Benjamin Latrobe

Monument ("Washington Monument"), Washington, D.C. Rendered perspective

Washington Monument Could Have Looked Like This

We posted some great old alternative designs for the Lincoln Memorial a while back and they were quite popular. Well, we dug up one for the Washington Monument which you’ll surely enjoy. This one is dated...
Plan of the west end of the public appropriation in the city of Washington, called the Mall : as proposed to be arranged for the site of the university / to the Committee of the H. of R. of Congress, BHLatrobe, Surveyor of the City of Washington, Jan'y 1816.

Never Built: Proposed University on the National Mall in 1816

So this obviously never happened, but it’s a fascinating proposal for the National Mall, done in 1816. Can you imagine a university sitting where the Lincoln Memorial does today? Source: Library of Congress