Part of our trip included research (sent by the Carolina Homeschool group leader, Dianna) on some of the monuments and memorials we would be seeing. This really helped make our visit special! So, I'm adding some of what we learned beside our photos.
The Washington Monument was designed by Robert Mills. His original plan called for a "large structure, built of columns and housing a number of statues, with a 600-foot obelisk rising from the center." They basically ended up building the obelisk.
Construction was started in 1848 and completed in 1884.
Construction was suspended for about 18 years because the money 'ran out' and the Civil War.
The walls are composed of marble and the color changes about one third of the way up. When construction resumed after the Civil War, the marble that they were able to get was a slightly different color.
The monument is 555 feet 5 1/8 inches tall. It is estimated to weigh 90,000 tons.
Along the stairs (which are no longer open to the public) you can view memorial stones contributed by various states, civic groups, private organizations, and others. On the way down the monument, the elevator slows at several places to allow a brief view of some of these amazing memorials.
3 comments:
Awww I just love the first photo. She looks so cute! Thank you so much for sharing all of the info.
I've always wanted to go up into the monument. Was the line ridiculous?
Great write-up. Alex looks adorable in her pictures and I love the changing cloud patterns in each of the photos.
My children and I did a "rabbit trail" study of aluminum several months ago and learned about the cap of the Washington Monument. We think of aluminum as very common, but most people hadn't even heard of it back then. I found it fascinating. Here is a good site if you're interested:
http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/9511/binczewski-9511.html
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