Washington Monument

A couple weekends ago we went to the top of the Washington Monument, the tallest building in DC at 555 feet and 5 1/8 inches tall! We went to 550 feet and at that height you can see for 30 miles in each direction. Below are some pictures I took looking out the small windows at the top.

 The Lincoln Memorial and reflection pool facing West.

 The North side overlooking the White House and my office building (next to the red building to the left)

 The East side looking down the National Mall to the US Capitol building

Bad picture of Morgan and I by the window looking at the Capitol building.

So if you are interested, here is some history of the Washington Monument. For those of you who are coming out here for the summer and want to go up to the top make your reservations NOW!!! They may all be booked for the summer already. Go here http://www.nps.gov/wamo/index.htm to make reservations.

Now for the History:

Facts About the Washington Monument

Here are some interesting facts about the Washington Monument:

•The corner stone was laid on July 4, 1848. The same trowel was used that George Washington used to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol way back in 1793. Thousands gathered around the construction site to celebrate the moment.

•The walls of the monument are 15 feet thick at the bottom and 18 inches at the top.

•The walls are covered with white marble that was brought in from Maryland.

•While the monument is hollow on the inside, the inner walls are set with 189 memorial stones that are carved and were presented by individuals, cities, states, societies and other countries.

•The point at which construction was stopped in 1858 can be identified as the stones used above 152 feet have a darker tone of color when compared to the original ones.

•The Washington Monument is surrounded by flagpoles, each flag representing a flag of the state.

•The total cost of building the monument was $1,817,710.

•The construction of the monument was completed 30 years after the death of its architect, Robert Mills.