The Washington Monument is 555 feet tall and 55 feet wide, and was erected to honor George Washington. The story of how it came to be is a monumental story, itself, of human frailty and perseverance.
The building took four decades to build, due to politics, money, vandalism, and controversy. Proposals to build it started as early as 1783, when Congress wanted to honor General George Washington, for winning our independence from England. Washington eventually became our first president, from 1789-1797.
However, in 1800, the new country didn't have much money, and nor have a budget for statues. But Baltimore, MD, found a way to build a statue for its city. They raised money through a public lottery. It took them four years to build a statue of Washington on top of a column.
But a monument in Washington D.C., didn't really get going until the Washington National Monument Society formed. They chose the same architect who build the Baltimore Washington statue, Robert Mills.
The architect wanted to surround an obelisk with statues of early American patriots from the revolutionary days, with George Washington driving a chariot. Twenty thousand people came to see the cornerstone being laid.
The money came from private funds. When $87,000 was raised, the workers installed the foundation. Work continued and so did the fund raising. Foreign countries donated commemorative blocks. But when Vatican City sent a stone in 1854, anti-Catholics protested. They didn't want the "Pope Stone." This stone came from an archeological site, from around 366 BC in Caesar's Rome. A group called the Know Nothings broke into the Washington Monument and took out the "Pope's Stone," smashed it, and threw it into the Potomac River. This incident brought the project to a halt. Controversy and politics, money, and then the Civil War, essentially stopped construction.
With the Civil War ending in 1865, the monument became the butt of jokes and political cartoons. Finally, construction resumed in 1876, and Congress came up with $200,000. The architect's plan of the patriots around the base just cost too much, so an unadorned obelisk was the result.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers oversaw the construction. It reached 555 feet. A steam elevator was installed to take workers, and then tourists to the top. By 1884, it was complete, and at the time, was considered the tallest structure in the world. The dedication was on Washington's birthday, February 22, 1885.
