But Greenhough’s statue was not appropriate for the site that L’Enfant had identified for a memorial to George Washington.   Frustrated with the lack of progress on a memorial on that site, a number of prominent citizens took matters into their own hands and created the Washington National Monument Society. Their objective was to raise money for a memorial specifically designed for the site L’Enfant had designated for the memorial.

From the outset, the Society had trouble collecting money. By 1838, it had only $28,000 for a project whose estimated cost was about $1,000,000 (about $28 million in today’s dollars). But by 1848, it had $87,000 on hand—enough, it was felt, to start work and hope for the best.

On July 4th, 1848  President James K. Polk presided over the ceremonial groundbreaking.  Abraham Lincoln then serving his first and only term as a Representative from Illinois was in attendance as well as Dolley Madison, widow of President James Madison, and Elizabeth Hamilton, widow of Alexander Hamilton.

But the Society needed to raise more money.    The society put collection boxes across the country—at government offices, hotels, fairs, churches, election sites, and the monument itself. It offered souvenirs, such as certificates signed by the President and other VIPs.

And, to save money, the society dropped the idea of a colonnade around the base of the obelisk.

The marble the society used for the outer layer must have come from one of the lowest bidders. It proved to be what would later be called “alum marble” because it crumbled so easily.

Today, for example, the corners of the monument have long since been replaced by new, whiter marble up the first 10 feet or so, the old material being damaged by erosion–and more relic-hunters. There are also scattered replacements further up to 150 feet, after which no replacements were needed.

During the 2000 restoration, there were piles of old society marble taken down and stored behind the scenes. One could pick up a lump and crumble it like cheese.

The Washington National Monument Society did the best it could on a shoestring budget. Despite later repairs, the basic structure was sound—indeed, it is still there today. In mid-December 1854, however, the society had to announce that work would cease. It had spent $230,000 and raised the column to 152 feet. In 1855, Congress debated appropriating $200,000 for the monument to get things started again, but in that year the society was taken over by the American Party, better known as the Know-Nothings. (When asked about their activities, they would reply, “I know nothing.”) The party was a brief successful nativist movement in the mid-1850s that did not like Catholics and thought that the Pope wanted to control America. Ironically, they sometimes called themselves Native Americans.

After this, almost no one wanted to contribute anything. The Know-Nothings ended up using rejected marble lying about the grounds and so added a total of three feet, three inches to the monument. The original society regained control in 1858.

Army Engineers Take Over as Construction Resumes 

There things sat for the next several years. Finally, on August 2, 1876, Congress passed a law to resume construction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was to complete the job, led by Lt. Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey. Casey already had experience in building things. During the Civil War, he had put up a string of forts in Maine, in case disputes with the British should lead to a military threat from Canada. Later, in the 1890s, he was in charge of the construction of the Library of Congress, which stands just behind the Capitol.

Before doing anything else, Casey had to strengthen the monument’s foundation, which had proven to be quite inadequate for the weight to be placed upon it. Part of the original gneiss material was removed and replaced with concrete. The whole was then reinforced further by more concrete, completely encasing the foundation in a massive apron shape. For a brief time, the cornerstone was visible again, before being covered over for good. And a few more gentlemen who should have known better broke off chips as souvenirs.

s for the shaft, Casey removed the inferior Know-Nothing stone, plus two more feet of Washington National Monument Society stone, which was weather-damaged. Casey could then start fresh at the 150-foot landing.

On August 7, 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes was on hand to dedicate a second cornerstone at the 150-foot level. This one had no time capsule. Despite occasional trouble with supplies, the monument now grew steadily over the next few years.

At the behest of George P. Marsh, a scholar and diplomat of the day, the planned height of the column was reduced from the original 600 feet. In a true Egyptian obelisk, the height is 10 times the width at the base. The base was 55 feet, 1½ inches wide, and the column’s eventual height under the new plan ended up at 555 feet, 51/8 inches. Also, the pyramidion, the pointed peak forming the last 10 percent of the monument, was made much steeper than in the original plan. Its height was now greater than its width, again as in a true obelisk.

On December 6, 1884, the Washington Monument was finished at last.

As a crowd watched from below, Casey and several other staff met at the top, aboard a wooden platform made up for the occasion. Casey himself put in place the eight-inch aluminum tip. At the time, aluminum was a rare and expensive metal because the technology of the day found it dif- ficult to extract the metal from its ore.

On February 21, 1885, another crowd attended the monument’s formal dedication. It would have been February 22, George Washington’s birthday, but because that day was a Sunday, the dedication was moved back one day.

And so the Washington Monument became one of the city’s premier symbols.