A manual on the origin and development of Washington

by H. Paul Caemmerer

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT

On August 7, 1783, the year that witnessed the treaty of peace at Paris, Congress ordered—

That an equestrian statue of General Washington be erected at the place where Congress shall be established, * * * in honor of George Washington, the illustrious Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of America during the War which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and independence.

OLD PATENT OFFICE BUILDING, NOW CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION BUILDING

But no action was taken to carry out this legislation. The monument was to have been executed by Ceracchi, a Roman sculptor, and paid for by contributions of individuals. As has been mentioned, a site for it was marked on the L’Enfant map of the city of Washington at the intersection on the Mall of the axis of the Capitol and the White House.

As President, by his wise administration of the affairs of the new Republic, General Washington so added to his fame and so won the gratitude of his countrymen that on his death a select joint committee of both Houses of Congress was appointed to consider a suitable manner of paying honor to his memory. Thus, on December 23, 1799, on motion of John Marshall in the House of Representatives, it was resolved by Congress—

That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the Capitol, at the city of Washington, and that the family of General Washington be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life.

It was then proposed to make an area in front of the Capitol available for the monument, and an appropriation of $100,000 was proposed to carry the resolution into effect. Instead of an equestrian statue, by the terms of this resolution the monument was to take the form of a “mausoleum of American granite and marble, in pyramidal form, 100 feet square at the base and of a proportionate height.”

On January 1, 1801, the House of Representatives passed a bill appropriating $200,000 for the monument. The Senate, however, did not concur in this act, due, it is thought, to political questions that absorbed the attention of Congress and the people until the War of 1812.

In 1816 the General Assembly of Virginia endeavored to secure the consent of Judge Bushrod Washington, then proprietor of Mount Vernon, to have the remains of President Washington removed to Richmond, there to be marked by a fitting monument to his memory.

When this came to the attention of Congress a select joint committee was appointed which recommended that a tomb should be prepared in the foundations of the Capitol for the remains of George Washington and that a monument should be erected to his memory. But this plan failed, because Judge Bushrod Washington declined to consent to the removal of the body of George Washington from the vault at Mount Vernon, where it had been placed in accordance with Washington’s express wish. Nevertheless, a vault appears to have been prepared beneath the center of the Dome and Rotunda of the Capitol and beneath the floor of the crypt.

PLAN OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT, BY ROBERT MILLS

In 1833 a group of public-spirited citizens organized the Washington National Monument Society, for the purpose of erecting “a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government.” The first meeting was held on September 26, 1833, in the city hall, now the District of Columbia Supreme Court Building. Chief Justice John Marshall, then 78 years of age, was chosen the first president of the society. The population of the United States had grown from 3,329,214 in 1790 to 12,866,020 in 1830, with 28 States in the Union at that time. In 1835 the president of the society, John Marshall, died and was succeeded in the office by ex-President James Madison, who took steps to inaugurate a national campaign to secure contributions through agents appointed to collect funds. Upon the death of Mr. Madison the society amended its constitution so that thereafter the President of the United States should be ex officio its president. The first to so occupy the office was Andrew Jackson.

The progress of the society was at first slow, and in 1836 only about $28,000 had been collected. In 1836 advertisements were published by order of the society inviting designs from American artists, but no limitation was placed upon the form of the design. It was determined by the society, and so recommended, that any plans submitted should “harmoniously blend durability, simplicity, and grandeur.” The estimated cost for the proposed monument was not less than $1,000,000. A great many designs were submitted, but the one selected among the number was that of Robert Mills, a well-known and eminent architect of that period. This plan was published. It is the design of an obelisk 500 feet high and 70 feet at the base, rising from a circular colonnaded building 100 feet high and 250 feet in diameter, surrounded by 30 columns of massive proportions, being 12 feet in diameter and 45 feet high. There was to be an equestrian group over the portal. The interior was designed to be “a spacious gallery and rotunda,” which was to be a national pantheon, adorned by statues of the Colonial Fathers, paintings commemorative of battle scenes of the Revolution, and a colossal statue of George Washington. The feature of the pantheon surrounding the shaft was never formally adopted by the society as a part of the Monument. Its first purpose was to secure the necessary funds for the shaft.

By December 10, 1838, the funds of the society had reached $30,779.84, and the following year a restriction of a contribution to the sum of $1 appears to have been removed. In 1846 the society, through its ex officio president, James K. Polk, made another appeal, stating the society wished to proceed with the erection of the Washington Monument, and it was hoped legislation would be enacted at the following session of Congress to provide a location for it. By a resolution adopted February 29, 1847, the United States consuls abroad were also invited to solicit subscriptions “for the erection of a suitable National Monument to the memory of Washington from American citizens, seamen, and others of liberal patriotic feelings.” In that year the fund was increased to $70,000. Congress thereupon, in January, 1848, granted authority for the erection of the Washington Monument on public reservation No. 3, on the plan of the city of Washington, containing upward of 30 acres, where the Monument now stands, near the Potomac River, west of the Capitol and south of the President’s house. As has been related, the actual location of the Monument was fixed at a point more east and south of the position indicated in the plan of L’Enfant, because it was somewhat more elevated ground and regarded more secure for the foundation. The original intersection had been marked by Thomas Jefferson by a small monument, known as the Jefferson pier. In the McMillan Park Commission plan of 1901 the site of this pier is indicated for a circular pool.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1872

On July 4, 1848, under a bright sky, in the presence of the President and Vice President of the United States, Senators and Representatives in Congress, heads of the executive departments and other officers of the Government, the judiciary, representatives of foreign governments, military organizations, associations of many descriptions, delegations from the States and Territories and from several Indian tribes, the corner stone was laid. Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, Speaker of the House of Representatives, delivered the oration. Three distinguished persons of George Washington’s time were present on this notable occasion: Mrs. Dolly Madison; Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, widow of the first Secretary of the Treasury; and George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of George Washington.

The corner stone laid, the society began operations to lay foundations and to raise the shaft. Every precaution was taken to test the understrata where the foundations were laid. At a depth of 20 feet a solid bed of gravel was reached; the strata were found to be very compact, requiring a pick to break them up.

By January, 1853, the Monument was 126 feet high, and in about six years from the date of the laying of the corner stone it had reached the height of 152 feet. During this period the society continued most actively at work in the raising of funds to carry the Monument forward. In 1854, however, an act occurred at the Monument which created much indignation and public discussion through the country. A block of marble, which had originally stood in the Temple of Concord at Rome, and which had been sent by the Pope to be set in the wall of the Monument, was stolen, and no trace of it was ever found. At the time contributions of stones from societies, municipalities, and the several States were being encouraged, so the Pope’s stone was not an unusual gift. The disappearance of the stone angered and estranged a large body of citizens and discouraged the collection of public contributions, so that all construction work ceased. By 1854, $230,000 had been spent on the structure, and funds for it were now exhausted. In 1859 Congress passed an act incorporating the Washington National Monument Society for the purpose of completing the Monument. In 1869 Senator Nye introduced a bill to insure completion of the Monument, and several like bills were introduced during the next few years. On February 22, 1873, a committee of the House of Representatives recommended an appropriation of $200,000. It was estimated that $700,000 would be required to finish the shaft, constructing also a suitable base, and that the work would be completed by July 4, 1876, the one hundredth anniversary of American independence. This gave the needed impetus to the completion of the project.

Vigorous campaigns for funds were conducted in the States, and campaign meetings were held in several large cities. In June, 1876, the society published a further appeal, signed by its officers. President Grant was ex officio president of the society at the time. On August 2, 1876, Senator John Sherman offered a concurrent resolution in the Senate that the Monument to commemorate the achievements of George Washington in behalf of the Republic be completed during the centennial year. A bill appropriating $200,000 for the project was approved by the President that day. At the same time a special board of officers was detailed from the Corps of Engineers to investigate and report on the sufficiency of the foundations.

UNCOMPLETED WASHINGTON MONUMENT AS IT APPEARED FROM 1852 TO 1878

The board appointed in 1876 reported that the foundations were not sufficient, and the first work undertaken by the Government consisted in underpinning the structure. This was accomplished under the direction of Lieut. Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey, afterwards Chief of Engineers, United States Army, who was the engineer in charge of construction of the State, War, and Navy Building at the time, and later of the Congressional Library Building. Colonel Casey was assisted by Capt. George W. Davis, United States Infantry, later major general, who was afterwards relieved by Bernard R. Green, C. E. The work of excavating beneath the Monument was commenced January 28, 1879, and the new foundation was finished May 29, 1880. Colonel Casey stated in his report:

The project or design of the work is an obelisk 550 feet in height, faced with white marble and backed with dressed granite rock. Of this structure 156 feet is already finished.

The base of the Monument is 55 feet square, the top will be 34 feet 6 inches square, and it will be crowned with a pyramidion, or roof, 50 feet in height.

The proportions of the parts of this obelisk are in exact accordance with the classic proportions of parts of this style of architecture, as determined after careful research by Hon. George P. Marsh, American minister at Rome.

The shaft as proportioned, both in dimensions and weight, will be entirely stable as against winds that could exert a pressure of 100 pounds or more per square foot upon any face of the structure.

The project includes the preparation of the foundation so as to enable it to carry this structure. This preparation or strengthening consists in making the existing foundation wider and deeper, in order to distribute the weight over a greater area, and in bringing upon each square foot of the earth pressed no greater weight than it is known to be able to sustain.

The mass of concrete beneath the old foundation is 126 feet 6 inches square, 13 feet 6 inches in depth, and extends 18 feet within the outer edge of the old foundation and 23 feet 3 inches beyond this line. In placing this work, 70 per cent of the area of the earth upon which the Monument was standing was removed.

The second part of the strengthening of the foundation consisted in constructing a continuous buttress beneath the shaft and extending out upon the concrete slab, so as to distribute the pressure over the foundation. In this operation sections of the rubble masonry were removed and replaced with concrete. As compared with the original bulk of the old foundation, 51 per cent of its contents was removed and 48 per cent of the area of the base of the shaft undermined. The new foundation rests on a bearing surface 126 feet 6 inches square, or 16,002 square feet, as compared with 6,400 square feet for the old foundation.

The entire work of underpinning was accomplished without causing the slightest crack or the least opening in any joint of that portion of the Monument already constructed, which, including the foundation, was 80 feet square at its base. The new foundation rests upon a bed of fine sand 2 feet in thickness, below which is a bed of bowlders and gravel. Borings were made in this deposit for a depth of 18 feet without passing through it. Thus, as completed, the new foundation covers two and a half times as much area and extends 13¹⁄₂ feet deeper than the old one, being 36 feet 10 inches in depth. The bottom of the work is only 2 feet above the level of high tide in the Potomac. No settlement has occurred to date.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT AS SEEN FROM THE MALL GROUNDS

Work was resumed on the shaft in 1880. The first 13 courses—26 feet—were faced with white marble from Massachusetts. The remainder is Maryland white marble similar to that used in the lower section. The new work was backed with dressed New England granite to the 452-foot elevation, above which the walls are entirely of marble, of through-and-through blocks, and from the 470-foot level, where the ribs of the pyramidion begin, the courses are secured to each other by mortise and tenon joints cut in the builds and beds of the stone. During the working season of 1880, 26 feet were added to the shaft; in 1881 there were added 74 feet; in 1882, 90 feet; in 1883, 70 feet; in 1884, 90 feet. These additions brought the walls of the shaft to a height of 500 feet on August 9, 1884. The pyramidion topping the shaft is supported on 12 marble ribs, which spring from the interior faces of the walls of the well, beginning at the 470-foot level. The covering slabs are 7 inches in thickness and are supported upon projections or spurs on the marble ribs. The pyramidion has a vertical height of 55 feet 5¹⁄₈ inches and consists of 262 separate stones. The weight of the pyramidion is 300 tons. The capstone, which weighs 3,300 pounds, was set in place on December 6, 1884. Over it is a small pyramid of pure aluminum 5.6 inches at its base, 8.9 inches high, and weighs 100 ounces, the largest piece of this metal ever cast in any country to that time. The following inscriptions appear on the four faces of the aluminum capstone:

JOINT COMMISSION AT SETTING OF CAPSTONE:
CHESTER A. ARTHUR, M. E. BELL, EDWARD CLARK, JOHN NEWTON,
ACT OF AUGUST 2, 1876.

CORNER STONE LAID ON BED OF FOUNDATION JULY 4, 1848.
FIRST STONE AT HEIGHT OF 152 FEET LAID AUGUST 7, 1880.
CAPSTONE SET DECEMBER 6, 1884.

CHIEF ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT, COL. THOMAS LINCOLN CASEY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS.
ASSISTANTS: GEORGE W. DAVIS, CAPTAIN FOURTEENTH INFANTRY;
BERNARD GREEN, CIVIL ENGINEER; MASTER MECHANIC, P. H. MCLAUGHLIN.

LAUS DEO.

The entire height has been made slightly greater than ten times the breadth of the base, producing an obelisk that for grace and delicacy of outline is not excelled by any of the larger Egyptian monoliths, while in dignity and grandeur it surpasses any that can be mentioned. The Monument tapers one-fourth of an inch to the foot, being 15 feet thick at the base and 18 inches thick at the top of the shaft. When the capstone was set in place a salute was fired by artillery stationed near the base, while the national flag was unfurled to the breeze in the rigging far above. The cost of the Monument was $1,300,000. To the criticism that the obelisks of old were monoliths, the reply was made that this Monument to Washington will not be less significant or stately because of being made up of many separate stones, for our country has been proud to give examples of both political and material structures which owe their strength to union; and this Monument embodies the idea of our national motto, E Pluribus Unum.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT

With a view of having the States of the Union properly represented in the Monument the society extended an invitation for each State to furnish for insertion in the interior walls a block of marble or other durable stone—a production of its soil—of the following dimensions: 4 feet long, 2 feet high, and with a bed of from 12 to 18 inches, the name of the State to be cut thereon in large letters, and if desirable to the donor, the State’s coat of arms also. Later, this invitation to contribute memorial blocks of stone was extended to embrace such a gift from a foreign government. In response to these invitations many rich and durable blocks of stone were received which now adorn the interior walls of the shaft (in 1929 the memorial stones numbered 187) from all parts of the world, including one from the Parthenon at Athens, the ruins of ancient Carthage, and the tomb of Napoleon at St. Helena. These memorial stones begin at a height of 30 feet and end at 290 feet.

Great preparations were made for dedication of the Monument. This took place on February 21, 1885, with Hon. John Sherman, chairman of the commission, presiding. Several descendants and relatives of the Washington family were present. The orator of the day was again the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, who as Speaker of the House of Representatives had delivered the oration at the laying of the corner stone July 4, 1848. His oration on this occasion was read, as illness prevented him from being present. Among those in Washington to-day who witnessed the dedication is Hon. William Tyler Page, then serving as a page in the House; later becoming Clerk of the House of Representatives and executive secretary of the George Washington Bicentennial Commission. Thus when we are reminded of the three friends of George Washington who were present at the corner-stone laying of the Washington Monument we must indeed admit that we even of this day are not far removed from him and his times, and that our Republic is still young, though greater achievements have been wrought in the past 100 years than in the previous 1,000 years of the world’s history.

The efforts of the Washington National Monument Society had at last been realized, and the American people beheld the consummation of their desire—a great monument erected at the seat of the Federal Government to the name and memory of George Washington.

The interior is lighted by electricity, affording an opportunity to see the memorial stones. Ascent is made by means of an elevator and an iron stairway, supported by 8 vertical iron columns—4 columns terminating at a height of 500 feet and 4 within the roof at 517 feet—which sustain the elevator machinery above. The iron stairway consists of short flights, strung along the north and south sides of the wall, connecting with iron platforms 4 feet 8 inches wide (to a height of 150 feet) and 7 feet 10³⁄₄ inches wide, 20 feet apart on a side, and extending along the east and west walls. There are 50 flights and 900 steps. From these steps and platforms the inscriptions may be read.

In 1926 a new elevator was installed. It is of the electrically driven, gearless, single wrap, traction type, with a speed of 500 feet per minute and a lifting capacity of 6,000 pounds, exclusive of the weight of the car and cables. It is equipped with a micro-leveling device, which insures exact leveling of the car at landings and also makes possible the operation of the elevator at slow speed in case of failure of the main motor, thus eliminating the danger of stalling the car between landings. It accommodates 30 persons and makes 12 trips per hour. There are 8 windows at a height of 504 feet above ground—2 windows in each of the 4 faces of the pyramidion—4 feet above the 500-foot landing. These windows measure 18 inches by 3 feet on three sides, and on the east side 2 feet by 3 feet. Looking to the east from the windows one sees the stately Capitol; to the north, across the President’s Park, the beautiful mansion of the Chief Magistrate; to the northeast, the Soldiers’ Home; to the northwest, the great residential section, the Naval Observatory, and the Washington Cathedral; to the west the beautiful Potomac River, as it winds its way for miles past the city, and Arlington National Cemetery, the Nation’s most sacred resting place for those who served in defense of their country; and as we follow the Potomac southward there is Alexandria, 6 miles beyond, and in the faint distance Mount Vernon, where is the tomb of the immortal Washington. And on that lofty height, the greatest single piece of masonry in the world, we think also of other high structures—the Empire State Building, with 86 stories, 1,248 feet; Chrysler Building, 68 stories, 1,046 feet; Bank of Manhattan, 65 stories, 838 feet; Woolworth Tower 60 stories, 792 feet; Metropolitan Life Insurance Building, 700 feet; The New York Life Insurance Building, 610 feet, at the site of the former famous Madison Square Garden; Singer Tower, 612 feet; spires of Cologne Cathedral, 524 feet; spire of Old St. Paul’s, London, 508 feet; Pyramids of Cheops, 480 feet; Book Tower, Detroit, 472 feet; Victoria Tower, Westminster, 325 feet; Statue of Liberty, 317 feet; Bennington Battle Monument, 306 feet; the Capitol, 287 feet; Bunker Hill Monument at Boston, 221 feet. In 1890 Daniel H. Burnham completed the Masonic Temple, in Chicago, “the tallest building in the world,” 21 stories high, among the first of all-steel construction. In New York City the caisson for high-building foundation work was first adopted in the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, near Exchange Place on Broadway, in 1894. Built on a foundation of bedrock 55 feet below the surface, the structure of 18 stories was built 350 feet in height from the sidewalk.

The masonry constructed by the Government is the best known to the engineering art, and the weight is so distributed that, subject to a wind pressure of 100 pounds per square foot on any face, corresponding to a wind velocity of 145 miles per hour, the Monument would have a large factor of safety against overturning. The entire weight is 81,120 tons. The weight of the foundations is 36,912 tons, and there is a maximum pressure on the underlying soil of 9 tons per square foot.

In the morning the Monument catches the first rays of the sun. In stormy weather the top stands like a mountain peak, immovable, as seen amidst clouds. So, indeed, does the great and noble Washington overtower all of his contemporaries of the Revolutionary War and the formative period of this Republic. The Washington Monument has been fittingly described as typifying the character of George Washington—lofty in its grandeur, plain in its simplicity, and white in its purity. The following is a quotation from the oration of Speaker Winthrop delivered at the laying of the corner stone on July 4, 1848:

Lay the corner stone of a monument which shall adequately bespeak the gratitude of the whole American people to the illustrious Father of his Country. Build it to the skies; you can not outreach the loftiness of his principles! Found it upon the massive and eternal rock; you can not make it more enduring than his fame. Construct it of peerless Parian marble; you can not make it purer than his life. Exhaust upon it the rules and principles of ancient and modern art; you can not make it more proportionate than his character.