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Washington Monument Review

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Washington Monument

Address: Constitution Ave. and 15th St. NW, The Mall, Washington, DC | Map It
Phone: 202/426-6841; 877/444-6777 for advance tickets
www.nps.gov/wamo; www.recreation.gov for advance tickets

Category: Memorials/Monuments
Location: The Mall

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Fodor's Review:

At the western end of the Mall, the 555-foot, 5-inch Washington Monument punctuates the capital like a huge exclamation point. Inside, an elevator takes you to the top for a bird's-eye view of the city. The monument was part of Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washington, but his intended location proved to be marshy, so it was moved 100 yards southeast to firmer ground. (A stone marker now indicates L'Enfant's original site.) Construction began in 1848 and continued, with interruptions, until 1884. The design called for an obelisk rising from a circular colonnaded building, which was to be adorned with statues of national heroes, including Washington riding in a chariot. When the Army Corps of Engineers took over construction in 1876, the building around the obelisk was abandoned. Upon its completion, the monument was the world's tallest structure. It's still the tallest in Washington.

An elevator whizzes to the top of the monument in 70 seconds—a trip that in 1888 took 12 minutes via steam-powered elevator. From the viewing stations at the top you can take in most of the District of Columbia, as well as parts of Maryland and Virginia.

There's a story behind the change in color of the stone about a third of the way up the monument. In 1854, six years into construction, members of the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing party stole and smashed a block of marble donated by Pope Pius IX. This action, combined with funding shortages and the onset of the Civil War, brought construction to a halt. After the war, building finally resumed, and though the new marble came from the same Maryland quarry as the old, it was taken from a different stratum with a slightly different shade.

Cost: Free; $2 service fee per advance ticket
Open: Daily 9-5
Metro: Smithsonian

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