Mount Vernon, Baltimore

This monument is the first US Heroic and Civil Monument to be built in honor of George Washington in the country and you can go inside and climb 228 steps to see a wonderful view of downtown in the 178 foot tower.

Open Wednesday thru Sunday 10 til 4.

In 1810 citizens of Baltimore wanted to build a monument dedicated to George Washington. So they held a lottery to help raise the funds needed and picked Robert Mills, a native of Charleston, South Carolina was awarded the commission for the Monument in 1815. Mr. Mills had a very designed of huge columns. The residents that were next to the first proposed site feared it would eventually fall down and attract lightening no less. So Colonel John Eager Howard donated another site Howards Woods far from any other structures to relieve fears. Construction lasted 15 years, but with soaring cost the enormous monument that was planned was scaled down to what the existing monument you see today. Maybe it is not as elaborated as the one that was planned, but this monument is beautifully down and would make George proud I think.

Yet during construction they still needed a sculpture to design the figure of George Washington on the top of the tower. So Enrico Causici of Verona, Italy, was selected since he had sculpted several panels of the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. Causici created the statue of Washington out of three blocks of marble weighing about seven tons each and once again due to budget restraints he created a more simple design to grace the top of the tower. The sculpture depicts Washington resigning his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental armies.

It was completed when the sculpture (approximately 16 feet high) sat on top of the 160 foot high column proudly on November 25, 1829.

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One of Baltimore's landmarks, something every visitor should see, is the George Washington Monument in the Mt Vernon Cultural District. Plainly visible from anywhere on North Charles St, it's the city's grandest monument.

Begun in 1815, it was designed by Charleston architect Robert Mills. Mills also designed a number of historic buildings in Washington and Charleston, including the Washington Monument.

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There is a more famous, taller and bolder Washington Monument located in the Nation's Capitol 50 miles south of Baltimore, but it is not the first Washington Monument. That distinction belongs to the column situated in the middle of North Charles Street. Baltimore's Washington Monument was built in 1799, the year of the Revolutionary War general and first president's death.

Monument to Chief Justice Taney
Located just behind the Washington Monument and across the circle surrounding the monument is the Monument to Marylands infamous U.S. Supreme Court Justice Taney. Due to the Dread Scott Decision Taney is not held with a lot of respect historically.

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The Washington Monument, the first large-scale monument in the nation to be dedicated to George Washington, was built in 1815 and is in the center of Mount Vernon Historical District and is surrounded by stately homes that were built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Located at the back of the monument is the WASHINGTON MONUMENT MUSEUM which is open Wednesday thru Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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America's first monument to their first president was built right here in the HISTORIC MOUNT VERNON CULTURAL DISTRICT, one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods. The Gilded Age Society of the late 19th century built their mansions in Mount Vernon and many of these once grand homes house restaurants and museums today. This district comprises 12 cultural and historic destinations, including Walters Art Museum, Garrett Jacobs Mansion, the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, the Peabody Library and the Washington Monument and Museum.
I must say that I was pretty impressed with this section. It was also within walking distance from the Tremont. The only drawback was the overcast weather on Saturday which made everything look dreary.

The black and green stones of the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church provide an elegant backdrop for the Washington Monument. The church was built on the site of the Charles Howard mansion where Mr. Howard's father-in-law, Francis Scott Key died. Key, for those of you who might not know, wrote the national anthem of the United States right here in Baltimore. The church is on the register of Nationally Historic Places.

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Mount Vernon is a ritzy area about 10 blocks north of the Inner Harbor. The center of it is Mount Vernon Square, a beautiful hilly space anchored by the "original" Washington Monument which was built prior to the more famous monument in Washington D.C.