Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, a new ALERTS client, is a government affairs firm comprised of a team of 30 top lobbying and strategic communications professionals. This bipartisan team offers first-hand knowledge of the legislative and administrative process in Washington, DC and the nation’s state capitals.

Brian joined State and Federal Communications this year. He explains why he likes his role here… “I not only get to stay on top of the developments in the law but also become an expert in the areas of lobbying, campaign finance, and procurement. The research that I do on a daily basis is supplemented by attending CLEs on these subjects and speaking with public officials in these areas via email, telephone, and face-to-face meetings such as at the recent COGEL conference.  Brian came to the company after working many years for Lexis Nexis in Dayton, Ohio.

This article is one of an ongoing series that focuses on historical and/or significant landmarks. Information gleaned from nps.gov, wikipedia, and other sources.

What is made of 36,491 blocks, rises 555 feet and 5/8 inches high,
and weighs in at a little over 80,000 tons?

It can only be the Washington Monument, dedicated to the Father of our country, George Washington, who led our country to independence and later became our first president.

This obelisk-shaped structure was designed in 1838 by Robert Mills, an architect and engineer to the federal government. It is the largest masonry structure in the world, and the tallest building in Washington, D.C., and probably will always be due to special height restrictions within the city.

In 1799, when President Washington died, a number of attempts were initiated to honor him. Ideas ranged from various statues to a special tomb within the Capitol. However, it was 1833, on the 100th anniversary of Washington’s birth, that a group of citizens formed the Washington National Monument Society to collect donations for an appropriate remembrance.

The Society held a design competition for a memorial, phrasing what they were looking for as follows:

“It is proposed that the contemplated monument shall be like him in whose honor it is to be constructed, unparalleled in the world, and commensurate with the gratitude, liberality, and patriotism of the people by whom it is to be erected… [It] should blend stupendousness with elegance, and be of such magnitude and beauty as to be an object of pride to the American people, and of admiration to all who see it. Its material is intended to be wholly American, and to be of marble and granite brought from each state, that each state may participate in the glory of contributing material as well as in funds to its construction.”

Mills won with a design that called for a 600-foot tall obelisk surrounded with a circular colonnade, the top of which would feature Washington standing in a chariot. However not everyone liked the associated price tag of more than $1 million so the Society hesitated, choosing instead to move forward with the building of the obelisk and leave the question of the colonnade for later.

About this same time Congress donated 37 acres for the project, with a beautiful view of the Potomac. This location on public land would keep it safe from any future visual obstruction and also be in full view of Mount Vernon, where Washington was buried.

The Washington Monument was built at intervals starting in 1848 and was not completed until December 6, 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death. This was due to a lack of funds and the intervention of the Civil War. This ‘interruption’ can still be seen today as there is a visible difference in the shading of the marble at about 150 feet up (the bottom third) where the initial construction was stopped, and which sat for 27 years exposing it to pollution, wind, dirt and dust, before building commenced again in 1876 with quarry stone that was slightly different than the earlier version used.

But the design issue persisted with many people insisting a simple obelisk with no colonnade would be too bare. Several alternative designs were submitted and members of the society agreed to abandon the colonnade and alter the obelisk so it conformed to classical Egyptian proportions. The building proceeded quickly after Congress provided sufficient funding and in just four years it was completed. A 100 ounce (2.8 kg) aluminum capstone put in place on December 6, 1884. At the time, it was the largest single piece of aluminum casting ever done, and aluminum then was considered a rare metal, valued about the same as silver. 

The Washington Monument officially opened October 9, 1888, becoming the world's tallest structure at the time until the Eiffel Tower was finished in Paris, France. The Washington Monument immediately drew enormous crowds. In its first six months, 10,041 people climbed the fifty flights of stairs, 896 steps in total, to the top (before the elevator was installed!) Today, more than 800,000 visitors come to the Monument each year.

If you decide to ride the elevator to the top, it takes about 70 seconds. If you have access to walk up steps (they have been closed to the public since the 1970s!) it could be quite a climb. The fastest known ascent time via the stairs occurred in 2005 taking just 6.7 minutes. What awaits you at the top? A beautiful, unequaled view averaging 30 to 40 miles visibility in clear weather of the National Mall and the nation’s capital, all made possible because of the efforts of George Washington.