossoms draw crowds each spring for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Q 11What is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States?
The White House
The White House, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, serves as the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States.
Q 12Which institution, founded in 1800 and the oldest federal cultural body in the US, fills three buildings next to the Capitol?
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of Congress itself, and the largest library of its kind in the world.
Q 13The J. Edgar Hoover Building opened in 1975 as the headquarters of which agency?
Q 21Which Metro station, 196 feet below ground, is the deepest in the system?
Forest Glen
Forest Glen, on the Red Line in Montgomery County, sits about 196 feet below ground, so riders use high-speed elevators rather than escalators to reach the platform.
Q 22Which Metro station has the longest single-tier escalator in the Western Hemisphere?
Wheaton
Wheaton, on the Red Line, has a 230-foot (70 m) escalator, the longest single-span escalator in the Western Hemisphere; the ride takes close to three minutes.
Q 23Which Chicago architect designed many of Metro's early vaulted stations?
Harry Weese
Harry Weese, a Chicago architect, designed Metro's signature coffered concrete vaults; the station design won the American Institute of Architects' Twenty-five Year Award in 2014.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) moved into the J. Edgar Hoover Building at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in 1975, named for the director who ran the bureau from 1924 to 1972.
Q 14At which Washington theatre did John Wilkes Booth shoot President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865?
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre on 10th Street NW was the scene; Booth shot Lincoln during a performance of Our American Cousin, and the president died the next morning at the Petersen House across the street.
Q 15What is the professional NBA team based in Washington D.C.?
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are the professional basketball team representing Washington D.C. in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Q 16The Washington National Cathedral is officially known by what longer, formal name?
Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, was begun in 1907 and completed in 1990; almost everyone just says National Cathedral.
Q 17Which document is not one of the three 'Charters of Freedom' displayed in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington?
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation is in the Archives' collection but not in the Rotunda's three bronze-framed, bulletproof cases, which hold the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Q 18What name did the commissioners give the federal district in 1791, before it was Washington, D.C.?
The Territory of Columbia
In September 1791, the three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the federal district the Territory of Columbia, while the city within it was named the City of Washington.
Q 19Which Washington river, long called the city's 'forgotten river', is named for an Indigenous people?
Anacostia
The Anacostia takes its name from the Nacotchtank people who lived along it; the roughly 8.7-mile river, polluted for decades, has drawn decades of cleanup work.
Q 20In what year did the first stretch of the Washington Metro open?
1976
Metro's first segment opened on March 27, 1976: 4.6 miles of Red Line with five stations, from Rhode Island Avenue to Farragut North.
Q 24The obelisk on the Mall was the world's tallest structure until what overtook it in 1889?
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower, completed in 1889, overtook the 555-foot Washington Monument, which had held the record only since its 1884 completion; the monument is the world's tallest obelisk.
Q 25A small pyramid of which metal caps the apex of the obelisk on the Mall?
Aluminum
The apex is a 100-ounce pyramid of aluminum, set in December 1884 when the metal was still a costly rarity; the capstone carries inscriptions on all four sides.
Q 26Which nativist party destroyed the Pope's Stone donated to the obelisk in 1854?
Know-Nothings
Members of the anti-Catholic Know-Nothings stole and smashed the Pope's Stone in March 1854; a replacement was finally installed in 1982, inscribed 'A Roma Americae'.
Q 27Whose original design for the obelisk included a colonnade that was never built?
Robert Mills
Robert Mills's winning design ringed the shaft with a circular colonnade; lack of funds meant the bare obelisk went up alone, and work stalled from 1854 until the late 1870s.
Q 28Who designed the seated marble statue of Lincoln inside his memorial?
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French designed the seated Lincoln; the Piccirilli brothers carved it from Georgia marble, and the figure was enlarged from a planned 10 feet to 19 feet to suit the chamber.
Q 29Which contralto sang from the Lincoln Memorial steps on Easter 1939 after the DAR barred her?
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson sang to 75,000 people on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused her Constitution Hall; Interior Secretary Harold Ickes arranged the open-air concert.
Q 30Who designed the Jefferson Memorial, drawing on the Roman Pantheon?
John Russell Pope
Pope also designed the National Archives and the National Gallery's West Building, and died in 1937 before the memorial was built.