Washington, DC: Cenotaph of John Quincy Adams

The 6th U.S. President isn't buried here, so this tombstone-like monument in a cemetery probably confuses casual visitors.

For much of the 19th century it was customary to erect monuments in Congressional Cemetery for members who had died in office. The cubed obelisks are called the Latrobe cenotaphs, named after architect Benjamin Latrobe, to whom their design is attributed. Though the term cenotaph typically means "empty tomb," several dozen of the over 160 markers are actual graves. Among the congressmen memorialized is former President John Quincy Adams, who had been elected to the House of Representatives after his one term in office and who then died of a stroke in the Capitol. His monument, which mistakenly reports his age as 79, is a true cenotaph (Adams is interred in Massachusetts), although his body was temporarily kept in the Congressional public vault. Other notables with cenotaphs in the cemetery include Senators John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay, whose memorials sit side-by-side.