The monument was built to honor the first president of our country, George Washington. In 1833, thirty-four years after his death, the Washington National Monument Society was founded to raise funds to build the monument. By 1847, the society had raised almost $30,000. Architect Robert Mills’ design was chosen, and construction began the next year. (Mills had built a similar 200-foot obelisk monument to Washington in Baltimore years earlier.)
Funding ran out in 1861, and construction was halted for 15 years until 1876, when Congress appropriated $2 million toward the completion of the monument. It was completed 8 years later, in 1884. Today you can see where the construction stopped. The monument changes color, the stone used in the newer, top part of the monument looks lighter than the older, lower, more weathered stone.
A few years ago, I was talking with a friend, who is an architect, discussing the symbols and meaning in architecture and monuments. He reminded me that the original plan by Major Charles Pierre L’Enfant, the French landscape engineer who laid out the city of Washington, called for the Washington Monument to be constructed on a north-south axis with the White House. This plan was canceled when it came time to build the monument, because the ground was too soft.
Instead, he told me, the monument was constructed southeast of a true north-south axis with the White House, although on a perfect east-west axis with the Capitol.
My friend continued his lesson, informing me that the east side of the capstone at the top of the monument bears the Latin inscription Laus Deo, which means “Praise be to God.” As the sun rises in Washington, the first building it touches is the east face of the Washington Memorial.
It somehow seems fitting that, as the sun rises over our nation’s capital, the first rays illuminate the phrase “Praise be to God.”
The actual inscription is not visible from the ground, but the National Park Service created a replica, which it displayed inside the Monument. In 2000 the display plaque read:
APEX OF THE MONUMENT
Reproduction The builders searched for an appropriate metal for the apex that would not tarnish and would act as a lightning rod. They chose one of the rarest metals of the time, aluminum. The casting was inscribed with the phrase, Laus Deo, (Praise be to God).
But recently, a colleague told me that he saw the plaque in the display, and the last sentence was missing.
In addition, the replica of the capstone, located in the monument, had been positioned so close to the wall that "Laus Deo" could not be read.
Last week, due to an email campaign and public pressure, the last sentence referring to the inscription was restored on the plaque. Those who visit the Washington Monument can once again read what is inscribed on the capstone.
As for me, each time I travel into the city, I continue to look for the Washington Monument, a beacon of hope, a sign that I have reached our capital city.
And I think, Laus Deo - Praise be to God.