A manual on the origin and development of Washington

by H. Paul Caemmerer

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.