Despite the fact that Riverdale, much like Springfield, exists in every state in the U.S. and in no state at all, Archie Andrews and his chums still manage to visit places that do exist, including the Nation’s Capital, Washington, DC.
In one untitled story in Archie’s Double Digest 138 (January, 2003), Riverdale High takes the gang to Washington, DC, by bus. Given that the story appears in a digest, it’s almost certainly from an earlier time period, possibly, judging from the art, from the 1960s.
And of course, they visit the Capitol Building:
Not an altogether poor rendition of the west front of the Capitol, but one wishes there were that many trees still standing on the Capitol grounds after the Capitol Visitors Center construction . . .
Where else did Archie get up to his antics in DC?
Well, in addition to Dilton getting arrested for espionage in the Capitol and Archie dislodging the Wright Flyer from the ceiling of the Smithsonian, they visited the Lincoln Memorial:
If anyone has a specific citation for the original appearance of this story, please leave a comment.
Other cartoon characters have visited DC as well. I recall one long-lost Dennis the Menace digest devoted to his impish trip to Washington. I’ll have to try to track that down.