The Washington Monument was built in honor of Americas
revolutionary hero and first president George Washington
and was dedicated in Washington, D.C. on February 21,
1885.

The 555-foot-high marble obelisk was first proposed in
1783, and Pierre L’Enfant left room for it in his designs
for the new U.S. capital.
 

After George Washington’s death in 1799, plans for a
memorial for the “father of the country” were discussed,
but none were adopted until 1832, the centennial
of Washington’s birth.