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Thomas Jefferson Memorial Review

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Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Address: Tidal Basin, south bank The Mall, Washington, DC | Map It
Phone: 202/426-6821
www.nps.gov/thje

Category: Memorials/Monuments
Location: The Mall

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Fodor's Review:

In the 1930s Congress decided that Thomas Jefferson deserved a monument positioned as prominently as those honoring Washington and Lincoln. Workers scooped and moved tons of the river bottom to create dry land for the spot directly south of the White House where the monument was built. Jefferson had always admired the Pantheon in Rome, so the memorial's architect, John Russell Pope, drew on it for inspiration. His finished work was dedicated on the bicentennial of Jefferson's birth, April 13, 1943.

Early critics weren't kind to the memorial—it even earned the nickname "Jefferson's muffin." The design was called outdated and too similar to that of the Lincoln Memorial. Indeed, both statues of Jefferson and Lincoln are 19 feet, just six inches shorter than the statue of Freedom atop the Capitol.

The bronze statue of Jefferson, standing on a 6-foot granite pedestal, looms larger than life. It wasn't always made of bronze. The first version was made of plaster, because bronze was too expensive and was needed for the war. The statue you see today was erected in 1947.

You can get a taste of Jefferson's keen intellect from his writings about freedom and government inscribed on the marble walls surrounding his statue. Many people may be surprised to learn that Jefferson didn't list being president as one of his greatest accomplishments. When he appraised his own life, Jefferson wanted to be remembered as the "Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia."

Cost: Free
Open: Daily 8 AM-midnight
Metro: Smithsonian

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