Washington Monument, Obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States
The Washington Monument is a 555-foot (169 m) hollow Egyptian-style obelisk on the National Mall, with a 500-foot column and a 55-foot pyramidion. Its walls taper as they rise, and a visible change in the white marble's shade partway up marks where construction resumed in 1879 after a 23-year pause. The pyramidion has eight observation windows and two red aircraft warning lights per side.
Robert Mills originally designed the memorial with a circular colonnade building that was never built due to cost constraints, so work began in 1848 and halted in 1854 after internal conflicts. Congress took over the project in 1876 and assigned the Army Corps of Engineers under Colonel Thomas Casey to complete it, which was achieved in 1884.
The obelisk rises above everything around it while families, joggers, and school groups gather on the surrounding lawn. You often see demonstrations, picnics, and people taking photographs, so the site is shaped by public life every day.
Reservations can be made through the National Park Service booking system and provide elevator access to the observation level at 500 feet (152 meters). The Smithsonian and Federal Triangle metro stations are located about 2,600 feet (800 meters) to the east and offer access via the Orange, Silver, and Blue lines.
The pyramid-shaped aluminum apex weighed 100 ounces (2.8 kilograms) and was the largest piece of cast aluminum in the world when placed in 1884. The extremely costly metal at the time was displayed for two days in the window of Tiffany & Co. in New York before installation.
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