Washington, D.C

12 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Washington Monument

Published

1 month ago

November 11, 2024

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12 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Washington Monument

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

If you’ve ever watched a movie about an alien invasion, specifically Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), Mars Attacks! (1998) or any movie in the Marvel Universe that contains close encounters of the third kind, you’ve seen the Washington Monument. An iconic American historical landmark located in Washington DC’s National Mall, the monument is a stone obelisk stretching 555 feet into the sky. It was built to commemorate founding father George Washington and remains the world’s tallest predominately stone structure—and an essential tourist locale for US history fans.

Whether you’re a local or a first-time visitor to The District, there’s plenty of hidden or lesser-known trivia about this historically significant monument. Mike Litterst, chief of communications for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, helped us find the facts that only those in the know…know.

1. It was the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion
Although the Washington Monument is tall, it’s far from the tallest in the world. (That title is currently held by the 2,717-feet-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai.) However, Litterst points out, modern tourists look up at it and think Wow, that’s pretty tall if we stretch our imaginations to when it was completed in 1888. This was the tallest structure in the world at that time. (The Eiffel tower would blow the monument out of the water for the tallest building shortly thereafter.)

2. It has a color shift about a third of the way up.
Visitors to the monument can see a slight shift in color about a third of the way up the obelisk. And, no, it’s not from the high water line of a recent flood. (Litterst said most of the staff at the monument has a favorite not-factually-based reason for the change in hue.) The truth is there was a pause in the construction of the monument from 1854 to 1877 due to funding challenges. (The cost of the original design, adjusted for modern inflation, would’ve been around $30,000,000 in 2024.) Thus, the Army Corps of Engineers who took over the project had to seek out stone from a different quarry and the coloration of the obelisk was changed.

3. The Army Corps of Engineers had to dramatically fix the monument’s thickness.
The aforementioned first third of the obelisk was constructed by the Washington National Monument Society. They took it upon themselves to make this monument happen, spurred on by their patriotic fanfare for George Washington, according to the National Park Service’s website. They got an original design from Robert Mills, an American cartographer and architect from South Carolina, and set to work.

When they hit a funding roadblock, the Army Corps of Engineers took over. This was also a very different level of building professionalism from the Army Corps of Engineers, said Litterst. There’s a big difference between engineers from the U.S. government and a “bunch of guys getting together.”

Thus, when it was eventually taken over by the engineers, a few errors had to be corrected. The walls were way too thick. At the base of the statue you’ll still find that the walls are around 15 feet thick. It was determined, according to Litterst, that if the entire monument was built with the walls that same thickness, it would collapse in on itself due to the sheer weight.

The thickness of the walls dramatically changes farther up the statue. The top section of the monument’s walls are just 18 inches thick. The foundation was also completely inadequate for the expected height of the structure and had to be fixed over the course of a few years. The angle also had to be corrected as the bottom third of the structure was sitting a few degrees off of perpendicular with the dirt below.

4. This is a far cry from the original design.
The original design the Washington National Monument Society sought to build is far different from the classic Egyptian-style obelisk we see standing today. The original design, according to Litterst, called for not only a colonnade-looking building encircling the bottom of a 600-foot column, but also a statue of Washington himself standing in a chariot and holding the reins of six horses. Inside the colonnade would be statues of 30 prominent Revolutionary War heroes as well as statues of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Architect Henry Robinson Searle from Rochester, New York had objections to the original design, according to a book entitled Washington Monument Monograph which was originally published by Gibson Bros. printers in 1847 and made public (and available via internet) by the Library of Congress.

“First, would the foundation sustain the weight of the required height, and especially with the increased localized pressure in a storm of wind; second, the mere obelisk appeared only as an enlarged plagiarism, in no way illustrating the memory of Washington personally, or those connected with him, or the history of this growing country; third, there is nothing whatever aesthetic about it, and nothing that would impress the visitor, whether native or foreign, with the grandeur of the work of Washington and his coadjutors in founding this nation.”

Boom, roasted.

5. Elevator rides of yore were much much slower.
The elevator to the top of the Washington Monument today takes about 70 seconds. It’s the same as going up to the top floor of a 50-story building. This is also the fifth elevator this structure has had installed since its construction. The original steam-powered elevator took a whopping 10 to 12 minutes to get to the top.

6. It’s capped with aluminum (which used to be a lot more impressive).
Litters revealed that the monument is capped with 100 ounces of pure aluminum. Today, that doesn’t seem so incredible given our grocery-store access to rolls of the element. If we once again put ourselves in the shoes of Americans at the time when the metal was put onto the monument, around 1884, aluminum ore had just begun being processed and was, ounce for ounce, just as valuable as silver. Imagine that the monument was capped in pure silver or gold and that’s a comparable example for its value at the time the monument was being built, Litterst points out.

7. It’s held together by gravity.
There is a piece of glory that this monument has held on to despite its loss of the world’s tallest building title. The structure has no internal scaffolding. It has no metal internal structure holding it up, in fact it’s only held together by gravity and force of friction between the stones. Therefore, the structure gets to keep the title of the tallest freestanding stone structure.

8. It’s undergone several restorations.
Since it’s a free-standing structure, the monument is incredibly difficult to maintain. Each time maintenance needs to be done on the marble all 555 feet of the thing needs to be covered by scaffolding. That said, it was restored once in the 1930s, as a part of a WPA (Work Progress Administration) project. Again in the 1960s around the National Park Service’s 50th anniversary. It was called mission 66. Between 1998 and 2001 it was scaffolded as a part of a program called Save America’s Treasures. And finally, most recently, between 2011 and 2014 it needed maintenance following the 2011 Virginia Earthquake. Each time the structure is scaffolded, according to Litterst, it takes 35 miles of piping which is then made into a temporary structure around the monument.

9. Somehow the pope is involved.
On the day it opened to the public, there were stones from all 50 states and about a dozen countries inside the structure. There was even a piece of marble from the Acropolis in Athens, according to Litterst. Even Pope Pius IX sent in a stone. Today you can see 194 different commemorative stones ranging from important historical figures to run-of-the-mill George Washington admirers.

10. It was, in part, constructed in 20-foot segments.
As we’ve covered, the monument doesn’t currently have any scaffolding supporting the stone structure. During its construction, it was a different story. After the bottom third, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began constructing the monument in 20-foot segments. During the construction of these stone segments there was internal scaffolding for builders to use. They would build 20 feet up, then move up the iron scaffolding, then build another 20 feet. A steam-powered elevator was used to lift up to six tones of stone up the moveable iron frame. The process of building up these stone segments was comparable to the modern experience of building legos (on an entirely different scale) according to Litterst.

11. The cornerstone ceremony was a star-studded event.
In 1848, when construction began on the monument, there was a ceremony. 20,000 people came to watch, including some household names. President James K. Polk was there. A handful of future presidents – specifically Buchanan, Lincoln, and Johnson – were in attendance. Eliza Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton’s window and distinct character in the modern musical with their shared last name. Really, a who’s who of the 1848 political scene.

12. The cap was placed purposefully.
During the final stretch of the monument’s construction, there was the precarious business of attaching the pyramid-shaped topper. About 470 feet in the air, builders began tapering in the structure, according to the National Parks Service website. On December 6, 1884, the 3,300-pound capstone was placed atop the structure. It was brought out one of the windows, hoisted to the scaffolding at the top of the monument, and set in place. Lt. Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey, who led the Army Corps of Engineers’s work on the structure, then placed that 8.9-inch aluminum tip on the very top of the capstone.

Gwen Egan is a Thrillist contributor.

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Washington, D.C

Cal Thomas: Washington D.C.’s political Christmas tree

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Cal Thomas: Washington D.C.’s political Christmas tree

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 26th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas on a bad Christmas tradition in Washington D.C.

CAL THOMAS: When Washington politicians speak of a Christmas tree this time of year, they are not referring to an actual tree. It means they’ve loaded up a bill with another kind of “green,” the kind that’s decorated with money.

The “bipartisan” bill passed just before midnight last Friday, minutes before a government “shutdown” would be an embarrassment to anyone but the politicians who voted for it. Like Christmas, this scenario gets played out almost every year with no regard for the growing debt.

The first bill was more than 1,500 pages. Elon Musk denounced it and suddenly it shrunk to over 100 pages, but that was too little for the big spenders. What passed last week at 118 pages may take days to digest, but you can be sure of one thing: pork is part of it. Always is.

For the last ten years, Republican Senator Rand Paul has published what he calls a “Festivus” report on just some of the wasteful spending in which our Congress is engaged. His latest – and you should Google it to see it all – includes the following:

Some of the highlights – or lowlights as I like to call them — include funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to subsidize ice-skating drag queens and promoting city park circuses. Additionally, the Department of the Interior invested in the construction of a new $12 million Las Vegas Pickleball complex. Interior also allocated $720,479 to wetland conservation projects for ducks in Mexico. This year, the Department of State is featured eleven times, with expenditures including $4.8 million on Ukrainian influencers, $32,596 on breakdancing, $2.1 million for Paraguayan Border Security (what about security at our border?), $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil, and much more!

Hey, it’s not their money, it’s our money.

At least this time a pay raise for members didn’t make it to the final bill. Members should be having their pay cut, not raised, for under-performing.

Perhaps Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk can do something about the misspending that has led to the unsustainable $36 trillion dollar debt with interest of $1 trillion dollars just this year.

Others have tried and failed to break the spending habit. Maybe they will succeed this time, but the odds are not good. It’s not called “the swamp” for nothing.

I hope you had a Happy Christmas. Your politicians did.

I’m Cal Thomas.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.

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Washington, D.C

Top 10 Washington DC Girls High School Basketball Rankings (12/25/2024)

Published

15 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Top 10 Washington DC Girls High School Basketball Rankings (12/25/2024)

Sidwell Friends School and St. John’s College continue to headline the District of Columbia girls basketball Top 10 poll.

The undefeated Quakers (7-0 overall) are headed to California to participate in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego while St. John’s (10-0) will be home for Christmas after winning the St. Petersburg bracket at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational in Florida.

The Cadets will host their Holiday Hoopla mixer, Dec. 30 and 31.

Theodore Roosevelt debuts in this week’s poll at No. 10.

Previous rank: 1

The Quakers will play at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego starting Thursday.

Previous rank: 2

The Cadets won the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational championship in Florida.

Previous rank: 3

The Frogs, winners of three straight, next plays at the Christy Winters-Scott Invitational Dec. 31.

Previous rank: 4

The Colts will play Archbishop Carroll at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.

Previous rank: 5

The Cubs will play at the Candy Cane Classic at Thomas Johnson (Md.) Friday and Saturday.

Previous rank: 6

The Ramblers will play at the Beltway 8 Holiday Classic in Houston starting Friday.

Previous rank: 7

The Bulldogs will play Charles H. Flowers (Md.) at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.

Previous rank: 8

The Tigers will play at the Candy Cane Classic at Thomas Johnson Friday and Saturday.

Previous rank: 9

The Penguins split with Anacostia and No. 6 Eastern.

Previous rank: Not ranked.

The Roughriders will play KIPP School at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.

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Washington, D.C

Want government money for a heat pump? Time might be running out

Published

1 day ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Want government money for a heat pump? Time might be running out

A technician installs an electrical heat pump at a home in Washington, DC, in August 2024.

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

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ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

Heat pumps are electric appliances that can both heat and cool your home.

Scientists see them as a climate solution because heat pumps reduce planet-heating emissions. They cut pollution from burning gas for heating, and reduce the use of gas infrastructure that leaks planet-heating methane gas.

And heat pumps are highly efficient, which means less electricity is needed to use them than traditional heating systems like fossil fuel furnaces and boilers. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory calculate that 62% to 95% of households would save money by switching to a heat pump. “ It’s an enormous amount of savings,” says Ari Matusiak, CEO of the nonprofit, Rewiring America. “That’s just a fact of the technology being superior.”

The Biden administration’s 2022 climate legislation introduced new federal tax incentives of up to $2,000 for heat pump equipment and installation costs. Many states as well as cities and utilities offer additional financial incentives.

So what money is available right now for a prospective heat pump buyer? And how might a second Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress impact this money?

Here are the answers to your heat pump and money questions.

Before we get to money, remind me, how do heat pumps work?

Heat pumps are “basically this magical two-in-one device,” Matusiak says.

6 things to know about heat pumps, a climate solution in a box

For cooling, heat pumps work like air conditioners. They run on electricity and use refrigerants. For heating, heat pumps also use refrigerants. The refrigerants absorb bits of heat from outdoor air and bring them inside to warm up a home.

Some types of heat pumps are specifically designed for extra cold climates, and heat pump sales are booming in countries like Norway, Finland and Sweden.

What kind of money can I currently get from the federal government to buy a heat pump?

The U.S. federal government is currently offering up to $2,000 for homeowners buying heat pumps. The money comes in the form of a tax credit, which lowers your final tax bill, says Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a research organization working on saving energy.

Nadel notes not all heat pumps are eligible for the federal tax credit. The heat pump has to have a high efficiency rating from the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, a nonprofit. Some manufacturer websites list tax credit-eligible equipment, as does the ENERGY STAR Product Finder. Nadel says to check the Department of Energy’s website to see which heat pumps qualify for federal tax credits.

James Tucker with an efficient heat pump for his home near Oakland, Calif.

Julia Simon/NPR

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Julia Simon/NPR

What about states, cities, and my local utility? Can I get money from them?

Many homeowners can get additional money for heat pumps from their local utility, state, or city. Some states, cities and utilities have incentive programs they pay for themselves. There’s some additional money for states from the federal government and the 2022 national climate legislation.

Some states offer heat pump money as tax credits. Some money comes in the form of “point of sale” rebates. That means the money comes off the top of the price of equipment or installation. Utilities often offer post-purchase rebates.

Rewiring America and another nonprofit called The Switch is On have online tools that use people’s zip codes and income to search for which federal, state, local, and utility incentives consumers qualify for. Nadel encourages prospective buyers to check in with their local utility to see if it offers additional money.

Mike Roberts (left) and Will Hammond Jr. (right) belt about the virtues of heat pumps.

I’m a renter and want to buy a heat pump. Can I get money too?

More than a third of Americans rent. While some renters are not in a position to, say, swap out their homeowner’s furnace, some renters with flexibility might be interested in a portable heat pump. Portable heat pumps can go into a window much like a window air conditioning unit and plug into the wall for power.

Matusiak says window heat pumps may soon be eligible for more of these rebate programs, so he encourages prospective buyers to also check out Rewiring America’s online tool.

What do the incoming Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress mean for current heat pump incentives?

Shuting Pomerleau, director of energy and environmental policy at the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, is not optimistic about the future of federal heat pump money. “ Those incentives, whether they’re tax credits or, rebate programs are likely to go away under the upcoming Republican trifecta,” Pomerleau says.

The incoming Republican-led congress will be looking for revenue to pay for tax cuts, says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the center for energy, climate, and environment at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington. They will likely get rid of spending programs from Biden’s 2022 climate legislation, she says, including the tax credits for heat pumps.

The Trump transition team did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.

Pomerleau notes that while federal heat pump money is at risk of drying up, some states may choose to continue their incentive programs using other money.

Matusiak says that heat pump rebate programs have been popular in red and purple states as well as blue states. He notes that after the election, states including Texas, Nebraska, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio applied for federal money for their heat pump rebate programs.

A technician removes a gas water heater from a home in Washington, DC. Researchers see heat pumps as climate solutions because they often replace appliances that run on fossil fuels like gas. Heat pumps run on electricity that’s increasingly powered by renewable energy.

BASTIEN INZAURRALDE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

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BASTIEN INZAURRALDE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

So if I’m thinking about getting a heat pump, does it make sense to get one sooner rather than later?

Nadel and Matusiak say before you rush out and buy a heat pump, think about what you already have in your home and how well it’s working.

“If you have a perfectly functioning furnace that you bought two years ago, you shouldn’t go get rid of it,” Matusiak says.

But if it starts to die, he says, then buy a heat pump.

Pomerleau says it may make sense to buy that heat pump sooner rather than later to be sure to access federal money. She thinks it will take Republicans some time to make changes to the tax code, but she suggests buying a new heat pump before the end of the 2025 calendar year to be more sure of qualifying for a federal tax credit.

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