Washington Monument

The Washington Monument was built to honor the first President of the United States, George Washington. The construction of a monument was first considered by the Continental Congress as early as 1783 when George Washington was still alive. However, Congress failed to take action on many proposals for the construction of a suitable memorial.

In 1833, at the 100th anniversary of George Washington's birth, James Madison and John Marshall took matters in their own hands and founded the Washington National Monument Society with the goal of building of a "great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government."