15 Facts You Never Knew About the Washington Monument

It wasn’t the first monument built in George Washington’s honor

Construction of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. began on July 4, 1848, but the first Washington Monument was actually built near Boonsboro, Maryland more than 20 years earlier. According to the Maryland Park Service, on July 4, 1827 most of the town’s 500 residents lent a hand to build a 15-foot stone tower on a 54-foot circular base. Located atop South Mountain and part of the Appalachian Trail, where it still sits today, the monument was completed that September at 30-feet high.

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