The 555-foot tall obelisk honoring the military victories of the first president of the United States is the tallest structure in Washington, D.C. — and will be, as long as the law that mandates building rooflines lower than the Washington Monument stands. The monument itself was borne out of a desire to honor Washington after he retired from office, but a shortage of funds and more pressing issues took precedence for around a century. With the relentless lobbying by the Washington National Monument Society, work finally began — to finish 40 years later.

On this day, October 9, in 1888 the Washington Monument officially opened to the public. Although much fanfare accompanied the laying of the foundational stone (July 4, 1848), the project ran into a shortage of funds several years into its construction.

The same lack of funds that delayed the construction start until 1848 also halted its construction six years and one-third of the way into it. Worse yet, five years later the Civil War broke out, and for a while there was grave doubt in Washington whether the union of states would survive at all. Work finally resumed in 1876, and careful observation will still show different marble colors on the bottom third compared with the top two thirds.