Washington, D.C.

In the early 21st century, when the United States was divided into thirteen commonwealths, Washington, DC, the pre-War capital city of the U.S. became part of the Columbia Commonwealth, along with Virginia and Maryland.

Pentagon/Citadel
The Pentagon was largely destroyed during the Great War, as it was the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense and a prime target. But its sub-levels remained intact, and full of various pre-war technology and weaponry. The Brotherhood of Steel arrived at Washington DC, destroyed the defense robots, and began to retrieve the technology from the site. But they found something else as well... a technological marvel that, if restored, could help the Brotherhood rebuild a strength and reputation that had been declining steadily for years. Paladin Owyn Lyons, the leader of the Brotherhood group, became the Elder of the Brotherhood's Capital Wasteland division and established a new, permanent Brotherhood base called the Citadel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon.

Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial stands in ruins, the seated statue of Lincoln missing its head. Sand bags have been set up around the memorial, suggesting that it was once used as a tactical position during a firefight. His headless form represents how inequality and intolerance reign in this chaos. The head may be restored after following a quest given at the Temple of the Union by Hannibal Hamlin who leads a small unit of escaped slaves that are trying to create a haven for other runaway slaves.

Washington Monument
The obelisk that is the Washington Monument now has a fence made of scrap surrounding it, and shows signs of past or even present occupation by a military unit. The monument's cement has been stripped at many places to reveal its skeletal frame, a metaphor for the nation for which it stands.

Museum of American History
The Museum of American History remains largely untouched except for general decay and trash can fires. Old posters for the Space exhibit still hang. A woolly mammoth statue sits in the center untouched by time or the Great War, but the headless skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex was not so fortunate; other dinosaur bones litter the area, reminders of another dominant species wiped out by a great cataclysm. Further inside the museum, the player can find The Underworld, a city largely populated by ghouls.

Museum of Technology
A dilapidated shell of its former glory, the Museum of Technology lies in ruin. The Wright brothers' Flyer has fallen, its wings broken, and a faded old Vault-Tec banner hangs nearby. A monument to man's pride and achievement, set amid the result. In the game it is filled with super mutants.



The Capitol building
The Capitol still stands, barely, with its walls showing heavy damage and the majestic dome partially destroyed. It is still a battleground between Talon Company and the Super Mutants who struggle for control. Burning rubble and bodies lie everywhere along with equipment that long ago was used to repair this place of government. Here, the pen is no longer mightier than the sword.

Other places
The Jefferson Memorial was converted to a water filtering facility with very large water pipes obstructing the main entrance. A smaller side entrance to the gift shop is open toward the west. This is used as a base for Project Purity which seeks to provide clean water to the entire Capital Wasteland.

The White House is also a location on the map, though it is nothing more than a massive crater at this point. Its location is incorrectly placed on the world map, as in the real world it is directly north of the Washington Monument, where as in Fallout 3 it is located a number of blocks east, closer to the Capitol Building. In the gameworld it is located, it shows up correctly, but doesn't match up with the map.

Appearances
Washington, DC is one of the major locations in Fallout 3.