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The Washington Monument
The monument is among the world's tallest masonry structures, standing 555 feet, 5⅛ inches (169.29 m) in height and made of marble, granite, and sandstone. It was designed by Robert Mills, a prominent American architect of the 1840s. The actual construction of the monument began in 1848 but was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death. This hiatus in construction was because of a lack of funds and the intervention of the American Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet (45 m) up, clearly delineates the initial construction from its resumption in 1876. Its cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. It officially opened to the public on October 9, 1888. Upon completion, it became the world's tallest structure, a title it inherited from the Cologne Cathedral and held until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was finished in Paris, France. The Washington Monument reflection can be seen in the aptly named Reflecting Pool, a rectangular pool extending to the west, towards the Lincoln Memorial. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the world. It is still the tallest building in Washington D.C., and because of a 1910 law restricting a new building's height to be no more than 20 feet (6 m) greater than the width of the adjacent street, probably always will be (there is a popular misconception that the law specifies that no building may be taller than the Washington Monument, but in fact the law makes no mention of it). Ordinary antique obelisks were seldom taller than around 100 feet (30 m), making this monument vastly taller than the obelisks around the capitals of Europe and in Egypt. The Washington Monument drew enormous crowds even before it officially opened. During the six months that followed its dedication, 10,041 people climbed the 893 steps to the top. After the elevator that had been used to raise building materials was altered so that it could carry passengers, the number of visitors grew rapidly. As early as 1888, an average of 55,000 people per month went to the top, and today the Washington Monument has more than 800,000 visitors each year. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the national memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. For ten hours in December 1982, the Washington Monument was "held hostage" by a nuclear arms protester, Norman Mayer, claiming to have explosives in a van he drove up to the monument's base. Eight tourists trapped in the monument at the time the standoff began were set free, and the incident ended with U.S. Park Police opening fire on Mayer and killing him. The monument was undamaged in the incident, and it was discovered later Mayer did not have explosives. On July 4, 2005, a $15 million security and landscaping enhancement project was completed. The design, an innovative and subtle series of concentric circles 30 inches (0.76 m) high, is designed to make it impossible to drive up to the monument, though approaching on foot or on bicycle should be unimpeded. In addition to the security upgrade, the construction, which required the monument to be closed starting in September 2004, also included an upgrade to the external lighting of the monument. The Monument was evacuated on October 7, 2005, after a bomb threat was called in, although a search turned up nothing worrisome. A second bomb threat was called in on October 13, 2005; again, nothing suspicious was found. Interesting facts about the Washington Monument
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The
Washington Monument is a large, white-colored obelisk at the west
end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It is a United States
Presidential Memorial constructed for George Washington.
