Description
The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1784 in the American Revolutionary War, and the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Standing east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial,[2] the monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss,[3] is both the world's tallest predominantly stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk,[A] standing 554 feet 7+11â32 inches (169.046 m) tall, according to the U.S. Geodetic Survey measurements in 2013â2014.[B] It is the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances.[A] It was the world's tallest structure between 1884 and 1889, after which it was overtaken by the Eiffel Tower, in Paris. Previously, the tallest structure was the Cologne Cathedral.
