" ^'•. \..^ :Mm^ ^<-^.^^ /Jfet \..'^ :'M£'' %.^^ /Jfev ] BooR of National Interest Memorial Tablets Historical Pictures ^ ILLUSTRATED GUIDE ^ George Washington Views of the Nation's Capital Founded by INA CAPITOI^A EMKRY, Biaitor-PtiblisHer ^ Sxxhtx. THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT— ,^G« History, ............. 3 Description. ............ 5 Site, 3, 25 Height, ............. 7 Construction, . ... 5, 7 Cornerstone, ............ 9 Keystone, . , 10-11 Memorial Inscriptions, .......... 12-23 Views From Top, ........... 24, 25 Guide to City of Washing:ton, 52 Washington Monument Society, .......... 3 ILLUSTRATIONS— Completed Monument, . 1. 4 Incomplete Monument, 8 Foundation, Monument, 6 Capstone, Monument, 10. 11 Memorial Tablets, Monument, 13-17 Views from Monument, 24, 25 George Washington: Equestrian Portrait, 2 Stuart's Portrait, 28 Delivering Inaugural Address, 32 Miniature Photograph, 34 Martha Washington: From White House Painting, 29 Motmt Vernon: George Washington's HonK-, .... ^o George W'ashington's Tomb, . 31 Christ Church, Alexandria, where Washington Worshipped. 31 WASHINGTON CITY— (Founded by George Washiuglon) Capitol, 33 White House, .... 36, 38 39, 40 State, War and Navy Departments, 42 Treasury, .... 42 Interior Department, 44 Pension Bureau, 44 Department of Agriculture, . 43 Smithsonian Institution, 43 Library of Congress, 45, 46, 47 Soldiers' Home, 48 Arlington National Cemetery, 48 Bureau of Engraving and Printing 45 Daughters of American Revolution Hall 49 Municipal Building .... 49 Union Station 51 Pennsylvania Avenue 3! Pre^dentt of United States, 34. 33. 37 50 Map of Washington City 21 fcbcmashinflion monumentl ^ :Z^ ILLUSTRATED f -^^ COMPLETE. GUIDE AND HISTORY ^i^ AUTHENTIC FACTS AND FIGURES ^y»^ mmmm HmUMm « VIEW OF MONUMENT GROUNDS PICTORIAL CITY OF WASHINGTON Fmmded by George WasJujigton GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS Copyrighted, 1913 BY INA CAPITOLA EMER'> /! George Washington, as General of the Unitkd States Army : fiBtorg of%1iaal|m9tmt iln«umfnt THE day after the mortal remains of George Washington were committed to the tomb at Mount Vernon, December 19, 1799, a committee of both Houses of Congress was appointed to dehberate over a proper method of honoring his memory, and on December 24 of the same vear the following resolution was passed: "That a marble monument be erected by the United States, at the City of Washington, and that the family of General Washing- ton 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." President Adams wrote to Mrs. Washington asking her consent to the reinter- ment of her husband's remains beneath a monument to be erected by the Govern- ment in his honor. Mrs. Washington replied as follows "Taught by the great example I have so long had before me never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request which Congress had the goodness to transmit to me; and in so doing I need not—I cannot—say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty." In 1816 a committee was appointed to prepare a suitable receptacle to be placed in the foundations of the Capitol, and the brother of General Washington was then applied to for permission to remove the remains, but he emphatically refused, saying: "It was in accordance with his expressed wish that he was com- mitted to the family vault at Mount Vernon, and his will is a law to me that I dare not disobey." In 1832 the proposition was renewed to John Augustine Washington, but in emphatic terms he refused to allow the remains to be removed from their hallowed resting place. The following year prominent citizens organized the Washington National Monument Society, with Chief Justice Marshall as President.^ Among those appointed to receive and collect voluntary contributions for a suitable monu- ment to George Washington in the city founded by, and named for, him were: Mrs. James Madison, Mrs. John Quincy Adams, and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton. Advertised bids for the design were restricted to "durability, simplicity, grandeur, harmoniously blended." The corner-stone of the Washington Monument was laid July 4, 1848, and the work steadily progressed until 1854, when the shaft reached the height of 150 feet; subsequently an addition of four feet was made, bringing the Monument to a height of 154 feet at a cost of $300,000. The treasury of the Society was exhausted, and an appeal was made for congressional appropriations to complete the work. At that time complications of a political nature arose in the management of the Society, and as a result the Monument stood for years incomplete. In 1878 the work was resumed as a result of congressional appropriations, and the mammoth column was completed December 6, 1884. ^Coit of the Monument wa» $1,187,710.31. Of this amount $300,000 wa« railed by individual free will offeringt, the remainder was by congressional appropriations. The design of the Washington Monument was by Robert Mills. Many of the stones were cut and polished at the stone plant of Matthew G. Emery, who was the last Mayor of the City of Washington and ex-officio Vice-President of the Washington National Monument Society. The founder of the Society was George Watterston. The orator at the dedication of the Monument was Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. The Washington Monument Dedicated February 2t, 1885 — Erected to GEORGE WASHINGTON by the CITIZENS OF AMERICA The Washington Monument is a colossal obelisk of mammoth proportion towering majestically above the National Capital, which is alike commemorative of the "Father of his Country." It stands today the loftiest memorial elevation in the world, and is the most imposing and costly monument ever erected to man. It is a memorial to the Hero, the Soldier, the Patriot, the Statesman, and a per- petual tribute of a grateful people to that great and overshadowing figure in the nation's history George Washington. The Monument is a massive shaft of pure white marble and granite, capped by an aluminum pyramid which makes it visible by night as well as by day. The tapering design of graceful magnificent proportions reaches skyward over five hundred and fifty-five feet, and looks down upon the city founded by, and named for, Washington. Site Selected in 1783. A more beautiful site could not be selected. The terrace, 17 feet high, on which the Monument stands is surrounded by 41 acres. The square was desig- nated on L'Enfant's plan of the city of Washington as the site for the proposed equestrian monument to Washington, which was ordered by the Continental Con- gress in 1783 and selected by Washington himself for a monument to the American Revolution. CONSTRUCTION. How the Base Was Built. From the early days of the construction there had been apprehension that the foundation of the Monument was not of sufficient size to sustain the column if carried to the height originally designed. In 1877, a joint commission of Congress reported that the existing foundation was of insufficient spread and depth to sustain the weight of the completed structure, but that it was feasible to bring the foundation to the required stability by hooping in the earth upon which it stood. The weakness of the old foundation lay in the fact that it was too shallow and covered an area of ground insufficient to sustain the pressure of the completed work. The strengthening consisted in the enlargement of the foundation by spread- ing it over a greater area and sinking it a greater depth into the earth. The work of excavating beneath the Monument was commenced January 28, 1879, and the new foundation was finished May 29, 1880. The cost of the new enlarged foundation amounted to $94,474. The foundations of the Monument, which bear a weight of 81,120 tons, are constructed of solid blue rock. Each block is 146 feet 6 inches square and 36 feet \ 8 inches deep. K. The base of the shaft is 55 feet square. The lower walls are 15 feet thick. ' The depth of the foundation below the floor is 57 feet. ^ V The weight is so distributed that, subjected 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 pro- \ portions of this grandest monumental column ever erected in any age follow the N ratio dimensions of the several parts of the ancient Egyptian obelisks. During all the work on the enormous shaft not three-eighths of an inch deflection has beenfound— a remarkably slight movement when the magnitude of the structure is considered. STRGNGTHKXIXG THK i'UUNDATIOX "Finest I'iece of Emiineerinv; known to the World" ComineiKwl laiiuary 2S, t.S7<j Completed May 29, i8S0 Cost 594. 47t Laying the Blocks. The marble blocks were cut or "dressed" in the most careful manner, and "filling" laid in courses of two feet by experienced and skilful workmen. There is no or "backing" between the granite and marble blocks, but they are all closely joined, the work being declared "the best piece of masonry in the world." Thickness of Walls. The lower walls are 15 feet thick. At the 500-foot elevation, where the pyra- midal top begins, the walls are only 18 inches thick and about 35 feet square. The inside of the walls, as far as they were constructed before the work was undertaken by the Government in 1878—150 feet from the base—is of blue granite, not laid in courses. From this point to within a short distance of the beginning of the top or roof, the inside of the walls is of regular courses of granite, corresponding with the courses of marble on the outside.