Washington Monument
Built over an extended period between 1848 and 1884, the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.’s most prominent structure and the foremost memorial to America’s first President, has a surprisingly tumultuous history. Originally designed by architect Robert Mills as a flat topped obelisk surrounded by a circular colonnade at the base, the monument underwent significant changes as its construction progressed in fits and starts. The first major period of construction, from 1848 to 1856, ended with the obelisk less than half-complete due to lack of money and a political scandal with the election of the Know-Nothing political party. The project sat idle throughout the Civil War, when the survival of the United States was in doubt, and resumed only in 1876. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas L. Casey succeeded Mills on the Monument, redesigning the obelisk to have the pointed top currently seen today. Until the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889, the Washington Monument was the tallest structure in the world at 555 feet 5-1/8 inches tall.
- Take the elevator to the top of the monument, where you can look out the windows and see thirty miles on a clear day
- Notice the color change in the stone about 150 feet up, where the monument was left unfinished for twenty years
- Remember the great contributions of George Washington, the first President and father of the United States
- Look west from the monument’s location at the heart of the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, south to the Jefferson Memorial, east to the Capitol Building, and north to the White House
For more information, visit the official website at
www.nps.gov.
