Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is a marble, granite and bluestone gneiss obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to honor George Washington to a design by the architect Robert Mills. Construction began in 1848 but stalled for over two decades amid funding shortages and the Civil War, and when work resumed under the Army Corps of Engineers the new marble came from a different quarry, leaving a visible color change partway up the shaft that remains today. Completed in 1884 and opened to the public in 1888, the monument rises 555 feet 5 and one-eighth inches, making it the tallest stone structure and the tallest obelisk in the world, and it briefly stood as the tallest structure of any kind until the Eiffel Tower surpassed it the following year.

Standing east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the monument is made of bluestone gneiss for the foundation and of granite for the construction.

Standing east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the monument is made of bluestone gneiss for the foundation and of granite for the construction.

The Washington Monument is a 555-foot (169 m) tall obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States and the nation's first president.

The Washington Monument is a 555-foot (169 m) tall obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States and the nation's first president.

The stone structure was completed in 1884, and the internal ironwork, the knoll, and installation of memorial stones was completed in 1888.

The Washington Monument is a 555-foot (169 m) tall obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States and the nation's first president.