Washington Monument

Courtesy of History.com On December 6, 1884 : The Washington Monument was completed. Workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city's namesake and the nation's first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L'Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument's present location).It wasn't until 1832, however--33 years after Washington's death--that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue's construction. These efforts--including appeals to the nation's schoolchildren--raised some $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Construction began anyway, on July 4, 1848, as representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain described the unfinished monument as looking like a "hollow, oversized chimney." No further progress was made until 1876--the centennial of American independence--when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.--a fitting tribute to the man known as the "Father of His Country."

While in the monument a Park Ranger was asked about the law of building height. She stated that that was in fact a myth. The DC law actually states that no building can be taller than twice the width of the street that borders it.

When I first arrived in DC the Washington Monument was the first recognizable site I saw from a distance. And, like I thought, it was pretty much amazing to see. I was so surprised that I could so distinctly see the place where the monument construction had been halted and then later restarted.

Looking up towards the top from the 500 foot level, once inside the monument.

Us at the top! The view is phenomenal!

The White House! Can you imagine having a backyard like that?

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There are pictures of the view above each window that points out buildings of importance, etc. The next sets of pictures show the labeled photo and the one I took.

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In the above pictures you can see the WWII Memorial in the picture I took, but it hadn't been completed when the labeled photo was taken.

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Lincoln Memorial above
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WWII Memorial below

In the picture below you can see the Cherry Blossoms on the Tidal Basin and where there is a construction project going on. This is where there will be a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. To see more information see the Build the Dream website. I'll have to return to see it when it is complete.

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Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Holocaust Museum is in the center of the photo below.

Josh asked me if I'd seen all the blankets on the lawn getting ready for the concert we thought they were going to have. I hadn't, but it looked cool one I saw it. Looks a bit like a patchwork quilt.

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Model of the cap on the monument that is made from aluminum, meant to be a lightning rod.

Between the years of 1998-2001 there was a construction project going on to check the monument, add an elevator, create a information area just below the view point floor. The picture below is for my dad. That is all scaffolding surrounding the monument. :)

There are all kinds of "plaques" on the interior of the monument dedicated by each state to Washington. You can see some of them when you come down in the elevator, which doesn't stop, just slows so the pictures are a bit blurry.

Floor tiling.

Carving in the monument.

Once we got down we headed over to see the concert. It wasn't a concert. The "blankets" were actually yoga mats and there were massive amounts of people doing yoga. Pretty darn cool to see.

Josh and I both loved going up in the Monument and because I got tickets online early we didn't even have to get in line, or on line as they say in the east, at 5 am like lots of people did. Woohoo for pre-planning!