Photos: On this day – December 6, 1884 – The Washington Monument is completed

Posted Dec 06, 2012

On this day – December 6, 1884 – The Washington Monument is completed.

The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first American president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 51⁄8 inches.Taller monumental columns exist, but they are neither all stone nor true obelisks. Construction of the monument began in 1848, but was halted from 1854 to 1877, and finally completed in 1884. The hiatus in construction happened because of co-option by the Know Nothing party, a lack of funds, and the intervention of the American Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet (46 m) or 27% up, shows where construction was halted. Its original design was by Robert Mills, an architect of the 1840s, but his design was modified significantly when construction resumed. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885.It officially opened October 9, 1888. Upon completion, it became the world’s tallest structure, a title previously held by the Cologne Cathedral.(AP, Wikipedia)

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Workers set the capstone on top of the Washington Monument, Dec. 6, 1884. Engineer Gen. Thomas L. Casey, in derby hat, oversees the work. (AP Photo)
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The partially completed monument, photographed by Mathew Brady; circa 1860.
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The capstone of the Washington Monument is set by workmen, 1884. (AP Photo)
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The cornerstone of the Washington Monument is laid by Benjamin French, a Masonic Grand Master, July 4, 1848, using the same trowel used by George Washington when he laid the cornerstone of the capital in 1793. (AP Photo)
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This is the scene at the dedication of the Washington Monument, Feb. 21, 1885. The 555-foot shaft was then the highest structure in the world. (AP Photo)
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Washington Monument, Washington D.C., United States as viewed at twilight/dusk. 2000 "Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0"
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Rider Joy Cummings examines a Japanese cherry tree that was cut down with the words "To hell with those Japanese," carved into it, Dec. 10, 1941. Irving C. Root, Parks Commissioner, termed it vandalism. The Washington Monument is in the background. (AP Photo)
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Almost in the shadow of the towering Washington Monument, bonus veterans' camp is burned down in Washington, D.C., July 28, 1932, after the veterans has evacuated before the threats of government troops. Some of the men fired their own huts, although the troops set fire to many. (AP Photo)
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Flowers for the first lady and a book for the president were the gifts of 4-H Club members encamped on the Washington Monument grounds in Washington, D.C., on June 14, 1940. Left to right: Virginia Graham of Washington; Elizabeth White of LaCrosse, Va.; Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt; President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Josephus Daniels, and David Landers of Oxford, N.Y., who presented the book to the president. (AP Photo)
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The Washington monument in the Capitol City on Jan. 8, 1942, which George Washington founded and planned. It was begun by a committee which had been formed in 1833 under the chairmanship of Chief Justice John Marshall, the monument was carried to a total height of 555 feet 51/8 inches and completed in 1884, after a period of many trials and one interruption in the work which lasted 22 years. An impressive obelisk, the monument is not host to approximately 1 million visitors each year. (AP Photo)
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Large crowds gather at the Washington Monument to demonstrate for the civil rights movement on March 28, 1963 in Washington. (AP Photo)
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Large crowds gather at the Washington Monument and around the reflecting pool to demonstration for civil rights on March 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo)
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Large crowds gather at the Washington Monument to demonstrate for the civil rights movement on March 28, 1963 in Washington. (AP Photo)
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Large crowds gather at the Washington Monument to demonstrate for the civil rights movement on March 28, 1963 in Washington. (AP Photo)
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Large crowds gather at the Washington Monument to demonstrate for the civil rights movement on March 28, 1963 in Washington. (AP Photo)
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Signs which civil rights demonstrators will carry in the March on Washington are stacked high in the area near the Washington Monument, on August 27, 1963. (AP Photo)
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Roosevelt Nesmith of Camden, N.J., talks to his three-year-old son, Roosevelt Noel, about the August 28 civil rights March on Washington, August 27, 1963. Between the father and son, and the Washington Monument, is a stack of signs which the marchers, estimated to be more than 100,000, will carry in the demonstration. (AP Photo)
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A National guardsman, Burton Johnson, set up a cot as a first aid station is established on the Washington Monument grounds, August 27, 1963 in preparation for August 28 influx of an expected crowd of 150,000 civil rights marchers from many parts of the country. (AP Photo)
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Crowds shown in front of the Washington Monument during the March on Washington for civil rights, August 28, 1963. (AP Photo)
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Crowds are shown in front of the Washington Monument during the March on Washington for civil rights, August 28, 1963. (AP Photo)
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Mass of demonstrators leave the Washington Monument, background, for the March on Washington parade to the Lincoln Memorial, Aug. 28, 1963. (AP Photo)
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Ballet dancers Maria Tallchief and Jacques d?Amboise, who will perform at the White House on the South Lawn on June 12, rehearse, June 11, 1964. The ballet entertainment will follow a state dinner by President Lyndon B. Johnson and the first lady, for German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard. Behind the dancers is the Washington Monument, and in the background at right is the Lincoln Memorial. (AP Photo/Bill Allen)
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Thousands attend a rally on the grounds of the Washington Monument in Washington on April 17, 1965, to hear Sen. Ernest Gruening, D-Alaska, and other speakers discuss U.S. policy in Vietnam. The rally followed picketing of the White House by students demanding an end to Vietnam fighting. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
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Members of the Poor People's Campaign marched across the Mall toward the Capitol in Washington, May 30, 1968. In background is the Washington Monument. Officials of the Campaign did not say what the purpose of the march was. (AP Photo/Bob Schutz)
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Puerto Ricans assemble on the Washington Monument grounds, June 15, 1968, in a one-day demonstration of support for the Poor People's Campaign. In foreground banners of delegations from Philadelphia and Connecticut. (AP Photo/Henry Burroughs)
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President-elect Richard Nixon, right, talks with President Lyndon Johnson at the White House on November 11, 1968. Nixon, the Republican candidate, won a close election victory for president on Nov. 6, 1968. The Washington Monument can be seen through the White House windows. (AP Photo).
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Crowd of Moratorium Day participants crowd the base of the Washington Monument at night on Oct. 15, 1969 in Washington as they attend a rally before marching to the White House in a silent, candlelight procession. (AP Photo)
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An early morning haze is slowly burned off by the sun as a lone pigeon flies between Washington landmarks on Friday, Sept. 30, 1977. The Capitol dome is at left, the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History is at center, and the Washington Monument is at right. ( AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
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People and placards assembled at Capitol also in Washington Monument. A massive plea for peace in November 1969. (AP Photo)
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The flag of the Viet Cong flies from the pole at the base of the Washington Monument during Moratorium Bay peace rally, Nov. 15, 1969. American flags usually fly from the circle of poles that surround the monument’s base. (AP Photo)
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Police move in on demonstrators gathered in a protest against the Chicago conspiracy at the base of the Washington Monument on Feb. 21, 1970. (AP Photo)
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Snow fence surrounded the Washington Monument, Jan. 18, 1973, not for an expected snowstorm - temperatures were around 60 - but to keep expected demonstrators away during Saturday's upcoming inauguration. Anti-war groups have announced plans to gather near the monument for a demonstration as President Nixon is sworn in for a second term. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
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A brillant display of traditional Fourth of July fireworks bursts into the sky over three famous Washington landmarks: Lincoln Memorial, foreground left, Washington Monument, center, and the illuminated dome of the U.S. Capitol in the background, celebrating the 197th anniversary of Independence Day on July 4, 1973. (AP Photo)
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“Old Glory” frames the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial as fireworks burst overhead during the finale of the celebration in Washington Sunday, July 4, 1976. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)