Terrific old photo of the Washington Monument being dedicated in 1885. Check out the amazing details.

Washington Monument under construction with U.S. Fish Commission hatching ponds in the foreground and Bureau of Engraving and Printing building in the background.

Many of you know that the Washington Monument sat unfinished for decades, an eye-sore of a stump on what would become the National Mall. Here is what it looked like in 1877, as seen from the Smithsonian Castle, so you’re looking west towards the Potomac. Source: National Park Service

This beautiful old photograph of the Washington Monument, lit up at night, was taken in 1933. Click on it for some great details. Source: Shorpy

This stunning old photo of the Washington Monument was taken in 1928. Click on it for even more incredible details. Source Library of Congress

This print shows Robert Mills’ original design for the Washington Monument, clearly a far more elaborate and ornate version of what we have today. Source: Library of Congress

What if the Washington Monument was built as a pyramid instead of an obelisk? It could have been if this design came to fruition.

Here’s an incredible view of the Washington Monument some time in the early 1980s. Source: Library of Congress

How great is this old photograph of the cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument? We dug this old photo up in the Smithsonian Archives. It was taken some time in the 1940s or 1950s. Source: Smithsonian Archives

What is on top of the Washington Monument? This close-up photo shows it was repaired in 1934.

Here’s a terrific old photo of the Washington Monument at night. Source: Library of Congress

This is a morbid story from The Baltimore Sun, printed on March 10th, 1923. What is extremely striking is how graphic the depiction was back then. Washington, March 9.–For the first time in the 35 years that the Washington Monument has been completed a man today hurled himself from the top of the shaft to instant […]

We found this cool wood engraving from 1882, meant to depict the National Mall looking from the South. In the image, you can see buildings like the Smithsonian Institution in the lower middle.

Okay GoDCers, here’s a challenge for you. Ken sent this in a while back and wanted some assistance on dating this photo. He’s guessing sometime in the 1920s, but maybe someone out there in our community will have a more precise estimate.

What a great photo from 1936. This shows the National Mall as viewed from the Capitol. Source: Cornell University Library

This is a beautiful photo taken from the Capitol Building in 1936, looking down the Mall at the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian. Source: Cornell University Library

You’ve probably seen amazing views of the Washington Monument like this: or maybe like this (and if not, then here it is for the first time!): But you probably haven’t seen the very tip of the Washington Monument. Here is an amazing, high resolution, image of the aluminum cap of the Monument.

Holy awesome photo. This one was labeled as the Washington Monument on Armistice Night, November 25th, 1921. We posted another Armistice-related photo a while back, but this one beats it. What a terrific photo, and a vastly different Washington Monument than this one, used as a slaughterhouse and beef depot, before it was completed. Source: […]

What an excellent photo. It’s labeled as being sometime between 1900 and 1920. Any GoDCers out there able to pinpoint the actual date? Source: Library of Congress

These are two amazing images that we dug up on the Internet. The first shows the construction of a concrete foundation for the structure. The second shows the team digging down to make the foundation. Source: Digital History Project