Washington Monument

The great monument was dedicated on Saturday, February 21, 1885 the day before Washington’s birthday, which fell on a Sunday that year. Cut into the interior walls were commemorative stones from every state in the Union. Visitors climbed an iron staircase to the “pyramidion” at the top, where eight windows, two in each direction, looked out on the Potomac and the wide boulevards and public squares that L’Enfant had imagined.