The society held a competition for designs in 1836. In 1845, the winner was announced to be architect Robert Mills, supposedly the first native-born American to be professionally trained as an architect. The citizens of Baltimore had chosen him in 1814 to build one of the first monuments to George Washington originally planned for the former courthouse square in their port city, and he had designed a tall elaborately decorated Greek column with balconies, surmounted by a statue of the President. Mills' Baltimore monument, with cornerstone laid and construction begun in 1815, was later simplified to a plain column shaft with a statue of a toga-clad Washington at the top when it was completed in 1829 but moved (because of its height) to the then rural hills to the north, where the city's growth would later extend. Mills also knew the capital well, with its being only southwest of Baltimore, and his having just been chosen Architect of Public Buildings for Washington. His design called for a circular colonnaded building in diameter and high from which sprang a four-sided obelisk high, for a total elevation of . A massive cylindrical pillar in diameter supported the obelisk at the center of the building. The obelisk was to be square at the base and square at the top with a slightly peaked roof. Both the obelisk and pillar were hollow within which a railway spiraled up. The obelisk had no doorway—instead its interior was entered from the interior of the pillar upon which it was mounted. The pillar had an "arched way" at its base. The top of the portico of the building would feature Washington standing in a chariot holding the reins of six horses. Inside the colonnade would be statues of 30 prominent Revolutionary War heroes as well as statues of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.Washington National Monument, April 19, 1872, U.S. Congressional Serial Set, Vol. 1528, 42d Congress, 2d Session, House Report 48. Available for free in most large United States libraries in government documents or online. Establish a connection to Readex collections before clicking on link.
The society held a competition for designs in 1836. In 1845, the winner was announced to be architect Robert Mills, supposedly the first native-born American to be professionally trained as an architect. The citizens of Baltimore had chosen him in 1814 to build one of the first monuments to George Washington originally planned for the former courthouse square in their port city, and he had designed a tall elaborately decorated Greek column with balconies, surmounted by a statue of the President. Mills' Baltimore monument, with cornerstone laid and construction begun in 1815, was later simplified to a plain column shaft with a statue of a toga-clad Washington at the top when it was completed in 1829 but moved (because of its height) to the then rural hills to the north, where the city's growth would later extend. Mills also knew the capital well, with its being only southwest of Baltimore, and his having just been chosen Architect of Public Buildings for Washington. His design called !for ,a circular colonnaded building in diameter and high from which sprang a four-sided obelisk high, for a total elevation of . A massive cylindrical pillar in diameter supported the obelisk at the center of the building. The obelisk was to be square at the base and square at the top with a slightly peaked roof. Both the obelisk and pillar were hollow within which a railway spiraled up. The obelisk had no doorway—!instead its interior was entered from the interior of the pillar upon which it was mounted. The pillar had an "arched way" at its base. The top of the portico of the building would feature Washington standing in a chariot holding the re!ins of six horses. Inside the colonnade would be statues of 30 prominent Revolutionary War heroes as well as statues of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.Washington National Monument, April 19, 1872, U.S. Congressional Serial Set, Vol. 1528, 42d Congress, 2d Session, House Report 48. Available for free in most large United States libraries in government documents or online. Establish a connection to Readex collections before clicking on link.