Check out this tacky proposal to finish the Washington Monument. The date on the drawing is 1889, however the monument was completed and dedicated in 1885.
Unveiling a Tacky Proposal to Finish the Washington Monument (Dated 1889)
4 thoughts on “Unveiling a Tacky Proposal to Finish the Washington Monument (Dated 1889)”
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I figure that the person who proposed this observed, as we can now, that the two different shades of stone makes the monument look kind of crappy. Looks like the proposal is to knock the top off (the part that was completed in a different color stone) and start over to make it look more “monumental.” That’s how it seems to me.
It seems to bear a lot more resemblance to the Masonic Temple in Alexandria.
Looks like the Statue of Liberty pedestal on crack.
This was more likely a proposal to finish it off, after the bottom section had stood unfinished and unworked on for several years. The color change wouldn’t be there yet; it only came on when the work resumed and the monument completed. So the top, different colored part, hadn’t been built when this was proposed – this drawing was an idea of how to complete it, though as we know the ultimate choice was something much simpler and much closer to the original design.