Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C

On By nationalparkswithtIn District of Columbia
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DC Trip 2024➤

Our congressman came through with tickets to visit the White House in October of 2024. So my husband and I took a long weekend to visit Washington, DC. He hadn’t been to many of the sites, so we spent a few days visiting the various National Park Service units. We toured several memorials, monuments and other sites, including the Lincoln Memorial.

The National Mall➤

The National Mall stretches from the Capitol to the Potomac River. It serves as “America’s Front Lawn” and its premiere civic and symbolic space. Originally in the L’Enfant plan for the city, the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of the NPS protects iconic monuments and memorials and over 1,000 acres of greenspace.

Lincoln Memorial➤

After visiting the Korean War Veterans Memorial, we continued to the nearby Lincoln Memorial. The site was under construction during our visit, with scaffolding and fencing surrounding parts of the structure. The National Park Service is transforming the lower level into a new visitor experience that will include a 15,000-square-foot museum, immersive theater, expanded restrooms, and a larger bookstore. Access to the memorial was up a temporary ramp instead of the familiar marble stairs.

Built in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial honors the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Designed in the style of a Greek temple, it houses a 19-foot statue of Lincoln seated and deep in thought. Passages from his Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address are engraved on the interior walls. Because of Lincoln’s role in ending slavery, the memorial later became a powerful symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech here, facing a crowd gathered along the Reflecting Pool.

We climbed the ramp to see the statue up close and paused to read the Gettysburg Address on the wall beside it. Outside, the Reflecting Pool stretched toward the Washington Monument, offering one of the most iconic views in the city. Even with construction underway, the memorial’s sense of history and purpose felt undiminished. I am always moved by the sense of reverence inside this monument while reading Lincoln’s words

2024 DC Trip Posts➤

Location: 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC
Designation: National Memorial
Date designated/established: May 30, 1922
Date of my visit: October 24, 2024

3 thoughts on “Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C”

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