The Washington Monument at dusk (photo by Kenn Stearns)

The Washington Memorial lies near the center of a cross formed by the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and the Jefferson Memorial. Made of marble, sandstone, and granite, the obelisk is the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk. Construction took place over 30 years, between 1848 and 1884. The difference in shading about a third of the way up shows where progress stalled for a variety of reasons including intervention of the War Between the States.