Washington Monument

an obelisk erected in honor of George Washington in the city of Washington, D. C. It is a shaft of masonry 55 feet square at the base and 34 feet at the top. It is surmounted by a pyramidal top. The monument is in all 555 feet high, the loftiest work of masonry in the world. It incloses a square space or shaft. The walls are fifteen feet thick at the base and eighteen inches thick at the summit of the shaft. The outside facing is of white marble from Maryland. The interior backing is of gneiss and New England granite. The interior is lighted by electricity. Visitors may climb an inside stairway of 900 steps, if they prefer; but an elevator with a capacity of thirty passengers carries sightseers up and down the interior, stopping at several platforms.

The interior is faced with memorial stones contributed by forty different states, sixteen cities, and numerous organizations, as the Masons and Odd Fellows. Americans residing in China begged the privilege of contributing a stone. There are stones, all properly inscribed, from Braddock's Field, the battlefield of Long Island, from the loftiest peak in Washington's native state, from the ruins of ancient Carthage, from Vesuvius, from the Isle of Paros, and from the tomb of Napoleon at St. Helena. Greece sent a stone from the precious Parthenon, Switzerland a stone from the chapel of William Tell. Even far away Japan sent her tribute.

At a height of 504 feet the walls are pierced by eight openings, two on a side, from which an extensive view may be had of the city with its parks, statues, and public buildings, the White House, the Capitol, the Potomac, Arlington, and, far to the west, the misty Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

The project of a national monument in honor of the first president was set on foot during Washington's lifetime. The raising of funds by subscription began in 1833. The cornerstone was laid in 1848. In 1855 the funds for the obelisk ran low, and the work was abandoned at a height of 152 feet. In 1878, after the Civil War, Congress took over the work. The monument was finished in 1885 at a total cost of $1,300,000.

Unlike some public works, it may be said that this monument is worthy of the people, the place, and the subject. A tall shaft of pure white, it may be seen long before the traveler can see any other sign of the city.