W A S H I N G T O N   M O N U M E N T

Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, October 27, 2004

Monument: #6

Dedicated: 1885

Design Architect: Robert Mills

Highlights: 555 feet high, 70 second elevator ascent.

Lowlights: It's closed due to construction, the Maryland marble doesn't all match.

Location: West of the National Mall, Washington, D.C.

Hours: Open daily, 9am to 4:45pm, closed December 25.

Admission: Free!

Link: Official Website

Rating:

(5 max)

Wow! The Washington Monument is probably the Capital's most prominent landmark. It was a struggle to build, however. Did you know it took a whopping 37 years to build, and when the final mason trowel was cleaned and stowed away, the year was 1885. Interesting factoid. The same trowel used by George Washington at the laying of the cornerstone for the Capital in 1793 was used to lay the cornerstone for the Washington Monument in a ceremony held in the summer of 1848.

Unfortunately, there's a huge construction project going on right now. At present, the monument is closed to the general public. Bummer, I really wanted to see what the Capital looks like from the monument's lofty heights. Sans tour, here's a website with a few shots from the top. Pretty sweet, eh? I wonder if anyone has ever parachuted off the top? Probably not, I'm sure the security checkpoint upon entry is pretty stringent.

Construction of the monument was on-going for 6 straight years, until many citizens voiced their dissatisfaction with the work being performed. That, coupled with to the struggles between the North and the South leading up to and including the Civil War, caused a halt to all construction for 25 years. At that time, the monument was only 150 feet high.