The District is a college town. We’ve got 11 universities, some better known than others, some more picturesque than others.

Gallaudet University, a federally chartered institution for the deaf and hard of hearing, solidly falls into the camp of the lesser-known universities, but it may certainly rank as one of the more picturesque. Located along Florida Avenue NE, you could go years without much interacting with the university or really knowing it’s there. I’m proof of that — yesterday was the first time in a decade that I rode my bike on to the campus.

What I found was a pleasant surprise, a campus dotted with a mix of historic and modern buildings. (It was designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted in 1866 and is identified as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.) It may not have the cache of Georgetown University’s Healy Hall, but it certainly beats the uninspired urbanism at George Washington University and the somewhat bland architecture at American University.

It may be a little out of the way, but it’s certainly worth a visit.