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The Sentinel: 1910

Washington, D.C., circa 1910. "Washington Monument, looking west." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1910. "Washington Monument, looking west." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

 

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Egypt

Why an obelisk? Earlier than this was the monument to Washington, also in Baltimore. Both designed by Robert Mills.
The column/obelisk monument dates back through Rome to Egypt (and earlier). When the Romans didn't want to build their own column, they'd pick up one or two from the Nile Valley and re-erect them thousands of miles away in Rome and, later, Constantinople. just to show their greatness.

Washington and the rest of the founding fathers consciously modeled their Republic on that of Rome. Since the US wouldn't have the technological capability to move an obelisk to the US until late in the 19th Century, they were stuck with building a symbol. The appropriate symbol in Rome for a great leader was the obelisk, so why not for the man who led and won the effort to re-establish the Republic of the ancient world in the new, and retired from office to allow power to pass on peacefully.

And what better way than to build the biggest obelisk the world had ever seen? We were typically American, even at the get go.

What a spire!

Yet I have always wondered why an obelisk would be associated with Washington, who wore curly wigs and buckle shoes. Whose idea was that design?

Answer lies in Wiki:

On September 23, 1835, the board of managers of the society described their expectations:[32]

It is proposed that the contemplated monument shall be like him in whose honor it is to be constructed, unparalleled in the world, and commensurate with the gratitude, liberality, and patriotism of the people by whom it is to be erected ... [It] should blend stupendousness with elegance, and be of such magnitude and beauty as to be an object of pride to the American people, and of admiration to all who see it.

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