From Lincoln memorial to U.S capitol to statue of liberty, you can see many historical monuments throughout the United States. Such monuments represent important events and significant people in American history. Here the list of most important historical monuments of United States.
6 Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia
Arlington national cemetery is a military cemetery of US located in Virginia. The Arlington cemetery has remained as the central point of national memorial day commemorations in the country since 1868. It spread across 253 hectares of land and contains 400000 graves. The national cemetery also averages approximately 5000 burials each year. Moreover Arlington cemetery is also the final resting place of president John F Kennedy and president William Howard Taft.
Arlington cemetery was established by Robert E Lee and his wife Mary Anna Lee ( Grand daughter of George Washington) on their estate during the American civil war (from 1861 to 1865). Today it is one of the most important histrionic monuments in US managed by the department of the army.
The national cemetery holds the remains of every servicemen who lost their lives during wars since American revolution. Arlington cemetery host the national memorial day commemorations since 1864. Every year American soldiers plant small US flags in front of every tombstone in Arlington cemetery on memorial day.
5 Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C
Lincoln memorial located in Washington D.C commemorate the great president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. The neoclassical monument was built between 1914 and 1922 by American architect Henry Bacon. The historic monument contains a large 19 feet high sculpture of Abraham Lincoln. The sculpture was made of Georgia marble and designed by Daniel Chester French. Today the Lincoln monument is administered by U.S national park service.
Lincoln monument contains stone engraving of popular ‘second inaugural address’ and ‘The Gettysburg address’ made by Abraham Lincoln. It is also the site on which Martin Luther King Jr delivered his well-known ‘I have a dream speech’. On the South wall of the monument painted with a beautiful mural that depict the angel of truth freeing a slave. The monument is also surrounded by 36 enormous columns. The columns actually represent 36 states in the Union during last period of Abraham Lincoln.
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4 Washington Monument, Washington D.C
Washington monument is an iconic structure and historic monument built to honor the first president of the United States, George Washington. Standing at 169.2 meters it is the tallest stone structure in the world. The construction of the monument was started in 1854. But the lack of funds and American civil war halted the construction of monument between 1854 and 1877. It finally completed in 1884. The architectural style of final monument also differs much from that of originally planned one.
The 2001 Virginia earthquake results in severe damage to Washington monument. It took two and half years for its restoration work. The Washington monument has an obelish shape and made of marble and granite. There are 897 steps to reach the top of the monument. The interior of the monument has a collection of hundreds of the commemorative stones from different countries around the world. Today Washington monument attracts more than half a million visitors every year.
3 Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
Mount Rushmore national memorial represents four huge sculptures of the heads of four influential U.S presidents. The presidents on mount Rushmore are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The sculptures are carved on the granite face of mount Rushmore. The historic monument of South Dakota was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and Lincoln Borglum. The 60 foot high faces on mount Rush represent presidential greatness and one of important works of art in the country.
It was historian Doane Robinson of South Dakota suggested an idea of carving needles on face of mount Rushmore to attract more tourists to the state. To make his idea a reality he approached famous American sculptor Doane Robinson in 1920. But considering the quality of rock face and national interest sculptor Doane Robinson suggested another idea to carve the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln on mount Rushmore.
The project started in 1927 and after two years president Calvin Coolidge raised $25000 for the project. It took fourteen years for the completion of sculptures with the help of 400 workers. Approximately 45000 tons of rocks were removed from the rock face during the construction suing dynamite. The noses of the sculptures on mount Rushmore are 20 feet long and mouths are 18 feet wide. The monument not only attracts millions of visitors around the globe but also spread the greatness of four greatest presidents of U.S for generations.
2 United States Capitol, Washington D.C
The U.S capitol is an important historical monument and seat of the house of representative and senate. The capitol building constructed in different period of time and to day stands as an outstanding example of 19th century neoclassical style. The capitol building houses senate offices, supreme court, gallery, library of congress and house office. There are 540 rooms in total in the monument.
The cornerstone of the capitol monument was laid by the first president of United States, George Washington on September 18, 1873. The construction of first the part of the capitol building completed in 1800, designed by three successive architects of that time including Stephen Hallet, George Hadfield and James Hoban. By the end of 1811 the house wing was added to the monument. Unfortunately the British troop set fire on U.S capitol in 1814. Supreme Court building and senate were added in 1819. The enlargement and renovation of the monument completed in 1850.
The dome of capitol building has a height of 288 feet and a diameter of 96 feet. It was designed by American architect Thomas U.Walter. The statue of freedom made of bronze also crowned the capitol dome since 1863. The gallery in U.S capitol contains many paintings and sculptures that depict important events and people in U.S history.
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1 Statue Of Liberty, New York
Statue of liberty is an important historical monument and part of American culture located in liberty islands of New York harbor. The colossal statue is actually gift from France to America to commemorate the declaration of American independence. The statue was designed by French sculptor Frederic Augustine Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1888. The statue actually represents The Roman Goddess of freedom, Libertas. Nowadays the statue of liberty is an icon of New York city and symbol of freedom.
The statue of liberty stands at a height of 151 feet and weighs more than 200 metric tonnes. The statue was made of copper and it looks in green color due to oxidation. The seven spines on the crown of the statue represent the seven continents and seven oceans in the world. The crown of the statue has 25 windows that bring panoramic views of the surrounding places. There are 354 steps to reach the crown of statue. But after the September 11 terrorist attack in 2001 the authorities limit number of visitors allows to climb up to the crown.
The original torch that constructed in 1876 was replaced with a new copper torch with golden sheets in 1984. The golden sheets reflect during daytime by Sunlight and reflect in night by 16 floodlights. The forever-lit torch of the statue of liberty represent enlightenment to the world. The lady liberty also remained as a symbol of relation between France and United States.
