It's pretty much impossible to go anywhere in Washington without having a view of the Monument. One thing that we never got a chance to do was take a look at the city *from* the monument, but after looking at the lines, we decided to skip it.

The Washington Monument was designed by Robert Mills in 1845, and the first phase of construction began on July 4, 1848, but the project soon ran out of money. The half-finished obelisk can been seen in photographs taken at about the time of the Civil War. When construction resumed shortly after the end of the war, the construction crews went to get more stone from the quarry that the first half had been constructed from, they found that the color had changed. That is why 150 ft. up the monument, it changes color, as is evident in some of the pictures below.

Originally, the design called for a one story 30 column Doric temple around the base, but that idea was scrapped in 1880. The monument opened four years later.

Some nitty-gritty facts about the monument:

Total weight: 81,120 tons
Foundation: 126.5 square feet in area and 37 feet deep.
It was constructed to withstand 145 mph winds.
Total height: 555 ft 5.125 inches.
Total cost: $1,187,710

The Washington Monument as seen from the Old Post Office tower.

The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

These two pictures were taken while standing in the shadow.

The flag blowing into the frame is one of the many that ring the base of the monument.
The change in stone color is very apparent in this picture.

If you look carefully, you can see the moon to the upper right
in this picture from near the base of the monument.