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Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is one of the most recognized monuments in the U.S. Rising more than 555 feet above the Mall, the monument is a memorial to George Washington's achievements and devotion to principal and country.

Tour Information

The Monument is located on the Mall at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.  Tours are self-guided, and free tickets can be obtained at the kiosk located at the bottom of the hill from the monument on 15th Street.  Tickets are not required for the interpretive center. The Monument is open daily 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Winter and Fall, and from 8:00 a.m. to midnight, Spring and Summer. Please visit the above link or call (202) 426-6841 for more information.

New Mexicans might want to know:

Looking at the Washington Monument may inspire images of flags and fireworks, but probably not the hillsides of southern New Mexico. Yet, remarkably, a chip from the Washington Monument was once buried in a hillside near Dona Ana, north of Las Cruces.

In 1850, members of the U.S. Mexico Boundary Commission, including John Russell Bartlett for the United States and General Pedro Garcia Conde of Mexico, met near Dona Ana to officially recognize the selection of the Commission's initial survey point.  From this initial point, surveyors would plot the boundary line between  Mexico and the United States. As part of the ceremony, someone produced a chip from the Washington Monument, then only three years old, and included it the cairn containing the survey point agreement.

The boundary was later moved south after the Gadsen Purchase.