Why the Original Plan for the Washington Monument Was Abandoned | Boundary Stones

Washington, D.C.

Published July 16, 2025

The Washington Monument we know today is an iconic, simple obelisk — but it wasn't always supposed to look that way! The Monument went through many, many proposed designs, a hostile takeover, decades in limbo, and construction mired in drama. But in the end, one engineer's vision triumphed over artists, politicians, and critics.

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Sketch of the mythical fuan by Pearson Scott Foresman. [Source: Wikipedia]

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A group from Ecuador marches to Kalorama Park during 1971 Latino Festival. (Source: Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post)

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Woody Guthrie, 1943 (Library of Congress)

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The Washington Mall from behind the Washington Monument, with the museums and other buildings visible in the distance

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German actress Hedwig Reicher wearing costume of "Columbia" with other suffrage pageant participants standing in background in front of the Treasury Building, March 3, 1913, Washington, D.C. (Source: Library of Congress)

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Mary Church Terrell stands with three African American men in 1953. (Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post.)

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