Washington Monument

We loved the Washington Monument. Its height and color are so striking, and you can see it from almost anywhere along the National Mall. The Washington Monument is to D.C. like the Empire State Building is to New York: you can see it from pretty much everywhere and it helps to orient you. 

Construction of the monument started in 1848 under the direction of the Washington National Monument Society, but they ran out of money, forcing a halt to project in 1854. They were only able to complete the bottom 150 feet. In 1877, after twenty five years of inactivity due to a lack of money, political unrest, and the Civil War, the Federal Government took over the project and funded the remaining construction. The monument was completed in 1884, dedicated on February 21, 1885, and officially opened to the public in 1888.

The obelisk is 555 feet tall with a 55-foot wide base. It consists of three type of stone: marble, granite. and bluestone gneiss. More than 36,000 stones were used in its construction and the entire structure, including its underground base, weighs 100,000 tons. At the time of its completion it was the tallest structure in the world and held that title until the Eiffel Tower was finished in 1889. Today it is still the tallest stone structure.

When we first got close enough to see it in detail, we noticed that the stone on the bottom one-third of the monument didn't match the stone on the top. This is because the stones used during the first part of the monument's construction were cut from a different quarry than the stones used in the second part. Apparently the stone from both quarries looked the same during construction, but with exposure to the elements over time they have weathered differently.

I loved the ring of American Flags surrounding its base: 50 in total to represent America's 50 states.

The earthquake that occurred in Virginia in 2011 damaged the Washington monument, causing cracks in the stone and chips in the mortar. They closed the interior of the monument erected scaffolding around its exterior in order to complete the repairs. We were hoping that the repairs would be finished and the scaffolding gone when we were there, and it was. However, there was a fence around it, keeping the public from walking right up next to it, and the interior was still closed, but I'm so glad we got to see it unobstructed from scaffolding. It sure casts a long shadow.

We took A LOT of pictures of this monument. Wherever we were, we found that we had a different picturesque view of it.

After we had finished at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. night had fallen. We had a great view across the water of the Washington Monument all lit up.

It's just as beautiful at night as it is in daylight.

I knew that I would like the Washington Monument, but it surprised me how much it affected me. It's a shining pillar standing as straight and sure as the ideals that this country was founded on, and a grand tribute to President George Washington.