One of the oldest surviving monuments of America include the Washington Monument. The Washington monument was especially designed to honor the great George Washington.
It was designed in 1815 by Robert Mills and the construction of the monument completed in 1829. The monument is around 178 feet in height and is fully made of white marble.
The monument is placed in Baltimore, Maryland. Climbing the 228 steps of the monument provides one with a stunning view of the places around and the city at large.
The monument is surrounded by many historical places including the Walters Art Museum and the Peabody institute.
Due to its worth, the monument has been placed as the centerpiece of the Mount Vernon landmarks. It is also part of the Baltimore National heritage area.
Currently, at the time of writing of this article, the monument is under renovation. A budget of around $5million us being utilized to renovate the monument. The work started in January 2014 and it is expected that the Washington monument will be reopened on July 4, 2015 – the Independence Day.
In the beginning, due to a liquidity crunch faced by the government some of the design was not added to the monument thus making it more simplified.
Robert Mills won the design competition for the Washington monument in 1815. The cornerstone for the project was laid on July 4, 1815. Funds were raised the same year to begin the construction. The early design included rich ornaments and six iron galleries, thus dividing the shaft in to seven hollow sections. But due to constraints some design was not added to the final version.
