Inside the Washington Monument

we're in washington dc and today we're visiting the most prominent monument on the national mall we're also meeting up with a person with a great legacy of managing all the national lands including the parks hey sally how are you so nice to see you again good to see you too sally jewell was u.s secretary of the interior under president obama and a hiking buddy from our trip to mount rainier national park so i have a recommendation for you which is maybe just a little more adventure than what visitors to the wash monument get to do and that is how about we take the stairs oh yeah okay yeah it's just 550 or so feet the washington monument is the world's tallest stone structure made from blocks of marble granite and blue stone nice it was designed in 1835 as a tribute to general george washington who won the revolutionary war the first president who set the precedent for voluntarily stepping down after two terms he remains an enduring model of integrity and public service we're going to do what the general public's not allowed to do and that is we're going to take the stairs and we're going to look at the inside guts and how this incredible stone structure was built this is the stairwell to the washington monument [Music] so it's kind of narrow down here because the walls have to be really thick to support all that load of rocks that are up above us this thing's pretty tall yeah it's pretty tall yeah it's uh 555 feet and there's also no reinforcing bar in here and this is not actually holding them together this mortar just keeps the water out wow this is incredible yeah so should we pick up the pace what do you think i do i think we're gonna have to look we got a ways to go the inner walls of the monument tell a story about how this amazing structure was built work started in 1848 six years later it stopped washington monument was only just a 150 feet or so tall when it stopped for 20 years because they ran out of money when construction started again the marble came from a different quarry that's why the monument is lighter on the bottom and darker at the top it took millions of dollars in donations from individuals companies and states and the donors got their names built into the walls so here you got the association of journeymen stone cutters of philadelphia whoa donated july 9 1850. wow that's that's pretty and it's the stone cutters of america you expect it to be good it makes sense yeah yeah it's a shame most visitors never get to see all this but so many people were breaking off bits of the stone as souvenirs the park service had to close the stairs to the general public in 1976. this is cool on so many different fronts but this is a national park you need all these different people chipping in to preserve it to keep it going and it's it's just a great example it's written on the wall you know the higher we get the more of the monument story we see there are 193 memorial stones on the east and west interior walls of the monument many of them are considered valuable works of art they start at the 30 foot level and go as high as the 450 foot level you see these are kind of rough cut stones and different shapes and sizes and we're about to cross the time from when the monuments stopped construction because they ran out of money and then you see this kind of engineered stone above and this is when the army corps of engineers took over construction first stopped in 1854 then picked up again in 1878 when there was a new technology for building with stone yeah because down there right it looked like the rocks were kind of more jagged and rough and up here they look really nice and smooth exactly so part of that's just the evolution of machinery yeah yeah so we got to keep going a third of the way the monument suffered a near disaster in 2011 when a virginia earthquake shook stones loose from the exterior and opened cracks throughout the structure it's lucky the whole pile of stones didn't come crashing down and it took almost three years and almost three miles worth of sealant to fill the cracks and repair the stones so that actually a beautiful scaffolding all the way up the outside of the monument said the director of the national park service i think we could climb up that so i had an opportunity with a construction crew to climb up the outside of the scaffolding and to look down on the top of the washington monument the repairs included an upgrade to the elevator which first opened back in 1926. so the elevator was originally only for men really they wouldn't allow women and children on the elevator they all had to take the stairs because they were afraid the elevator was just too dangerous for women and children oh cause i was gonna say i would think it'd be the other way yeah well steam powered elevator and i think they were a little worried it might fail we've almost reached the top four of the washington monument just above us we can see the floor of the visitor center this is where the elevator admits visitors to a small museum about the history of the monument a few more stairs get us to the top floor right below the point of the monument so this is the observation level when it opened in 1878 this was the tallest building in the world it's still the tallest in washington d.c and no place else offers city views like this this is absolutely incredible it takes until you really get up to the top to see how tall the washington monument is in dc as a whole one of the neat things about this city is the buildings have to be shorter than the capital so you actually get a sense of spaciousness yeah that is unusual in a large city in spite of all its grand monuments and imposing buildings sally says the true purpose of the national mall is to be america's shared front yard but this is a place where you know people really enjoy themselves these are public lands they're owned by all people and this was how the national parks were set up a hundred years ago they were set up not as a playground for the rich and famous but as a place that was here for all americans and that is just it really was america's best idea yeah and still is coming to washington is a good reminder that our national parks are not just about preserving america's incredible natural beauty they also tell the story of who we are how we got where we are the vision of liberty and justice for all and the sacrifices people have made to make it a reality hey everybody thanks for watching make sure to leave any questions or comments that you have and please subscribe to the channel there's a lot more to come

Channel: Rock The Park

Views: 123,837

Keywords: Inside the Washington Monument, washington monument, washington, washington dc, washington d.c., district of columbia, national mall, lincoln memorial, george washington, dc, monuments, earthquake, government, monument, united states, what's inside, d.c., u.s., history, tour, vr, travel, usa, tourism, world war 2 memorial, america, us, memorial, education, us history, washington monument 360, things to do in washington dc, virtual reality 180, whats inside, tourist destination

Id: EAt8vA6UpNE

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 31 2021