(By: Hannah Schultz)
Address: 23rd Street between Constitution and Independence Avenues, Washington D.C.
Hours: open 24 hours
Cost: Free
Contact Number: (202) 426-6841
Website: www.nps.gov/linc
The Lincoln Memorial (dedicated May 30, 1922) was built to honor our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. It is located in the National Mall. The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculpture was Daniel Chester French, and the painter was Jules Guerin.
In the monument, there are also two well-known speeches given by President Lincoln - The Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address. It took four years to finish the statue. At first, it was only going to be ten feet tall, but they decided to make it nineteen feet tall instead. If the statue were to stand up, he would be 28 feet tall! The statue is as wide as it is tall. It is made of white marble and weighs 175 tons (350,000 lbs). It had to be shipped in 28 separate pieces.
An urban legend claims that President Lincoln's hands are shown using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an "A" and his right hand to form an "L".
The Lincoln Memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech. Today, over 1.5 million people visit it every year.
I can’t wait to walk up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial.
This was one of our favorite monuments! We visited it several times... and especially loved it at night. You will find that every monument is so thoughtfully done and will be very moving to you. They will surely build your love for God and Country!!
ReplyDelete