Very nearly 300,000 persons visited the Lincoln Memorial in the year 1923, and more than 1,000,000 in 1930. At present the daily average of visitors is 3,000. It is a shrine in which those who love God and country can find inspiration and repose.
The following is part of a technical description by the architect:
From the beginning of my study I believed that this memorial to Abraham Lincoln should be composed of four features—a statue of the man, a memorial of his Gettysburg speech, a memorial of his second inaugural address, and a symbol of the Union of the United States, which he stated it was his paramount object to save—and which he did save. Each feature should be related to the other by means of its design and position, and each should be so arranged that it becomes an integral part of the whole, in order to attain a unity and simplicity in the appearance of the monument.
Surrounding the walls inclosing these memorials of the man is planned a colonnade forming a symbol of the Union, each column representing a State—36 in all—for each State existing at the time of Lincoln’s death, and on the walls appearing above the colonnade, and supported at intervals by eagles, are 48 memorial festoons, one for each State existing at the present time.
The colonnade is 188 feet long and 118 feet wide, the columns being 44 feet high and 7 feet 8 inches in diameter at their base. The outside of the Memorial Hall is 84 feet wide and 156 feet long; the total height of the structure above the finished grade at the base of the terrace is 99 feet. The steps are 132 feet wide, leading to the entrance, which is flanked by tripods, each 11 feet high.
The central hall, where the statue stands, is 60 feet wide, 70 feet long, and 60 feet high. The interior columns are of the Ionic order and are 50 feet high.
STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS SEEN THROUGH THE COLUMNS
THE STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The statue of Abraham Lincoln, in the center of the Lincoln Memorial, is by Daniel Chester French.