Welcome to the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place

Welcome to the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place. a National Historic Landmark District. , Baltimore's Washington Monument is the first monument in the United States erected in memory of the country's founder, George Washington. The Monument was built by a private Board of Managers, who in 1809 petitioned the Maryland legislature to hold a private lottery to raise $100,000 to fund its construction. Designed by American architect Robert Mills, the Monument was begun on July 4, 1815 and the column proper was largely complete by the early 1820s. In 1829, the statue of George Washington, by Italian sculptor Enrico Causici, was raised to the top. It represents Washington resigning his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, an act which took place in the Maryland State House in 1783., When it was begun, the Monument's location was in a woods north of the city, part of John Eager Howard's Belvidere estate. Howard donated the initial land, and after his death his heirs in 1831 laid out the public squares that comprise Mount Vernon Place. The city moved northward towards the Monument and it became the fashionable place to build a mansion. Over time, many handsome mansions, churches, and cultural institutions were built here and nearby., The initial parks, as seen in the accompanying 1850 engraving were simple greenswards encircled by railings and trees. A redesign was done, in part, by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. in 1875-77. In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, it was decided to add a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette, in a show of support for the French. To accommodate the new statue, the squares were redesigned by the prestigious firm of Carrère and Hastings., The Monument and Mount Vernon Place are not the only city landmarks but also comprise the Mount Vernon Place National Historic Landmark District, a federal designation given to properties that "possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States."