Free previewStop 6 of National Mall Walking Tour
Who Got to Sit Up Front
You've reached the western end of the National Mall, and in front of you is the Lincoln Memorial, a white marble temple standing above the Reflecting Pool. Count the columns running around the outside. There are 36, one for each state in the Union when Abraham Lincoln died. Now look up the steps, through the open front, to the seated figure inside.
That temple was a fight before it was a landmark. The architect, Henry Bacon, drew a Greek temple, and many people thought it far too ostentatious for a man of Lincoln's humble character. They proposed a simple log cabin shrine instead. Others said the site was too swampy, and they weren't entirely wrong. This was recently reclaimed land by the Potomac. The commission stood firm. Inside, the sculptor Daniel Chester French designed the statue of Lincoln, carved in marble by the Piccirilli brothers.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 6 of National Mall Walking Tour (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
