Washington Monument’s History

The Washington Monument was built to honor George Washington, the first President of the United States and the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The monument was the tallest structure in the world from 1884 to 1889, until the Eiffel Tower in Paris France was built. It is the tallest structure in Washington, DC. The designer and architect for the monument was by Robert Mills.

The Washington Monument is a hollow Egyptian stone/marble 550-foot Obelisk. The structure consists of a 500-foot column and a 55-foot tall pyramidion. The interior consists of iron stairs that spiral up the walls of the structure. There are 900 steps and 47 landing in the monument. There is also an elevator in the center of the monument. The monument is in circle with 50 United States Flags that are flown 24 hours a day.

Construction of the monument began in 1848 but was halted from 1854 to 1877 due to lack of funds and the American Civil War. There is a distinct different in the shading of marble being at 150 feet. This is due to the stoppage of construction and the new marble being source from a different location. The initial corner stone for the monument was laid on July 4, 1848. When construction started back up the first stone was laid upon the unfinished monument was August 7, 1880. The cap stone of the monument was set on December 6, 1884. The monument dedication was on February 21, 1885 and it was officially open to the public on October 8, 1888.

In December of 1982 for 10 hours the monument and eight tourists were held hostage by a nuclear arms protester. Between 1998 and 2001 The monument underwent extensive restoration and it was cleaned, repaired and interior and exterior stonework was repointed. In September 2004 the monument was closed for a $15 million-dollar renovation which included numerous security upgrades and landscaping. The landscaping architect was Laurie Olin. The monument was reopened back on April 1, 2005. On August 23m 2011 the monument sustain damage from the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that took place in Virginia. Over 150 cracks were found in the monument after the earthquake and a block in the pyramidion was partially dislodged. The monument was closed from July 2012 until May 12, 2014 due to repair issues. The monument continued to have structural and electrical issues after the earthquake and was closed on December 2, 2016 and is schedule to reopen sometime in 2019.