#46 Washington Monument

Standing at the foot of the Washington Monument

Last week I was surprised to find in my inbox an invitation from the National Park Service for this year's Cherry Tree Pruning Volunteers to be some of the first members of the public to experience the newly renovated Washington Monument. It has been closed for renovations for 3 years, and we got to help staff practice the new operation under "real visitor" conditions before the grand reopening on Thursday!

So close you can't see the pyramid at the top anymore!
Note the stone color change at 150 ft.

Park Rangers giving an overview before entering

George Washington statue inside looking at the elevator doors

During the visit, I learned that DC planner Pierre L'Enfant originally planned for a statue of Washington on a horse to serve as a monument, but in 1845, the obelisk design was chosen instead. The first 150 feet of the structure was funded by private donations to the Washington National Monument Society using marble from Maryland, but construction halted when they ran out of money in 1854. After the Civil War in 1876, Congress funded the Army Corps of Engineers to finish the job. The Maryland quarry had closed in the meantime, so the rest of the stones were sourced from Massachusetts.

We waited outside in the sunshine for a bit before being going through security in the base and waiting for the elevator up to the 500ft level. In 1888, the steam-powered elevator took 12 minutes to go to the top; now it takes only 70 seconds. You also used to be able to climb the 896 steps to the top, but alas no longer. 

View down the National Mall to the Capitol

View to the White House

View to the WW2 Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and across the river to Virginia

View to Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial

The views are AMAZING from the top! At 555 feet and 5 1/8 inches tall, it is the tallest building in DC and the largest freestanding stone structure in the world. That means there are no metal supports, just gravity holding the stones on top of each other!

The elevator drops you at the 500 foot level inside the pyramid at the top to look through little windows in all directions. Then, there is a small flight of stairs down to the 490ft level below with an exhibit on the monument where you also catch the elevator going back down.

Looking up into the pyramid structure at the top of the obelisk

The flashing red lights you see at night for flight traffic

On the ride down, the elevator slows to let you check out some of the interior stones donated from all around the country and the world. They look a bit ghostly from the window tinting, but you get the idea :)

Item 46 Completed 9/15/19
20/46 items complete = 43%