There’s not usually much activity in Northwest D.C.’s serene Mitchell Park. But did you know the rocky exterior wall holding the park’s hill in place at the corner of 23rd and S streets used to be teeming with prehistoric life?
In today’s episode of “Matt About Town,” WTOP’s Matt Kaufax hiked near the Kalorama neighborhood with a can of Play-Doh and some plastic wrap, where he not only uncovered some of D.C.’s coolest hidden fossils, but also got a chance to mold his own ancient souvenirs.
It’s Matt’s latest adventure in a series of fantastic journeys with D.C.’s resident “Fossil Hunter,” Chris Barr.
A lawyer by day for a big D.C. firm, Barr also has a background in geology and dabbles in paleontology, in his quest to uncover all of the locations of what he calls “D.C.’s accidental museum of paleontology.”
Barr started cataloging all the hidden fossil locations of D.C. on his website back in the early 2000s. Although he shut down his blog a few years ago, you can still find an archived version of the website (and detailed descriptions of D.C.’s secret fossil spots) online.
Previously on “Matt About Town,” Matt and Chris have explored:
- Secret fossils with connections to the dinosaurs at the reptile house inside D.C.’s National Zoo.
- Hidden fossils in steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial.
- Prehistoric remains in floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bookstore near the Tidal Basin.
- And fossils in the floors, walls and even the bathrooms, of D.C.’s National Gallery of Art.
Come along on this journey, where Matt and Chris explore some of the most visually stunning public fossils of this miniseries yet!
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